Daily Slideshow: 2018 Ford F-150 Wins Motor Trend Truck of the Year Award
The F-150 lineup smashed Motor Trend's Truck of the Year Competition. Check out what the editors had to say right here.
A Gamble Pays Off
It all started in 2015 with the newly redesigned F-150. A gamble that Ford bet on, and it paid off despite losing the 2015 Motor Trend truck of the year award. Ford decided to switch out the F-150 from the traditional steel bodywork to aluminum. While it cost Ford over $1 billion, the dividends have started to roll in. Two years later, and Ford remained at the top of the pack, maintaining a spotless record of America's best selling truck for 40 straight years! Less than one year later, Ford takes Motor Trend's 2018 Truck of the year. Tallying the results indicates that the F-150 now has five wins under its belt and the F-Series trucks have taken the award for a second year in a row.
Sweeps the Competition
Motor Trend Editor-in-Chief stated, "This year's competition was fierce, but the vote was unanimous." He goes on further to say, "The newly redesigned 2018 F-150 exceeded our expectations in every category - powertrain, performance, technology, and overall execution." This is something Ford can be extremely proud of, a complete sweep of the competition from the votes of the critics at Motor Trend. Some of the strengths mentioned by the judges of the F-150 include on and off-road driving, towing capacity, and best-in-class fuel economy. The fuel economy for the 2018 F-150 is a city rating of 20 MPG, a highway rating of 26 MPG, and an overall rating of 22 MPG. This great rating is due, in part, to the aluminum body and also the EcoBoost engine options.
Towing
One of the points that won the competition for the 2018 Ford F-150 is how well it tows and it's high tow capacity. The smallest engine available, the 3.3-liter V6 EcoBoost, has a 7,700-pound tow capacity (which is more than the weight of the truck). During testing, using a 2.5 ton (5,000 pound) load, judges exclaimed that the base model engine had no problems executing the task. Furthermore, it took second place for the fastest quarter-mile while towing the load! Equipped with the 3.5-liters V6 EcoBoost, the payload capability jumps to an astounding 13,200 pounds! They were further wowed by how easy it was to use the Pro Trailer Backup Assist and the 360-degree camera systems. These are two systems that could come in very handy when sticky towing situations present themselves.
Minor Complaints
The 2.7-liter engine, being the smallest in the F-150 lineup, had difficulty with engine braking down a grade due to its small displacement. However, it redeemed itself in the torque department by excelling in all other tow evaluations.
The judges were not a fan of the six-speed transmission. It had been labeled as "Dated" and at least one judge found the shift detents to be too soft, allowing for one to easily shift past the intended gear in either direction while shifting. One example was attempting to shift into reverse and accidentally shifting into park. All the judges enjoyed the 10-speed transmission and felt an upgrade to it is money well spent.
One of the four F-150 models presented to Motor Trend for evaluation was the 2018 F-150 Raptor, equipped with the twin-turbo 3.5L V6, rated at 450 horsepower. Judges were surprised that it did not take the top of the bunch in all the performance tests. They were surprised that the 2018 F-150 4x4 Super Crew Cab Platinum equipped with 5.0 liter outperformed the Raptor in most of the tests. The 5.0 Liter equipped F-150 completed the quarter mile run with a 9,000 load in 20.3 seconds and 71.9 miles per hour, which was a tie with the Raptor. The Raptor barely beat the 5.0L in the zero to sixty test in 6.0 seconds.
Creature Comforts, at a Price
The FoMoCo did a great job in finessing the fine details. The base model came equipped with a plethora of goodies to include power sliding rear window, heated & cooled front seats, adjustable pedals, and an 8-inch screen to use with the Sync 3. However, the "base" model has a hefty price tag of nearly $49,000.
For another $12,000 you can add in the moonroof, 20-inch wheels, heated power-folding mirrors, heated steering wheel, and heated front & rear seats. This package also came with a bed liner, park assist, remote start, blind spot detection, 360-degree camera, and park assist.
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