Engine
This year, the F-150 has an all-V8 line up. Entry level trucks start with a 4.6-litre V8 with two-valve heads that puts out 248 horsepower and 294 lb-ft of torque. The mid-range engine is another 4.6 litre V8, but this time it has three-valve heads and power output climbs to 292 horsepower and 320 lb-ft of torque. At the top of the heap is the 3-valve 5.4-litre V8 that puts out 320 horsepower and 390 lb-ft of torque. Fuel economy for these engines is up an average of 8%, while the specially-packaged 4.6 three-valve in SFE trim is up 12%.

F-150 is meant to be the truck that everyone wants to buy.

Ride and handling
No matter which configuration or trim level you choose, the new F-150 will be the best handling truck you can buy off the showroom floor. How well it does after that depends on how you use it. In four-wheel drive, you need to get mud up past the door sills before the F-150 is stopped. If you are out on the highway and need to avoid an incident, the F-150 handles the best in emergency lane changes.

On a regular drive, the cab is so quiet that you will find yourself doing about ten km/h more than you thought you were doing. The F-150, thanks to new LT tires and options such as the Pirelli Scorpions, didn't push much unless I went way beyond sensible speeds.

Through all these activities, and regardless of road surface, the seats held me in place, front or rear. The only issue I ever came across in cornering exercises was that the foot-actuated parking brake dug into my shin if I didn't place my foot properly in hard cornering.

Specialty Features
F-150 is meant to be the truck that everyone wants to buy. Recreational buyers may opt for luxury items, but those who use a truck can get more with a F-150 than with any other truck. Ford makes built-in bed extenders, logistic tracking and a rear tailgate step as well as box side steps available on every unit. Sync, Ford's joint venture with Microsoft, can put a computer in the truck with remote wireless capability.

This computer can be used with software that lets you know if you have every power tool in the truck bed that you started out with, tell your dispatcher where you are and it can relay information on the operating parameters of your truck back to the office. Everything from low tire pressure to excessive idling can be monitored. And that just scratches the surface of business uses.

Pricing
Due to the number of combinations, it is difficult to do anything other than say Canadian MSRP for a F-150 starts at $24,199 for an XL-trim regular cab on a 126-inch wheelbase and goes up to $54,699 for a 4X4 Lariat Platinum with a 145-inch wheelbase. It should come to no surprise that there are still individual options to be added.

Fuel Economy
The F-150 two-wheel drive with SFE package is rated at 14.3 L/100 km in the city and 9.6 L/100 km on the highway. More representative is a 4X4 with the 5.4 and the six-speed, which is rated at 14.7 L/100 km in town and 10.6 L/100 km on the highway.


Photo Credit : Charles Renny, Ford