Tundra v. Ram — Part III: Ride, Handling, and Comfort

Posted by Admin (Jason) in April 13th, 2007

Posted in: Toyota Tundra Reviews and Comparisons

This is the third and final part of our comparison series Toyota Tundra v. Dodge Ram. In this segment, we’re going to compare the two trucks in terms of ride, handling, and comfort. Just like before, we’re focused on the aspects of the trucks that are most important to a typical non-commercial user. As always, any comments (good or otherwise) are welcome.

RIDE:

The last major redesign of the Dodge Ram was in the 2002 model year. That makes it the oldest design on the road — Nissan and Ford debuted a new design in 04, Chevy and Toyota in 07. Despite the Ram’s age, we think it rides OK for a truck. However, the tendency of the truck to shake and shimmy after bumps and the feeling the suspension is “bottoming out” after potholes and other severe road imperfections makes this the worst riding half ton you can buy. Please understand — ride quality is relative. If you’re currently driving a slammed import racer with 20″ wheels, the ride in the Dodge Ram would feel like you were floating on a magic carpet! Conversely, anyone driving a big old luxury car would think the Ram rode like a wagon (a powerwagon to be precise…get it?)

Like we’ve said before, ride quality shouldn’t be a reason to buy one truck over another in our minds (after all, you get used to it), but the ride quality of the Ram 1500 is definitely worse than the Tundra.

WINNER: Tundra.

HANDLING:

The Tundra and the Dodge share a lot of the same designs, and we think this is no accident. In fact, we’re pretty sure after looking at these two trucks side by side that Toyota is trying to take away a lot of Dodge’s business. With Chrysler (the parent company of Dodge) up for sale and possible disassembly, we think that Toyota has a good strategy. Both trucks have rack and pinion steering setups, and both have a very similar “feel”. The Toyota’s power assist feels stronger than the Dodge, and neither truck seems particularly on center when driving in a straight line. The problem with comparing ride and handling is that it’s very subjective. Luckily, statistics are available.

First of all, we’ve said this before but we think it bears repeating. Skid pad numbers, while very interesting, are very hard to relate to the real-world use of a pickup. After all, the skid pad measures the point at which the suspension (and the tires) begin to give in a high-speed turn. This is a very important number to know if you’re going to race your new truck at Daytona, but it doesn’t seem to have a real-world equivalent in day-to-day truck ownership. So we’re going to ignore skidpad.

There is data that professional vehicle testers collect that we think is important in terms of determining handling prowess, and that’s the slalom test. The slalom is of course a test measuring how fast a vehicle can travel thru a cone course without losing control. According to Edmunds.com, a 2002 Dodge Ram QuadCab SLT 2wd hit 57.1 mph on the slalom course. The most recent test of a Tundra was a 2007 DoubleCab Limited 4×4, which hit 54.9 mph. To us, that’s pretty close to even — after all, the Dodge is a 2wd that is lighter and lower to the ground than the 4×4 Tundra. Edmunds also stated in their notes that the speed of the Tundra thru the slalom would have been higher if they could have figured out how to shut off the stability control system.

WINNER: Tie. Dodge wins any tie by default due to the older design of the truck.

COMFORT:

We understand that a lot of people out their think the “comfort” comparison is pointless…after all, you’re buying a truck right? If you wanted to be comfortable, you’d get a nice luxury car. We understand this point of view, but we’d like to say that a lot of trucks today are as comfortable as a nice luxury car. Somehow, a lot of vehicle manufacturers figured out how to make a utilitarian vehicle that’s as comfortable as your favorite easy chair. Except for Dodge.

The Ram is unbelievably less comfortable than the Tundra — it’s like night and day. The seats in the Ram are an instant lower back ache — the Tundra is comfortable for hours at a time. The Ram offers no lateral support, the Tundra is ample. Additionally, the Ram’s “SLT plus” interior doesn’t come close to the Tundra Limited’s quality or appearance. The Ram looks dated and the materials seem inferior. We like the interior look and the feel of the Tundra over the Ram by a large margin.

In terms of interior noise, the Tundra is definitely quieter cruising at 70mph or at idle, but we think the Ram might be a little quieter under full throttle. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find any stats to confirm this for our two test trucks. In our minds, interior noise can be compensated for by a turn of the radio volume knob. Speaking of stereo’s, neither is especially better than the other in terms of sound quality. We do like the look and feel of the Tundra’s stock system over the Ram’s, not to mention the standard Bluetooth in the Toyota.

Often times when comparing vehicles, you have to look for minor differences to make a judgement about the vehicles themselves. In the case of the Tundra’s comfort compared to the Ram, that is not the case at all. The Tundra is CLEARLY superior in terms of comfort. Like we’ve said before, comfort isn’t really a good reason to buy one truck over another, but if it is, go ahead and rule out the Ram.

WINNER: Toyota Tundra. By a lot.

OVERALL COMPARISON WINNER:

The powertrains of the Ram and Tundra are both pretty stout, with the Ram 1500 HEMI being one of the faster more powerful half-tons on the road. While we like the feel of the HEMI and it is certainly fun to drive, the Tundra’s superior performance combined with the horror stories we’ve heard about HEMI fuel economy (not to mention our own experience) makes the Tundra the clear winner. Tundra also outperforms the Ram in towing, hauling, ownership cost, feature content, ride, and comfort. In fact, were it not for the Ram’s good looks, safety rating, and surprisingly decent handling this comparison would have been a clean sweep.

The Tundra is superior to the Ram in just about every measurable way, but that really shouldn’t come as a surprise. Toyota’s truck is a newer design, and has the benefit of a lot more technology. We can’t wait to see how the new Ram (due out as a 2009 model in about a year) will compare.

Keep checking back here at www.tundraheadquarters.com for more comparisons, product evaluations, and Tundra Info.

Popularity: 6% [?]

previous:Tundra v. Ram — Part II: Features and Pricing

Next:Tundra Golf in the Arctic Circle

11 comments

Subscribe to this post's RSS feed

Michael Beatty Said in August 8th, 2007 @8:39 pm

Great website and information. I’m selling a Chevy Tahoe which I love but need a truck. I’m concerned about the 2007 change in the Tundra and normally don’t buy new models until the kinks are worked out. I was leaning towards the Dodge Ram since it has been around for awhile but after reading your comparison I’ve decided on the Tundra. I just hope the gremlins have been taken out of the 5.7l engine since I don’t want a lemon. My son has a Tacoma and love it!! Great Website and it answered all my questions!

admin Said in August 8th, 2007 @11:44 pm

Thank you for your comments!

Justin Said in August 30th, 2007 @8:21 am

Regarding ride, the Dodge is rough, but doesn’t have the extremely bad “Bed Bounce” as mentioned on your site here: http://www.tundraheadquarters......-problems/ under the “2) Highway Bed Bounce” portion. Seems you forgot to mention this.

Nice to know you discredited the Dodge’s better slalom.

I totally agree the Tundra should win the overall comparison, but still the review is way too biased for a good comparison. Many benefits of the Dodge were not stated or were discredited to put the Tundra in a better light. Even some items like the Interior dimensions were stated to benefit the Tundra, when the #’s show the Ram is truly bigger.

Good thing I research all the facts myself, test drive each vehicle myself (when I’m in the market for a new truck) and make my own decision.

Justin Said in August 30th, 2007 @8:22 am

On the bed bounce link, watch the “On California Highway” clip. All trucks have some bounce, but this is really bad.

admin Said in August 30th, 2007 @11:02 am

Justin, if you totally agree that the Tundra is a superior truck, why all the nitpicking?

First of all, interior dimension figures can be incredible misleading. Sit in both the trucks and then get back to us.

The bed bounce is a concern, but we didn’t experience it when we completed this comparison. Given that most of the owners reporting bed bounce live in California (most, but not all), and given that we’re based in Denver, it seems logical we wouldn’t have noticed it.

At the time the review was completed, the Lifetime Warranty had not debuted.

Finally, as far as crash test worthiness v. crash avoidance, we feel like we explained that point pretty clearly. However, to re-emphasize, crash test results are only important if you actually hit something. If your truck has standard electronic stability control, big brakes, and a great suspension, your chances of avoiding an accident improve. Thus, our point that while the Dodge’s test results are better, the Tundra has better accident avoidance ability.

As always, thanks for taking the time to call us out. We look forward to more.

Justin Said in August 31st, 2007 @6:58 am

Admin: Nitpicking? No, I just try to go into a review of products with an unbiased opinion without prejudice one way or another. Personally I’m not a fan of Dodge, but it does have it’s strong points. I give credit where credit is due, not try to discount items just because I don’t feel it’s important to me or because the model I prefer doesn’t have the option.

#’s don’t lie. I’ve sat in a QuadCab Ram and a CrewMax Tundra, but not a DblCab. Truly it may feel like the DblCab is larger, but is not by the #’s. I felt the F150 front seats had more room than the CrewMax, but this is not true. I credit this feel due to the way the dash is constructed in each truck, with the Tundra having a more sports car like dash that wraps around you.

As stated in previous posts, I also live in Denver. Rarely do I see a Tundra, but most I’ve seen are Reg. & DblCab models, only seen a CrewMax once and that is my mother-in-laws neighbor, who traded in a Ram QuadCab for the Tundra. So I do have a little experience with both trucks.

Now I you need to take the Tundra on I-25 south between Denver & Castle Rock. This has the concrete expansions similar to those mentioned in the Cali. video. My last truck (2002 model) had some bounce in this section of interstate, but is not nearly as noticable in my current truck (2006 model). So it all depends on what roads you actually travel during your review.

I can understand the warranty may not have been in effect at the time of review.

True the Tundra does have more & better safety equipment, I applaud Toyota for including these items. This does give the Tundra the benefit in avoidance. Now some accidents are not avoidable and is when the ratings come into play. In this area the Ram takes the lead, but your review downplays it like you’ll never be in an accident. That’s my frustrations. You give the Tundra high marks for it’s safety features, but then when the Dodge comes out on top in crash test ratings you discredit it and basically say it’s a non-factor, which simply is not true.

So I agree the Tundra is the better truck overall, but the Ram has it’s strong points. We also have to keep in mind, as mentioned in your review, that this is really an ‘02 model vs. an ‘07 model. Once the new Ram and F150 are released within the next year to two years, I’d like to see your review at that time.

Someone Said in February 2nd, 2008 @7:00 pm

admin:
I personally think that you are favoring Toyota in this comparison and giving it all the loose ends. When you ask Justin why all the nitpicking if he likes Toyota, I favor Dodge but there are still things that I do not like about it. With the interior, I do agree that the Toyota has the trophy, I just do not see who would want to buy a luxury truck. Most people who buy a truck are people who need to tow or haul things. If people were buying a truck for comfort, than they are just wasting there money. I am petty excited about the Diesel Toyota coming out. It looked alot heavier than the original Toyota. I am not too experienced though with the Hino 8.0L under the hood. Maybe when or if they do come out with it, you could compare it with other 1-ton trucks.

JR Said in May 11th, 2008 @12:05 pm

I work for Toyota, and have for over 10 years. The Tundra has far more content than the Ram, more power, more torque, more towing, payload, bigger brakes, better resale, more American part and labor content, more technology, better interior materials, and more refinement.

However, at 6′5″ I do not fit comfortably in a Tundra. In fact, it’s extremely difficult for someone my height to even get into and out of a new Tundra! The top door openings are much lower than the Ram’s, and the Tundra’s windshield is raked so steeply I end up looking out over the top of the sunvisors!! I have to lower my head to the point it (literally) is a pain in the neck! (Egress-wise). It (The Tundra) has almost an inch LESS headroom, both in the front AND rear seats, has a parking brake footlever which intrudes on left-foot placement and comfort, has a c-channel frame instead of Ram’s fully-boxed and hydroformed frame, only scores 4 stars vs Ram’s 5 star crash test rating, and has a 60,000 mile powertrain warranty vs Dodge’s UNLIMITED powertrain warranty.

The cab of the 2008 Ram also appears larger to me in most dimensions compared to Tundra. In final, although the Tundra is a cool-looking truck, I still think the 2008 Ram is the best-looking truck out, by a mile! The Tundra’s bed looks bloated, as does it’s styling; the Ram’s does not. (And the 2009 Ram will be even better, presumably.)

That said, If I were 6′2 or less, I’d go Tundra. But at my size, realistically, the Ram’s ergonomics fit (me) much better, even if everything else does not. I’m very loyal to Toyota, however, I can’t justify $30,000 for a new truck that simply doesn’t fit!!

For example, I’d rather have a set of new Nike shoes than Pumas. But I’d rather wear a size 13 Puma than a size 10 Nike.

Or does anyone know how to easily get more headroom out of the new Tundra? (Tundra has the least headroom of ANY fullsize truck!)

-J

admin Said in May 12th, 2008 @4:01 pm

JR – Good points. You’ve got to drive what fits you, and the Ram does have some advantages over the Tundra. Still, when you compare the total picture, the Tundra surpasses the 08′ Ram in most respects.

Ray Braden Said in April 18th, 2009 @8:22 am

I have owned a 2004 Tundra double cab and now own a 2009 Tundra crew max. Have had nothing but great experience with both. no troubles at all with either one. Run great and the ride and comfort are super. Have ridden in the dodge rams and find less rear leg room and a rough ride, and less comfort in the dodge. willing to sacrifice gas milage for the comfort. but will note that i did get the gas milage of the 2004 tundra up to 19 mpg by adding a bed cover and K&N air filter.