2WD vs. 4WD

Speedogomer wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:

Speedogomer wrote:
Another thing to think about, if your truck is your daily driver, is how well it works as a daily driver.

As a daily driver a 3/4 and 1 ton are worse in nearly every single way compared to a half ton. They're bigger, less fuel efficent, they ride significantly worse, are harder to park, and have slower acceleration and longer braking when unloaded. While they may be better the 10 days a year that you tow, they will be worse the other 355 days. Technically because of the increase in stopping distance and decrease in acceleration, a 3/4 or 1 ton truck is less likely to avoid an accident that you may have been able to avoid in a half ton. Similarly equipped trucks, a 3/4 takes 10-15 ft longer to stop from 60 mph. So they're safer 10 days a year, and less safe the other 355 days.

Ride in both and compare. My Hemi Ram 1500 rides great, my cousins hemi ram 2500 rides horrible.

No question, if you're buying a vehicle just to tow, the 3/4 or 1 ton is hands down the better choice. It's not as easy to argue if it's meant to be daily driven.

Other than a stiffer ride almost none of those downsides are real.

Fuel efficency with a big engine is lousy in both. The overall length and turning ability are not significantly different (assumes same cab and bed configuration). With the big engines, the both have good acceleration when not towing and the heavier duty trucks have larger brakes.

Yes they have larger brakes but the trucks themselves are much heavier, their stopping distances are increased, check out the #'s on them. You'll find across the board farther stopping distances.

Even with larger engines, they are slower to accelerate, again check out the #'s....and that's if they have the diesel option. Ram and Chevy both have less powerful gas engines in their 2500 than they do their 1500s. Which puts their gas equivalent even slower yet.

Most people on this forum are quick to reccomend a one ton to to someone as a daily driver. That person may tow only a handful of days a year. That one ton has a lower crash rating, worse ride, harder to park, higher maintenance and registration fees, worse fuel economy, ect ect.

Yes they're awesome if they're dedicated for towing. Daily driving one just isn't as practical as a half ton, and even they are a compromise compared to many other vehicles.

You appear focused on the ego points. If you are taking them out to a track day, I would agree there is a slight edge for the 1/2 ton (even better for a small PU by the way) but since the vast majority of people don't race thier tow vehicles the point is the numbers are really very similar.

The standard V8 has plenty of power to get them moving at a brisk pace when empty. I don't think I've ever felt the need to put the pedal more than 1/2way down when not towing in the 3/4tons I've owned and yet that has always been plenty of power to get up to speed. Fuel efficency with similar power packages are about the same. Braking isn't much different as your charts show (less than 10% variation).

Having driven both over the years, the one noticable difference is the ride is much stiffer. If you are sensitive, it might bother you.

The other possible edge though not as much as it used to be is 1/2 tons used to sit lower to the ground making them easier to get in and out of. More recently it seems the 1/2 ton trucks sit higher apparently to look more like the bigger trucks.

A minor point of interest: In the one graph, the Chevy and GMC have different results. As everyone knows, the only difference between the trucks is the badges. That leads me to believe that they did not ensure the tests were between equivilently outfitted trucks or the test has significant variability that isn't being accounted for.