Quote Of The Weekend: Heavy Duty Demand Edition
In his New York Times comparison of heavy-duty pickup trucks, Ezra Dyer opens with a provocative comparison:
Heavy-Duty pickup trucks are the supercars of the truck world. They have more power than drivers are likely ever to exploit, and bragging rights depend on statistics that are, in practical terms, theoretical.
How does he figure?
While you can’t buy a diesel engine in a mainstream light-duty pickup, heavy-duty pickups now offer propulsion suitable for a tandem-axle dump truck.
I’m not exaggerating. Ford’s 6.7-liter Power Stroke diesel V-8 packs 400 horsepower and 800 pound-feet of torque; the base engine in a Peterbilt 348 dump truck offers a mere 260 horsepower and 660 pound-feet. Does your pickup really need more power than a Peterbilt?
I’m guessing most HD truck owners won’t take kindly to the question, especially coming from a scolding Gray Lady. But if you read the full review, you’ll find that Dyer was able to locate at least one contractor willing to admit that he realized he just didn’t need his HD’s overabundance of ability. It goes against the grain of the “bigger, faster, tougher, more” marketing message that has helped make trucks such a huge part of the American market, but is it possible that the tide is turning? Have pickups improved too much? The huge sales of Ecoboost V6-powered F-Series certainly suggests the we may just be moving towards a more pragmatic truck-buying market…
More by Edward Niedermeyer
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Seeing all these rigs being used to chariot overweight middle aged guys to their desk jobs, in a place where the lakes are too lame for boat ownership (thus no need to haul the boat) makes me wonder about the motivation for laying out fifty large for one. But then I check out the back windows, replete with the "Calvin pissing on the Ford/Chevy/Dodge symbol, and of course the low-hanging nutsack, and the motivation becomes clear. These boys are compensating for something. What they're compensating for I'll leave to my fellow posters to debate.
No doubt the current crop of 3/4 ton fullsize diesel pick-ups are stupidly overpowered for most people. And the the worst thing about it is that the mileage sucks as a result. I've said it before and I'll say it again, stick a nice little I4 turbo diesel in a 1/2 ton chassis designed for fuel economy, not performance, and you won't be able to build them fast enough.
While there is a small percentage of HD pickup owners who really need the capability, I say vast majority are cowards who are afraid to drive a smaller vehicle. They need a big bad truck to compensate for their lack of driving skills and they lack social skills to be considerate of others. Also notice how many of these pickups are driven by diminutive women. Which is also understandable...
Aw c'mon, if you can afford it-drive it, I'm not one to judge. I could care less if you have a F350 duelly that cost 6 figures, or a 29 year or mini truck.