Ever wonder who makes the best pickup trucks? We’re not talking about the best ones that people poured a billion dollars into, so they could lay 600-foot rubber stripes down the street with drag radials on; you can put 1,300 horsepower into anything if you have enough money.

But what about the trucks that actually roll off the factory line? It’s not about “who can” build better trucks but about “who does” build better trucks. All of these manufacturers are involved in racing, have racing development departments, or have dependable engine builders—and there’s no reason why we can’t have loads and loads of power straight from the assembly line. Well, there is one reason.

How much money you got? If you wanna play with the big boys, you can play with the big boys but you gotta pay to play. There are production trucks out there that’ll put down Challenger SRT8s, Mustang GTs, and Audi S5s. They’ll push a 2006 Porsche Carrera S to its maximum limits.

Then, you have the “real” trucks…they’re big, slow, heavy, and strong as an ox. If you happen to own a truck on this list (on the slow side), fear not, that just means you have a real pickup truck. Fast trucks are cool, but let’s face it: a truck is meant to be a truck, not a racecar. (Racecar features are just a bonus.)

We’ll start off with some of the slowest, and work our way to blistering fast. Sure, there are some that fell between the cracks and we wanted to list them all but you just don’t have that kind of time!

20 2014 Ram 1500 Laramie Longhorn EcoDiesel 4X4

The new diesel in town is VM Motori's 3.0L EcoDiesel (Dodge’s version of Ford’s EcoBoost). No longer is the mighty Cummins Dodge’s only secret weapon but the Cummins is nothing short of a legend in the diesel industry. The big 6.7L isn’t going anywhere (yet), though, so don’t worry, guys.

But small-displacement, power-on-demand is the new way of engine building and that usually means forced-induction. Although Rams are among some of the fastest diesel trucks on the planet, you won’t find this Longhorn anywhere in those circles. You could almost throw a quesadilla in the microwave and finish eating it by the time you got through your run. It does 0-60 mph in 8.8 seconds and the ¼ mile in 16.9 seconds.

19 2012 Ram 2500 Laramie Longhorn 4X4

You can pick one of these bad boys up for a “fair market price” of around $13,000, according to MotorTrend. However, if you tried walking off the lot with one of these for that price, you wouldn’t get very far. It’s a $30,000 truck and for good reason; this was the year of the torque boost for the inline-six Cummins (with an automatic).

The manuals kept the 650 ft-lbs but the automatics spec’d out at 800 ft-lbs, effectively bringing new life to the term “stump-puller.” It’s not going to blaze a new trail, per se; but you could blaze an old one at a pretty good pace while towing about six yachts. It does 0-60 mph in 8.4 seconds and the ¼ mile in 16.5 seconds.

18 2002 Dodge Ram 1500

Although we spent a lot of time and energy figuring out the exact mechanics of the “fastest” factory production trucks, a lot less care is taken in the approach to the measuring of parameters of trucks in the slower category, and here’s why: nobody really cares. Trap speeds and quarter-mile times are a far more distant concern because, at the end of the day, it’s a truck. And when you have a “fast” truck, you pay a premium.

But here, in Regulartruckland, you’re not trying to smoke your Goodyears through every parking lot you hit; you’re just trying to get somewhere. If that sounds like you, the base model Dodge Ram has your name all over it, sir. It's all the truck you need and none of the nothing you don’t. It does 0-60 mph in 10.2 seconds and the ¼ mile in 17.6 seconds.

17 2005 Ford F-250 Crew Cab

The 2005 Ford F-250 was available with two engine configurations; one being the Power Stroke. You could get a modular V8 Triton or even the massive 6.8L V10 but what you really got a Ford truck for was the Power Stroke.

Unfortunately, there was no 7.4L left and we were stuck with the dog of a 6.0L that replaced it. Diesel guys either love or hate that engine (most of it is hate). It’s a decent engine if you don’t mind forking over some cash for some engine updates. It’s not going anywhere incredibly fast, but how fast do you really wanna ride 6,100 pounds through a quarter mile? It does 0-60 mph in 10.2 seconds and the ¼ mile in 17.5 seconds.

16 2003 Ford F-250 Super Duty

Ford's 2003 gasoline model did a bit better a few years earlier. Really, many of these lower-performing trucks have identical powertrains and very similar weights; gearing didn’t even change much. It’s still going to get you down the quarter mile in roughly the same amount of time, you’re still lumbering on about two tons more metal than you should be, and you really have no business racing your huge truck down the quarter mile anyway.

If you absolutely can’t resist the urge, however, there are better ways to go about hot-rodding. This is the river pig; this is the truck that you get attention in just because of the boat hanging off your tow hitch. It does 0-60 mph in 9.6 seconds and the ¼ mile in 17.1 seconds.

15 2001 Toyota Tacoma

The 2001 Tacoma is the first of the mini-trucks on the list…and it’s on the slow side. You’d almost think there should be an army of mini-trucks occupying the ranks of the fastest of trucks but no, that’s a big truck’s game. The little 2001 Tacoma is one of the slowest trucks on the grid, only able to beat out a few massive Fords and a low-level Ram, but is that really saying much?

The Tacoma was never meant to blast down a drag strip to prove its worth; but about 162,000 people already knew it in 2001, when they scooped one fresh out of the dealership inventory (and probably put about 300,000 miles on it without ever looking under the hood). It does 0-60 mph in 9.1 seconds and the ¼ mile in 16.7 seconds.

14 2009 GMC Sierra Hybrid

Do we like hybrid Sierras? It all depends largely on if we like hybrids, in the first place. The systems certainly do have their place in professional auto racing, so we can’t necessarily discount things, but when we use it in a pickup application, it needs to perform; we don’t seem to be seeing very many promising results thus far.

Normally, we could excuse this shortcoming as an emerging technology getting its footing—but that’s only acceptable in a car. We need trucks to perform, bottom line. Equipping a $44,000 truck with an anemic propulsion system is just asking for it to lose favor among consumers. They’re still pretty trucks, just weak, pretty trucks. It does 0-60 mph in 9.1 seconds and the ¼ mile in 16.4 seconds.

13 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche 2500

The Avalanche was MotorTrend’s 2002 Truck of the Year, which is fantastic! But they go on to blow a bunch of hot smoke up the Avalanche’s tailpipe, with the prediction that it was the “new” age of truck-building. The “convertible” crossover pickup truck (or whatever you call that breezeway it unfolds into) was always a silly design to build into the back of a truck and GM would finally “pull the plug” in 2013.

But, if you happened to jump aboard during the first generation, you could get a Heavy Duty, 2500 version—with a big motor and everything! The 8.1L Vortec was good for a decent 340 horsepower and you really couldn’t go wrong with the 4L80E transmission. It does 0-60mph in 8.7 seconds and the ¼ mile in 16.4 seconds.

12 2012 Honda Ridgeline

Didn’t expect to find a Ridgeline here? Neither did we. In fact, we only put it on here because it had what you could refer to as a “bed.” The design petered out decades ago, as pickup trucks went back to their modular roots, where they belong; but it was only inevitable that the car-like design would resurface eventually.

You can expect “lackluster power and fuel economy,” and “longish braking distances (according to Edmunds). But if none of that scares you and you like living on the ridge of “modest off-road and towing capabilities,” the Ridgeline could be your ticket to paradise. (Some people love them.) It does 0-60 mph in 7.9 seconds and the ¼ mile in 16.1 seconds.

11 2014 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 Z71 LT

Here we are, at the middle of the road. Is this the fastest of the “slow” trucks or the slowest of the “fast” trucks. Either way you dice it, the Z71 is a good middle-of-the-road contender; one that slides the ever-faithful Gen V, 5.3L, small-block, Vortec motor inside the engine bay for a legacy powertrain that’s tried and proven.

Up to 355 horsepower and 383 ft-lbs shoot through the newer-style six-speed, thanks to direct injection, and cylinder deactivation gives the engine a dynamic ability to step power up or down as needed. If there’s one truck on your must-have list before they stick you in the earth, make it the Z71! It does 0-60 mph in 6.8 seconds and the ¼ mile in 15.0 seconds.

10 2007 Toyota Tundra Limited

The old Tundra is still here to stake a name for itself and it won’t allow itself to be brushed away by its newly revised counterparts. The Tundra has come a long way since its humble T100 beginnings; who’d have guessed it would have turned out to be such a good truck?

Knowing they had to turn up the heat if they were going to survive in the full-size market, Toyota pumped the 5.7L powerplant with 381 horsepower and 401 ft-lbs of torque. This truck is just quick enough to be respectably fast by any modern standards, especially for a full-size pickup! It does 0-60mph in 6.0 seconds and the ¼ mile in 14.7 seconds at 93.9 mph.

9 2014 Chevrolet Silverado High Country

The Silverado keeps it stone-tough, rugged, and real with a geometrically-square design that strikes a very pleasant chord with a wide range of full-size truck lovers. Interior styling has been working its way steadily up since the early-2000s and the total package leaves little to be desired from a user-experience point of view.

The first two decades of the 2000s have seen a lot of impressive leaps and bounds in the pickup truck sector and Chevy knows how to keep up with the competition; all-aluminum blocks and heads, VVT, and an 11.5:1 compression ratio muscle you around like a boss with 420 horsepower and 460 ft-lbs of torque. It does 0-60 mph in 6.0 seconds and the ¼ mile in 14.6 seconds at 96.6 mph.

8 2003 Ford F-150 Harley Davidson

Does anybody fancy a 380-hp, 5.4L V8 with 14 combined MPGs? You can only seat four, and it’s only rear-wheel drive. Why? ‘Murica, that’s why. The land of the free isn’t going to forget our two-wheeled road companions and Ford decided that a fitting tribute would be a Harley-Davidson trim level that rolls out from the factory sounding just as bad as the eponymous bikes they’re named after! (Okay, not really, but kinda.)

It sounds better than a factory truck; you have to give it that. Bearing a Harley moniker would pretty much stipulate as much. One other stipulation was that it had to be fast, even by today’s standards! It does 0-60 mph in 6.0 seconds and the ¼ mile in 14.3 seconds at 96.3 mph.

7 2014 Ford F-150 TREMOR

How many F-150s can spawn from a single model line? The answer: as many as Ford can come up with catchy nicknames for. They have more than enough technology, R&D, and resources to make a truck as fast as they want! But, once again, how deep are your pockets? The single-cab earth-shaker isn’t as gnarly as the old Lightning you have tucked away in your garage under that 13-year-old tarp, so don’t be fooled by the flash.

But any way you cut it, we’re now into the high-fives and counting. There may be a lot of things faster than the Tremor on the road but there are also a lot of things that aren’t; a lot more things, as it would turn out! It does 0-60 mph in 5.8 seconds and the ¼ mile in 14.3 seconds at 94.4 mph.

6 2016 GMC Sierra Denali 4X4

The Denali-grade pickup truck demands Denali-style looks, Denali-style features, and Denali-style elegance. A Denali-style pool of resources would also be a good idea, as everyone knows you’re not rolling around behind a Denali badge for free. Quite the opposite, in fact; the Denali, when equipped to hammer out 14-second, factory quarter-miles, started at over $50,000.

You could get the base model without worrying about window cranks but you’d be missing out on all the goodies: metallic paint ($395), onboard Driver Alert system ($550), sunroof— because every pickup needs one—($995), power brake controller ($275)…you can even order $995 worth of power-assisted side steps. The $2,495 engine package blesses your driveline with 420 horsepower and 460 ft-lbs from the 6.2L V8. It does 0-60 mph in 5.8 seconds and the ¼ mile in 14.2 seconds at 97.1 mph.

5 2009 Dodge Ram R/T

The Ram R/T scavenges performance wherever it can get its claws in. Although the frame is, for the most part, a carryover from previous designs, small touches (like the coil-spring rear suspension and trailing link setup on the live axle) all equate to a formidable pickup—even 10 years later.

Weight reductions from bow to stern help shave pounds off, one by one, and by the time the R/T got to the end of the assembly line, it weighed only 4,779 pounds. A strong, 12.3:1 power-to-weight ratio commands respect with a 390-hp Hemi and it doesn’t even use more than a five-speed to make the magic happen. It does 0-60 mph in 5.7 seconds and the ¼ mile in 14.4 seconds at 93.4 mph.

4 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor (SuperCab)

It’s always been a different type of dinosaur. Many of the other full-size trucks claim to be “off-road" tough but the Raptor gobbles up rough roads quicker than it does Mr. Arnold while he’s trying to get the electric fences back online. The Ford Raptor, however, doesn’t leave anything leftover.

Ford made sure to deck the insides out with a comfortable level of technology but the root of the Raptor is its bad manners and off-road proclivities. All it needs is the mighty 3.5L EcoBoost V6 (with a set of turbos) to blow 450 horsepower and 510 ft-lbs of torque to the wheels in 10 different ratios. It does 0-60 mph in 5.2 seconds and the ¼ mile in 13.9 seconds at 97.3 mph.

3 2004 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning

What’s 13 years older than the vicious Raptor, 70 horses weaker, but still one-tenth of a second faster in the 0-60 mph sprint? If the SVT Lightning was on the tip of your tongue before you looked at the big red Lightning picture (which it wasn’t), you’d be correct. Did I really say that right? 70 horsepower weaker and it’s still faster? Yup.

“How?” you ask? We don’t know. By all accounts, it really doesn’t make a lot of sense (though the Raptor does have to fight an entire driveline into action). Also how: a 380-hp, supercharged, 5.4L V8…that’s how. ‘Nuff said. It does 0-60 mph in 5.1 seconds and the ¼ mile in 13.6 seconds at 102 mph.

2 2004 Dodge Ram SRT-10

Two things need to be said about the 2004 Dodge Ram SRT-10 in regards to speed and acceleration. First, there is one truck here that’s faster by 0.2 seconds (hold your horses). Second, the SRT-10 has a faster trap speed, indicating that once it got to wind up, it was already outpacing the competition by the time they both crossed the finish line.

What it really means is that we know the SRT-10 is the fastest out there, just not in the context of a quarter mile. As soon as that big 8.3L V10 winds up…you're done, son! Dodge set out to build the baddest street pickup and it’s pretty hard to top Viper hardware, we gotta say. It does 0-60 mph in 4.9 seconds and the ¼ mile in 13.2 seconds at 107.1 mph.

1 2008 Toyota Tundra TRD Supercharged

Meet the Mac Daddy: 504 horsepower of supercharged Toyota V8 technology. The big 5.7L may be deadly in the hands of a General Motors engineer but give that displacement to a Toyota brain and he’ll figure out how to suck 4.4 seconds of straight-line performance out of a full-size pickup truck like you wouldn’t believe.

Wanna know what 550 ft-lbs of half-ton torque is faster than when it’s shooting through the Toyota driveline? It’s faster than a Mustang GT (5.1s), a Challenger SRT8 (4.6s), a Jaguar XF SC (4.90s), an Audi S5 (4.5s), or BMW's 135i (4.6s). And it’ll give a 2006 Porsche Carrera S a good run for its money (MotorTrend). It’s even faster than the SRT-10 and its Viper motor (for a short distance, anyway). It does 0-60 mph in 4.4 seconds and the ¼ mile in 13.0 seconds at 106.3 mph.

Sources: AutoBlog, Edmunds, MotorTrend, J.D. Power, Car and Driver, Car Connection.