America might be retrenching from EVs for a moment, but make no mistake, there’s only one pickup truck king in town, and it’s from a startup, of all places: The Rivian R1T Quad.
The second-generation R1T won our pickup truck brawl by a landslide, earning The Drive‘s Best Truck of 2026. Why? In a sentence, it’s the definition of too much of a good thing coming together just right to deliver perfection.
The Rivian R1T Quad hit the sweet spot more than any truck we drove over the last year, fitting the bill for work, play, and smiles-per-mile while still being both practical and capable. It might not look very different, but the R1T Quad returns for its second go-around with new in-house-developed motors, more power, more capability, more speed, more range, and the same incredible packaging that made it a winner from day one.
Runner-Up: Ram HD
“The Ram HD isn’t all-new for 2025, though it does get a healthy mid-cycle refresh from the 2500 model on up to the 5500.
“What truck people will really care about is the powertrain, and if you include yourself in that camp, you’ll be glad to know that’s where the biggest updates come in. The 6.7-liter Cummins diesel now makes 430 horsepower and 1,075 lb-ft of torque in every 2500 and 3500, doing away with the old standard output and high output guises from yesteryear. Additionally, in a move that at least some folks are very excited about, the diesel engine now uses glow plugs to assist with cold starts instead of the previous grid heater. A fresh TorqueFlite HD eight-speed is the only available transmission across the board, but in my albeit brief experience, it’s a good one—better than the outgoing six-speed Aisin. And the 6.4-liter Hemi gasser is still around with the same 410 hp and 429 lb-ft of torque.
“While I was impressed with the Cummins inline-six, I expected that. What I wasn’t sure of was how the new eight-speed automatic would do. I couldn’t force a hard shift from that sucker as hard as I tried, and the logic is smart enough not to slam down a gear just because the driver puts their foot down.
“As I mentioned earlier, my impressions of the 2025 Ram HD are mostly positive, but not completely. I drove an unladen 2500 Longhorn Limited from Las Vegas to the test site near Laughlin, Nevada, and that beast was so bouncy on the interstate at times that my wife could hear it in my voice as I talked to her over the truck’s hands-free system. The road has a lot to do with that, I know, but that thing was like a springboard without any weight behind it. I doubt it would have felt awesome in a leaf-sprung truck, but it’s my hunch that the Ram’s rear five-link coil suspension exaggerated it all a bit.” –Caleb Jacobs, Senior Editor
Runner-Up: Nissan Frontier Pro-4X
“Hopping into the 2025 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X feels like jumping back 15 years.
“Some customers may be put off, especially by its ancient-feeling cabin tech, but the sort of people who truly appreciate trucks for doing actual truck stuff will probably like the Frontier.
“Even if the Frontier is a dinosaur among dinosaurs, there’s no denying its cool looks. It looks like it can handle armageddon with a yawn, especially with its Afterburn Orange paint and chunky black wheels. I’m not even a big pickup truck kind of guy, but walking up to the Nissan every day made me feel like I was embarking on an adventure. I’m not sure that’d ever get old.
“Climbing into its cabin feels like time travel in the best ways possible. It’s littered with big, physical buttons that have heavy, clicky engagement. It feels like Nissan made them with gloves in mind. Everything feels chunky and requires effort, adding to that rugged, old-school vibe. The orange trim everywhere feels a bit childish, but I enjoyed all of my time spent inside the Frontier, simply because it was so refreshingly, charmingly dated.
“The steering, holy crap the steering. My first twirl of the Frontier Pro-4X’s steering wheel made me realize we were going to get along. It’s surprisingly heavy and has gobs of feel.
“But if you’re the sort of person who cares more about adding inches to suspension travel than adding inches to touchscreens, the Pro-4X may just be exactly what you’re looking for.” –Nico Demattia, former Staff Writer
Winner: Rivian R1T Quad
“The R1T Quad is a clean-sheet rethink of what a pickup truck, and frankly, a vehicle, is and can be in every aspect. The second-generation Quad just takes things to the next level from an industry-leading electrical architecture that’s so impressive, Volkswagen gave up developing its own and just gave Rivian $5.8 billion to copy its homework. Then there’s the clean-sheet in-house designed and engineered oil-cooled electric motors, two per axle, of course. It’s all shoved into the same mind-boggling packaging with an even nicer interior.
“Unsurprisingly, the combination of 1,025 hp and sticky Michelins hit like a gut punch as my entire body was shoved into the seat. It could be described as violent, but the weight transfer from front to back as the power hits is considerably more controlled than in a Hummer EV. Most people have never (and probably never will) experienced power like this, and certainly not in a 7,000-pound pickup truck. As a result, it can run the quarter-mile in 10.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 130 mph. These are blistering and unnecessary (yet completely enjoyable) figures.
“The Rivian R1T Quad has no true direct competitor in terms of performance, outright capability on- and off-road, and perhaps above all else, packaging.
“Buyers seeking looks and attention will need to look elsewhere, but enthusiasts should know the bar has been set, and no other production vehicle can touch the Rivian R1T Quad in all-around performance and packaging for any amount of money.” –Joel Feder, Director of Content and Product
The Rivian didn’t win because it’s electric; it won because, at the end of the day, there’s no other pickup that innovates the way the Rivian R1T does, combining unreal performance with reimagined pickup truck packaging.
In over 15 years of reviewing cars, I’ve driven one vehicle and said, “I need to buy this” because it fits our lifestyle of towing boats, kids, and Minnesota life: a V8-powered WK2 Jeep Grand Cherokee. That’s what sits in my garage today. A second-generation Rivian R1 is the only current contender for a replacement. I would’ve loved to sign off on this with, “and I bought one.” But not yet.
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