2012 Chevrolet Express Outperforms Chief Rival
In head-to-head testing, the 2012 Chevrolet Express 4500 outperforms the Ford E-450 – its direct competitor – in acceleration, hill performance and fuel economy.
AMCI Testing, an independent automotive research firm specializing in comparative vehicle evaluations, put the V8 Chevrolet 4500 and the V10 Ford E-450 head-to-head. Performance tests took place at the El Toro test facility in Irvine, Calif., and on the Scripps Poway Parkway. Real-world fuel economy tests were performed on AMCI’s city and highway test routes, consisting of city streets, boulevards and highways in Southern California.
The Chevrolet 4500 outperformed the Ford E-450 in every test conducted. To ensure accurate test results, both vehicles were loaded to 14,000 gross vehicle weight. Watch the vehicles in action.
Highlights from the head-to-head comparison:
Acceleration
• 0-60 acceleration: Chevrolet outpaced Ford by 1.92 seconds (15.58 vs. Ford: 17.5)
• Highway merging, 20-65 mph: Chevrolet beat Ford by approximately 257 feet (1,022 vs. Ford: 1,279)
Gradeability
• 50-65 mph highway passing, on a 7 percent grade: Chevrolet reached 65 mph in 2,300 feet, while Ford could not reach 65 mph on this grade
• Hill climb to terminal (maximum) speed, from 50 mph: Chevrolet beat Ford with a total difference of 6.5 mph (65.2 mph in 2,300 feet vs. Ford at 58.7 mph)
Real World Highway Fuel Economy
• With 9.2 mpg highway and 8.1 mpg city, the Chevrolet has 1.5 mpg better fuel economy on the highway than the Ford and 1 mpg better in the city, equating to more than $10,000 in average fuel cost savings, over a five-year period. The AMCI fuel economy testing was conducted over 5,365 miles.
“Commercial fleets know our vehicles meet their trade-specific needs, and help them to efficiently run their businesses,” said Ed Peper, general manager, GM Fleet and Commercial Operations. “The next step is demonstrating the quality of our product to our future customers, and we found AMCI Testing to be the right avenue to accomplish that goal.”
Each van was equipped with identical cargo bodies, adding enough weight to bring them to exactly 7 tons gross vehicle weight. During the tests, the air conditioning system use was strictly synchronized between both vehicles, windows were closed, audio systems were on, and headlights were off, except as required at sunset, when usage was synchronized. No other accessories were operated during the test.
”Frankly, we were very surprised at the large gap in performance between these two trucks,” said Guy Mangiamele, AMCI Director of Vehicle Testing. “As the data clearly shows, the Ford E-450 simply had very little performance reserve at these weights compared to the Chevy 4500. And when you consider the Chevy’s real-world fuel economy advantage in percentage terms, it has cost-of-ownership implications over the lifetime of the vehicle.”
AMCI Testing subjected the vehicles to other through rigorous evaluations including quarter-mile acceleration and 40-60 mph passing. The Chevrolet beat the Ford in all tests, proving its ability to meet fleet and commercial customers’ needs.
To find more information about Chevy 4500 and the full vehicle portfolio, visit GM Fleet.
The Chevrolet Silverado HD, Motor Trend’s 2011 Truck of the Year, was also put to the test against its competition in spring 2011. Watch the video.
