Head to Head comparison and Ford wins again

2005 Ford F-150, still the king.

This past weekend, I took part in the GM AutoShowinMotion out on Long Island. I know some people will say, but Joe you're a Ford fanatic, why would you do that? Well, simple answer is this, Ford doesn't offer a program like this. What GM does is it brings truck loads of their cars and a few competative models from other brands to various locations and invites prospective customers out for a chance to drive all of these cars on a closed course through cones and over speedbumps. Top speed allowed is about 30 mph, but it can be educational anyway.

GM hopes to lure customers to their brands that may not have bought otherwise and offer a head to head comparison. Now overall I have to say it's not a bad idea. I've gone three years in a row now and it is well run and can be a lot of fun.

Trucks being a huge market, GM had their Siera, Silverado, Avalanche and Escalade trucks as well as a Nissan Titan, Toyota Tundra, Dodge Ram and Ford F-150. All were 4x4 crew cabs and nicely appointed with V-8 and automatic transmisions. So over the last three years, I've had the chance to drive all of the major truck offerings. And despite it being GM's party, I can safely say that the Ford was the best of the bunch. It had more power, and a nicer interior than most. And amazingly last year I drove the GM with the rear wheel steering against the F-150 and the Ford had no problems on the turn around portion, matching the GM's turning circle without rear steering wheels. The Toyota was probably the nicest interior of the bunch, but didn't feel right.

F-150, still the champ no question.

Of the small trucks there, the one thing that I noticed was a lack of a Ford Ranger. In years past, GM always had one available, but I guess they no longer see it as competative to their truck or the Toyota and Dodge.

Oh and before anyone asks, no there were no Mustangs there, GM didn't want to sell Fords, although after driving the trucks, it's hard to tell.