Cars
Sure, an off-road truck isn't every pickup buyer's dream vehicle. Maybe you don't need 411 horsepower. Perhaps a foot of suspension travel is too much for you. Gigantic skid plates might not be your cup of tea. Tires that are more than a foot wide and nearly three feet tall possibly offer a greater degree of curb-crawling competence than you can manage.
Yeah, the F-150 SVT Raptor is just too much truck for some pickup buyers.
For the rest of us, the idea of owning a comfortable, fast, and overwhelmingly effective truck is exciting, even thrilling. Only without the typical Raptor graphics, please. Garish isn't goodness.
Engine: 411 horsepower; 434 lb-ft of torque from a 6.2L V8
Base USD/CAD Price: $43,340 / $56,599
City Fuel Economy: 11 miles per gallon
It's Not Perfect: The Raptor is more than half a foot wider than a typical F-150. That doesn't make parallel parking the Raptor in a downtown parking garage a task for the fainthearted.
Sales Stats: The Raptor is just one niche model in the vast F-Series range. The F-Series range happens to be the best-selling vehicle line in North America. 4.6% of all new vehicles sold in North America in the first eleven months of 2012 were F-Series pickups.
Viable Alternatives: The Mopar Ram Runner?
The Bad 8
- 2013's The Good 12 - Porsche Cayenne S - $70,000-$80,000
PORSCHE CAYENNE S The Porsche Cayenne S actually has a U.S. base price below $70,000 USD, a violation of GoodCarBadCar's eligibility for this price segment. The $65,850 Cayenne S isn't the Cayenne you want, though. It seems necessary...
- 2013's The Good 12 - Mercedes-benz E350 4matic Wagon - $50,000-$60,000
MERCEDES-BENZ E350 4MATIC WAGON Wagons are a rare thing in North America these days. Mercedes-Benz's E-Class is basically without rivals. The BMW 5-Series GT isn't a wagon, and it's ridiculously ugly. The Cadillac CTS and CTS-V wagon won't...
- 2013's The Good 12 - Bmw 328i - $35,000-$40,000
BMW 328i Until the F31-generation 3-Series Touring arrives and shows us what rooflines were meant to be, the 3-Series sedan does a fine job of showing us what a luxury car ought to be. BMW is still benefiting from its long cultivation of the 3-Series...
- 2013's The Good 12 - Fiat 500 Turbo - $15,000-$20,000
FIAT 500 TURBO Remember all the times you questioned whether 101 horsepower was enough in a modern automobile? Fiat heard your concerns. The 135-horsepower 500T is no Abarth. This wasn't the car Tracy Chapman was singing about. But it's plenty...
- 2013's The Bad 8 - Lincoln Mks
LINCOLN MKS Originally, the Lincoln MKS had but one stylistic fault. And that's where this story gets really bizarre. Lincoln's designers took that one fault, the MKS's ungainly schnoz, and enhanced it. No, enhanced is the wrong word. ...
Cars
2013's The Good 12 - Ford F-150 SVT Raptor - $40,000-$45,000
FORD F-150 SVT RAPTOR
GoodCarBadCar was quick to honour the Ram 1500 range with a Good 12 placement, but for customers aiming to spend a little extra, the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor is downright irresistable. Sure, an off-road truck isn't every pickup buyer's dream vehicle. Maybe you don't need 411 horsepower. Perhaps a foot of suspension travel is too much for you. Gigantic skid plates might not be your cup of tea. Tires that are more than a foot wide and nearly three feet tall possibly offer a greater degree of curb-crawling competence than you can manage.Yeah, the F-150 SVT Raptor is just too much truck for some pickup buyers.
For the rest of us, the idea of owning a comfortable, fast, and overwhelmingly effective truck is exciting, even thrilling. Only without the typical Raptor graphics, please. Garish isn't goodness.
-----
Engine: 411 horsepower; 434 lb-ft of torque from a 6.2L V8
Base USD/CAD Price: $43,340 / $56,599
City Fuel Economy: 11 miles per gallon
It's Not Perfect: The Raptor is more than half a foot wider than a typical F-150. That doesn't make parallel parking the Raptor in a downtown parking garage a task for the fainthearted.
Sales Stats: The Raptor is just one niche model in the vast F-Series range. The F-Series range happens to be the best-selling vehicle line in North America. 4.6% of all new vehicles sold in North America in the first eleven months of 2012 were F-Series pickups.
Viable Alternatives: The Mopar Ram Runner?
The Good 12
Kia Rio 5-Door - Fiat 500 Turbo - Volkswagen Golf GTI
Jeep Wrangler Unlimited - Dodge Ram - BMW 328i
Ford F-150 SVT Raptor - Chevrolet Suburban -
Mercedes-Benz E350 4Matic Wagon - Porsche Boxster S -
Porsche Cayenne S - Land Rover Range Rover
Jeep Wrangler Unlimited - Dodge Ram - BMW 328i
Ford F-150 SVT Raptor - Chevrolet Suburban -
Mercedes-Benz E350 4Matic Wagon - Porsche Boxster S -
Porsche Cayenne S - Land Rover Range Rover
The Bad 8
Chevrolet Spark - Chrysler 200 Convertible -
Ford Escape Titanium AWD - Honda Crosstour -
Lincoln MKS - Nissan Versa Sedan -
Toyota Corolla CE - Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid
Ford Escape Titanium AWD - Honda Crosstour -
Lincoln MKS - Nissan Versa Sedan -
Toyota Corolla CE - Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid
The Good 12 Rules
- 2013's The Good 12 - Porsche Cayenne S - $70,000-$80,000
PORSCHE CAYENNE S The Porsche Cayenne S actually has a U.S. base price below $70,000 USD, a violation of GoodCarBadCar's eligibility for this price segment. The $65,850 Cayenne S isn't the Cayenne you want, though. It seems necessary...
- 2013's The Good 12 - Mercedes-benz E350 4matic Wagon - $50,000-$60,000
MERCEDES-BENZ E350 4MATIC WAGON Wagons are a rare thing in North America these days. Mercedes-Benz's E-Class is basically without rivals. The BMW 5-Series GT isn't a wagon, and it's ridiculously ugly. The Cadillac CTS and CTS-V wagon won't...
- 2013's The Good 12 - Bmw 328i - $35,000-$40,000
BMW 328i Until the F31-generation 3-Series Touring arrives and shows us what rooflines were meant to be, the 3-Series sedan does a fine job of showing us what a luxury car ought to be. BMW is still benefiting from its long cultivation of the 3-Series...
- 2013's The Good 12 - Fiat 500 Turbo - $15,000-$20,000
FIAT 500 TURBO Remember all the times you questioned whether 101 horsepower was enough in a modern automobile? Fiat heard your concerns. The 135-horsepower 500T is no Abarth. This wasn't the car Tracy Chapman was singing about. But it's plenty...
- 2013's The Bad 8 - Lincoln Mks
LINCOLN MKS Originally, the Lincoln MKS had but one stylistic fault. And that's where this story gets really bizarre. Lincoln's designers took that one fault, the MKS's ungainly schnoz, and enhanced it. No, enhanced is the wrong word. ...