The pickup truck segment has been steadily expanding for decades now, with more models, more use cases, and more technology on offer for buyers.
Here are the biggest and most recent pickup-related stories, debuts, and reviews from the past month.
The best and worst 2022 trucks for fuel efficiency
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With gas prices up in the stratosphere, finding a vehicle with the right fuel efficiency to fit your lifestyle and budget has never been more key. To that end, we’ve rounded up the most thirsty and most fuel-frugal pickup trucks on the market into one big “best and worst fuel efficiency” list.
Combined city/highway consumption numbers were borrowed from Natural Resources Canada and exclude heavy-duty trucks, which they don’t rate. Find out where your dream truck lands on the list (if it does) at the full results in the link above, broken down by diesel, gas, or electric; full-size, mid-size, or compact; and 4×4 or 4×2.
Spoiler: there are a number of hybrids in the “best” columns, and a number of V8s in the “worst.” Bonus points: can you guess which version of Ram’s 3.0L V6 EcoDiesel gets the “best” label and which the “worst”?
Orders are open for the 700-hp 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R
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If you prefer your bipedal-dinosaur-inspired pickup trucks to also have the heart of a wild American horse, good news! The 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R has arrived with the 5.2L supercharged V8 last used in the Shelby Mustang GT500!
Making 700 horsepower and 640 lb-ft of torque, the V8 provides an enticing boost in power over the regular Raptor’s twin-turbo 3.5L V6, which produces 450 horsepower and 510 lb-ft of torque. That bigger engine also breathes deeper in the R thanks to cast stainless-steel exhaust manifolds, a wider air intake inlet, and higher-flow air filter. Noisier? That’s up to the driver, who’ll have the option of several exhaust modes, ranging from Quiet to Baja. Speaking of the Baja, the Raptor R’s suspension is also built for the dunes, including standard 37-inch tires with 13.1 inches of clearance, Fox Live Valve electronically-controlled shocks, and more.
Orders are now open for the 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R, but pricing has not been announced.
Racer-writer Kristen Shaw talks Rebelle Rally on The Truck Guy Podcast
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The Rebelle Rally is an eight-day 2,000-km test of female-lead driving, navigation, and off-road survivability that takes place in Nevada and California. On the latest episode of The Truck Guy Podcast with Matthew Guy, seasoned racer and freelance writer Kristen Shaw talks about how she’s preparing to compete in the gruelling rally event that she covered as a journalist last year, plus lots more.
Listen to the episode to hear about Shaw’s practice plans in the sand dunes of Indiana, her off-road Moab experience in a ’67 Kaiser Jeep military ambulance, and a style of driving described as “painting the sand.”
B.C. pickup driver ticketed for transporting dog in back of truck
If you’ve ever seen a pickup travelling down the road with a dog loose in the bed and wondered “Huh, is that legal?,” now you know. It isn’t. And in British Columbia, it could earn you a $109 fine, which is what one Toyota pickup driver got for dangerously transporting his black lab bestie in the back. (Look how guilty the poor guy looks! It’s not your fault, buddy!)
But you really shouldn’t need the law to tell you not to carry your $4,000 poodle-mix in your $60,000 pickup truck bed like a bag of grass clippings. The laws of physics and good pet ownership should do that for you. What if you’re rear-ended, or need to apply the brakes suddenly to avoid an accident? Or what if your pet jumps out?
The B.C. Highway Patrol has the fix: “Recommend securing a kennel to the box of truck and secure pup in kennel. If that’s not possible, then a good harness…”
Towing has a huge impact on the Ford F-150 Lightning’s range
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A recent video review from YouTube channel The Fast Lane (TFL) Truck has shed some light on how towing a 6,000-lb trailer affects the range of the new F-150 Lightning BEV with the Extended-Range 131-kilowatt-hour battery. Did we say “shed light”? We meant “thrown shade.” Because the video was actually supposed to be a showdown between the Ford EV and an old-school GMC Sierra Denali Ultimate Edition with a 6.2-liter gas V-8, but the Ford ended up stealing the show. And not in a good way.
As soon as the hosts had input the size and weight of the trailer in the Lightning’s range estimator, things were cut short—down to 160 miles (257 km) short, to be precise. And then after just 39 miles (62 km) of actual motoring, they realized the truck was gobbling one per cent of battery charge for every highway mile, meaning its limit (which wasn’t tested, because they had to turn around for fear of getting stranded) would’ve been closer to 100 miles (160 km). Read more about the experiment or watch the full video here.
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