New F150 - Impressions Of A Modern Pickup Truck

[jyl]

Driving a friend's brand new Ford F150, 3K miles with the Eco engine, aluminum body, V6.

Impression 1. Wow, this is a hella nice truck. Quiet, rides okay, lots of gadgets. Almost luxurious.

Impression 2. This thing is too big to be convenient in the (my) city. It's a pain to find parking, can't squeeze through holes in traffic or by oncoming cars on a narrow street.

Impression 3. I'm driving this thing in the city, always below 30 mph, very light throttle, and I'm only getting 15-16 mpg. That kind of sucks, I thought pickup trucks got good mileage nowadays?

Impression 4. Even at $2.05/gal, filling this thing still costs a meaningful amount.

Conclusion. If I needed a pickup truck, I wouldn't hate this. But I wouldn't buy one unless I needed to.

[jyl]

Read the Edmunds long term test of their 2015 F150, they also didn't get close to the EPA rated mpg. They were getting 16 mpg in the city, like me.

[DanielDudley]

getting 3 tons of of truck up to even a low speed from a stop sucks gas. They do OK on a level highway.

[Chocaholic]

Guessing that people with your specific needs aren't buying 3 ton trucks. That's like criticizing a 767 because it won't fit in your garage. Just sayin.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by jyl

Driving a friend's brand new Ford F150, 3K miles with the Eco engine, aluminum body, V6.

Impression 1. Wow, this is a hella nice truck. Quiet, rides okay, lots of gadgets. Almost luxurious.

I drive a Ford F350 Diesel. It is amazing how quiet vehicles are today. The appointments are as nice as my wife's BMW. The ride is not quite as nice as my F250. I expect to replace my F350 with a special order F250 about 2 years after they come out with the aluminium version.

Originally Posted by jyl

Impression 2. This thing is too big to be convenient in the (my) city. It's a pain to find parking, can't squeeze through holes in traffic or by oncoming cars on a narrow street.

You are not used to driving a big vehicle. My previous vehicle was a Jeep Cherokee. One of the nice things is the inside cabin and how large it is. Parking spaces, parking garages, etc., are not designed for vehicles this long or high. You need to "plan". And in many cases, you need to park far away and walk.

Question: What is your daily driver?

Originally Posted by jyl

Impression 3. I'm driving this thing in the city, always below 30 mph, very light throttle, and I'm only getting 15-16 mpg. That kind of sucks, I thought pickup trucks got good mileage nowadays?

Impression 4. Even at $2.05/gal, filling this thing still costs a meaningful amount.

That is good mileage. The mileage for a truck like an F150 used to be 8-10 in the city. My 2001 Jeep Cherokee would only do 17 mpg on the highway! The fact that an F150 can do 30+ on the highway is significant. Look at the mileage rating of many of the luxury vehicles. My F350 with the new tires can do 20+ on the highway, even if I'm hauling 5000 lbs.

I have an F350 because I receive shipments several times per month, of a couple of pallets with weights up to 5000 lbs. And a few times a year, I pull a trailer.

It sounds like you are the wrong demographic for a truck.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by jyl

Impression 2. This thing is too big to be convenient in the (my) city. It's a pain to find parking, can't squeeze through holes in traffic or by oncoming cars on a narrow street.

You can see the trend in pickups becoming more and more bulky over the past decade. It's just a fad. There is no reason a half-ton pickup has to be as big and blocky as they have become. The bulk of new half-ton trucks is just a matter of it being the latest fashion. I don't like it. I use my truck as a truck, not a fashion statement and I don't need vast expanses of sheet metal to get my job done.

[Nickshu]

Several friends with current gen and past gen Ecoboost F150 have also told me they don't get anywhere near the mileage that Ford said they should from the engine. By comparison my 6.2L direct injected 420HP Silverado gets 18-19MPG all day long in 22K miles of ownership

A buddy just got a decked out new F150. I was impressed with it too, very nice truck.

I think the aluminum was a gimmick as they don't seem to get much better fuel economy because of it, if at all. One question I have is do they add weight the truck still to meet the 6000 lbs GVWR tax break? Seems like the aluminum might make it short of this mark and hurt sales but Google says it's GVWR is 6100-7050lbs which is about the same weight as my Silverado 1500.

[onewhippedpuppy]

I have a 2013 F150 Supercrew FX4 4x4 with the Ecoboost. I can carry 5 adults in comfort that exceeds an S-class in the massive back seat. This matters, because we frequently have full seats when we go on boating trips. I can tow over 7000 lbs of boat like a diesel with the Ecoboost, totally effortless. I have all the power goodies, leather, heated/cooled seats, etc. I'm pretty ok with the direction of modern trucks.

In regards to mpg, many vehicles don't match their window sticker. Blame the EPA and their unrealistic test cycle. My truck gets 22 MPG on a flat road going 60 MPH, which happens exactly never. At 80 MPH on the highway it gets more like 16-17.

Btw, Honda makes a good truck for people that don't really need a truck.

[hardflex]

The new technology is good but the size of the trucks is a turnoff for me, especially the height of the bed and the sidewalls of the bed. I like to place things in bed just before I get in the drivers seat, and the new sidewalls are at least shoulder height on me.

[LakeCleElum]

1st step to truck ownership should be to list/document your requirements:

1) What kind of load to haul how often
2) Towing requirements
3) Number of people to haul around?
4) Annual miles driven to consider fuel mileage.

Then, buy the smallest one that does the job you want it to......Eco-boost and Tundra would be on my short list; but agree they have gotten too massive for my tastes.

[flatbutt]

If I was a working man the F-150 and Tundra would be my choices, no question. For me the Taco is the perfect homeowners truck as per the above list.

I did drive the Tundra and F-150 last year and day-um they are huge from behind the wheel.

[wdfifteen]

When I was looking for a truck to replace my '03 Tundra the closest thing I could find was another Tundra. But look how the Tundra blimped up over the years.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by LakeCleElum

1st step to truck ownership should be to list/document your requirements:

1) What kind of load to haul how often
2) Towing requirements
3) Number of people to haul around?
4) Annual miles driven to consider fuel mileage.

Then, buy the smallest one that does the job you want it to......Eco-boost and Tundra would be on my short list; but agree they have gotten too massive for my tastes.

Yup. I like the Taco but it's just not enough to meet my needs.

[jwasbury]

Re: fuel economy, as stated earlier a full size p/u getting 16-18mpg in city duty is pretty good for a vehicle with that size and capability.

In 40,000+ miles of service, my 2014 GMC Sierra crew cab (4x4, 5.3l v8) has averaged 18-19mpg. It's a 1/2 ton model, and i think that fuel mileage is phenomenal for this vehicle. Consider that a 2001 Tacoma I used to own (2wd, xtra cab, 4 cylinder) averaged somewhere around 22mpg. The full size trucks of today are nearly as efficient as the compact models from 10 years ago.

Re: size and convenience. I live in one of the most densely populated parts of the country and I can only think of one instance where the size of the truck was a problem: trying to find a parking structure in midtown Manhattan that can accommodate. Answer = Port Authority bus terminal parking garage. The little side street garages in midtown can't fit a full size truck. Otherwise, the tonnage rule is in effect and with time you become accustomed to the size. If you live in Rome or Paris, I can see why it would be a problem, but in the USA it's not.

[ckelly78z]

I currently drive a 4x4 F250 diesel, supercab longbed (7200 lbs). It has the most comfortable interior of any of my other cars (BMW and Porsche included), I knock down 14 mpg fully loaded with people, pulling a 30' camper. I have pulled construction trailers with mini trackhoes, Bobcats, two wagons of hay for the horses (28,000 lbs with no trailer brakes), and countless overloaded hauls of firewood. I wouldn't consider driving this beast in the city, it just doesn't react like a BMW or a small SUV that most people drive in the cities these days.

One thing driving a bigger truck teaches you is to not drag race off of every stoplight, time your slowdowns (don't tailgate), and use it for longer trips, not heavy traffic in residential areas. If you keep foot out of the throttle and let it coast when slowing down, you can get well into the 20s for mileage. I have seen as high as 21 mpg with my big truck with 3.73 gears.

[HardDrive]

Still bums me out Ford abandon the Ranger. I loved mine.

[porsche4life]

Originally Posted by HardDrive

Still bums me out Ford abandon the Ranger. I loved mine.

Nobody makes a good small truck. The toyota is too big. I had high hopes for the new chevy colorado, but its nearly as big as the silverado!

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Nobody makes a good small truck. The toyota is too big. I had high hopes for the new chevy colorado, but its nearly as big as the silverado!

Early 2000s Tacoma crew cab is about perfect. There's a good reason why they hold their value so well.

[porsche4life]

Yup... the 2005+ taco is too big. My parents truck struggled to get 20mpg. Combine that with the size and $$$ and you might as well just get a true half ton...

[Nickshu]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

When I was looking for a truck to replace my '03 Tundra the closest thing I could find was another Tundra. But look how the Tundra blimped up over the years.

My business partner had the same generation Sequoia and last year replaced it w/ the "blimped up" new version. I have driven it...not sure what it is, but that thing is SO hard to maneuver and park. Turning radius is terrible and short windshield/tall hoodline makes visibility horrible. By comparison my Silverado is much easier to park and maneuver than that thing. Otherwise a nice rig.