New pickup models in 2015

IT’S A BATTLE reminiscent of the melee at the climax of “The Avengers.” All major manufacturers launched all-new or refreshed models of their pickups this year.

Let’s take a look at the best features of each, and how our team rates them.

COMFORT is significantly much better especially for rear passengers, making the Navara the most comfortable-riding workhorse in the market today.

Nissan Navara NP300

This is the one that started the pickup wars. The fighting words of “Let the truck wars begin!” were actually courtesy of Nissan Philippines Inc. president Antonio Zara. That shows his measure of confidence in Nissan’s latest pickup.

Indeed, the SUV-inspired NP300 debuted as one of the best in class, with a car-like cabin.

The seats feature the famed Nasa-inspired “zero gravity” design. Its coil-spring rear suspension with stabilizer bars promised a smoother, more comfortable ride.

The Navara’s exterior features first-in-class LED headlamps, a tall beltline and blackened B-pillars.

Engine: 2.5-liter diesel with variable geometry system turbocharger. Output: 187.40 horsepower/450 Newton-meters for the 4×4, 160.77 HP/403 Nm for the 4×2

Price range: P898,00-P1.49 million

Botchi Santos says: Most telling of all is its very comfortable ride, thanks to the multilink rear. Payload capacity has not been compromised yet the unladen bed moves gracefully on high-speed onroad driving. Comfort is significantly much better especially for rear passengers, making the Navara the most comfortable-riding workhorse you will ever find in the market today. Collectively, these attributes make the Navara the benchmark, the leader, the standard-bearer for the pickup segment.

NEW SOUND insulation, absorption and damping materials were installed in the Mitsubishi Strada to make the cabin a lot quieter.

Mitsubishi Strada

One of the more car-like pickups since the previous generation, the Mitsubishi Strada gets an all-new version in March 2015.

The new one continues that theme, particularly with a sleek and curvy exterior. The top variants feature HID headlamps. Mitsubishi claims the smallest turning radius in the class, which is 5.9 meters.

Engine: 2.5-liter diesel with variable geometry turbocharger.

Output: 175.56 HP/400 Nm for the GLS Sport V, 134.14 HP/324 Nm for the other variants

Price range: P950,000 to P1.44 million

Charles Buban says: The all-new Strada offers more cabin space—additional 10-mm shoulder room, 5-mm headroom at the front, and 20 mm of extra rear legroom at the rear. New sound insulation, absorption and damping materials are also installed to make the cabin a lot quieter. But just like its predecessor, the all-new Strada retained the distinctive “J-line” that separates the cab and cargo bed. The J-line, incidentally, allows the rear seats to have a nicely angled backrest.

VARIETY is the name of Ford’s game with the Ford Ranger.

Ford Ranger

Variety is the name of Ford’s game with the Ranger. With the refreshed version launched, there are now 13 variants, topped out by the 4×4 Wildtrak automatic.

Convenience features include the Sync 2 connectivity system with voice command and 230-volt power socket. Active safety features include lane keeping alert, adaptive cruise control, electronic stability program, hill launch assist, hill descent control, and front and rear park assist.

Engines: 3.2-liter, five-cylinder turbodiesel for the Wildtrak with 197.26 HP/470 Nm, 2.2-liter turbodiesel with 157.81 HP and 385 Nm for other variants.

Ardie Lopez says: There’s no doubt that sheer power is the new Ranger’s hallmark characteristic, but it’s fascinating how tech smarts, premium creature comforts and sophisticated aesthetics were all comfortably shoe-horned into one tight and cohesive package.

Price: P709,000 to P1.679 million

THE TOYOTA all-new Hiluxfeatures a reinforced ladder frame chassis, more economical diesel engines, and more upscale cabin.

Toyota Hilux

This is the 800-pound gorilla, or rather, 1800-kilogram truck. After a decade of the previous model, Toyota has finally launched the all-new Hilux.

The new pickup features a reinforced ladder frame chassis, more economical diesel engines, and more upscale cabin.

There’s an assist feature for the manual transmission models, enabling smoother shifts by helping to match engine speed to transmission speed. Offroad prowess is enhanced with a lockable rear differential and traction control for the 4×4 models.

Engine: 2.4-liter turbodiesel with 146.96 HP/400 Nm or 343 Nm, 2.8-liter turbodiesel with 173.59 HP/450 Nm or 420 Nm

Price range: P776,000 to P1.685 million

Botchi Santos says: Our group of three Toyota Hiluxes and a few other support vehicles went on a high-speed 60-80-kph trail run through the riverbed, with some 1-foot-deep (0.3 meters) water crossings and lots of splashes.

Not one of the Hiluxes, fully laden with five people each, got stuck despite being shod with the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) all-terrain tires. Performance was impressive, and power was immense. And the steep ascents and descents, plus a few carefully laid-out chassis twister sections and suspension/wheel-hop areas, showed how stable, solid and sure-footed, not to mention comfortable, the all-new Hilux is.

THE MEATY 3-liter engine of the Isuzu D-Max pulls effortlessly and is relatively quiet and refined.

Isuzu D-Max

The Isuzu D-Max gets a significant upgrade with the availability of new engine. Aside from the 2.5-liter turbodiesel, the D-Max can also be specified with a 3-liter engine.

The new 3-liter variants feature LED daytime running lamps.

Engine: 3-liter diesel with variable-geometry turbocharger.

Output: 134.14 HP/380 Nm

Charles Buban says: The meaty 3-liter engine  pulls effortlessly and is relatively quiet and refined (as far as diesel clatter inside the cabin  goes). In any case, this powerplant is really meant to provide a more rewarding offroading and towing experience (considering this new engine offers an additional 86 Nm of torque compared to the old 4JJ1-TC, or an additional 60 Nm of torque compared to the currently available 2.5-liter engine).