Meh. The next F150 is going to make this think look like it's standing still. Better looking than the Silverado, that's for sure.

Great job GM. Can't wait to see the shootout between the 8 speed hemi ram, the f150 ecoboost, and this truck!!!!

Nice looking truck!!!

I hate to say it but I don't think this truck is going to standout against Ford or Ram. I could be wrong but I think I am right. The Ram is one good looking truck. The only thing holding back the half ton is the rear suspension. Every time I see one going past me with a camper hooked up to it the truck looks like its riding a wave. If they would fix that it could be a class leader. Ford has the all around best truck IMO. The V8's are hitting their stride. Still not sold on the Ecoboost but a lot of people seems to love them. The next gen F150 with the next generation Ecoboost and V8's will be a winner for sure. Bottom line is GM still has a lot of catching up to do, but this truck does look better than the last model even if its only slight changes.

Brand new and not a class leader. GM didn't do enough.

GMC version is now looking much better than the Chevy....

Take mine with a 420 hp 450 ftlb 6.2 liter.

Next year Chevy will clean up their design.

Doesn't need four cams, two turbos to compete. Even having two fuel pumps is going to be quite expensive to replace @175k Will still be able to do the plugs, wires, hoses, belts and fluid myself at 100k.

It is a sad day when a 6.5' bed is referred to as the long bed. The appearance buyers ruined the beds and work trucks for half tons.

What a contrast seeing an smooth shaped airstream towed by an excess squared-off pickup. I doubt that square-savant designer could have overemphasized the squared look any more than that. I think the only thing that isn't square are the wheels, tires, and fog lights. Pathetic....

When I first seen this truck I said o god gmc just can't get it together, but after watching this truck for a while it really is ground breaking. Ram looks good just not there yet. Ford just to heavy really feel big and slow and I have driven them all where I work and I can't wait for this new gmc it's going to kick ass.

I'm just not impressed! Sorry!

The chrome 4x4 logo in front of the mirror looks like something you would buy at Autozone and put on your self. This truck looks like a short bed to me, if that it is the long bed, I wonder what GM would call the 8ft bed. The GMC does look better than the Chevy.

The next F150 will make this truck look even better. But I'll still buy the F150 because I can fix nearly everything on a FORD due to experience.

The Sierra is really starting to grow on me... with a mild lift, bigger tires and custom wheels this is going to be one sharp looking truck! There is no such thing as the perfect truck but this looks to be a real contender... I will definitely be checking it out when I get ready to replace my current ride.

I AM LOOKING AT THE NEW SILVERADO, BUT I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW THIS 5.3 LITER PULLS THE STEEP HILLS WITH THIS 23' TRAILER. I ALSO HAVE A 23' TRAVEL TRAILER AND WITH SOME OF THE 6% GRADES IN THE CASCADES, I WOULD LIKE TO HEAR THE REVIEWERS OPINION ON TOWING ON STEEP GRADES.

@cruisin,
It would be interesting as the Mazda BT50 had no problems towing a 20ft one.
http://liveimages.editorial.carsales.com.au/caravancamping/general/editorial/ge5435925390812973732.jpg

I'm looking forward to the LD shootout, I am impressed by the new GMC twins. When I saw pictures of the Sierra, I didn't like it but I like what I see in the video.

The results of the LD shootout will be affected by whether or not GMC has the 5.3 or 6.2. The most powerful motor does not necessarily guarantee a win. Ford won the last LD shootout with the 5.4.

GMC - these twins may not be the kick ass home runs that everyone was expecting, but these appear to put GMC back in the game.

So far, I like what I am seeing and hearing.

Kudos GMC.

The truck looks relatively okay, I even do not mind the squared off wheel wells.

But the grills are just way to large. What is the use of a grill that size, cooling. I doubt it.

As for the towing, I even think a V6 would tow that airstream at highway speeds.

Don't forget what hp and torque figure pickups had in the 60s and 70s and they all towed Airstreams.

But even better will be when the little diesels in the trucks can be used in the comparisons. They might not out accelerate a V8, but they will tow as good or even better. They'll also return much better fuel economy.

When is Fiat bringing out the Ram diesel?

GM already said a 6.2 wn't be available until the fall. They don't even have the final power torque numbers yet. So no 6.2 in the shootout and you can put that to rest.

WOW! This truck really puts Ford light years behind! It is marketed at the earning public and higher educated driver so maybe Ford who targets low income and high school dropouts may be able to still sell some F150's. I'd love to get one but with my 99 Sierra being so much better than a 2013 F150 at 14 years old I can't justify getting one. If my Sierra wears out in 20-25 years I'll see about a new truck. GM has lost so many sales by making their trucks the longest lasting but I can't see them going to Ram or Fords poor quality of a 10 year truck then junk it policy to get rednecks to buy another one.

A TINY FRACTION BETTER THAN A FORD TRUCK BUT NOT MUCH BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!1

GUTS
GLORY
GOING SEVERAL STEPS FURTHER THAN FORD AND GM
TAKING OVER THE TRUCK MARKET FROM COAST TO COAST
MOST HANDSOME TRUCK
SUPERIOR QUALITY
RAM

^^ well said hemi rampage
Guts
Glory
Leapfroging the competition
Ram!!

GM did a great job on the new Impala, seems like they put all their resources into that because this just does not cut it, It just barely catches them up, but when everyone else has new trucks in two years they will be in the dust again.

Towing 4k is nice for journalists but we all want to know what it does with 11.5k on the back!!!

Hate, hate, hate the 4x4 logo....ugly and cheap looking.

Can't wait to see the shootout between this truck, the ecoBoost, the Toy 5.7, and the Ram 5.7.

Although I own a rusty old Chevy (99) and theoretically should know better, I really like the LSx series of engines and love that GM is keeping the OHV design competitive with the more complex OHC designs from other manufacturers. Say what you will about Chevy trucks themselves (I think they're crap...and I drive one every day), but the powertrains in them are brilliant...Simple, reliable and efficient.

Very interested in the new Ram/VM Motori Diesel as well.

Man that pickup sits low--I can hardly believe it is a four wheel-drive. Good thing they put that large and incredibly tacky "4X4" way up near the hood to let people know!

I too can't believe Mark called it a long bed?!

Love that Airstream though.

n the 8' bed in a half ton i only see these being used rarly in fleetsmost fleets that only need an 1/2 ton get a 6.5 foot bed if you are filling up an 8' box with tools and equipment your weight probably requires an HD whose smallest beds are 6.5' not everyone buys a truck to tow with or as a work vehicle to say that they should use it as such is comunist. some of us like the outdoors and a 5.5 bed is ideal it fits our gear and makes the truck easier to manuver in the woods. some of use need the ground clearnce to get to our favorite camping spots, in places where you cannot take a GMT900.
On the fules pumps on the ecoboostdepending on their design they should not cause that big of a problem compared to my 05 z71 who ate fuel pumps at 46,000, 77,000 and 94,000 miles it also had to have its front diff rebuilt 3 times after it failed in a blizzard, the finish on the radio pealed so you could no longer read the buttons and gm to save a few cents didn't put the proper light bulb in for the DRLs at autozone they told me to use a diffrent bulb and i never had a drl go out again. the guage cluster even went out at 50k miles. its these little things that GM cannot do right that i will not buy another GM truck, and these where very common problems on these trucks. I was talking to a co worker who has a 12 silvarado ltz and after riding in his coworkers fx4 and my raptor is dead set on trading in for a ford, he said that the fit and finish in the chevy is so bad and that the truck feels like its about to fall apart. Gm needs to get their stuff together if they are ever goign to win formerly loyal customers like myself back from Ford. increased ground clearnce, approach angles and metal skid plates would be nice. YOu notice Fords solution to increase FE was the ecoboost GM decided to lower their truck nd use a bigger bumper, hurting the trucks useful nes to peple who leave the road.

It looks like the exact type Airsteam that Edmunds towed in their comparison of the Ram 3.6 and Ford 3.7. In which case when they added the extra 300 pounds to the Ford, after Ford sprinkled magic dust around and upped their 3.7 tow ratings, the trans overheated and sent it into limp mode. At GCWR.

If it is the same trailer (an Airsteam International23FB), it weighs 5765, and I didn't see it going up anything too steep here.

You would think a company that upped their tow ratings past the Ecoboost in a "mines bigger then yours" contest would want to show how they can tow something heavy, because the big three v-6s can handle this trailer, well, unless you add 300 pounds to the Ford. So, I sure hope it didn't need much throttle. Now hook it something not as aero as these known for good airflow hence the name Airsteam, something that is over 8,000 pounds, and run it it up some steep hills.

Gotta wonder when they will get an actual way to measure cab noise, instead he said, she said. Something that can be mounted in all trucks on the same day, and measures sound, but has no opinion.

Of course we get the same picture Robert Ryan always throughs our way, a Mazda towing an Airstream. Gotta wonder when they will actual compare the two trucks, and when the Aussie Mazda folks find us CAB SPECS, because every other spec shows the truck to be tiny, yet Mazda says it seats 5. The question is, 5 150 pounders? 5 180 pound people? Surely not 5 225 pound people?

Atleast we in the states get the cab specs.

As for parts, Carilloskis, you seen the cost for the Oxygen sensor for the Ecoboost? $$$. I know they can get more mpg and more power with direct injection, at a big cost for fuel pumps.

Great looking truck!!! Once I save up enough money I plan on dumping my RAM for one of these. If not then maybe a Ford will be in my garage or possibly a Silverado.

crusin: I have the very same Airstream, and tow it with either a 2011 Chevy Ext cab 6.5' bed 4x4 Z-71, 5.3 w/3:42 gears, and also a 2011 F-150 reg cab 4x4 8"bed Eco-Boost w/3:73 gears. With that said, I can tow the Airstream with either truck in the mnts of NH with no problem, I will say that before I had the head gasket problem with the EB the F-150 did have more power, but I do not trust it any more to travel with, and the Chevy has no problem either, but does not have the extra power the EB does, but have never had any problems with any Chevy I have owned in the past 25+ yrs. I had heard so much about the new EB from Ford, that I had to go out and buy one, and yes it does have great power, and decent MPG, BUT after all the trouble I had with the head gasket and dealer and Ford to get it fixed under warrantee, I would and will stick to either a Chevy or Ram, the next time I get another truck!

I don't think that the truck is any lower to the ground if you measured low points on the chassis. The lower you make the bumper/fascia/airdam, the better the fuel economy. I had read somewhere that Ford gained 0.5 mpg by making the airdam extend 1 inch lower.
Most people use 4x4 1% of the time and that is more because they don't really know how to drive if there is a skiff of snow or some water on the boat ramp.
Running boards make a truck look lower and if you recall from the stories on the new Ram's - a full length running bord was found to improve mpg.

With that being said, one thing I liked about the F150 was the higher bumper profile and minimal underhanging plastic. You get a dump of snow and a drop in temperature to -30C and plastic tends to shatter like glass.

GMC over the last few generations of pickups have had better mpg but is that because they all have had lower body/bumper mouldings and were lighter than the competition?

I have to agree with several posters - when did a 6.5 box become a long box?
That change occured when the auto companies realized that they could sell hundreds of thousands more if they turned them into SUV's with the cap removed.
If a crewcab 1/2 ton were to have a decent cargo capacity to handle an 8 ft box, it would need the capacity of a 3/4 ton. Current 1/2 ton crewcabs are like SUV's when it comes to cargo capacity. You can carry a full load of passengers or a full load of cargo but not both at the same time. A 1500 lb payload capacity and a tiny cargo box becomes self explanatory.

Nice collection

@Sandman 4x4: With the fight you had to get the Ford fixed by Ford, not at your expense, because of a Cold Air Intake, right? If that's the deal, I wonder when these ones that have a tune on them (and on a turbo, it opens up so much more power) start popping the engine, how will Ford react?

Is your Dakota a manual or auto trans?

do you thing gm have more secret coming soon about new tech...do you thing ford ecoboost over heat if he pull a trailer long distance.and what about over sea level..do you thing they have trouble whit overheat and gas consumption..

@TRX-5 Tom: Maybe you meant to be me and hit the 5 instead? Whichever case, I have no desire for this ugly brick shaped GM. Maybe if it looked like the 1967-1972, instead of this brick. GM is a follower.

The interior doesn't look that great to me, still playing catch up to Ram and Ford.

The tow ratings are just a number GM threw out there to try to get prospective buyers to think it will tow better. Only a GM nutswinger will actually believe this truck with the 5.3 will out tow a Ram Hemi 8 speed, a Tundra 5.7, or an Ecoboost.

They did finally fix the wrong way doors though. And they added some torque. Six speed? Nah. Same old GM, run it anywhere but flatlands and the mileage goes to hell. That's the way GM thinks.

As Lou pointed out, the front end is low. If I buy another new truck, it won't have a low sitting spoiler. I would either get an air suspension truck, or possibly if they make the spoiler/air damn to deploy at speed. Yes, I actually bitched on this site that the air dam on my 2010 Ram is low, but I aint up to either removing it, or a 1.5" spacer.

As far as somebodies above comment about a Ram towing, seems like Edmunds says it tows fine compared to a Ford. Motor Trend said the Ram felt more confident towing then the Ford. But I know there are alot of folks too cheap to buy the proper weight distrubuting hitch. So between that and people that have no clue how to tow or load, you see all sorts.

As for my quad cab 4x4, I put $90 air bags on it. (Heck, some Chevy folks even use them, such as Sandman 4x4) And if it's really heavy, I use the weight distibuting hitch. Wednesday I had a Chevy Cobalt (3400 pounds or so?) on my 1800 pound trailer, and 450 pounds of parts in the bed, stable as can be at 30 psi in the bags, no weight distributing hitch needed.

Maybe you should reffer to the LD 2008 shootout in which case the Chevy was about the same squat as a coil Ram, and the Chevy sat lower. The ass end on Chevys is low.

-Continued-

AS for a Ford.....The Supercab still has wrong way doors and less space then a quad Ram.

I wouldn't mess with the Ecoboost, although it has great torque (well, unless in humid areas where the intercooler gets condensation in it) The 5.0 is peaky and less mileage then an 8 speed Hemi, the 6.2 is a waste. The 3.7, no thanks.

Otherwise, they are ok. Maybe if they had a v-8 that had lower rpm power, and economy. And something better then a 6 speed. That's all I ask.

OH, BTW, I don't park mine in a garage. It would be nice to have shelter from the occassional hail storm, or maybe the once in a while snow. A car port would do that.

@miath - I suspect that you are Québécois,therefore overheating would not be an issue in Central Canada (Quebec/Ontario) but humidity would be a problem. Ford has had issues with the EB3.5 in humid regions due to condensation in the intercooler.

Overheating CAN be a problem with ANY truck towing heavy in ANY hot environment.

Considering the condensation problems atributed to the EB3.5 - I suspect that Ford "overdesigned" that intercooler for heat dispersion which caused the condensation problem.

Gas consumption - I've talked to a few guys with the EB3.5 and they say that towing heavy i.e. around 8,000 - 10,000 lb, they get similar gas mileage as to a normally aspirated V8.
Empty - I've been told 30 mpg (Canadian Imperial gallon). That would be 9.4 litres/100 km. That would be 25 mpg USA gallon.
One guy gave me a good rule of thumb for guesstimating your towing mpg - he said "take your city mpg and half it". So far, it applies to almost everyone I've talked to or even from my own experience.

I like the wrongway doors on the Ford not a big fan of the extended cabs looking like crew cabs, they look ugly in my opinion with the little front opening doors, with the suicide doors it doesn't even look like a door not to mention you get a much bigger opening into the cab.

On the 5.3 tow numbers, I'm pretty sure this 5.3 1/2 ton has a higher tow rating than our 2007 classic Silverado 2500HD with the 6.0 and 4.10 gears.

The 5.3 will be no different from the other GM small blocks; you will have to rev these things to make the torque. All the GM gas engines are dogs down low, the only one that I liked was the older 8.1 they had in the 2500HDs. The 8.1 would walk up a hill where our current 6.0 LABORS up a hill at 4-5k RPMs.

My prediction in the shootout is that either the 5.7 Tundra or 5.7 Ram will win. I believe the Tundra in 08 was second place in performance in the last shoot out, and that was because of the 6.2 in the GM twins. Just to point out a few things, the Tundra has no air dam, and the Tundra has the least amount of squat in the 08 shootout.

Regardless it will be nice to see a test where the F-150 Ecoboost and the 5.7 Tundra are tested against each other, since Ford won’t do it.

@The real John

Ford won't do it because they don't find the Tundra to be a direct competitor or threat to sales as opposed to Ram and GM.

What is stopping Toyota from doing it???

Hmmmm.......

Ford will kill a Tundra thats why

@ Frank Maybe Toyota doesn’t consider a wimpy V6 as a direct competitor. Regardless Toyota is a direct competitor, and is Fords competitor in every other segment.

Ford made 1.6 billion in net income last quarter.
Toyota made 3.7 billion in PROFITS last quarter. Profits to net income, if you need me to explain the difference, I’ll be happy to. I hope Ford considers Toyota a competitor.

Ford will not show the Ecoboost losing to a competitor that would be bad marketing. That’s why the Silverado in the towing video had 3.21 gears and the 5.3.

When the Tundra came out in 07, Ford compared the F-150 to the Tundra in everything down to bolt sizes (you can check YouTube). Why the sudden change now?

Another example is the HD to HD video GM published, on the twist ditch example where the Ford dents their tailgate; the Dodge was never shown being compared to the Silverado. Because the Dodge was probably better if not equal to the Silverado. And showing that would be poor marketing.

A business class helps out a lot; I bet there is a local community college that offers some business classes online for you to take.

What Ever

@The real John

Ford won't do it because they don't find the Tundra to be a direct competitor or threat to sales as opposed to Ram and GM.

What is stopping Toyota from doing it???

Hmmmm.......

Posted by: Frank | Jun 7, 2013 12:40:11 PM

More words of wisdom from our fellow blogger Frankie. To hear Frank talk you would think that Ford has no competition at all.

@The real John,

Don't kid yourself bud, Ford sells twice as many Trucks that the Tundra has sold all this YEAR!

http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2013/06/may-2013-top-15-pickup-truck-sales.html

Bud sells twenty times more beer then most of the other brands but most people will tell you its piss water.

TRX-4Tom: My Dakota has a 5spd manual w/4.7 V-8 and 3:92lmtslp and will to the Airstream just fine also, but is a reg cab, and is not as comfy on a long trip, so I do not use it for travel, and one other thing, the Dakota does not even get the mileage as the 5.3 Chevy, not even close, the Dak gets 14/18, and the Chevy gets 17-22, same roads, same driver, same speeds. The Dakota will out run the Chevy, but it does weight about 1,000lbs less!

@Rick,

Why would someone spend $50k on piss water. Your analogy is really stupid. McDonald's sells the most burgers, but they don't cost $50K.

Wow, the ignorance of people on this site has risen exponentially with Bob leading the way.

Buit Ford Tough!!

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/06/07/ford-mustang-hit-by-moore-oklahomas-ef5-tornado-lives-to-do-an/

Use the truck any way you want. But the "communists", if that's what you want to call them, would be the appearance buyers who don't need the truck for any hauling or towing purposes and then tell everyone how they should be. Usually these are people who came from cars.

The long beds used to be a lot more common as little as 2006. It is sad when almost every truck on the lot now is a SuperCrew with a short bed. I'm tired of hearing just by a HD. Why pay $10k more and get worse fuel economy if you don't need to?

"Communists" are also the ones who demand shorter bed sides for all, but don't haul anything significant. Some people want the taller sides because they actually do haul and want to keep the load inside the bed. The apperance buyers can be good news for requesting certain features, but they are bad news when it comes to beds.

Frank, use your brain, its a simple analogy. People buy what they see and whats cheap doesn't just because it sells more doesn't make it better. Most of the Trucks Ford sells are to Fleets at cheap prices not 50K. That said the trucks Ford prices at 50K only cost them like 23K to build, if that says anything.