Any pick-up truck and/or diesel-power fans out there?
Discussion
There was a nice car gathering at Venice Beach, here in Southern California last night and the cars included several Corvettes, 2 Vipers, a Ford GT and a Ferrari 550 Maranello.
All very nice of course. (I got a go in the GT and a Viper 8.3.)
But, of lesser (initial) interest to me, were the 6 pick-up trucks which appeared together half way through the evening.
I have never been overly bothered about commercial stuff or load luggers, but 2 of these vehicles changed my thinking big-time!!!
One was a Dodge Ram and another a Ford F350. Both are tuned to produce huge performance, whilst keeping most of their practicality.
I am converted.
Yes, supercars are great in some ways, but they are also very expensive to buy, similarly crazy on fuel and to insure, in the main suffer stupid depreciation, are a nightmare to park and manouvre in towns and cities, give you further nightmares when you leave them out anywhere (theft/damage) and are generally cramped and in any case, virtually impossible to extend on public roads.
If you look at them as track day cars, almost all are still horribly compromised, compared to something like my Westfield Seight.
Some figures; both trucks were within 5% of each other in most statistics.
6.7 litre straight-6 diesel.
762 bhp @ 2,974 rpm.
1167 lbs-ft @ 2, 846 rpm.
(Flywheel figures).
7.3 litre V-8 diesel.
802 bhp @ 3,098 rpm.
1204 lbs-ft @ 2,969 rpm.
(Flywheel figures).
I never got a drive, but did blag a ride in the Vee-8
It left black lines everywhere, (even in 4wd mode--2wd was ridiculous), was astonishingly fast as soon as the tiny turbo lag had passed and did 0-120 almost as quick as a Ferrari F430.
Weight of each was around 3000 kgs.
Those cars carry 5 adults in supreme comfort, will go off-road quite well, do 20 mpg, ride exceptionally well, handle way better than you'd expect and are only about thirty thousand quid, brand new in the above specification. (US prices).
I LOVED 'EM!
All very nice of course. (I got a go in the GT and a Viper 8.3.)
But, of lesser (initial) interest to me, were the 6 pick-up trucks which appeared together half way through the evening.
I have never been overly bothered about commercial stuff or load luggers, but 2 of these vehicles changed my thinking big-time!!!
One was a Dodge Ram and another a Ford F350. Both are tuned to produce huge performance, whilst keeping most of their practicality.
I am converted.
Yes, supercars are great in some ways, but they are also very expensive to buy, similarly crazy on fuel and to insure, in the main suffer stupid depreciation, are a nightmare to park and manouvre in towns and cities, give you further nightmares when you leave them out anywhere (theft/damage) and are generally cramped and in any case, virtually impossible to extend on public roads.
If you look at them as track day cars, almost all are still horribly compromised, compared to something like my Westfield Seight.
Some figures; both trucks were within 5% of each other in most statistics.
6.7 litre straight-6 diesel.
762 bhp @ 2,974 rpm.
1167 lbs-ft @ 2, 846 rpm.
(Flywheel figures).
7.3 litre V-8 diesel.
802 bhp @ 3,098 rpm.
1204 lbs-ft @ 2,969 rpm.
(Flywheel figures).
I never got a drive, but did blag a ride in the Vee-8
It left black lines everywhere, (even in 4wd mode--2wd was ridiculous), was astonishingly fast as soon as the tiny turbo lag had passed and did 0-120 almost as quick as a Ferrari F430.
Weight of each was around 3000 kgs.
Those cars carry 5 adults in supreme comfort, will go off-road quite well, do 20 mpg, ride exceptionally well, handle way better than you'd expect and are only about thirty thousand quid, brand new in the above specification. (US prices).
I LOVED 'EM!
Hi Guys
Ive been into pick ups for a while now, probably due to me having spent some time in the states and had the use of a Dodge Rumble Bee.
I`m currently building a Sierra P100 with 300 BHP RV8 just for some fun and frolicks, so I will join you when its done! Its a bit of a mini truck compared with some of the yank trucks, but it will give some lesser cars a good fright..................
Cheers Roy
Ive been into pick ups for a while now, probably due to me having spent some time in the states and had the use of a Dodge Rumble Bee.
I`m currently building a Sierra P100 with 300 BHP RV8 just for some fun and frolicks, so I will join you when its done! Its a bit of a mini truck compared with some of the yank trucks, but it will give some lesser cars a good fright..................
Cheers Roy
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