Watch New Ford Ranger And VW Amarok Drag Race Five Other Trucks

Probably not many customers buy a pickup truck with the main idea of racing it. But nevertheless, drag races are a cool way to evaluate a vehicle’s capabilities on the road in terms of acceleration and grip. And yes, that also includes trucks.

South Africa’s Cars.co.za recently gathered seven of the hottest midsize trucks for a direct drag race to determine which one of them is the quickest in a standing-start battle. The video is not really scientific – there are massive differences in terms of power between the trucks – but it is, at the very least, informative. Let’s see the contenders and the numbers.

The two stars here are the new Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok. Both bakkies (this is what they call them in South Africa) have the same output of 206 horsepower (154 kilowatts) and 367 pound-feet (500 Newton-meters) of torque. Their closest competitor, at least on paper, seems to be the Toyota Hilux with a 2.8-liter turbocharged diesel producing 201 hp (150 kW) and the same 367 lb-ft (500 Nm) of peak torque.

The Mitsubishi Triton is also featured in this race and while it has less power than the Ford/VW duo – 178 hp (133 kW) and 317 lb-ft (430 Nm) – it does an impressively good run mainly thanks to its lower overall weight. There’s also a contender from China in this drag battle – the Great Wall Motors P-Series, but it’s the least powerful of all seven trucks with 161 hp (120 kW) and 295 lb-ft (400 Nm) of torque.

Another Japanese model is the Nissan Navara, which has decent numbers on paper – 188 hp (140 kW) and 332 lb-ft (450 Nm) of torque – but disappoints in the actual race. Last but not least, the Isuzu D-Max makes a solid mid-range battle with its 3.0-liter diesel engine, generating 188 hp (140 kW) and 332 lb-ft (450 Nm) of torque.

Now that you know all the numbers, what do you think – which truck will win this seven-way drag race? Let us know in the comments section below.