Wednesday, February 1, 2012

2012 Toyota Tundra vs 2012 Ford F-150

For this edition of Car Battles we decided to take a cue from our snowy weekend and pit the 2012 Ford F-150 against the 2012 Toyota Tundra. Who will win this battle of the monsters? Let’s find out!



Safety

This category is of utmost importance as it one of the main selling points of bigger vehicles.

Both the Tundra and the F‑150 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, height-adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding and available four-wheel drive. (Source: Jerry’s Toyota)

The Toyota Tundra offers height adjustable front and rear seat shoulder belts, to accommodate a wide variety of driver and passenger heights. Having a better fit can prevent injuries and it also encourages passengers to buckle up. The Ford F‑150 has only front height-adjustable seat belts, putting the Toyota Tundra ahead in the game early on.

The Tundra also offers parking sensors to help warn the driver about obstacles behind or in front of their vehicle such as other vehicles, pedestrians, etc. The F‑150 doesn’t offer a front parking aid.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration  (NHTSA) does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. The results for this test indicate that the Toyota Tundra is safer than the Ford F‑150 by rating it 4 Overall stars versus the Fords 3.

The NHTSA also does side impact tests on new vehicles. This test sees to it to have vehicles crash into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Toyota Tundra is safer than the Ford F‑150. While both vehicles received 5 stars overall, the Tundra received 5 stars in the pole test versus the Fords 4.

Score: Tundra 1- F-150 0

Warranty

We know truck buyers like to have their fun, and for this a top warranty is key. To be completely honest we shouldn’t even include this category when matching up Toyota vehicles vs non Toyota’s as Toyota offers the best vehicle warranty in the market bar none.

With the Tundra’s warranty, Toyota pays for scheduled maintenance for 2 years and 25000 miles. They will also pay for oil changes, tire rotation, lubrication and any other scheduled maintenance. Ford doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the F‑150.

Score: Tundra 2 – F-150 0

Engine
  
As tested in Consumer Reports the Toyota Tundra 5.7 is faster than the Ford F‑150 5.0 DOHC V8. It goes 0 to 60 in 6.7 seconds vs the Ford’s 7.8 and it performed a quarter mile in 15.3 seconds versus the F-150’s 16.2. We can’t help but admit that we are suckers for speed so this category also goes to the Tundra.

Score: Tundra 3 – F-150 0

Brakes and Stopping

It’s funny that dealing with a east coast winter storm and having trouble coming to a complete stop is what gave me the idea to pit these two monsters against each other. The Tundra has a standard brake assist system to detect emergency braking situations (by how hard and how quickly the brake pedal is pressed) and then automatically apply maximum braking immediately in order to help prevent a collision. The F‑150 doesn’t offer a brake assist feature.

This break assist makes the Tundra stops much shorter than the F‑150. The Tundra stops from 70 to 0 MPH in 197 feet versus the Ford’s 218.

This one is starting to become a bloodbath folks…

Score: Tundra 4- F-150 0 

Towing

The Ford finally starts throwing some come back punches of its on in this category.  The F-150 has a standard towing capacity of 5,500 compared to the Tundra’s 4,900. It also has a maximum towing capacity of 8,300 lbscompared to the Tundra’s 4,900 lbs.

Score: Tundra 4- F-150 1


Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the Tundra has larger standard tires than the F‑150. The Tundra has 255/70R18 tires vs. 235/70R17.

The Tundra’s standard tires have a lower 70 profile series which provide better handling (height to width ratio) and provides a stiffer sidewall than the F‑150 4x4’s standard 75 series tires.(Source Jerry’s Toyota)

Score: Tundra 5- F-150 1


Ergonomics

Consumer Reports rated the Tundra’s headlight performance “Very Good,” versus the F‑150’s headlights, which were rated “Good.”

Also, to better shield the driver and front passenger’s vision, the Tundra Limited is standard equipped with dual-element sun visors that blocks sun glare simultaneously from two different directions. The F‑150 doesn’t offer secondary sun visors.


The Tundra has standard power remote mirrors. The F‑150 XL Regular/SuperCab doesn’t offer either a remote driver side or passenger side mirror. The driver will have to roll down the windows and reach across the car to adjust the mirrors. This is one that surprised us all, as in the age we live in we expected power mirrors to come equipped in the F-150.

The Tundra’s standard outside mirrors also come equipped with heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility.

The 2012 Tundra comes equipped with standard dual zone air conditioning which allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different air temperatures to allow both driver and passengers to be comfortable. The F‑150 XL/SXT/XLT doesn’t offer dual zone air conditioning.

One last feauture that kinda irritated us about the F-150 is that it doesn’t offer rear vents. For greater rear passenger comfort, the Tundra Double Cab/CrewMax has standard rear a/c vents to keep rear occupants more comfortable.

Score: Tundra 6- F150 1


Well folks, while it looked like Ford was about to pull a Rocky style come back in the fight, it was Toyota who pulled the knockout. This was a completely shocking result to us and we expected the F-150 to be the dominant pick up in the market, but Toyota proved us wrong!

That’s it for this edition of Car Battles! For any suggestions of vehicle comparisons you would like to see send us a comment or post on our facebook or twitters!

Jerry’ s Auto Group specializes in customer service and a superb vehicle selection. For more information check us out at 8001 Belair Rd Baltimore, MD 21236 or 1940 East Joppa Rd Baltimore, MD 21236.  You can also check us out on the web at jerrysitsaboutyou.com. 

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