Ford has always been a leading vehicle manufacturer in the United States, and the F-150 is their flagship product. It’s durable, it’s powerful, and it always leaves an impression. 2018 marks the 40th anniversary of the F-150 line. Ford has taken advantage of this occasion by making some significant updates to their favorite truck. Following is a review of the new 2018 Ford F-150. We’ll cover the appearance, the features, and its performance.
Exterior
There are a few cosmetic improvements that help the 2018 model stand out from its predecessor. One look at the truck and you’ll notice some changes to the grille, the bumper, and the lamps. Only a few elements, like the fender and the hood, remain identical to the previous year. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. The 2017 F-150 was an extremely impressive release and Ford knew that some of its features should remain unchanged.
As usual, Ford offers a number of customization options that will affect the final appearance of the grille. You’ll see some of these hitting the road with the traditional three narrow bars and some of them will feature only two larger bars. Small changes to the grille require changes to the headlamps and fascia panels as well. Overall, the 2018 exterior changes look great.
Interior
Of course, we’ve all seen vehicles that look great on the outside but leave you extremely disappointed when you open the door. That’s not how you’ll be feeling when you look inside the 2018 Ford F-150. A lot of what you see hasn’t changed from 2017. However, there are a few new color options like Kingsville and Dark Masala. They could have done a little more to help it stand out on its 40th birthday, but it still looks great nonetheless.
Features
Now it’s time to peel away from the paint and look at all of the features that were able to pack into that big body. Once again, we don’t see a huge difference when compared to the 2017 model. The 2017 F-150 had a lot of great features and Ford decided to keep them around for the 2018 model. It makes perfect sense, and they work just as well this year as they did last year. There are a few interesting changes and updates, though.
We see the SYNC tech return with a few upgrades. For example, it now comes with a 4G LTE Wi-Fi hot spot. The new SYNC 3 also features Apple CarPlay functionality. The new audio capabilities are improved further with 6 new B&O Play high-end audio speakers. You control your listening experience via a 4.2 inch LCD control panel. The end product sounds great and looks very sophisticated.
There have been some much-needed changes to the cruise control system as well. The new system is designed to work with stop and go traffic conditions. It requires stops of at least 3 seconds, but it’s still an improvement over what we saw last year.
Some of the new features greatly improve the safety of the vehicle. There’s an overhauled pre-collision assist system. This works with pedestrian detection to warn the driver of a potential accident. If the driver doesn’t stop the vehicle, then the truck will attempt to brake by itself to at least reduce the force of the collision.
Performance
The biggest improvements for the 2018 Ford F-150 come in the performance section. This is thanks to the addition of entirely new engines. You’ll only see two engines that were used last year, which are the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 and the 3.5-liter high output EcoBoost V6. The other engine options are a 3.3-liter naturally aspirated V6, a modified 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6, and a new 5 liter V8.
The new naturally aspirated 3.3-liter V6 will have an impressive 290 horsepower and can push 265 lb-ft for torque. Compare that to the 3.5-liter carried over from last year, which offers 375 horsepower and 470 lb-ft of torque. The high output variation from last year bumps those numbers up to 450hp and 510 lb-ft of torque. As for the 2.7-liter EcoBoost, the torque hits 400 lb-ft at 2,750 RPM with 325 horsepower at 5,000 RPM. Finally, there is the 5.0-liter Coyote V8, which has a max horsepower of 395 and torque potential of 400 lb-ft.
The specs for the 3.5-liter and high output variation remain the same as last year. But let’s look at some of the performance specs for the 3 new engines.
– 3.3-liter natural aspirated V6. It can reach 0 to 60 MPH in 7 seconds. It has a curb weight between 4,100 and 4,800 pounds. It has a 6-speed automatic transmission and top speeds of no more than 105 MPH. The base price is $34,265.
– 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6. It goes from 0 to 60 MPH in 6.3 seconds. It has a curb weight between 4,150 and 4,850 pounds. It comes with a 10-speed automatic transmission and is limited to max speeds of 100 MPH. The base price is $35,260.
– 5.0-liter Coyote V8. It goes from 0 to 60 MPH in 5.8 seconds. The curb weight is between 4,250 and 4,900 pounds. It also features a 10-speed automatic transmission with speeds limited to 100 MPH. The base price is $36,260.
These will all be on sale in the United States in the Fall of 2017.