EMME HALL: Look, I know
you're just going to go out and you're going
to buy a Tacoma. But what if I told you the
other two trucks are better. It is a great time to
buy a truck, y'all. All of the popular
sellers have got new versions of their
mid-sized offerings and the competition is fierce. Now, the Colorado recently won
our Edmunds Top Rated Truck award, beating out
even the Tacoma. However, this is
the first chance we've had with the Ford Ranger. Now, Ford absolutely dominates
the full size truck market. So, can it work its magic
here in the mid-size segment? Can it beat the mighty Colorado? Let's find out. Now, the categories we're
going to be looking at include the uber-important
towing and payload, of course. But you're going to have to live
with these trucks on the daily. So, we'll also see
how they fare when it comes to comfort, technology,
fuel economy, and driving impressions. And since I know you're
going to spend a lot of coin on one of these
vehicles, we'll also see how they fare in the
value category, as well. Now, do I have to
tell you to hit that Like and Subscribe button? Sure do, because it
is in my contract. And if you want to know anything
else about these trucks, we've got some links
in the description or you can just head
on over to edmunds.com. Now, if you're
looking at trucks, you've probably have
got some work to do, whether it's towing your
toys out to the desert for the weekend or maybe
hauling gardening supplies home from Home Depot in the bed. One thing's for sure-- trucks
help you get stuff done. Now, in our testing, the
Ranger and the Colorado actually tied when it comes
to towing and hauling. I don't like ties, so I'm
going to give it to the Ranger, and here's why-- Pro Trailer Backup Assist. You guys, this technology is so
great for people that don't have a lot of experience towing. So basically,
there's a little knob and it kind of replaces
your steering wheel. You turn the dial to the
right and the trailer moves to the right. You turn it to the left, the
trailer moves to the left. If you don't have
this technology you're kind of
steering backwards and it gets real
hinky real fast. So it's great to include
this here in the Ranger. Now, when it comes to
payload, the Ranger's got the most of the
bunch at 1,805 pounds. And towing is very
healthy at 7,500 pounds. I've got outlets back here,
both regular and 12 volt. And Ford pushed
the wheel wells out so now you could fit a four
foot sheet of plywood back here. That is represented by these
boxes because we're cheap. We didn't want to
buy any plywood. And, you guys, look at this
look at these bed steps. They're not in the bumper. They're on the side so you can
easily access the entire bed. Now, if you're more about towing
than you are about payload, it's the Colorado all the way. This guy can tow
7,700 pounds behind it and it can haul 1,684
pounds in the bed. But what really gets me going,
for all of you noobs out there, is the max tow
package actually has this cool In-vehicle
Trailering App. And that will help
you diagnose problems like maybe your tail
lights aren't working, or you don't know how
to set the brake gain. It's really, really useful. Now, I want to call a
few things out here. Like the Ranger,
I do have a step. But here, it's in the bumper. It's not on the side. But still pretty useful. I don't have a 12 volt, but I
do have a regular three prong outlet. Again, I can
definitely use that. And I've got a little bit of
storage here in the tailgate. Now, if flexibility
is your jam, you're going to want to
look at the Tacoma. This truck can be had with
a 5 foot or a 6 foot bed. Those other guys, those
are short beds only. Now, this particular
model does not come with the available
outlet in the rear. But if you really
need power back here, just wait until the Hybrid
Powertrain becomes available, because then you can
get 2400w of electricity coming out of the bed. That's perfect for running
like a little refrigerator while you're camping or power
tools out on the jobsite. The bummer here is that this
guy can only tow 6,500 pounds. I know, bom bom. It's really sad. But payload is right in the
middle of our competitors at 1,705 pounds. But remember, those
payload options for all of these
trucks, that's only in the two-wheel-drive
vehicles, so plan accordingly. And the Tacoma, yeah, there's
no step in the bumper. Now, you can get some basic
trailer tech in the Tacoma. You can get trailer
brakes, that's cool. You can also get a Hitch
Assist and a technology that will help you back up the
trailer in a straight line. So, it's just not
really as advanced as what we'll find in the
Colorado and the Ranger. And what about interior storage? The Taco wins. I really love that I've
got these cool pockets here on the door, and the fact that
the passenger has a shelf. That is just clutch. I lose a lot of space here
with the wireless charging. I might want to alter
that just a little bit. But I like that I've
got a little space here for like, loose papers,
maps, stuff like that. In the back, these
rear seatbacks fold down for some
more flat storage. And check this out-- underneath the seats
there is enough room for a 12 pack of
diet Dr. Pepper. Come on. Now, things aren't nearly
as good in the Colorado. I mean, yeah, I
got door pockets. Look, but they're really small. I can only fit one
Hydroflask instead of 3. And rear seat storage-- kind of meh. I don't have a little
shelf here on the passenger like I do on the Tacoma but my
center console is pretty deep. And then look, there's
a little, like, divider, so I've got like a loft
bed-- so two tiered storage. Yes, please. Plus, my cup holders here, they
have an integrated cell phone holder. Like the Tacoma, the Ranger
has got a little shelf here for the
passenger but it goes one step further with this-- a second glove box. Now, I really like how
this center console here is angled forward a little bit. It gives me just a
little bit more room. The door storage, there's
only one little pocket. It's really not that great. The storage cubbies in the
rear are both pretty deep, but neither one of
them are big enough to handle my 12 pack
of diet Dr. Pepper. These rear seats do fold
flat, and that's nice. But look-- where are you
going to put your rear seat passengers now? So, I guess just
use it when you want to avoid taking your
annoying friends with you. I don't know. Now, you all know
you'll be spending some time in your truck. So we need to talk about
comfort and interior design. Now, normally we
rate these separately but for this video I've
actually combined them and averaged the scores, because
they all kind of dovetail off one another. So y'all, the Ford wins this
section, but just barely. I really like the seats in here. They are the most comfortable
out of all of them. And I like this design aesthetic
better than the Tacoma. But I think I dig just the
way the interior feels better in the Chevrolet. Now, unfortunately, some
of the HVAC controls are actually buried in the
screen, which is not the best, but some of the ergonomics
make up for that. So, I love that I've got
all of my four wheel drive controls right here
under hand and the ring around those controls
does double duty as both the controls for Drive
Mode and for my Pro Trailer Backup Assist. Plus, with this low hood, the
visibility out of this truck is the best out of all three. So I'm in the Tacoma, and
you know what, it's a Tacoma. But I will say this-- Toyota has done a great job
at improving their seating and visibility. I've got so much more
adjustability in the seat and in the steering wheel and
I can see further over the hood than I could in the
past generation. Now, having said that,
though it's still pretty high and
pretty flat, you might want to spring for that
optional 360 degree camera. And the seats are kind
of flat, so they're not quite as comfortable as
what we have in the Ranger. But if you move up the trim
tree, you can get them heated and cooled, and
that is pretty dope. And all of the HVAC
controls are all physical buttons and
switches, thank you very much. And when it comes to
rear seat passenger room, the answer is, no. They're midsize trucks. They're all terrible. All right, so moving
on to the Colorado. Now, overall, this interior
just really does it for me. I kind of love how
it's all laid out. Plus the visibility is
great, and it almost seems like that rear window is
tinted a little bit, because I never get blinded by
other people's headlights in my mirror. Like the other trucks, I've
got nice chunky controls for the HVAC here in terms
of dials and buttons, and there's even
a button that will lower all four windows at once. That's pretty convenient. But you guys-- I have to tell you the worst
feature on this vehicle, by far, is the headlight switch
because it's not a switch. You actually have to control
the headlights on the screen. Like what the actual? This is the dumbest
thing I've ever seen. Now, listen-- I
realize that Chevy just thinks that you're going
to leave it in Auto and be done with it and this is
always visible no matter what is happening on the screen. That icon never ever goes away. But this is solving a problem
that is not a problem. Nobody asked for
this technology. But you can still control
the high beams from the stalk right here, so
that's cool, I guess. It's still annoying. Now, just like you can't
escape computers in cars, big ol' screens have
come for trucks, as well. Plus, we've got a whole
bunch of safety features. So let's check the tech. Now, between the
Ford and the Chevy it's actually a
pretty tough call but I'm going to give
the W to the Chevy. Standard, I've got an
11-inch touchscreen here with wireless
phone connectivity, as well is really
helpful voice controls. And everything on this screen
runs really, really quickly. Now, you can get a 12-inch
portrait oriented screen in the Ranger, but
that is not standard. But the sync for a
operating system, again, that runs really fast
and it's pretty easy to use. And for some reason,
you've got a sketch pad. I don't know why, but I'm really
digging how quirky that is. Both the Ranger and the Colorado
get a smattering of USB-A and C ports, plus there is
available wireless charging. I just find that the Chevy
system is just a little bit easier to use. But listen, you're not going to
be disappointed with either one. And listen, Toyota
has made huge gains in this generation's Tacoma
when it comes to infotainment. I mean, yes, an 8-inch
screen is standard. But you guys, we have this giant
14-inch screen and y'all, it is, like, there, you
know what I mean? It's just not as
quick on startup and it doesn't respond
quite as quickly to inputs. There's also plenty
of USB-C ports and I do have wireless
charging but, eh. First of all, it's
up and down, which is kind of cool
because then maybe you can see your phone
while you're driving. But it also means that you don't
have a lot of storage space, like I talked about earlier. Plus, I still have not
been able to get my phone to actually wireless
charge in this vehicle. Like, eh. Now, the Tacoma gets blind spot
monitoring standard as well as a Toyota Safety Suite
set of features, which includes Lane
Departure Warning as well as Adaptive Cruise Control. That's all really cool. But it also includes something
called Proactive Driving Assist. And I am not a fan of this. It's kind of like Adaptive
Cruise Control braking, but you don't even have to have
Adaptive Cruise Control on. It uses all these
sensors to think there's something in the way,
I better apply the brakes. Like, let me drive
the truck, man. Let me drive the truck. But look, at some
point you're going to have to actually get behind
the wheel of these trucks. Now, the good news
is that you've got plenty of Powertrain options. The bad news, I mean, for
a truck, they're good. But in the end, they
still drive like trucks. Now, the Ranger wins this
category but, you guys, just by tenths of a point. I mean, this is some
F1 type scoring here. The Ranger currently comes
with a 2.3 liter turbocharged 4 cylinder engine, which is
a carryover from last year. That's made it to a
10 speed automatic and it pushes out 270 horsepower
and 310 pounds feet of torque. And y'all, I have never found
anything wrong with this engine. It is super torquey and it
gets the job done really, really nicely. However, Ford is actually
going to offer a 2.7 liter V6, and that will put
out 315 horsepower and 400 pound-feet of torque. Yeah, buddy. Now, out of these three
trucks I like the way the Ranger drives the best. And it's also quieter, too. Body rolls really kept in check. There isn't any kind of
bounciness or floatiness. However, I do want to drive
this truck in Sport Mode. Otherwise, the transmission
upshifts just a little too quickly for my taste. That's all in the
guise of fuel economy. But listen, you're not going to
be disappointed with the Ranger. Now, Chevy does things just
a little bit differently, offering you only one engine
a, 2.7l turbocharged 4 cylinder but gives you three
different tunes. Now, even the base tune at 237
horsepower, that's pretty good. But this one, I've
got 310 horsepower and 410 pound-feet of torque. That is amazing. It's plenty responsive. It's got a lot of
low end grunt, which is great for both city
driving and towing. Now, in general, this
eight speed automatic does shift pretty smoothly
with a few exceptions. When you really, really
want the power of the line, it's like no, no, I don't
want to work that hard. And sometimes when
you ask for power and you want it to downshift,
again, it's like, are you sure? Are you sure? OK, I'll downshift for you now. Now, having said that, I
really like the brakes. There's plenty of
emergency stopping power and they are very easy to
modulate when you're just driving like a regular person. This turbocharged 4 cylinder
engine in the Tacoma is such a huge improvement
over the outgoing V6. I can't even, you guys. Here I've got 278 horsepower,
317 pound-feet of torque. And this engine is
so peppy, especially when you're driving around town. That has made it to an eight
speed automatic transmission that does a really good job. It doesn't hunt
around for gears. It doesn't matter if you're on
flat ground or going up a hill. I mean, finally a
Toyota transmission that is actually worth a damn. And here's the cool
thing-- you can still get a six speed
manual in the Tacoma and you can't do that
in the other two. The bummer here is that the
ride quality is definitely the most trucky of the three. I mean, I can feel
every single thing that is coming up from the pavement
and it reaches my butt through the chassis. It is not a smooth ride at all. Toyota will offer a 2.4 liter
iForce Max Hybrid Powertrain and I'm very, very
excited for it. One thing I'm going to give the
Toyota props for are the brakes. The pedal is very
responsive, but it's still easy to bring this
truck to a stop very smoothly and very quickly. Now handling, like
the ride quality, it's not-- it's not great. But if you're buying
a truck, like what, you're going to go
out carving corners? Go get a sports car if
that's what you want. The steering here feels pretty
light, but it is accurate. There's good on center feel. And the truck feels very
stable at highway speeds. Bottom line, you guys, not
as good as the other two, but if you've driven
a previous generation, you're going to be really
happy with this new Tacoma. When it comes to fuel
economy on these trucks, listen, it's kind
of all over the map because it depends
on configuration, it depends on drive train. It depends on trim,
two-wheel-drive, four-wheel-drive,
all of that stuff. But in general, the
Colorado is going to get you about 20 miles
per gallon combined. The Tacoma will sit at about
21 miles per gallon combined. And the Ranger takes the cake
at 22 miles per gallon combined. Of course, you got to
try to hit those numbers, and how often does that
happen, am I right? Now, when it comes to value,
the Ranger and the Colorado are actually tied but for
very different reasons. This is a Lariat trim and it
comes in at about $53,000. But you guys, the build
quality is really, really good and it just edges out
over the Colorado. The Colorado, that's got
more features, especially when it comes to technology
and driver's aids. And this Z71 trim is $4,000
less than the Ranger. And the Tacoma-- you guys,
it ain't even in the race. I mean, sure, it's the least
expensive all of these trucks. That TRD Off-Road
starts at about $43,000. But there's so many compromises. I mean, it tows the least. The infotainment isn't as good. The wireless charging
is hinky and the ride is the most truck-like
out of all of these. All right, so after
we add everything up, the Ranger gets an 8.2. The Colorado is so
close at an 8.1. And the Tacoma-- 7.7. And you guys, look, I love
the orange on that Tacoma. And I know that some of you are
just going to go out and buy one anyway no matter what I said. But for those of you that are
on the fence, orange you glad you didn't buy a Tacoma? I'm so funny.
