Is America ready for 4-cylinder full-size pickup trucks? Because they're here (GM)

[samwichse]

Seeing those trucks in the EPA list with both "17 MPG" and "Premium gasoline" together gave my wallet a case of the heeby-jeebies.

Wake me up when they import the RAM 700
https://jalopnik.com/the-tiny-ram-70...alf-1652291667

Or the Chevy Tornado:
https://www.chevrolet.com.mx/tornado...a-pick-up.html

Or the VW Saveiro:
https://jalopnik.com/volkswagen-alre...you-1824191223

[rmay635703]

Premium gas and the reward is the same gas mpg

[redpoint5]

Back in the day I had diesel on the mind, so I resolved to buy the smallest pickup I could get with a diesel engine. That turned out to be my 7,000 lb Dodge Ram 2500 with a 5.9L 6-cylinder turbo diesel.

For some reason I'm still fascinated by the power, simplicity and efficiency of oil burners, but I wouldn't buy a truck again unless it had some plug-in EV range and an engine that was supplemented by electric power. If hybrid drivetrains make sense in anything, it's certainly pickup trucks.

I hope the Workhorse makes it to market.

[TheEnemy]

https://workhorse.com/pickup/

I just found out about the workhorse yesterday, hoping it comes true, though I could use a smaller bodied truck to get into tight spaces.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by samwichse

Wake me up when they import the RAM 700


Or the Chevy Tornado

Or the VW Saveiro

Can't really compare them to a full-size, but these are widely used as a service vehicle in poor countries. But anyway, due to the Chicken Tax and crash standards, don't hold your breath for those (even though the present-day Tornado resembles somewhat that GMC "Bare Necessities Truck" prototype presented in 2009).

[Hersbird]

Actually the simplest small pickup could probably be had by taking the Ram cargo minivan and chopping the top off behind the front doors. Add a wall and some "bed" rail caps and you would have a nice fwd pickup good for almost 30 mpg, an 8' bed, and about 1800 pounds of payload for under $20,000 new.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Hersbird

Actually the simplest small pickup could probably be had by taking the Ram cargo minivan and chopping the top off behind the front doors. Add a wall and some "bed" rail caps and you would have a nice fwd pickup good for almost 30 mpg, an 8' bed, and about 1800 pounds of payload for under $20,000 new.

Fiat already does it in Europe, where the Doblò/ProMaster City is available in a cab-and-platform version to be fitted with aftermarket bodies. Well, since GM and Ford have once imported Japanese compact trucks as a cab-and-chassis in order to fit them with locally-made beds and therefore circumvent the Chicken Tax, it wouldn't surprise me if Fiat took the same approach with the Doblò there.

[teoman]

A friend had the fiat version.

It was great.

In my optinion it was a true SUV. When I go diving, it is much more convenient than my ml350.

[euromodder]

Never understood the US obsession with pick-ups
They're not practical
Load bed is way too high
No weather or theft protection without a lid of some sort
Load volume is crap, especially with a weather cover.

In Europe, we almost exclusively use cargo vans / panel vans for work.
For personal use, virtually no-one uses a pick-up truck.

[teoman]

SUV’s either.

I had a Mercedes ML 350. I lied to myself and said i have an adventurous lifestyle (i go diving a lot and i have lots of gear). The car was great for that. The wife likes to pack a lot of crap. With the intoduction of a kid in to the family the amount of crap has grown expotentially.

Then i used my friends fiat doblo for 3 monts. Car was obviously not so luxurious. But man, it was 10 times more convenient for everything the ml was designed to do. (Except maybe mild off-roading, but it is classified as a luxury automobile so you cant really scratch it up). The cargo area is lower and has more volumr. It is easier to sit in the trunk and put on gear. Fuel consumption is less than half of the ml. Being an ecomodder member that car generally made me happier.