To be honest i have always thought the f150's looked ok at best. If the 09's wernt out i would have to say it would be the 04-08 that looked the best over any other f150 and i would have never really been tempted to buy one. I wernt even tempted to get one when i was looking at buying a 08 truck but when i see a pic of the 09 i was amazed at how nice it looked. I have never been a ford owner so i am not biased at all about any model. But i truely think that this design is going to gain ford quite a few more buyers on looks alone. I for sure did but know i have found out after months of waiting that it is the best truck on the market bar none. I cant wait for it to turn up and hope it's as nice in person and works as well as people say it will. But i know how it is for current owners when a new model comes out. I used to be the same with VW golfs. I had a mk3 golf and then the mk4 came out and i thought it look horrible and didnt want it. then 3 months later i bought one and loved it. Then the mk5 golfs came out and i hated it again. but then again a few months later i bought it. I think this will always happen if you are a current owner. It's just the way people are.

 

I think european cars have always had an advantage in looks and peformance over US cars no matter what year it was or what make it was europe have always had the best of the best when it comes to cars just a few of the top of me head.

Ferrari
MG
Buggati
Lamborghini
Bentley
Land rover
Bowler
Alfa
VW
AC
Renault
Porsche
Aston Martin
Audi
TVR
Gumpert
Ascari
Lotus
Marcos
Koenigsegg
Maserati
Mercedes McLaren
Noble
pagani

And many many more. the US could learn a lot from these companys.

 

Listing makes like MG and Renault among any list of "great" cars is pretty funny. I've had MG's in my early years, and *almost* bought a Renault Le Car. They were junk.

 

Renault make some very nice hot hatches as they call them in the uk. The rear wheel drive clio v6 2 seater and the little brother clio rs 182 which was voted one of the best sports cars ever made. I even bought one my self and have to say that it was the most fun car i have ever owned. Not high end like most i listed, but you dont have to spend a lot to get a lot of fun from your cars. What can i say about MG! Well they got the normal man into a car that handled well and was pretty fast for it's time. almost like lotus, vauxhall and mazda have done with there small little 2 seater sports cars. Not to everyones taste i agree but still world renowned cars none the less.

What can you say about great cars to come from the US. As of late maybe the Ford GT which in my eyes was a great car but none stop list of problems and the Corvette Z06 which for a sports car is worse performing than the GT.


Got to sort of agree with the Renault Le Car aka renault 5. But hey they did make a 1.4 turbo version of that car and yes it was built bad but boy did it move. Turn the boost up on that badboy and you would get a 0-60 of about 5 secs and handle like the dogs *****. The turbo 5 r was even band from the road at one point as they was to quick. Also forgot about the williams clio. that was a very nice little car as well.

The US can make a truck i admit but i would never ever ever buy a US sports car.

 

Exactly! We don't make cars like those that BSIMMER listed because they are expensive, unreliable and hard to work on. If you'll notice, we tend to follow Japanese quality and Euro styling.

You'll never convince me unless you show me hard numbers that anything coming from Europe is more reliable than anything that Ford has been building in the last 5 years.

We have the ability to exceed Asian quality and Euro styling but, I suppose it would be too expensive, not that our products are all that affordable now for the average joe.

Forgive my rant but the auto industry will always charge what the market will bear. The advertising guru's are so damned good at making many of us think we need to have thier products that we succumb to very creative financing options leaving many us upside down for the life of the loan. Not me dam it! And, I only carry one vehicle loan at a time even though I can afford to carry another vehicle loan.

Tim

 

I have seen them side by side and anyone who says it isn't more square... well, its obvious to anyone with 20/20 it is. I don't think anyone said they are less aerodynamic, (only the wind-tunnel and computer sims will tell us that) but they are definitely more squared - that's plain as day. As a matter of fact, the marketing people kept hyping the more squared design of it at the press event I was at last fall/winter. One of them went so far as to point this out on a video that my friend Mr. Levine over at pickuptrucks.com did. Its pretty obvious the front is more squared, especially the grill.

The best thing about many European non-luxury cars is that they are tiny and flimsly, and that makes them easier to crush for recycling into lamps, bird cages and trash cans. English sports cars are the worst of the bunch... most came with oil leaks and electrical problems as standard features. Anyone remember when people used to say you needed to buy 2 Jags at once, so you had a spare while the other was in the shop? Who turned them around....?

 

when i think quality i dont think asian at all. I think german. Watch any show like top gear or fith gear and you will see people giving honest reviews of cars/truck and you will see almost every US car/truck that gets tested get slated from top to bottom. This is why Hardly any US cars get imported to europe because differnet markets want a different product. I got to say that every US car i have driven has felt disconected from the road and Handling was none exsistant and build quality was awful. Recently drove my mates dodge charger r/t and he thought it was the best thing since sliced breed. I drove it and felt bad for him. It was slow to responed, handled like it has sponges as suspension and wernt no where near as quick as i thought it would be with all that power. Was not at all impressed but i told him it was nice so he didnt feel bad. Dont even get me going about interior design. God dam some of the people who have designed US cars really have no design style. I have never driven a US car that felt as nice as something like a VW or Audi and i dont think i ever will. You want quality then stick to german or if you like asain. These cars are designed for the markets they are in and americains are known for having no fasion sense or sense of style and thats why cars over here look so boring.

also tseekins what makes you think that european cars are expensive, unreliable and hard to work on?? Have you worked on many because i can tell you i have. My bro own's his own repair garage in the UK and i can tell you the cars are no different to work on than any other countrys cars. American cars are known in the trade to be unreliable. I can say for my self that since being in the US (9 months)i have spent over $5000 on repairs to a jeep and my farther in laws chevy trans has given out twice already also my bro in laws GM always in for repair for lights coming on and dials going funny. Im not even going to get started about the saturn,dodge,chevy problems my friends have. But the mazda,Range rover, BMW, Audi's and Lotus cars our familey has has never had problems. The worst i have ever had with european car was a split manifold which was my fault for running a induction kit.

 

Why are you baseing your facts on one or 2 cars that 20 years ago had problems. Every US car has this problem not just the high end ones. Some of the worlds fastest cars are made in the UK and some of the best made are in the UK. The US has no prestige motors. It's a fact and thats why the US Will never been seen as a competant automaker.

 

YouTube - Top Gear - Cadillac CTS vs. Audi Quattro - BBC

 

I don't disagree the styling is more squared. Like you say, that's obvious. But when you start comparing details, like the profile the truck presents to the wind, the way the front curves to the sides, the hood angle, etc., you do see that it's more rounded than the previous model.

European cars are built for vastly different conditions than American cars. In europe, roads are narrow, often steep and twisty, and fuel is expensive. Small, lightweight, and fuel efficient cars make sense. Unless you live in mountainous country or in a crowded city, they don't translate well to the US. Now, I lived in the Smoky Mountains when I was growing up, and British sports cars made perfect sense. Granted, the execution was often poor, but the concept and design was spot on. That concept is what makes the Miata such a popular car--and where do you think the Solstice came from? I don't see that the US has added anything to the formula at all--in fact, I can't think of one small car that the US has done well, except maybe the Focus--but that sort of proves my point. That's a euro car.

What Americans have done well in the auto industry (besides the Model T, from which all mass-produced inexpensive cars descend regardless of origin) are full size automobiles, automatic transmissions, air conditioning, and pickup trucks. When I moved to Detroit a few years ago, American car design finally made sense. The roads are straight and endless, and the road condition is appalling. It made American-style suspension calibration and handling qualities understandable for me. If you live in a flat, straight part of the US, you'd probably have little use for a foreign car either.

 

I think the 09's are hot. The Dodge's Grill is WAY too big for a halfton. That and for a 4x4, the air damn is too low. It'd get ripped off as I drove it off the lot... And the new GM's... YUCK! Those things aren't just ugly, they are FUGLY! I'm gonna wait to see how the 4.4 holds up.

 

I like the looks of the 09 F150. I like just about every improvement they've made to them.
It has jumped to the top of my list right now.

The only thing I don't like is the unproven 6 speed tranny and the same old tired engine.

I'm going to let you guys shake these new F150's out and I'll be ready to look at one when the Ecoboost comes out.

If you want to talk ugly? Look at the Silverado and it's square styling and the ugly flares or the Tundra with it's overly large and out of proportion steroid looking body.

I think this new F150 will grow on everyone.

 

Something our European guests may want to consider: when amongst Americans on an American vehicle forum putting down US built vehicles often comes off sounding belittling, and its going to result in defensive replies you've seen about American autos.

 

I just assumed that the road construction in Atlanta was a working loop. I isn't designed to end

 

You're fast, caught my post in the middle of an edit. I changed it because I've seen this thread turn into a stupid American cars verses the world thread instead of focusing on the 2009 F150. Unfortunately I had to reply to one of the remarks... and regret it.