- 2014 Ford F-150 Review - Pricing, Features & Specs ...
- Interior / Exterior »
It’s been a big change of pace since the last F-150–which debuted in 1997–with its curves and smoother shape. If understated car-like cues were the theme back then, today’s them must be closer to construction equipment and sledgehammers.
Machismo is today’s big seller. The modern Ram looks almost like a tractor trailer, and the incredibly linear F-150 seems to have borrowed some of its styling cues from the Tonka trucks of our childhood. While it may look almost military-grade, the F-150 actually has a very versatile personality. Drop the costumes for plain jeans and a T-shirt and the F-150′s just an unpainted bumper away from Joe Six-Pack XL. Give it leather chaps and fringe and a big belt buckle and it’s a King Ranch cowboy; suit it up in black with tasteful orange pinstripes and it’s a Harley-Davidson. It’s all highly efficient and democratic, even if the F-150 is not. New for last year: available high-intensity discharge headlamps that form little hockey sticks around the lights–a subtle Michigan-ism if there ever was one. New for 2014 is the sporty Tremor version of the F-150, and XLT and STX models get standard 17-inch wheels, while upper-trim packages come with 18-inch alloy wheels.
Inside, the F-150 shows no signs of the somewhat carlike, drab plastic interiors of just a few years ago. The redesign that gave it tough-guy looks brought a more businesslike and upright dash with upgraded interiors. Well-coordinated materials and trims have boxy outlines, punctuated with round, high-set vents. The same look can appear restrained and rather well-done, as in the basic F-150 XL, and it can come off as the most luxurious vehicle sold under a Ford blue-oval badge, if you’re settling into a Platinum edition.
With the addition of MyFord Touch controls to the cabin, the F-150 gets either a 4.2-inch LCD screen on the dash or a larger 8-inch screen when fitted with navigation, and a new stack design with larger buttons that underscores how truck users will adapt to MyFord Touch differently–and how Ford is dialing back some of the knob-less designs that it launched MyFord Touch with in the 2011 model year.
- Performance »
The entire engine lineup gives the F-150 a more carlike character, but wait until you feel its steering. All versions except the 6.2-liter F-150 now have electric power steering, which helps fuel economy numbers, but also gives the F-150 a quick, light driving feel, without much feedback at all but with so much more responsiveness, you’ll never want to go back to the dead racks you’ll find in the big Japanese trucks. You won’t find yourself pushing hard around corners or darting into gaps in traffic just for the sheer enjoyment of it, but the EPS makes the F-150 drive a little smaller than it is. Ride quality is decent, a little jittery on 4×4 versions and a notch below the Ram 1500 most of the time, but braking performance is impressive for such a large vehicle, and Ford has finally mastered a more confident, firm brake pedal feel with this latest version.
Four-wheel drive is available across the lineup, and this year, Ford’s hot-swapped in a new 4×4 system on upscale versions that adds an automatic traction mode that shifts power to the front wheels when slip is detected. At the same time, limited-slip differentials on EcoBoost and 5.0-liter F-150s are being replaced by systems that use anti-lock brakes to simulate limited-slip devices, for a less expensive, less weighty, more widespread solution.
Since it revamped the F-150′s powertrains back in 2011, Ford’s shifted more and more buyers into the V-6 versions of its best-selling vehicle. For many reasons, it’s a good idea–but the reasons that matter to truck buyers come down to power and gas mileage. For the truck drivers who ply the fleet versions, or don’t pack thousands of pounds into the bed or on the ball of the hitch, the base 3.7-liter V-6 is a reasonable choice. It’s the same engine as the six in the latest Mustang lineup, and in this instance it produces 302 horsepower and 278 pound-feet of torque. It’s agreeably smooth and moderately powerful–it’s actually stronger than the old 4.6-liter V-8, and posts better fuel economy, at 17/23 mpg with the six-speed automatic that’s standard in all F-150s. Straight-line performance is fine, but towing is the lowest of the lineup and torque feels thin below 3000 rpm.
Strap on turbocharging to a 3.5-liter version of this engine, and the F-150 earns the EcoBoost tag–and some of its strongest sales in a generation. This newest version of the F-150 has been a sales smash, accounting for almost 40 percent of all F-150 sales at last account. It’s no mystery as to why: it throws off 365 hp and 420 lb-ft of torque, more than the last-generation F-150′s 5.4-liter V-8 could muster in its top form, and it enables the highest towing limits of the entire F-150 lineup, at 11,300 pounds. It’s a seamless fit with the big pickup: though it’s tuned differently in the F-150 than in other applications, such as the Ford Flex crossover, it’s effortlessly strong at low engine speeds, with bags of torque and excellent passing power from a wide powerband across the engine’s mid-range. Apart from its whistling, slightly boomy engine note, it’s difficult to detect a difference, really, from the even more muscular eight-cylinder editions.
Some just won’t be happy without the extra pair of cylinders. For them, Ford mints a pair of V-8s related to the new V-6s. The lineage from the Mustang is clear and audible, down to the rip-snort exhaust, in the 5.0-liter V-8. With 360 horsepower and 380 pound-feet of torque, its power output is almost identical to the specs from the EcoBoost six, but it’s delivered with a rorty V-8 exhaust note. There’s also a big 6.2-liter V-8, which delivers 411 hp and 434 lb-ft, and in the off-road specialist Raptor, the lowest fuel economy ratings of the new F-150 lineup, at 11/14 mpg.
The Ford F-150 isn’t just the best-selling vehicle in America. It’s been the best-selling vehicle in America for more than 30 years. It can take as long to order one as it does to explain why it’s so popular: the F-150 is available in myriad combinations of drivetrains, body styles, bed lengths, and trim levels. At the same time, it has some of the best towing ratings, some of the most intriguing tech features, and some of the most fuel-efficient powertrains of all the full-size pickups.
The biggest news for 2014 is the addition of the 2014 Ford F-150 Tremor. The first “sport” truck to get the powertrain, according to Ford, the Tremor is configured with the F-150′s regular-cab body style, with a 126-inch wheelbase and the shorter pickup bed. Both rear- and four-wheel-drive versions are offered. The Tremor weighs in at about 5,000 pounds, and comes with a 4.10 rear axle and an electronically controlled locking rear differential, for maximum power extraction from the EcoBoost V-6, Ford says. Other 2014 changes are slight, with new trailer-tow mirrors, a new FX grille, and HID headlamps on F-150s at the XLT trim level and above.
Otherwise, the F-150 carries over into the 2014 model year essentially unchanged–in a year when a new Silverado and Sierra and a new turbodiesel Ram are ready. With King Ranch editions, EcoBoost V-6 turbos, and a Harley-Davidson model wearing basic black like it owns it, the F-150 still looks ready to rumble. The blocky, Tonka look is either cartoonish or spot-on macho, depending on your allegiance to trucks in general, and Ford, specifically. The huge grille, the slab sides, the impossibly tall fenders make it a musclecar in its class, and an object to be coveted in certain parts of the country–anywhere within a 100-mile radius of an oval-track race. The cabin couldn’t feel more contrasty: it’s quiet, well-organized, and depending on the model and trim, plushly finished in high-grade plastics and tightly assembled pieces, with attractive proportions. Even work-grade trims look expensive–and the addition of MyFord Touch controls have pushed the center stack in a more adventurous direction.
The F-150 comes in a wide range of body styles and bed lengths, and it’s up to you how to configure it. The Regular Cab has either a 6.5-foot or 8-foot bed, and so does the extended SuperCab. The SuperCrew four-door pickup also comes with short- and long-bed options, as well as a wheelbase six inches longer than other versions, with all the additional room going to the rear seats. All F-150s can have well sculpted bucket seats, and even the basic bench isn’t a bad alternative. In back, the seats have a truly flat floor, and the cushions fold up against the back on four-door models so huge packages can be carried inside, safely and securely. A tailgate ladder and a side box step are stamped into each version.The quartet of powertrains that replaced Ford’s old modular V-8s in the 2011 model year are back, unchanged for 2014. The standard 3.7-liter V-6 may seem like the dollar-store choice, until you’ve driven it with a light cargo load. The six-speed automatic (standard across the board) gets paired with taller rear axles to help it accelerate to 60 mph in under 10 seconds, and gas mileage still pushes the envelope, at up to 23 miles per gallon on the EPA highway cycle. The new Silverado and Sierra blow by it in towing capacity, though. If you want to hang with the popular crowd, you’ll need the turbocharged, 3.5-liter version of the six. It blows out 360 hp, runs and guns to 60 mph in less than 8 seconds, and cranks out enough torque to challenge Ford’s own V-8s for supremacy, while also giving the EcoBoost six the best towing numbers of the F-150 range.
In their 1990s heyday, pickup trucks excelled at smooth V-8 power. Now they’re truly muscular, especially at Ford, where the 5.0-liter V-8 endows the F-150 with a Mustang GT powertrain and its sizzling exhaust note, too. The 5.0 puts out an EcoBoost-identical 360 hp: the engine’s retuned from the Mustang application for better low-end torque and to maintain the truck’s 10,000-pound tow rating. At the top of the range is a new 6.2-liter V-8 with a monster output of 411 hp and 434 pound-feet of torque, fitted in the most luxurious models and in the Raptor off-road special edition.
Electric power steering was adopted along with the new engines, and it’s also carlike in feel, with quick, light responses to inputs, more so than any other full-sizer. The ride and handling of the F-150 is probably where it gets nudged by Silverados and Rams: it handles pretty well for such a large pickups, but the ride is just a touch tougher than either. Four-wheel drive is available across the lineup, of course, and a new mechanical setup comes with automatic 4×4 mode that shifts power to the front wheels when needed.
All F-150s have a package of safety gear that blends electronic assistance with the usual airbags. Stability control is standard, and so are trailer sway control, which uses anti-lock brakes to mitigate the motion of a trailered vehicle, and hill start assist. A rearview camera and Bluetooth are available, too, and the F-150 has done well in crash tests. Especially of note is that the F-150 is the only one of the Big 3 full-size trucks to achieve ‘good’ scores in the important, rollover-related IIHS roof-strength test.
More than most any vehicles on the road, pickups still offer the custom-order experience, not just in hard points but in soft points. The F-150′s no different: it comes in no less than eleven packages that run from stripper XL editions to Harley-Davidson, King Ranch, Platinum, and Limited editions. The F150 can be fitted with Ford’s SYNC media controller, with real-time traffic information, and even with features like a Sony sound system, DVD entertainment players and second-row heated seats. If you want to get an idea of how luxurious an F-150 can be, step into the King Ranch, upholstered in natural leather, surrounded by LCD screens and a navigation system. It’s like sitting in the world’s most sophisticated baseball glove–and the price tag of more than $44,000 adequately underscores that impression.
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