I went to my dealer this morning with my 17 year old daughter in tow. I had pre-arranged a test drive for this morning.

First, we drove a 2011 Mustang GT. All I can say is Oh My God!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then we came back and we test drove my dream truck. 2011 F-150 XLT Scab 4x4 5.0L. This truck had the 3.55.1 LS axle, tow package with the 4 and 7 pin hook ups and all the normal XLT stuff.

I was impressed with the power considering it has the 3.55's. I'd well imagine that the 3.73's would feel a bit stronger.

She's fast and nimble and doesn't feel nearly as big as she is. The transmission is smooth and the engine just growls when pushed.

The truck is tight and very quiet, the seats were awesome and the center display is cool as hell.

The engine bay isn't nearly as busy as I thought it would be. I am a little disappointed with the front inner fenders. Not much splash protection for the engine bay.

Keeping in mind that the last truck that I drove was my old '88 F-150 so anything newer is going to feel good.

I am a very picky person and it takes a lot to WOW me. Today, Ford WOW'd me. I held off on this drive until now as I new what would happen. I want this truck so bad now I can't stand it. I'll make my last payment on my wife's Expy in three days. I'll have the truck within a couple of months barring all unforeseen issues.

If you haven't driven one yet and your not yet ready to make the move, then don't drive it. Don't torture yourself like that.

I just figured I'd take one for the team.......... this time.

 

Tim, what dealer are you using in Hampton?

I have a very good family friend that owns the dealership in Va Beach. That's where I ended up getting my 06' SCrew recently. Gave me such a good deal that it justified the 100 mile drive from Richmond.

BTW, you're a better man than me. I have to stay away from the new trucks because my eyes are bigger than my wallet. I would kill for an ecoboost SCrew.

 

I use Bowditch Ford in Newport News. They are a smaller dealer with awesome service.

 

Tim I am truely jealous/glad that you got to test drive that new 5.0. I just have to wait longer, because honestly I refuse to have 2 car notes held over my head. Thanks for the input on the new engine though...

 

I'm thinking about selling the Fusion and getting a new 5.0. I'm going to test drive a new GT this Monday which will probably win me over. Or I could sell both the truck and the car and get a new F150 FX4...hmm decisions decisions.

 

I drove to f150 with 5.0 and was truly impressed. I am still holding out to drive the ecoboost to decide which one to get.

 

I drove a 5.0 Lariet a while back and i didnt think it was that much quicker than the 2010 5.4l i drove. But that was just me.


But i did buy a 2011 Mustang GT Premium with the 5.0 and boy i can confirm that it moves. That first gear is a doozy.

 

That's how I ended up in my F250 6.0L. Test drove it and actually ended up taking it home that day. Way to take one for the team, Tim.

 

Son in law and I went out and test drove several f150s with the 5.0 engine Sat. one was a lariat off road pkg with a 6.5 bed and a 3.73 rearend. The other at another dealer couple miles away was an FX4 5.0 with the 5.5 bed and 3.73 rear end. The Lariat was nice and smooth etc but the FX4 was noticeably throatier sounding and seemed much more powerful for some reason. Both were basically the same I thought except for the bed length but both myself and my son in law thought there was a major difference in the way the fx4 responded and sounded. both trucks had less than 50 miles on them. Anyone else see a big difference between similar trucks?

 

I have to wait 3 more years for another new truck, but it's time for the wife's new car now. Looking at Fusions, but I still want to test drive the 2011 F150's just for the heck of it. I really like my 2010 so I'm not going to worry about torturing myself test driving one. (I hope)

 

I havent driven the 5.0... but I simply cannot imagine that it is a better motor than the ECO that I drove. Ugh, I wish the F150 seats didn't suck so bad. I love the wide seats in my F350... the gas mileage, not so much.

Do all three US manufacturers use the same side bolstered seats in their new models? Ive got real wide shoulders, and a wide rib cage... so these dainty little side bolstered seats don't cut it without just pissing me off constantly.

 

My 78 F100 still has the plastic Bowditch Ford label on the bottom lefthand corner of the tail gate!

 

I drove a 5.0 FX4 SC last Saturday, these new F150s are great. Power felt good but I was more impressed with the transmission compared to one in the '04 I had before. I got my 6 speed V10 SD because I hated that A4 soo much. Now having a rough riding truck that never sees over 13mpg is killing me. I ordered my 3.5 EB FX4 today.

 

I can imagine you'd be happy with your truck, after I drove the 5.0 I had a 2010 4.6 4x4 rental truck for 3 days and was pretty impressed with that as well. It was my first real long experience with the A6 and it felt stronger than what I remembered my '04 5.4 being. I seriously considered looking into a 2010 that was on the lot before I pulled the trigger on the EB.

 

I didn't even have to drive it to know I wanted it. I'm not the only one in my family either, my dad and uncle both got new 5.0s, my cousin and another uncle got new 6.7s and another cousin got the 6.2 in an F250. All are very happy.