Brute Strength
Pickup-truck buyers brag about two things: towing performance and payload capacity. O'Leary claims the new F-150 has class-leading towing capacity across all cab configurations and the industry's highest payload capacity. But the fact the new F-150 will be available only with V-8 engines under the hood makes a strong statement on paper. Base powerplant, even for the pool guy's regular cab XL, is the 4.6-liter two-valve V-8, which makes 248 horses at 4750 rpm and 294 pound-feet of torque at 4000 rpm. O'Leary claims the engine, though still hooked to a four-speed automatic, delivers the same fuel economy as the 4.2-liter V-6 that serves as the base engine in the current F-150.An all-new 4.6-liter three-valve engine, based on the Mustang small-block, will be the new F-150's volume-selling powerplant. This engine makes 290 horses at 4750 rpm and 317 pound-feet of torque at 4000 rpm and drives through the new six-speed automatic. O'Leary says despite the extra power, the new engine returns better fuel economy (about one mpg on the highway, and two mpg in the city) than the base version.The top-range engine (at least until the hush-hush 6.2-liter Hurricane V-8 makes its debut in the next-generation Harley-Davidson edition) is the familiar 5.4-liter Triton V-8. Power is up 10 horses to 310 at 5500 rpm, and torque has been boosted to 365 pound-feet at 3750. The revamped Triton is E85 capable. Look for a diesel in the F-150 in 2010.
Design Cues
Like the mechanicals, the new F-150's design is evolutionary as well, picking up cues from its bigger Super Duty brothers. The dip in the side window-first seen on the HN80 Louisville heavy truck before migrating down through the Super Dutys-is the most obvious piece of Ford truck DNA on the new F-150.While it might look familiar, parked next to the current model, the changes are obvious, most notably at the front, where the nose has been raised four inches and the grille reworked to echo the "girder" themes of the Super Dutys. Along the body side, big undercuts emphasize the wheel openings, and at the rear is a tailgate with stamped moldings that echo the classic stainless-steel cladding of old F-150s. The taillamps feature a lens within a lens. The windshield is a carryover item from the current F-150, but the roofline has been raised 1.5 inches to meet tougher rollover standards and to package the optional side-curtain airbags without intruding on headroom. As before there are three basic cab configurations: regular cab, SuperCab, and SuperCrew, the last with a whopping six-inch stretch over the current model that gives it class-leading interior room. The most notable thing when you slide in behind the wheel of a crew cab is that the B-pillar is no longer forward of your shoulder. The front-door aperture is much longer (instead of the door from the regular cab, the SuperCrew uses the front door from the SuperCab) yet there's an acre of room for back-seat passengers.