Unleashing Ford's new F-150

Canadian Forest Industries, Sep/Oct 2003

This past September Ford Canada invited CFI, along with a host of automotive journalists and dealers, to an early test drive of its all-new F-150 full-size pick-up. Similar events were scheduled across Canada, but we joined Ford at a test track north of Montreal for our first kick at the can.

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F-Series pick-ups have been the best-selling trucks in Canada for 37 years, as Ford Canada will tell anyone who'll listen. So why mess with success? It's an obvious question, as F-150 brand manager Jack Turner admits. It has less to do with staying ahead of the competition, he says, than blowing them away. A tall order, perhaps, but the list of changes, additions, and "class-leading" claims are impressive.

- Shower of Power: First off, the new Ford F-150 has a freshly-tweaked 5.4-liter Triton V-8. Already recognized by Ward's as an excellent engine, the new 5.4-liter is a three-valve design with aluminium cylinder heads and variable cam timing that makes 15% more juice at 300 hp, and also manages 365 ft.-lb of torque and better fuel efficiency. Mated to a new four-speed auto tranny, the 2004 F-150 will haul 9 500 lb according to the spec sheet, although Turner says this will jump to 9 900 lb by the time most readers try one out. Heavy-duty towing, for sure, as is the 2 900-lb payload.

- Better ride on & off road: Turner says the F-150 re-design started with the premise that even the crustiest of pick-up drivers doesn't necessarily want a bone-jarring ride with wrestle-mania handling. That is doubly-true for the mainstream consumer looking at pick-ups for the first time. Thus engineers added a large rack & pinion steering system, a new fully-boxed frame that is nine times stiffer than the previous models, moved the rear shocks outboard the frame rails, and added wider leaf springs, to make for more responsive steering and over-all better handling. It is also the quietest pick-up on earth, Turner adds, as well as the toughest F-150 yet.

- More Room: The 2004 F-150 comes in five series - the XL, STX, XLT, FX4 (off-road package), and all-dressed luxury Lariat. All models, regular, SuperCab, and SuperCrew, have four doors, which makes sense. Regular and SuperCab interiors are six inches longer, and all pick-up beds are two inches deeper. Interiors are all new as well, and those we saw are much bolder than previous models, including a new floor shifter and centre console that seamlessly meets up with the dash. Sitting in the Lariat feels more like piloting a luxury SUV, while the FX4 ain't your average farmer's pick-up - it boasts a stunning combination of rugged leather, metal and easy-grip rubber.

So how's it drive?

We tested several 2004 F-150's, including the Lariat and FX4, on a closed track with radar detectors, hairpins, emergency braking zones, simulated washboard and even a rubber-carpet "forestry road" that was actually worse than most logging roads. Ford arranged to have several brand-new competitive vehicles to test on the same track, which we did. No doubt the course was designed to show the 2004 F-150 at its best, but the ride and handling is impressive nonetheless.

The F-150 certainly jumps to attention when you bury the accelerator, easily matching other pick-ups in our 0-50 test. Handling is also easy for a truck this size - it's no sports sedan, but it'll certainly keep up with SUV's, mini-vans and luxury sedans through most windy roads, and we could run it through the tight course easier than you'd imagine.

Our two F-150's easily bested the competition when it came to the "forestry-road" pothole test, and braking is fast and confident (as in jump on the pedal and don't worry about it).

Turner says pricing will be in line with current F-150 models. Look for a full Loggers' Commute test later this year.