To me the test is meaningless for my needs. I won't have a truck with gears lower than 3.73. I tow heavy probably only 20% of the time so I need the best overall truck, not just the one that tows up a hill the fastest. I've tried the whole having one vehicle just for work and having another for everything else (tried it twice actually) and for me it just doesn't work so I have to choose one truck that suits all of my needs the best. I don't care if I'm slower than grandma coming home from church on Sunday when I'm towing my tractor, speed simply is not a factor for me when towing heavy. All I care about is that I can get the load moving, don't overload my axles and get the load stopped. And that is only for the 20% of the time when I'm towing heavy. The other 80% of the time I'm using my truck I want as comfortable a ride as practical, decent road manners, a comfortable enough interior that I can live with, and possibly most importantly the best fuel economy I can achieve. This last requirement means that I'm always going to choose the tallest gears that I can get (within reason) and shows why this test is meaningless to me. I'm never going to tow a camper or fifth wheel as my wife hates camping. If I'm towing snowmobiles or ATV's then I'm far beneath the capabilities of a diesel truck, so no need for anything crazy there. I'm currently operating and towing the largest tractor I could reasonably foresee owning (NH Powerstar T4.75, with cab, loader, loaded tires and implement of some sort) especially considering that I only own a little less than 7 acres. When loaded on my gooseneck trailer all 16,000 pounds of tractor and trailer is still not enough to make me go slower than the speed rating of the trailer tires while driving up the steepest grades within 200 miles of anyplace I take the tractor so why would I even consider a truck that would get poorer fuel economy when operated the way that I operate my truck 80% of the time? All of these tests are cute and all, but I buy a truck based upon my needs not upon what a very small segment of the market needs or even benefits from.
