The 15 quickest pickup trucks MotorTrend has ever tested

2024-12-28 09:50:51 Contact

Just because it's a pickup truck doesn't mean it needs to be slow. Unladen, many trucks actually have a strong power-to-weight ratio. And while load-hauling low-end torque (and appropriate gearing) is usually the priority for a truck, every now and then, manufacturers endow their most utilitarian offerings with surprising levels of accelerative thrust.

Below is a list of the 15 quickest accelerating production trucks MotorTrend has ever tested. (Most people will turn to the phrase "fastest trucks," but "fast" refers to overall speed, while "quickest" refers to acceleration, the focus of this roundup. We're sticklers.) Peering into our test database, we ranked each truck by its 0–60-mph time. If multiple trucks had the same 0–60 time, then the quarter-mile result was the tiebreaker; from there, we look at trap speeds. From big-displacement street trucks to desert-running off-road specials to well-equipped luxury pickups and even an EV, each entry in the top 10 is exceptionally quick for a truck. And some are quick by any standard.

2004 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning | 0–60 MPH: 5.1 sec

The 2004 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning was, at the time, the quickest Ford production truck we had ever tested and the first one on the list to break 100 mph in the quarter mile, crossing the line in 13.6 seconds with a trap speed of 102 mph. Under the hood is a 5.4-liter supercharged V-8 that makes 380 hp and 450 lb-ft. It routes that power to the rear wheels via a four-speed automatic and rockets to 60 mph in 5.1 seconds.

2004 Dodge Ram SRT-10 | 0–60 MPH: 4.9 sec

Arguably the craziest Ram production street truck ever built until the TRX burst onto the scene, the Viper-powered Ram SRT-10 easily makes the list with a 0–60 time of 4.9 seconds and a 13.2-second quarter mile. Powering this special Ram is a huge 8.3-liter V-10 that pumps out 500 hp and 525 lb-ft of torque. The best part? The truck was available with the same six-speed manual used in the Viper. As impressive as a sub-5.0-second 0–60 is, the SRT-10 has been eclipsed by a new generation of wild sport trucks.

2025 Ram 1500 Tradesman S.O. | 0–60 MPH: 4.8 sec

There is something incredibly satisfying about a work truck in 2024 being quicker than the mighty Ram SRT-10 from 20 years prior. With four fewer cylinders (but two additional turbos), the new Hurricane inline-six engine from Ram delivers a mighty 420 hp and 469 lb-ft of torque in its basic “Standard Output” form (S.O.). Oh, and this beastly engine is a mere $2,695 option on the entry-level Ram 1500 Tradesman. Credit the Tradesman’s relatively light features list (and consequently lighter curb weight) combined with the Hurricane’s smooth power for its 4.8-second scorcher to 60 mph.

More:What are the best-looking pickup trucks in 2024?

2025 Ram 1500 Tungsten H.O. | 0–60 MPH: 4.4 sec

If you read the Tradesman entry above and were wondering if Ram had a High Output Hurricane engine (as implied by the Standard Output moniker), you are correct. This H.O. version is limited to higher-end Ram 1500s, and it makes 540 hp and 521 lb-ft of torque—enough oomph to overcome this top-of-the-line 1500 Tungsten trim level’s luxurious (and heavy) trappings to deliver a 4.4-second rip to 60 mph. It ties the supercharged Tundra below to 60 mph, but that truck out-smokes this one through the quarter mile, breaking the tie.

2008 Toyota Tundra TRD Supercharged | 0–60 MPH: 4.4 sec

Although it's been 10 years, the previous-generation Tundra TRD Supercharged sport truck is still among the quickest-accelerating production trucks we have ever tested. The TRD parts, including the supercharger, didn't void the Tundra's new vehicle warranty and were ordered and installed at the dealership. With a 0-60 mph time of 4.4 seconds and a quarter-mile run of 13.0 seconds at 106.3 mph, the Tundra easily took the quick pickup crown back when it was originally tested. The supercharged 5.7-liter V-8 cranked out a whopping 504 hp and 550 lb-ft and was paired to a six-speed automatic.

2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Pro | 0–60 MPH: 4.2 sec

Wait, the most basic version of the Ford F-150 Lightning still hits 60 mph in 4.2 seconds? Well, when every Lightning gets at least 452 hp and 775 lb-ft of torque from dual electric motors, and you combine that with the lightest-weight, least-equipped version (the low-grade Pro), it's the inevitable result.

2023 Ford F-150 XLT FP700 | 0–60 MPH: 4.1 sec

Who doesn’t like a big-power, low-buck truck? Ford Performance’s FP700 kit for the 5.0-liter F-150 ups the horsepower to 700 (and torque to 590 lb-ft) by way of a Whipple supercharger. Some stickers, a rear suspension lowering kit and 22-inch wheels are also included in the nearly $13,000 kit, but the performance is unreal: 4.1 seconds to 60 mph! It helps that the truck we tested was possibly the lightest version of the F-150 you could buy, a low-grade XLT trim in two-door, regular-cab, short-bed guise. But still!

More:The most luxurious full-size pickup trucks on the market

2022 Ram 1500 TRX | 0–60 MPH: 3.9 sec

This really shouldn't surprise anyone. The Ram 1500 TRX hit the scene in 2020 with a 702-hp 6.2-liter supercharged V-8 under its hood. This instantly vaulted the off-road pickup ahead of the non-R Ford F-150 Raptor. With 252 more ponies on board, the Ram TRX naturally smokes the six-cylinder Ford at the dragstrip, reaching 60 mph in just 3.9 seconds, but the race is closer with the supercharged V-8-powered Raptor R, which manages to eke ahead of the TRX with a 3.7-second rip. (We initially tested a 2021 model at 4.1 seconds, and it claimed the title of the quickest pickup we'd ever tested back then.) That crown has since been handed to a very different kind of truck.

2022 Ford F-150 Lightning Lariat Extended Range | 0–60 MPH: 3.8 sec

The 2022 Ford F-150 Lightning doesn't look like anything special—and that's by design. The F-150 is perennially America's bestselling vehicle, and why mess with success? But Ford has no problem with making it better. The Lightning is an F-150 with an engine-ectomy, enhanced with large batteries and motors. In its light, lean Lariat configuration (relatively speaking), the package is good for a 0–60-mph time of just 3.8 seconds—making it quicker than most of the gas-powered vehicles on this list. (We also tested a heavier Platinum, which was just a couple ticks slower: 4.0 seconds to 60.) With acceleration like this, it’s no wonder EVs are the future.

2024 Tesla Cybertruck Dual Motor | 0–60 MPH: 3.8 sec

Just a measly 3.4-mph difference in the Dual Motor Tesla Cybertruck’s quarter-mile trap speed is enough to differentiate it from (and nose it ahead of) the 2022 F-150 Lightning above, which otherwise posted identical 3.8-second and 12.6-second rips to 60 mph and through the quarter mile. Still, this is the least expensive version of the Cybertruck you can buy (after Tesla seemingly killed the single-motor, rear-drive version), so that performance is pretty wild.

2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R | 0–60 MPH: 3.7 sec

After watching its game-changing F-150 Raptor and its twin-turbo V-6 be overtaken by the wilder Ram 1500 TRX and its supercharged V-8, Ford finally fired back with the also-supercharged, also-V-8-powered Raptor R in 2023. Sure, at first, the Raptor R didn’t match the TRX’s output, but even before Ford changed that for 2024, the first-year blown R managed to scoot past the TRX at the track, delivering a 3.7-second run to 60 mph. With 20 more hp this year, the R could be quicker yet.

2023 Rivian R1T Dual Motor Performance | 0–60 MPH: 3.3 sec

When Rivian’s electric R1T pickup (and its R1S SUV sibling) first landed for 2022, they did so as quad-motor (that’s one motor per wheel!) monsters with unreal off-road capabilities, on-road handling and general quickness. The two-motor versions that followed, including this one tested here, had just half the motors, but they ultimately delivered nearly the same performance—check the tape! The Dual Motor R1T is only 0.2 second slower to 60 mph.

2022 Rivian R1T Quad Motor | 0–60 MPH: 3.1 sec

Where the Ram 1500 TRX uses an environmentalist’s nightmare of a gasoline-chugging, old-school V-8, the Rivian R1T turns to a new-school approach. This all-electric pickup in its mightiest form uses four electric motors—one per wheel!—pumping out a combined 835 hp and 908 lb-ft of torque, fed by a 135-kWh battery pack. Although it’s heavy, the powerful R1T nonetheless reaches 60 mph in only 3.1 seconds—and only drops to 3.2 seconds on all-terrains. As if the Rivian needs the tiebreaker—it's a full second quicker to 60 than the TRX—its quarter-mile times are 11.6 seconds (at 110.8 mph) on road tires and 11.7 seconds (at a speedier 111.2 mph) on all-terrains. Those figures are deep into Porsche territory and well ahead of every gas-fed truck out there. For 2024 the updated, next-generation R1T Quad Motor delivers over 1,000 hp, and we expect its performance to far surpass the old (but still impressive) first-gen Quad Motor once we’re able to test it.

2022 GMC Hummer EV | 0–60 MPH: 3.0 sec

Anything getting from zero to 60 mph in 3.0 seconds is impressive. Now consider that the Hummer EV pickup is a truck that weighs 4.5 tons, and minds are blown. We extracted the 3.0-second rip to 60 mph in a Hummer EV Edition 1 model, which gets three electric motors for a combined output of 1,000 hp and 1,200 lb-ft of torque. Apparently, that much muscle is enough to shove the blocky, heavy, ridiculous new Hummer pickup to the mile-a-minute mark quicker than almost any other production truck out there. While the bigger, less aerodynamic Hummer beats the Rivian R1T to 60 by sheer brute force, it loses out in the quarter mile to that smaller and lighter rig by 0.1–0.2 second and 5.4–5.8 mph. Still, an 11.7-second, 105.4-mph run is mind-boggling.

2024 Tesla Cybertruck Beast Tri-Motor | 0–60 MPH: 2.5 sec

Look, if you’re picking up what the Tesla Cybertruck is putting down, why settle for the in-between versions? Just go full ham sandwich and buy the tri-motor, range-topping “Beast” version, which uses its 845 hp and reasonable curb weight to great effect, reaching 60 mph in only 2.5 seconds. We should note, however, that that is mind-bogglingly quick—but not quick enough to outrun the truck’s haters.