The F-150 is the best selling truck in North America and despite that Ford still decided to completely overhaul it. The update has already been revealed as the 2018 Ford F-150 and the changes are quite impressive, especially for a truck not that old. They gave it a new look, changes under the hood as well as an improved interior. Thanks to these upgrades the new F-150 should have no problems at competing with its upcoming rivals which are all receiving all new versions by the end of the year.
In detail
The high strength steel chassis as well as the all aluminum body remain the same as before. This means that the weight doesn’t change with the 2018 model. However, the truck gets more fuel efficient thanks to a few new engines as well as a new transmission.
The price hasn’t been revealed for now but it seems it won’t change much. The base model is still expected to start at less than $30,000 making it one of the more affordable trucks in its class. The big changes come with the mid-range models that get a lot more gear for around $40,000 making it a steal.
2018 Ford F-150 Engine
The 3.5 liter engine is now gone and in its place the 2018 Ford F-150 gets a smaller 3.3 liter naturally aspirated V6. Despite the lower displacement Ford announced the engine will still offer 282 horsepower and 253 lb-ft of torque, likely at a higher RPM than before. Both the 2.7 liter EcoBoost and the 5.0 liter V8 are going to be revised but Ford didn’t release the output for the new engines. It seems that the fuel efficiency will be improved slightly while the output could be improved by up to 5% on the naturally aspirated engine. Thanks to that the new F-150 should be able to tow more and also offer a better driving experience. The 3.5 liter V6 will be carried over unchanged so it will continue to make 375 horsepower and 470 lb-ft of torque which is highly impressive for an engine this size. With the exception of the base V6, all the others are expected to be mated to Ford’s new 10 speed automatic.
source:ford.com
With this generation Ford is also going to offer a diesel. This will be the first F-150 to receive one which happens to be quite impressive. The 3.0 liter turbocharged V6 is the same unit currently in use by JLR. The engine is known to be capable of over 240 horsepower and 440 lb-ft of torque. In the 2018 Ford F-150 it may provide even more than that. With the help of Ford’s 10 speed automatic, the diesel could allow the F-150 to become the most efficient truck on the market.
The design
Even though this is a mild facelift, the 2018 F-150 looks brand new. In the front the truck received new headlights with the surrounding LED DRLs now outlining the low and high beams separately. The grille is also new boasting two horizontal slats in the center with the lower and upper parts sporting either honeycomb mesh or chrome inserts.
source:ford.com
The back of the truck has the F-150 logo stamped on the tailgate which also boasts a new insert that underlines the specific model of the truck. Both the front and rear bumpers are new as well while the tail lights also boast new internals. The interior of the 2018 F-150 hasn’t changed as much.
source:ford.com
Here the truck sports a new Bang & Olufsen audio system as well as an optional adaptive cruise control system. An additional Wi-Fi hot-spot can also be had together with Ford’s Sync3 infotainment unit making the F-150 one of the better equipped trucks on the market.
