Competition in the dual-cab ute market is hotter than ever, with most major manufacturers bringing a high-quality offering to the table. However, with the scope of these versatile vehicles spanning everything from worksites to the school run, bush tracks to towing the family caravan, getting a feel for one ute over another is nigh on impossible when you only have a standard 20-minute test-drive to go on.
Fortunately, Trucksales recently teamed up with the crew from sibling site carsales.com.au to collaborate on one of our favourite comparison tests on the automotive calendar – the dual-cab ute comparison review.
We took seven of the leading dual-cab utes – sadly not eight, because Nissan wasn't able to make a Navara available – and put them through the wringer over three days.
Highway touring was a stark counterpoint to the off-road testing, which was conducted at Wodonga TAFE's purpose-built track just south of Albury.
Tow testing was conducted with a 2.5-tonne caravan out the back while load-lugging ability was tested with around half-a-tonne of concrete strapped down in the tub.
At the end of the three days we'd come up with an overall ranking. Does the top-selling Toyota HiLux deserve its crown? Does Ford's Ranger, our previous comparo winner, still have the edge? Can Mitsubishi's Triton be beaten on value, and what of Volkswagen's new V6-engined Amarok?
Click here to go to carsales.com.au and all will be revealed…