Video: Does The 2022 Toyota Tundra Crush The Ram 1500 In The World’s Toughest Towing Test – Ike Gauntlet?

2022 toyota tundra ram 1500 ike gauntlet towing trailer competition

How does the all-new 2022 Toyota Tundra perform on the Ike Gauntlet™ – world’s toughest towing test? We find out right now. We are towing an 8,100 lbs trailer up and down I-70 and across the continental divide in Colorado.

Ike Gauntlet

This is the world’s toughest towing test because it’s an 8-mile climb up the country’s steepest interstate highway to a maximum elevation of 11,158 feet above sea level. This is a 7% grade with a 60 MPH speed limit.

2022 Toyota Tundra

The all-new Tundra is based on a new TNGA-F fully-boxed frame. The truck has a new suspension design with rear coil springs. Under the hood is a new engine – a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 with 389 hp @ 5,200 rpm and 479 lb-ft of torque @ 2,400 rpm. Toyota calls this engine the i-FORCE. The engine is mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission. The power is sent to the rear axle via a 3.31 rear axle differential ratio.

This truck has a maximum payload capacity of 1,400 lbs and it is rated to tow up to 11,120 lbs. This Tundra crew cab short bed Limited trim with a TRD Off-road package has a curb weight of 5,800 lbs.

2022 Ram 1500

This Ram has a familiar 5.7-liter V8 with the mild eTorque hybrid system. The power output is 395 hp and 410 lb-ft of torque. The engine is mated to an 8-speed automatic transmission and a 3.92 rear axle ratio.

This Ram has a payload capacity maximum of 1,452 lbs and maximum towing capability of 11,100 lbs. This Ram 1500 crew cab short bed with the Backcountry 4×4 Off-road package has a curb weight of 5,650 lbs.

Here is our Ike Gauntler scoring system: out of total 100 points.

  • 25 pts for downhill: subtract a point for each brake application
  • 25 pts for uphill time: subtract a point for each 5 seconds over 8 min.
  • 25 pts for uphill MPG: subtract a point for each 0.2 MPG less than 6 MPG.
  • 25 pts max Subjective score for each reviewer.
  • Categories are:
    • towing technology
    • squat / suspension
    • visibility / mirrors
    • interior comfort / loudness
    • value

In the end, the new Tundra tied the Ram with a downhill performance of 6 brake applications. Both truck when up the mountain in under the benchmark 8 minutes. The Ram showed an uphill towing efficiency of 4.7 MPG and the Tundra showed 4.3 MPG.

In the end, we scored the 2022 Tundra at 83 points and the 2022 Ram scored 85 points. Both of these scores are very good.

For comparison, here is how a new Ford F-150 Hybrid and Nissan Armada perform on the same test with the same trailer.