Which Automaker Makes the Fastest Factory Diesel Pickup?
We know that how fast a pickup truck accelerates to 60 mph or merges into highway traffic is not a priority for most pickup buyers. Nevertheless, that information does let buyers know how strong a truck can pull or how well the transmission is matched to the engine.
The last thing you want is a monster engine with clunky shifting or butter-smooths shifts with all the thrust of a hybrid powertrain.
Here at PickupTrucks.com, we know what you want, and the best way we know how to show you how well a pickup's powertrain is integrated is to take it to the track. And as odd as it might sound, some of the most fun we've had with pickups on a quarter-mile track was when they had a modern turbo-diesel engine under the hood.
We've pulled the figures below from two recent Challenges: the 2017 3/4-Ton Premium Truck Challenge and the .
Here's the finishing order of the all the diesel pickups we've track-tested — with empty beds — at zero-to-60 mph.
- 2017 Chevrolet Silverado 2500 LTZ Midnight Edition (6.6-liter V-8 Duramax): 7.3 seconds
- 2017 Ford Super Duty F-250 King Ranch (6.7-liter V-8 Power Stroke): 7.9 seconds
- 2017 Ram 2500 Laramie Longhorn (6.7-liter inline-six-cylinder Cummins): 8.3 seconds
- 2016 Ram 1500 High Fuel Efficiency (3.0-liter V-6 EcoDiesel): 8.9 seconds
- 2017 Nissan Titan XD Platinum Reserve (5.0-liter V-8 Cummins): 9.7 seconds
The only other diesel pickups available are GM's Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon, but we haven't track-tested the Duramax 2.8-liter inline four-cylinder available in those pickups. We should note that the zero-to-60 mph times in our 2016 Midsize Pickup Challenge were 8.2 seconds for the V-6 gas Colorado (crew cab with a 6.5-foot bed) and 7.9 seconds for the V-6 gas Canyon (crew cab with a 5.5-foot bed). The baby Duramaxes would be slower.
Cars.com photo by Angela Conners
