Dual-cab ute load and tow test 2019: Introduction

ALL OF THE utes you see here are rated to tow 3500kg, but rarely do. Trouble is, once you hook up 3500kg behind any of them you can’t carry much (if anything) legally in the tub once you have a driver and passenger onboard.

These utes are typically used to tow something in the order of 2500 to 3000kg and also carry some sort of payload, given the driver and passengers are all payload, as is the tow bar and any other fitted accessories such as bullbars and canopies. And that’s before you put anything in the tub.

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With that in mind, we decided on a more real-world test of towing 2500kg while carrying 450kg in the tub – add a driver and passenger and the payload’s about 600kg, not including the towball download. As it played out we added a total of 3144kg to each ute’s Gross Combined Mass (GCM), comprising the classic Range Rover on a tandem-axle car trailer, the sandbags in the tub, and driver and passenger onboard.

With these utes weighing between 2000kg to near 2300kg, and the maximum permissible GCMs varying from 5950kg to 6180kg, the utes were typically operating around 600kg to 750kg below maximum GCM. However, they were still asked to work hard, given they carried and towed a weight equal to one-and-half times their unladen weight.

If you think we were going to let our utes off lightly, we weren’t. Part of our test was a very steep climb – a 15 per cent average gradient, but notably steeper in parts – over 1.5km. On the steepest pinch it had three sharp (one a near-stop hairpin) bends, which meant slowing right down to a slow and safe speed and therefore losing most momentum, before accelerating back to speed (or at least trying to) on the straight sections of road between the bends. As it turned out it was mostly a full-throttle slug in first and second gears.

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This was repeated three times for each ute, with the purpose of testing the powertrain under full-throttle climbing loads and maximum engine-braking descent loads. The climbing runs were all timed. The descents were a decent test for the brakes; although, they were deliberately slow and steady, given the steep incline and added weights, and relied largely on engine braking. The trailer was fitted with electric brakes, and all utes had electric trailer-brake controllers.

The general part of the test, conducted on an undulating and sometimes bumpy rural road, tested general chassis stability and powertrain performance under typical touring conditions at highway speeds. The incentive of this test was to see how the powerful and more expensive V6 utes from Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen compared to the popular and affordable models from Ford, Holden and Isuzu. Comparing the two engines now available in the Ranger (the 3.2-litre ‘five’ and the new 2.0-litre bi-turbo) was also of much interest.

The 2019 Tow Test Contenders

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2019 FORD RANGER 3.2 WILDTRAK SPECS: Engine: 3.2-litre 5-cyl turbo diesel Max power: 147kW @ 3000rpm Max torque: 470Nm @ 1750-2500rpm Transmission: 6-speed auto 4×4 system: Dual-range part-time Kerb weight: 2278kg GVM: 3200kg Payload: 922kg Towing capacity: 3500kg Towball Download (max): 350kg GCM: 6000kg Fuel tank capacity: 80 litres ADR fuel consumption: 8.9L/100km

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2019 FORD RANGER 2.0 WILDTRAK SPECS: Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl bi-turbo diesel Max power: 157kW @ 3750rpm Max torque: 500Nm @ 1750-2000rpm Transmission: 10-speed auto 4×4 system: Dual-range part-time Kerb weight: 2246kg GVM: 3200kg Payload: 954kg Towing capacity: 3500kg Towball Download (max): 350kg GCM: 6000kg Fuel tank capacity: 80 litres ADR fuel consumption: 7.4L/100km

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2019 HOLDEN COLORADO LT SPECS: Engine: 2.8-litre 4-cyl turbo diesel Max power: 147kW @ 3600rpm Max torque: 500Nm @ 2000rpm Transmission: 6-speed auto 4×4 system: Dual-range part-time Kerb weight: 2102kg GVM: 3150kg Payload: 1048kg Towing capacity: 3500kg Towball Download (max): 350kg GCM: 6000kg Fuel tank capacity: 76 litres ADR fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km

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2019 ISUZU D-MAX LS-T SPECS: Engine: 3.0-litre 4-cyl turbo diesel Max power: 130kW @ 3600rpm Max torque: 430Nm @ 2000-2200rpm Transmission: 6-speed auto 4×4 system: Dual-range part-time Kerb weight: 2026kg GVM: 3050kg Payload: 1024kg Towing capacity: 3500kg Towball Download (max): 350kg GCM: 5950kg Fuel tank capacity: 76 litres ADR fuel consumption: 7.9L/100km

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2019 MERCEDES-BENZ X350d POWER SPECS: Engine: 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel Max power: 190kW @ 3400rpm Max torque: 550Nm @ 1400-3200rpm Transmission: 7-speed auto 4×4 system: Dual-range full-time Kerb weight: 2190kg GVM: 3250kg Payload: 1060kg Towing capacity: 3500kg Towball Download (max): 350kg GCM: 6180kg Fuel tank capacity: 80 litres ADR fuel consumption: 8.8L/100km

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2019 VOLKSWAGEN AMAROK 580 SPECS: Engine: 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel Max power: 190kW @ 3250-4500rpm Max torque: 580Nm @ 1400-3000rpm Transmission: 8-speed auto 4×4 system: Single-range full-time Kerb weight: 2296kg GVM: 3080kg Payload: 785kg Towing capacity: 3500kg Towball Download (max): 300kg GCM: 6000kg Fuel tank capacity: 80 litres ADR fuel consumption: 8.9L/100km