tundra wins 2008 motor trend truck of the year award!
the toyota tundra beat out heavy-duty trucks from chevrolet, gmc and ford to earn the 2008 motor trend truck of the year award.
the announcement was made december 18 at www.motortrend.com. the full story, complete with test results and driving impressions, will appear in the february 2008 motor trend, which hits newsstands in early january. a follow-up story also appears in the march/april issue of truck trend, which goes on sale january 30, 2008.
but donâ??t wait for the magazine to come out to share this great news with all sales associates and customers. the truck of the year award is an excellent conversation ice-breaker to introduce and emphasize the features and performance levels that impressed the magazineâ??s editors.
eligible vehicles for the 2008 award included the tundra, chevrolet silverado hd, gmc sierra hd and ford super duty. the motor trend editors tested two versions of each contender to experience different powertrains and cab/bed configurations. the two tundra models tested were a crewmax limited 4x4 and a tundra grade doublecab 4x2 with the 4.7-liter v8.
in naming the tundra as the truck of the year, motor trend editors said:
- â??the new toyota tundra is now ready to take on any american-made pickupâ??on all levels.â??
- â??the new tundra offers three different powertrains (one v6 and two v8s), with the 5.7liter v8 a high-tech wonder and torque monsterâ??and is among the most powerful engines in any half-ton configuration.â??
- â??if thereâ??s a quieter truck out there, we havenâ??t driven it.â??
testing was conducted at a former automotive proving ground where the trucks were driven over different road conditions such as sandy washes and rutted dirt roads. in addition to traditional empirical performance tests, an 8-mile driving loop was designated to help provide â??real-wordâ?? conditions such as stop-start traffic, freeway and mountain roads. towing a 7,500- or 10,000-pound trailer (depending on the vehicle) was also part of the test procedure.
the motor trend editors focused the evaluation criteria into three areas:
- superiority, which included but was not limited to engineering excellence, safety, styling and fuel economy.
- significance, which asked if the vehicle impacts or changes its market segment.
- value, which asked how the truck compares against its rivals.
in describing the winning tundra, the motor trend editors noted that the crewmax limited posted the best performance score of any vehicle. they also referred to the 44 different model choices and said, â??toyota expects to have what youâ??re looking for, stuffing heavy-duty truck capabilities into a half-ton truck thatâ??s quiet and strong.â??
