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2015 FORD F-150 Review

OUR TEST CAR: 2015 Ford F-150 SuperCrew XLT 4x4 2.7 EcoBoost V6

 
Every five years or so (give or take), Ford Motor Company has its “most important launch ever” when it releases the latest generation of the iconic Ford F-150 pickup truck. This trend certainly holds true for the all-new thirteenth-generation truck.
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Standing as the best-selling truck in the U.S. for the last 37 years and the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. for 32 years straight, the 2015 Ford F-150 ventures into uncharted waters in the pickup truck segment boasting an all-aluminum body, a downsized engine lineup and a plethora of class-leading features both inside and out.

Touted as the toughest, smartest and most capable F-150 ever, Ford hopes to raise the bar even further in the highly competitive full-size pickup truck market that includes the recently redesigned GMC Sierra, Chevrolet Silverado, Ram 1500 and Toyota Tundra not to mention the impending next-gen Nissan Titan.

Ford didn’t get to the head of the full-size truck market by sticking to the status quo, so it went to work to try to improve just about every possible aspect of truck ownership from the family who will use it as a daily driver and an occasional boat hauler to the construction company fleet that will rely on the truck to get the job done.

At launch, the 2015 Ford F-150 will be available with three body styles (Regular, Supercab and Supercrew), three bed lengths (5.5 feet, 6.5 feet and 8 feet), four engines and five initial trim levels, which we’re sure will grow over the coming model years.

Our time during this drive event was spent in SuperCrew versions of the volume-selling F-150 XLT as well as the Texas-inspired F-150 King Ranch. Speaking of Texas, the new Ford F-150 has already made quite an impression on the media as it was just recently named the 2014 Truck of Texas, and it’s surely a front runner for the 2015 North American Truck of the Year award.

Since news first broke of the next-gen F-150, the focal point has been on Ford’s decision to utilize aluminum – not steel – to construct the truck’s body. Now, this isn’t the aluminum you are able to crush easily on a pop can. Ford says the body is constructed from high-strength, military grade aluminum alloy that is resistant to the typical damage and corrosion that will be experienced in daily truck life.

While Ford has definitely taken a gamble with the aluminum construction, we’re sure it did all of its homework before going all-in on its high-profit cash cow. Still, there are plenty of critics out there and questions to be answered including a volunteer firefighter stopped us to check out the new F-150 only to ask how the aluminum will react when the first responders need to extricate people from the truck following an accident. Ford assured us that along with the hundreds of hours of testing, it ran through al thel scenarios.
Surprisingly, as much attention that is paid to questioning or supporting the F-150’s aluminum body, the overall styling of the truck might be one of its qualities that is least talked about.

Looking back just 20 years ago when the 1994 Dodge Ram redefined what truck styling should be, seeing the 2015 Ford F-150 reveals a design that is quite possibly even bolder and more ground-breaking than the Peterbilt-inspired Dodge.

This starts with the imposing face that consists of large, jewel-like headlights with a distinctive rectangular-shaped cutout and a massive six-sided grille that varies by design depending on the particular trim level. Our personal favorite is the standard chrome grille on the XLT, which features vertical intakes on each side that closely resembles the grille from the attractive 2013 Ford Atlas Concept.

The headlights play a key role in some of the class-leading firsts for the 2015 F-150 including the available LED lighting. When equipped with these LEDs, the headlights get a unique lighting accent that should make Ford as distinctive in the truck market as Audi is among cars especially when it comes to night driving. A similar accent is also present on the LED-equipped taillights, but Ford did not stop there when it came to light-emitting diode technology.

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Other optional LEDs available on the 2015 F-150 include alley lights built into each door mirror, two LEDs mounted inside the bed and a light mounted on the liftgate handle to make it easier to connect a trailer hitch. The cargo bed can also be equipped with manual-retractable side steps, a new-and-improved tailgate step and, perhaps one of the coolest features on the truck, a tailgate that can lower remotely.

Other innovative OEM features built into the F-150’s include options like the BoxLink cargo management system and the cargo ramps. It is features like these that will likely help keep the F-150 as the best-selling truck in the U.S.

As hard as Ford worked to give the 2015 Ford F-150 a stylish yet aerodynamically optimized exterior, spending just a few minutes inside the F-150 shows just how far pickup trucks have come in the last two decades. On the lower end of the model lineup, you can still get an F-150 with a cloth bench seat and stripped-out, work-ready interior, but higher trim levels like King Ranch and Platinum deliver the same level of luxury as some top-class vehicles with advanced technology and high-quality materials.

New technology includes an available 360-degree camera that provides an overhead view of the truck when attempting to navigate tight spaces, and the rear camera gets a Dynamic Hitch Assist to make it a one-man job to hook up to a trailer while the front-mounted camera can help during off-road driving. The King Ranch model we tested had real wood trim, power-retractable running boards and “multi-contour” massaging front seats.
Looking past all of the materials, the space and comfort found inside the F-150 are amazing.

For starters, the front door panels have been redesigned to better fit the contours of occupants’ arms whether they are on the upper edge of the door panel or on the conventional arm rest. Moving to the rear seats, the SuperCrew provides enough legroom than you can cross your legs and still have plenty of space.

As for the SuperCab model, this allows for easy ingress and egress with rear-hinged half doors that open 170 degrees. If cargo needs to be hauled instead of passengers, the flat rear floor makes it even easier load and unload stuff and provides a little extra safely and security during transport.

The current (2009-2014) F-150 helped warm customers up to the idea of a smaller-displacement, turbocharged engine, and the 2015 model year takes engine downsizing to a whole new level in the truck market by using a V6-heavy engine lineup that starts with the all-new 3.5-liter Ti-VCT V6, which is rated at 283 hp (211 kW) and 255 lb-ft (345 Nm) of torque.

On the top end of the engine lineup is the 5.0-liter V8 rated at 385 hp (287 kW) and 387 lb-ft (524 Nm) of torque. The big news is the EcoBoost engines that will also be available with the carryover 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 and the all-new 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6.

This latter engine is no joke. With 325 hp (242 kW) and 375 lb-ft (508 Nm) of torque at its disposal, the 2.7-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost provides an excellent balance between power and fuel economy. On the power side of the equation, acceleration is impressive with the ability to make passing or merging an effortless affair, while the casual tower/hauler will have no qualms with this mill as it can provide up to 8,500 pounds (3,855 kg) of towing and a 2,250-pound (1,020 kg) max payload.

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If you need max towing, though, you’ll want to opt for the 5.0-liter V-8 with its 11,100-pound (5,034 kg) tow rating or the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 with its 12,200-pound (5,533 kg) tow rating.

We had a brief opportunity to pull some big trailers with both of these engines, and even up noticeable grades, the F-150 never hesitated.

Most F-150 buyers will probably spend lots of time on the road, and that’s exactly the drive route Ford had set up for us. Over the course of the day, we put about 200 combined miles (320 km) on both trucks, and at times, we almost forgot we were driving a two-ton full-size truck.

While coming up with innovative ways to reduce weight and improve body rigidity, Ford also managed to produce an interior that is whisper quiet even as we attempted to plow a brick-shaped hunk of metal through the air at 80 miles per hour (130 km/h). Ford has taken a little flack for its piped-in faux V-8 engine noise used on the Lariat models and higher with this smaller engine, but honestly, it’s almost impossible to actually discern the fake noise from the regular engine sound.
The combination of the lightweight body and the high-strength steel frame helped give the 2015 Ford F-150 a surprisingly smooth ride.

We were able to drive the F-150 over various road surfaces ranging from twisty paved roads to washboard style gravel roads, and the truck’s suspension, steering and brakes all handled magnificently. One of the reasons Ford went to the aluminum body was to improve the ride quality, which now has a lower center of gravity not to mention a much lower curb weight.

Better yet, the F-150 delivers a smooth ride without the need for weight-adding technologies like GM’s Magnetic Ride Control or Ram’s coil-spring air suspension.

Ford says that the new body design helped shave around 700 pounds (318 kg) from the curb weight compared to the current 2014 F-150, and the 2015 model ranges in weight from 4,050 pounds (1,837 kg) for the regular cab, short bed 3.5-liter V-6 4x2 up to 4,900 pounds (2,222 kg) for the SuperCrew long wheelbase 3.5-liter EcoBoost 4x4.

In base form, the 2015 F-150 weighs about 500 pounds less than Ram and GM, while the heaviest F-150 is almost 800 pounds lighter than the heaviest Ram 1500 and 700 pounds lighter than the heaviest Silverado 1500. For those keeping track, the most recent U.S.-spec Ford Ranger tipped the scales at between 3,136 pounds and 3,741 pounds (1,422-1,696 kg), while the current international Ford Ranger weight between 3,569 pounds and 4,850 pounds (1,619-2,200 kg).

Our sole gripe about the ride quality was one point where we came to a stop in a gravel parking lot with the steering wheel slightly turned. When the 2.7-liter V6’s stop-start technology kicked in, it ripped the steering wheel right out of our hands. That being said, it was a situation that probably wouldn’t happen that often, and stop-start can be manually switched off using a button or automatically defeated when the truck is in tow/haul mode or in four-wheel drive.

Stop-start helps add incremental gains in fuel economy, and while Ford has yet to reveal the official fuel economy, we saw real-world numbers (according to the information screen) of 19.2 mpg (12.25 l/100km) in combined driving for the smaller EcoBoost and 18 mpg (13 l/100km) in combined driving for the 3.5-liter EcoBoost.

The 2015 Ford F-150 will go on sale by the end of the year with base prices ranging from $25,420 for the F-150 XL up to $50,960 for the F-150 Platinum.

Of the two vehicles we spent time with, there was the XLT SuperCrew 4x4 with a 2.7-liter EcoBoost and a short bed that came with an as-tested price of $45,285 optioned up with an appearance package (chrome grille, side steps), LED box lighting, LED mirror lights, power sliding rear glass, 10-way power front seats, Ford Sync, 110v power outlet and a Class IV hitch.

The King Ranch SuperCrew 4x4 was even pricier with a total MSRP of $61,275, which included options like the 3.5-liter EcoBoost, twin-panel moonroof, adaptive cruise control and lots of luxury and tech add-ons.

Perhaps the more amazing aspect of the launch of the 2015 Ford F-150 is that the engineering and design took place at the same time Ford was redoing its other major icon, the 2015 Ford Mustang.

After experiencing the work that has been put into this new truck, we hope that Ford engineers were able to relax for a day or at least and enjoy a few cold ones, but there’s no rest for the weary… especially in the truck world. A new Super Duty is hot on the heels of this F-150, and while there will not be an F-150 SVT Raptor for 2015, one Ford representative did assure us that this off-road performance model isn’t dead either.
82user rating 41 votes
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autoevolution Oct 2014
75
Value for money: 7/10
History
10
Exterior
6
Interior
8
In the city
4
Open road
7
Comfort
7
Tech facts
9
Gadgets
8
Safety
8
Conclusion
9
82user rating 41 votes
Rate this car!
 
Key Specs
USEU
Engine
2700 cm3 twin-turbo V6
Fuel
Petrol
Power kw
242
Power hp
325
Power rpm
Torque val
375
Torque rpm
Transmission
six-speed automatic
Traction
4WD
Acceleration
8s
Top speed
120 mph
Official fuel efficiency
Our fuel efficiency
-/-/19.2
Length
231.9 in
Width
79.9 in
Height
75.3 in
Wheelbase
145 in
Ground clearance
9.1 in
Cargo volume
CuFT
Weight
4.050 lbs
Seating
5
Power
242 KW/325 BHP @ RPM
Torque
375 Lb-Ft @ RPM
Engine
2700 cm3 twin-turbo V6
Fuel
P
Power kw
242
Power hp
330
Power rpm
Torque val
508
Torque rpm
Transmission
six
Traction
4WD
Acceleration
8.2s
Top speed
190 km/h
Official fuel efficiency
Our fuel efficiency
-/-/12.25
Length
5890 mm
Width
2029 mm
Height
1913 mm
Wheelbase
3683 mm
Ground clearance
230 mm
Cargo volume
L
Weight
1837 Kg
Seating
5
Power
242 KW/330 HP @ RPM
Torque
508 Nm @ RPM
base price
$
25420
Photo gallery (44)
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