GMC Sierra vs Toyota Tundra 2007

By René Gervais

2nd Round- the practical side

There good looking, there big and less and less people buy them for their performance  but for match-up purposes, it would be difficult to ignore the practical aspects of  the two contenders. To that end, let’s concentrate on specifics: body shells, loading, hauling capacity and available engines.

The body shell

Both models offer three distinct body sizes that vary slightly. GM has body shells that range from 5.8 ft., 6.6 ft. and 8ft., while at Toyota the dimensions are diminished with  5.5 ft. and 6.5 ft. As to the longest, the Japanese take it at 8.1ft. Only an inch more but that can make the difference.

Of all these fitments, I prefer the Sierra because at the roomy cabin level, the shell gains an extra three inches on the similarly fitted Tundra and a 5.5 shell attenuates the work-like aspect of a four-door light duty truck.

   

Loading and towing capacities

Once again, since we didn’t have a ton of bricks to measure the robustness of our two competitors, we had to rely on the manufacturer’s figures. This is certainly better than nothing because the differences in hauling and kilograms pulled goes to the heart of a van’s performance.

To begin with, we found the differences to be minimal at best, making it difficult to name a winner. Yet for the proud owners, those minor differences are significant. On the American side, the maximum load stands at 2,160 lbs (980 kg) for the longer cabin and shell model. The towing capacity is 10, 500 lbs (4763 kg). The Japanese version weighs in at a shade less, 1,900 lbs (860 kg) for the two-wheel drive model with standard cabin and longer shell. The same fitted Tundra can pull an impressive 10,800 lbs (4895 kg) while at GM, its 300 lbs less.

We can safely say that the Sierra has a small advantage in loading, plus the winning model offers more space with its double cabin to the disadvantage of Tundra’s counterpart with the single cabin. The Tundra wins in hauling but let’s face it, beyond 10,000 lbs, an extra 300 lbs won’t make much difference. Therefore, I give the point to the Sierra.

Engines

Who says juggernaut says giant under the hood. In the Japanese corner, two hardy contenders are vying for the upper hand: the 271 hp, 4.7 litre, V8 (313 lb-ft of torque) and for more zip, a 381 hp, 5.7 litre power plant (401 lb-ft of torque).

In the Yankee corner, the response mirrors the many fighters brought to bear. In fact, there are four engines available, including a 195 hp, 4.3 litre, V6. For tough jobs, we recommend the 4.8 litre, V8 or the 315 hp (338 lb-ft of torque). If that’s not enough, you could opt for the 367 hp (365 lb-ft of torque), 6 litre, VortecMAX .

Although GM offers a wider choice of motorizations, I give the point to Toyota which carries a compact engine (thus more efficient) with more horsepower and torque. In turn, it pales in comparison to GM’s motor music. Frivolous fact? Maybe, but much appreciated.