Comparison Tests
Entries in the guest book at Barker Ranch, an old vacant stone house high atop Death Valley National Park; the ranch was the last hiding place of Charles Manson and his zombies:
December 30, 2001
What a creepy place. Sometimes I think I see shadows. Here I am, middle-class, middle-aged, eating lunch at a cult leader's house. Only in America.
March 20, 2002
I'm coming back to kill all the people in this cabin. I got all your names from this book. Prepare to die!
Now, what in the helter-skelter do Manson and his tawdry band of zoned-out sociopaths have to do with a comparison test of trucks? Or is this yet another excuse to escape from our own frozen ranch in Michigan, fly 2000 miles west to the steady heat of Death Valley, and bomb around in stolen dune buggies, which was said to be a top-rated lifestyle activity of Manson and his walleyed crew? Or was this just Spence looking for a place to spend his golden years?
Fact is, we journeyed to Manson's last hideout for a perfectly legitimate reason. It sits 3280 feet up in the Panamint mountain range not far from Death Valley, and we had five brand-new four-door, four-wheel-drive pickups just waiting for us to conduct our own — excuse this — acid test.
To get to the hideaway, you must put away your fears and virtually disappear into a mountain (that was Charlie's goal, too). The base of the mountain is at 1600 feet, and the whole eerie place is a silent, empty moonscape where an occasional F-18 fighter-plane jockey will come blasting out of nowhere at what seems like 1500 feet. The narrow pathway runs 4.7 miles upward and took us 65 minutes of careful crawling. With our $30,000 trucks, it was a cakewalk compared with Manson's ordeal — he had to park his dilapidated school bus and "walk" in. We can't remember if the cops arrived on foot or with four-wheel drive.
Okay, enough of that. Once the poster child for staleness, the compact-pickup-truck segment is suddenly hot. In the past 18 months, five models have made their debuts. The senior member of this group, the Chevy Colorado, had replaced the S-10, which had been around since 1982. And then there's the new kid on this active block, the Ridgeline, which is Honda's first effort at building a pickup truck. In between, Dodge, Nissan, and Toyota have all redesigned their entries.
A comparison test was a given, but since these trucks come in numerous configurations — regular cab, extended cab, four-door crew cab, and with or without four-wheel drive — the question was which versions to test? Honda settled the issue because the Ridgeline comes only with four doors and four-wheel drive, so we ordered the rest to match.
You'll notice that these trucks are by no means cheap. Once you opt for four doors, the entry fee for all of them approaches 25 large. Add in four-wheel drive and a few options, and they hover around 30 grand.
The Chevy Colorado, however, stickered at $28,725, the cheapest in this test — and you get to subtract a $2000 rebate. Its 220-hp five-cylinder engine also had the fewest pistons in this test. Chevy asks, "Who needs a V-6 when you can do the job with a five?"
With the Dakota, Dodge declares, "How 'bout a V-8?" The Dakota is the only truck here available with a V-8, so naturally we ordered one. It's not the Hemi
V-8 that's so famously featured in those amusing commercials, but a 4.7-liter V-8 available in a high-output version that pumps out 250 horsepower and a best-in-test 300 pound-feet of torque. Could this motor elevate the $31,820 Dakota to the top spot in our test?
The Ridgeline's engine, a 3.5-liter V-6 that makes 255 horsepower and 252 pound-feet of torque, is just a bit player in the year's most unconventional truck. This first for Honda eschews pickup norms such as a ladder frame and solid-axle rear suspension for a carlike unibody chassis and independent rear suspension. In addition, the Honda was the only truck here equipped with a full-time four-wheel-drive system, which is included in a $28,215 RT model, but we tested a $30,590 RTS, which is mechanically the same but has options such as a power driver's seat and in-dash six-CD changer.
Honda says the Ridgeline is no softy and points to its 5000-pound towing capacity. Still, we're paid to be skeptical, and that's why we mapped out a severe uphill trip to "Manson Acres" for our comparo. Is the Ridgeline a real truck or just a car masquerading as one?
We've never mistaken Nissan's Frontier for a car. The automaker did a major spit and shine on the truck last year when it redesigned the chassis, slipped in a powerful 265-hp V-6, and added luxury options such as heated leather seats. Ours was attired in leather, natch, and adorned with a sunroof, stability control, hill-descent control, and an in-dash six-CD changer — all for $31,630.
The Toyota Tacoma is also reincarnated for 2005, and its ace in the hole is a $500 optional long bed that's about 10 inches longer than the Dakota's and 14 inches longer than the rest. At $30,100, the Tacoma came with a smooth 245-hp V-6, the SR5 package (a trailer hitch, a sliding rear window, aluminum wheels, and fender flares), curtain airbags, and an in-dash six-CD changer.
You'll notice there's no Ford in this group. The Ranger pickup is not available with four forward-hinged doors, so we asked for a four-door Explorer Sport Trac. Ford declined to participate, reminding us that the Sport Trac's replacement is only a year or so away.
Got that? Okay, let's see how the players stacked up.
