Ford's Power Stroke F-250 Makes a Nice Drag Racer

Quickest Ever

These days, trucks continue to get more and more powerful, and as a side benefit, they're also quicker than ever before. Even a regular old, SuperCrew F-150 is capable of beating older performance cars in a straight line these days, in fact. But little did we know that the big, heavy Ford F-250 would become the quickest diesel-powered pickup Car & Driver has ever tested.

Photos: Ford

Stoplight Drags

The F-250 certainly isn't designed to win at the stoplight drags. Rather, it's designed to haul and tow ridiculous amounts of weight. But the latest version of Ford's 6.7-liter Power Stroke diesel lays down an incredible 1,050 pound-feet of torque, which also enables it to go from 0-60 miles-per-hour in just 6.1 seconds.

Photos: Ford

>>Join the conversation about how fast the new F-250 Diesel is right here in Ford-trucks.com.

Defying Physics

That makes the F-250 Lariat that C&D got their hands on the quickest diesel pickup they've ever tested, which is truly impressive. It was also a SuperCrew model with the Tremor package, weighing in at a substantial 8,120 pounds and packing 3.55 gears in the rear. In other words, not the sort of thing you'd expect to be this quick.

Photos: Ford

>>Join the conversation about how fast the new F-250 Diesel is right here in Ford-trucks.com.

How To

Extracting this kind of performance from a diesel Super Duty requires a few steps, of course. First, put the truck in 4Hi, lock the electronic rear differential, and turn off traction control, then put your left foot on the brake and right foot on the gas. Just before max boost is achieved, let go of the brake and hold on.

Photos: Ford

>>Join the conversation about how fast the new F-250 Diesel is right here in Ford-trucks.com.

Another Record

If you decide to stay in it past 60 mph, the diesel F-250 will go on to record an impressive 14.6-second quarter-mile at 94 miles-per-hour, which is one mph short of its governed top speed and also another C&D record for diesel-powered pickups. 

Photos: Ford

>>Join the conversation about how fast the new F-250 Diesel is right here in Ford-trucks.com.

New Champ

Though the Ram 3500 makes a bit more torque - 1,075 pound-feet - the F-250 is also lighter. The closest competitor to this truck in terms of acceleration is the 2017 Silverado 2500HD, which managed a 6.2-second 0-60 and 14.8-second quarter-mile. But the Chevy also weighs 340 pounds less than the Ford.

Photos: Ford

>>Join the conversation about how fast the new F-250 Diesel is right here in Ford-trucks.com.

Even Quicker?

The newest, 2021 Silverado 2500HD weighs 90 pounds more than the Ford and only offers 910 pound-feet of torque, which makes it slower at 6.5 seconds to 60 and 15.0 seconds to finish the quarter-mile. But C&D isn't done just yet and is trying to get its hands on a lighter regular cab F-250. We'll obviously be keeping an eye out for just how quick that combination might prove to be.

Photos: Ford

>>Join the conversation about how fast the new F-250 Diesel is right here in Ford-trucks.com.

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