From the August 1998 issue of Car and Driver.
In Nairobi, one noble use of the compact pickup has been to convert it to a 25-passenger municipal bus. In Afghanistan, compact pickups with mounted guns served the rebels heroically in ousting the Soviets, who drove larger, clumsier tanks. In California, enthusiasts drive heavily modified versions of these little trucks on snaking roads as if they were sports cars, and down in Texas, the locals use the most frugal of these machines to commute to work.
Well, as for ourselves, we’re neither noble, heroic, nor frugal. But enthusiastic? To put it mildly, we’re excessive—especially when it comes to having fun on four wheels. Compact pickups are not our traditional mount when it comes to four-wheeled frolicking, so before we set off on this comparison test, we took the precaution of filling the beds of our trucks with all-terrain vehicles and trail bikes. Then we headed for Michigan’s north-woods trails, where we commenced major motorized playtime, traversing 52-inch-wide dirt paths at the speed of a waterskier. We assure you no animals were harmed during the testing of any of our four ATVs, or during the general flailing of these five compact pickups, five trail bicycles, two barbecues, and two bulging coolers.
But before we get muddy, let’s look at the guest list of trucks. The compact-pickup market consists of eight nameplates riding on five different trucks. The Mazda B-series is an exact copy of a Ford Ranger, and the GMC Sonoma and Isuzu Hombre are duplicates of the Chevy S-10, so we left the clones at home. The Nissan Frontier has been around since the fall of 1997, and arch-rival Toyota has sold its Tacoma since 1995. Dodge’s Dakota was comprehensively overhauled for the 1997 model year.
Compact pickups come in a dizzying array of choices. There are regular- and extended-cab versions that can seat two, three, four, five, or six passengers. Chevy and Ford offer optional half-doors to ease entry into the rear seat. All offer a choice of rear- or four-wheel drive. The Chevy, the Dodge, and the Ford offer a choice of bed lengths. Most also provide a menu of engine choices. The standard motor in the Ranger is a 2.5-liter four; there are two optional V-6s. The Dakota’s standard powerplant is also a 2.5-liter four, with one optional V-6 and two V-8s. The Chevy’s standard engine is a 2.2-liter four, the upgrade is a 4.3-liter V-6. Tacomas come standard with a four-cylinder of either 2.4- or 2.7-liter displacement, depending on the choice of rear- or four-wheel drive. A 3.4-liter V-6 is optional. This fall Nissan will add the 3.3-liter V-6 found in the Pathfinder sport-utility to four-wheel-drive versions of the Frontier, but rear-drivers will continue to be motivated by the only engine available now, a 2.4-liter four.
For this test we chose extended-cab, short-bed, rear-drive trucks powered by V-6 engines (except for the Nissan) and automatic transmissions. Sticker prices ranged from $19,589 to $21,532. (Four-cylinder, two-seat versions start at about $12,000, and loaded four-wheel-drive examples can top $25,000.) The majority of compact-pickup buyers prefer less expensive, more lightly optioned trucks than we selected, according to several of the manufacturers.
The shortest of our trucks was the 196.1-inch-long Nissan Frontier, and the longest was the 214.8-inch Dodge Dakota. Some argue the Dakota is in its own size class, but with a price close to the others’, it competes fine here.
Two of our pickups—the Ford Ranger Splash SuperCab and the extended-cab Chevy S-10 LS Sportside—came with narrower, stepside beds. The side-mounted steps make it slightly easier to climb aboard while securing an unwieldy load, but those steps shrink the carrying space from 36 cubic feet to 31 in the Ford and from 40 to 29 in the Chevy. The bigger, flat-sided pickup boxes cost less, so we figure the main attraction of the stepside layout is styling.
A different kind of fashion is available in Toyota’s Tacoma PreRunner Xtracab, which has the optional Toyota Racing Development (TRD) off-road suspension and big tires. It’s the odd duck in this group of overwhelmingly street-oriented rear-drive pickups, but we didn’t think its off-road parts would necessarily harm the Toyota’s street performance, so we sprang for the indulgence.
With this group we carried neither guns nor 25 terrified passengers; instead, we sorted through the best and worst of compact-pickup life on a 650-mile road trip.
5th Place: Nissan Frontier SE King Cab
Most of the pickups Nissan sells in the U.S. are rear-drive, regular-cab models, made for light hauling and commuting. In fact, you see bunches of these Tennessee-built pickups in the truck-rich state of Texas, where it’s been selling third-best behind compact Fords and Chevys. The redesign for ’98 was its sixth since this class was created in 1959 with the Datsun 1000. Money-wise folks looking for no-nonsense transportation like the Frontier. Indulgent toymongers like us, however, find the Nissan lacking.
HIGHS: Low price, good assembly quality, and for a pickup, its ride is quiet and as soft as feathers.
LOWS: Cheapo interior trim pieces, boring styling inside and out, lacks a V-6.
VERDICT: Physically and visually, the least trucklike here.
Our $19,589 Frontier SE King Cab came standard with a sunroof; a tinted sliding rear window; upscale carpets; cruise control; a tilting steering wheel; power mirrors, locks, and windows; and a keyless remote. Even loaded up like that, it still fell $1151 shy of the next-cheapest, the Ford.
What this truck doesn’t offer are the toys we like: a limited-slip differential, a V-6 engine, extra doors, and big meaty wheels and tires—things the other trucks offer. Quite simply, Nissan is aiming at the simpler, less-expensive end of the market. With a 2000-pound towing capacity and a 1460-pound payload capacity, our SE is the bargain hauler of our group.
The Frontier does some truck things better than you’d expect for the price. It rides smoothly when unladen, on paved or dirt roads. Its steering is precise, and the messages it sends to the driver are honest.
Surprisingly, it is not the slowest of the group. The 2.4-liter four-cylinder, which Altima sedan drivers will recognize by sound, makes 143 quiet, calm horsepower, nine more than last year’s Nissan pickup. This four-cylinder gets the 3240-pound Nissan to 60 mph in 10.7 seconds, 0.5 second quicker than the Dakota with its 175-hp, 3.9-liter V-6. The Nissan, the
lightest in this test by 280 pounds, loses this acceleration advantage when both vehicles are loaded with 800 pounds of ATV and play gear. It then requires the same 13.4 seconds the Dakota takes to get to 60 mph.
The Frontier works most like a car on bad roads and washboard gravel. The ride motions are soft but controlled. When loaded up with a 500-pound Yamaha Warrior and 300 pounds of ballast, the Nissan tended to bob and bounce like a 1976 Caprice. That’s not the kind of car we want a truck to mimic.
The Nissan ties the Toyota for the narrowest and smallest interior—both Japanese-branded trucks still follow the obsolete 66.5-inch width limit originally created by a long-extinct Japanese tax law. The Nissan feels smallest in the rear passenger compartment, too. You can haul two kids back there, but we’re warning medium-size adults right now that if they can squeeze in behind the folded seat (there are no handy half-doors), they risk physical injury when the road turns bumpy.
Finally, the other trucks made us feel like strapping on our Justins and yodeling like Montana ranch hands. We never got that feeling driving the soft-riding Nissan.
1998 Nissan Frontier SE King Cab
143-hp inline-4, 4-speed automatic, 3240 lb
Base/as-tested price: $19,530/$19,589
Payload/towing capacity: 1460/2000 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
30 mph: 3.0 sec
60 mph: 10.7 sec
1/4-Mile: 17.9 sec @ 74 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 224 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.68 g
C/D observed fuel economy: 21 mpg
4th Place: Toyota Tacoma PreRunner Xtracab
Hard-core car fans and truck lovers alike at Car and Driver prefer to be seen in this California-built pickup than in the others. It’s a styling thing. This particular Tacoma is the new-for-1998 PreRunner model. It’s made for folks who want to indulge in the Baja image but whose desert travels rarely require the four-wheel drive that costs about $4500 more but may be necessary in a Colorado blizzard. The PreRunner option comes only as an extended-cab rear-drive truck with an automatic transmission. It costs $1810 with the 2.7-liter four-cylinder (which is otherwise available only in four-wheel-drive models) and $1220 with the V-6. The PreRunner gets the new aerodynamic headlights and new grille that were added to all four-wheel-drive Tacomas for 1998. Other bits borrowed from the four-wheeler include an electrically locking rear differential and the larger front-disc and rear-drum brakes of the four-wheel-drive Tacomas. Our PreRunner also had the $1610 TRD off-road package that adds butch-looking truck tires, a stiffer suspension, fender flares, and a tach.
HIGHS: Macho, head-turning styling.
LOWS: Giant tires and a stiff suspension, although great for crashing across the desert provide a punishing ride everywhere else.
VERDICT: Appealing for its power and looks, but a Nervous Nellie on pavement.
The PreRunner and TRD packages make the Tacoma a trick truck for running the Parker 400 around Lake Havasu in Arizona, but on our trek to the north woods, we found it a rough rider. “Being jacked up on tiptoes, the Tacoma loses some of its directional stability and becomes way scary in turns,” noted boss ATV wrangler John Phillips.
The interior is inviting, but the PreRunner has the least headroom of the bunch. Our test truck’s optional bucket front seats and console replace the standard three-seat front bench. Two jump seats fold forward from the back wall of the Tacoma’s cab, but a normal grown-up can’t sit facing forward. It’s emergency seating only.
We like the clean, effective ergonomics of the Camry-like instrument panel, which adds a luxury feel to the Tacoma. But by indulging too much on the desert-racing equipment, we priced our way out of electric windows, locks, and mirrors, and cruise control. We could live without that luxostuff, but next time we’d get the $590 anti-lock brakes.
The twin-cam 3.4-liter engine felt strong on the track, getting our Tacoma to 60 mph in 9.2 seconds, the same as the pushrod 4.3-liter-equipped Chevy S-10. The Toyota engine is rated highest in horsepower, at 190, 15 more than the 175-hp Dodge or Chevy, and this power showed best when we loaded the PreRunner up with our 800-pound toy kit. Thus encumbered, it’s the fastest of the group to 60 mph at 10.9 seconds, and through the quarter-mile at 18.0 seconds. Only the Ranger stopped more quickly than our unladen Tacoma, but with 800 pounds in its bed, it dropped to third best. We were hoping the extra weight would temper the desert truck’s stiff ride, but it softened things up only slightly. At least the PreRunner boasts the highest payload of the group at 1480 pounds. To be fair, cruising the paved highways of the Midwest is not what Toyota designed this truck to do.
1998 Toyota Tacoma PreRunner Xtracab
190-hp V-6, 4-speed automatic, 3520 lb
Base/as-tested price: $18,588/$20,990
Payload/towing capacity: 1480/5000 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
30 mph: 2.8 sec
60 mph: 9.2 sec
1/4-Mile: 17.0 sec @ 79 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 217 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.70 g
C/D observed fuel economy: 19 mpg
3rd Place: Chevrolet S-10 Extended-Cab Sportside
Redesigned in 1994, the S-10 is second in compact-pickup sales only to the Ranger. The S-10 is unique in offering seven different suspension options, three of which are for rear-drivers: a base suspension for all-purpose use, a higher-load-capacity suspension standard on extended-cab models, and a “ZQ8” sport suspension. We indulged in—guess which?—the $703 sport setup. With this package come extra frame bracing, lowered springs, stiffer anti-roll bars, and a faster steering ratio. Low-profile 16-inch Goodyear Eagle GA tires, also available on an SS two-seat model that has been added for ’98, come with the sporty suspension. The tires were mounted on rims we nicknamed Corvette wheels, and they delivered the fastest emergency-lane-change slalom at the track and returned skidpad grip of 0.77 g, almost as high as the Ranger’s best of 0.78 g. The Chevy’s 4.3-liter V-6 boasted the largest displacement of the pack and also the biggest torque rating, 240 pound-feet. Unloaded, the S-10 matched the Toyota to 30 and 60 mph but lost the quarter-mile race by 0.1 second (17.1 seconds). Loaded with our toys, the Chevy placed third in acceleration performance.
HIGHS: Silky automatic transmission, big dash buttons that are easy to use while wearing thick ranch-hand gloves.
LOWS: Weird ride on bumpy roads, transient steering feel.
VERDICT: Tries harder to be a car than it does to be a truck.
On the road, the S-10’s four-speed automatic transmission proved best, delivering steady, quick shifts, with and without a load in back. On twistier roads, the Chevy displays excellent roll control, even with its bed full. But the good performance numbers we recorded on the skidpad didn’t translate so well on the road. When you’re traveling straight ahead and making small steering inputs, the S-10 feels good and your confidence rises. But press the truck into a tight corner, and the steering feels suddenly numb and uncommunicative, thereby demanding a bit more faith in what it can do than does the Ranger, the top performer on the skidpad.
The ride of the S-10 with the sport suspension didn’t bother any of us, except the bed made its presence known without invitation: “The bed wobbles and dances over bumps—a disconcerting thing in Michigan,” noted Phillips.
Our Chevy came with a third door, which opens behind the driver’s door. To get this $375 option you have to give up one jump seat in the rear, reducing the maximum people-carrying capacity of our bucket-seat-equipped test car from four to three. It’s okay for one-child families, even as the kid grows to legal working age. The jump seat cantilevers from the right-side cab wall, extending far enough so an adult can sit on it for short trips—but we’d get mutinous back there after 30 minutes.
The stepside bed gives up too much space for styling’s sake. It will barely accept an ATV, which means you’ll need a friend’s vehicle to carry the rest of your stuff.
The Chevy is competent and competitive in this pack, but its structure is dated, and we had more fun driving the Ford.
1998 Chevrolet S-10 LS Extended-Cab Sportside
175-hp V-6, 4-speed automatic, 3600 lb
Base/as-tested price: $15,615/$21,532
Payload/towing capacity: 800/5000 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
30 mph: 2.8 sec
60 mph: 9.2 sec
1/4-Mile: 17.1 sec @ 79 mph
100 mph: 23.3 sec
Braking, 70–0 mph: 222 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.77 g
C/D observed fuel economy: 19 mpg
2nd Place: Ford Ranger Splash SuperCab
Last fall, Ford added a new front suspension, frame reinforcements, and other refinements to the Ranger. The changes produced two things: more-supple steering and a smoother, quieter ride. But those weren’t the only traits we liked about this pickup.
Our test vehicle was powered by the larger of two optional V-6 engines, a 4.0-liter rated at 158 hp and 223 pound-feet of torque. Only the Frontier’s engine was less powerful. But mated to the group’s only five-speed automatic with nice, short gearing, the Ford was the quickest in our group when empty, getting to 60 mph in 8.8 seconds. Loaded down, it fell to second place behind the Toyota, achieving 60 mph in 11.1 seconds.
HIGHS: Strong engine, confident handling, relaxed highway demeanor.
LOWS: Overly styled Splash body moldings made us feel a little nerdy.
VERDICT: It feels like the sports car of the group.
The Ranger’s throttle response felt fastest of the group, too. “The peppy engine is immediately noticeable, even with an ATV in the rear,” remarked Jeep-owner Brad Nevin.
On challenging roads, the Ranger Splash worked best. The steering is sensitive and quick. The Ranger stopped the best, too, with or without a Kawasaki Bayou and heavy gear filling the box.
Inside, the Ranger’s front seats felt less-than-ideal to some drivers’ backsides. Two test drivers said the bottom cushions felt too short, forcing them to recline the seatbacks farther than they normally would, just to make more rump room.
In back, the jump seats (you can delete them for a $145 credit) can hold two adults. Like the single jump seat in the Chevy, the two in the Ranger have backrests that are quite supportive. Unlike the rear seats in the Dodge and Toyota, there are no shoulder belts, just two lap belts. Overall, we wouldn’t mind riding around in the rear of the Ranger for up to 30 minutes. Max. And if we expected frequent rear-seat riders, we’d spend the $595 for two rear half-doors.
The Splash package adds $1020 to the price of a base Ranger XLT extended-cab V-6, but all five test drivers were relieved to know that its black spoiler and bodycolor bumpers, side moldings, grille, and door handles are effectively optional. Oddly enough, though, constructing a similarly equipped XLT with the stylish stepside (Ford calls it Flareside) bed actually costs $430 more. We think the styling verges on the juvenile, and so do Ford’s customers: Of the 300,000 Rangers sold last year, just 1500 or so came with the Splash body treatment.
As a commuter truck, the Ranger is the most fun to drive, but its bed is only two cubic feet larger than the diminutive box of the Chevrolet. Phillips wrote, “It’s a pleasant-enough around-town errand bopper, but a real truck? Hmm . . . “
If your gig is radio-controlled miniature cars and planes, we can visualize the Ranger as your hauler. But for bigger toys, we like the Dodge best.
1998 Ford Ranger Splash SuperCab
158-hp V-6, 5-speed automatic, 3560 lb
Base/as-tested price: $17,425/$20,740
Payload/towing capacity: 1200/2000 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
30 mph: 2.5 sec
60 mph: 8.8 sec
1/4-Mile: 16.7 sec @ 79 mph
100 mph: 23.5 sec
Braking, 70–0 mph: 213 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.78 g
C/D observed fuel economy: 18 mpg
1st Place: Dodge Dakota SLT Club Cab
There’s no substitute for cubic feet. The big Dakota satisfied a broader collection of our indulgences than any other pickup in this test. First, it tied the Toyota as a styling favorite. Then, it swallowed the largest complement of all-terrain machinery and other gear.
The cargo bed is huge compared with the stepside boxes of the Ranger and S-10. It’s no clever packaging miracle, it’s just bigger. At 47 cubic feet, it’s three cubes up on the next-largest Nissan Frontier.
HIGHS: Titanic cargo capacity, spacious interior, grown-up styling.
LOWS: Drag-strip-loser V-6, toughest to park in a crowded lot.
VERDICT: It changes “trucklike” to a complimentary term.
Whether the big bed was empty or full, the Magnum 3.9-liter V-6 failed to impress us with its ability to motivate our big Dakota. In our standing-start acceleration tests, it was the slowest, hitting 60 mph in a leisurely 11.2 seconds. We didn’t expect the V-6 Dakota to be a hot rod, considering that its 3900-pound curb weight out-tipped the next-heaviest, the Chevy, by 300 pounds. But it felt slow to respond and often transmitted gritty shivers through the throttle pedal. Top-gear acceleration was slow enough to zap our passing confidence on two-lane highways. Loaded or not, you need patience to accelerate.
You have to wait longer at the pump, too. The Dakota has the largest fuel tank (22 gallons) and gets the poorest fuel economy of the group: 16 mpg on the EPA’s city cycle and 18 mpg during our trail-busting trip. Like we mentioned up front, we don’t profess frugality.
We tested the high-priced SLT version of the Dodge, which starts at $17,465—$945 more than the more popular Sport model. We also had the $200 high-back bucket seats in our test truck, but you can get a bench seat that will hold three. We might have traded some of our pricey options for a 5.2-liter V-8, which only costs $590 and 2 mpg in city mileage.
The rear bench will hold three adults, too, all facing forward. It’s no sedan, but we believe a trip of two hours would be bearable for two reasonably big people. It’s a significant achievement. It means the Dakota can be used as a sedan. None of the other trucks can, and this fact appealed to the rational car buyer in all five testers voting on these pickups. Most cars can’t carry as many people as a Dakota can with a bench seat, never mind that the Dodge’s bed will also carry 1300 pounds.
Although the Dakota won this toy-toting festival, none of these trucks sated our fun-to-drive appetites. But if your hauling needs are focused more on cargo than people, these compact pickups can satisfy in smaller, less-expensive packages than their full-size counterparts’. But if you’re not serious about hauling anything, and want merely a membership badge for admittance to the Pickup Club, we think you’ll have less fun than you would in a car.
1998 Dodge Dakota SLT Club Cab
175-hp V-6, 4-speed automatic, 3900 lb
Base/as-tested price: $17,465/$21,100
Payload/towing capacity: 1300/4800 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS
30 mph: 3.7 sec
60 mph: 11.2 sec
1/4-Mile: 18.4 sec @ 75 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 244 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.69 g
C/D observed fuel economy: 18 mpg