04/29/96 THE LATEST IN LUXURY: STRETCH PICKUPS

THE LATEST IN LUXURY: STRETCH PICKUPS

The performance of a pickup truck was once measured in sweat and toil. Whichever truck labored best under adverse conditions would win the loyalty of the hard hats and ranchers. Well, forget that. Pickup trucks have become the latest must-have set of wheels for trendy buyers. Auto makers say more than half the owners today use these vehicles to haul the family around town. There are still plenty of commercial uses, but that's less of an issue. Now a pickup is measured by how much it performs like a car.
SOFT RIDE. By that modern-day measure, the smooth-riding new Ford F-150 is the winner by its softly sculpted nose. Hanging close to the F-150's bumper stands the big-rig-styled Dodge Ram, Chevrolet's C/K, and the C/K's twin, the GMC Sierra. The Dodge has the most rugged looks and ride. The GM twins fall in between, with a soft ride that bounces a little too much and a well-appointed interior that looks a bit dated next to the F-150.
Each truck offers passenger compartments stuffed with features once found only on cars--air bags, cup holders, and enough power outlets to run the phone and laptop simultaneously. Under the hoods are an array of brawny engines that are quick off the line and roar down the highway. That pushes gas mileage somewhere south of 20 mpg.
The clearest sign of the pickups' transformation from cargo haulers to people movers is the door wars. This year, Ford, Chevy, and GMC began outfitting a third door on the extended-cab versions. The door is behind the passenger's front door and swings rearward to ease entry into the backseat. These back doors have become a runaway hit, with Ford selling 70% of F-150s with the extra door. Dodge, caught with its doors down, plans to raise the stakes when it unveils a four-door Ram Club Cab by early 1997.
NO MINIVAN. For now, the best third door is on the Ford. It swings more easily than the balky GM door. And Ford's rear door has a handle on the interior armrest that allows back seat passengers to set themselves free. On the Chevy and GMC rear doors, back benchers need help getting out because their handle is located on the front of the door frame and only the front passenger can operate it.
Don't expect to replace the family sedan or minivan with an extended-cab pickup truck. The rear bench is a pain in the back, and knee room is as cramped as the backseats in sports coupes. Of course, if auto makers added space to the elongated cabs, they would have to engineer an accordion into the pickups for snaking around corners. An F-150 Supercab stretches 20 feet, nearly two feet longer than the Lincoln Town Car.
The backseat crunch aside, many creature comforts have migrated into these trucks. The GMC Sierra I drove came with power leather seats, a CD player, and a rearview mirror that dims headlight glare and has a built-in compass. There's also a driver's air bag and dual cup holders that pop from the dash. The Ford F-150 offers dual air bags and easier-to-use controls. The Ram's interior, not updated since its 1993 introduction, holds up well, particularly the fold-down front console that can accommodate a laptop computer and phone.
These features come with something else found on luxury cars: stiff prices. The regular-cab F-150 starts at $15,045, the base model Supercab at $17,115. But for the most popular Supercab with automatic transmission, the F-150's sticker starts at $21,966 and jumps to $25,376 for a four-wheel-drive. The regular-cab Chevy C/K starts at $14,631, while an extended cab has an $18,101 base price and a 4x4 extended cab goes for $20,200. The third door is standard on the F-150 Supercab; it's a $420 option on the GM models.
A regular-cab Ram starts at $14,366. The third-door-deficient Ram Club Cab has a base price of $18,476; the Ram Club Cab 4x4 starts at $20,944. All prices accelerate when you add goodies such as beefy engines and CD players. The loaded Sierra driven for this review had a startling $29,307 sticker.
With uptown prices and high-style interiors, many of these trucks won't see much mud and sweat. For the trendy truckers, that big open space in the rear (known as ``the bed'' to old-timers) will never haul anything nastier than an antique armoire. In fact, maybe it's best not to label these vehicles ``trucks.'' Call them tall cars.
EDITED BY AMY DUNKIN By Keith Naughton