The Best Trucks on the Road

These 8 pickups each have one characteristic that sets them head and shoulders above the competition.

Americans love their trucks, and each truck buyer has a different reason for needing one. Drivers might need a truck to tow a boat, camper or snowmobile, or as an everyday workhorse on the job site, or simply for the occasional trip to the garbage dump. Traits valued in a pickup may include power, towing capacity, off-road capability or passenger space. Here we bring you the best, most capable pickups in eight categories.

Most Powerful Heavy-Duty Pickup

Ford F-Series Super Duty

Over the past few years, there has been an arms race in the heavy-duty pickup market. Power and torque numbers for diesel engines have grown significantly. Chevrolet and its GMC truck brand have reached 397 horsepower and 765 lb-ft of torque with their 6.6-liter Duramax turbodiesel engine. Dodge Ram's 6.7-liter Cummins V8 turbodiesel has 350 horsepower and up to 800 lb-ft of torque. But the winner is Ford. The Power Stroke 6.7-liter V8 turbodiesel in the 2012 Ford F-Series Super Duty wrings out some nice round numbers: 400 horses and 800 stump-pulling lb-ft of torque. As we'll soon see, though, more power doesn't necessarily mean more hauling capacity.

Best Heavy-Duty Hauler

Chevrolet Silverado / GMC Sierra 3500HD

The 2012 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra heavy-duty pickups may trail their Ford counterparts by 35 lb-ft of torque, but thanks to a beefy ladder frame, they boast the highest towing and payload capacities on the market. General Motors' heavy-duty duo can each tow up to 18,000 pounds on a conventional trailer hitch or 23,000 pounds using a bed-mounted fifth wheel. Payload capacity tops out at 7,215 pounds. The closest competitor is the Ford F-Series Super Duty, which is within 500 pounds for towing and 105 pounds for payload capacity. To aid towing, the GM heavy-duty pickups also offer an integrated trailer brake, an exhaust brake, dual rear wheels and 4-wheel drive.

Best Light Truck

Ford F-150 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6

In most barroom bull sessions, admitting that you have a V6 engine in your full-size truck is like saying you wear a skirt. But not when you're talking about Ford's EcoBoost 3.5-liter V6. It can outperform most V8s, churning out 365 horsepower and 420 lb-ft of torque, while delivering 16 mpg city/22 mpg highway. That's less horsepower than the GM 6.2-liter V8, the Ram 5.7-liter Hemi V8 and Ford's own 6.2-liter V8, but the torque numbers are similar and fuel economy is roughly 3 mpg better. Better yet, the EcoBoost is more responsive on the street, delivering quicker acceleration than any other light-truck engine.

Best Off-Roader

Ford F-150 SVT Raptor

With the SVT Raptor, Ford has put the full extent of its off-road engineering knowledge into a single vehicle. This is more than just a standard pickup with a lift kit. It is a fully realized off-roader in the vein of the pre-runner trucks used to scout courses before off-road races. Ford engineers widened the F-150 by 7 inches, which helped them increase suspension travel. That travel, 11.2 inches up front and 13.4 inches in the rear, lets the Raptor clear extreme obstacles while maintaining traction. Fox Racing shocks handle hard off-road impacts, and the stability control system is tuned for off-road demands.

Most Interior Room

Ram 3500 Mega Cab

Towing the horse trailer to a show or the race car to the track can be family activities that require seating for five or six and a certain level of comfort. That's why buyers opt for crew cab trucks with full-size rear seats more than any other configuration. Ram goes one step further by offering the Mega Cab, which has a limousinelike 45.3 inches of rear legroom. By comparison, the Ram 1500 Crew Cab has 40.3 inches of legroom. In addition, the Mega Cab's rear seats recline, they can double as storage bins, and there is still 12.1 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats — about as much as a typical sedan's trunk.

Most Luxurious

Ford F-150 Lariat Limited

The full-size half-ton pickup market has only six models, but the trim and body style choices are limited only by your pocketbook. Domestic automakers have embraced this diversity with several high-end trims, and none more so than Ford. With its heated and cooled leather bucket seats, rearview camera, remote starting and Sony audio system, the $45,565 Ford F-150 King Ranch (for a 4WD SuperCrew short bed) is plenty luxurious. But Ford has three models above that, including the $50,970 Lariat Limited. The Lariat Limited features amenities such as power retractable running boards, sunroof, navigation system, high-definition radio and 22-inch wheels. Is there anything else you could possibly want?

Best Bargain for Contractors

Ram 1500 Tradesman

Contractors depend on their trucks to make a living; they don't buy them to sit in the lap of luxury. They want trucks with all the capability and none of the pretense. No carpet. No power windows. No remote keyless entry. Just a long bed, a powerful engine and maybe a radio. Most of all, they want an affordable price. The best deal for these folks is the Ram 1500 Tradesman, which starts at $22,340 for a 2-wheel-drive model with the 6-foot-4-inch bed and the powerful Hemi V8 engine. Get the long bed and the price increases by $305.

Most Fuel-Efficient Full-Size Truck

Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid / GMC Sierra Hybrid

The two-mode hybrid system in the GM full-size pickups increases fuel economy by 23.5 percent. The electric motor is paired with a 6.0-liter V8 engine, producing 332 horsepower and 367 lb-ft of torque while delivering fuel-economy ratings of 20 mpg city/23 mpg highway. Those numbers are better than the ratings for any full-size V6 competitor. In fact, the closest a V6 engine gets is the Ford F-150's 3.7-liter V6, which is rated at 17/23. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the GM hybrid pickups will cost a typical driver $2,506 a year in gasoline expenses, about $500 to $700 less than comparable V8 engines.

Quoted from MSN