This would be certainly be cool to see. GM’s Tom Stephens, the company’s vice chairman in charge of global product operations, recently said in an interview with Pickuptrucks.com that he is so excited about GM’s new version of the Duramax that he wants to chain a new GM truck to one of Ford’s new Super Duty trucks (that would be equipped with the brand new 6.7L diesel) and have a tug of war. Sign us up for front row seats.
At the time this is being written, Ford has not responded to the challenge, but we suspect that they will. The new GM Heavy Duty trucks are set to make their debut at the Chigaco Auto Show and Ford has been making a big deal about their clean sheet 6.7-liter engine which was designed and constructed all in-house at Ford.
Truck buyers being the typically loyal people that they are may or may not be swayed by the results of the test, but it would provide a unique media spectacle for both companies and the winner would have some awesome advertising fodder. We do have some suspicions though.
This would be the rough truck equivalent to the ’60s magazine drag tests that defined the muscle car era. As we now know, lots of the cars that were run down the strip in the name of editorial copy weren’t exactly stockers. Seeing as this event would probably draw a fair amount of attention, we’d not put it past either company to make some “invisible” enhancements to add a little extra tug to their truck. Maybe that transfer case has a slightly lower “low” range in it than stock, or the rear end has just a wee bit more gear than is able to be spec’d out by Joe consumer, and oh yeah, a little weight hidden here or there, may increase the traction enough to prevent wheel spin. We’re sure nothing like that would happen, we’re just sayin’.
Several years ago, Popular Mechanics did this exact test between a Chevy Suburban and a Ford Expedition. We have no idea who won, but the cover shot of both trucks absolutely roiling the rear hides is awesome.
Source: US News and World Report — GM Challenges Ford to Truck Tug o’ War
