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Exhibit A? The large pickup truck market. Despite the fact that Toyota and Nissan never followed up their light-duty trucks with three-quarter or one-ton models, just the threat of such entries spurred Ford, General Motors and Dodge to significantly up their games. If you discount oddball brutes like the International CXT, the Ford F-450 defines the upper limit of pickup trucks in nearly every way. The 2011 Ford F-450 is only available as a crew cab with an eight-foot bed, four-wheel drive, dual-rear-wheel axle and Ford's all-new 6.7-liter PowerStroke diesel V8.
Since the mid-1990s, Ford has slowly separated the styling of the Super Duty from the light-duty 2011 Ford F-450, and the latest iteration takes that practice to a new extreme. One look at that massive grille and it's obvious this is no truck for poseurs. From its base XL trim with black painted grille to our chromed Lariat tester, the F-450 is beyond imposing, with its vertically stacked headlight clusters, cab-mounted auxiliary lights and extended wheel arches. Despite being nearly new, the latest Super Duty models continue to retain the cut-down side glass near the mirrors and Tonka truck blockiness we've seen on every iteration for the last decade.
Since the mid-1990s, Ford has slowly separated the styling of the Super Duty from the light-duty 2011 Ford F-450, and the latest iteration takes that practice to a new extreme. One look at that massive grille and it's obvious this is no truck for poseurs. From its base XL trim with black painted grille to our chromed Lariat tester, the F-450 is beyond imposing, with its vertically stacked headlight clusters, cab-mounted auxiliary lights and extended wheel arches. Despite being nearly new, the latest Super Duty models continue to retain the cut-down side glass near the mirrors and Tonka truck blockiness we've seen on every iteration for the last decade.
The switch to enable the tow-haul mode is integrated into the column-mounted shift lever and the automatic trailer brake control and auxiliary switches are located at the base of the center stack. The new settings up the output of the diesel from the 390 horsepower and 735 pound-feet of our test truck to an even 400 hp and 800 lb-ft, giving bragging rights back to Dearborn. Ford will apply the software upgrade to all existing Super Duty trucks when they come in to the dealership for service. In the last couple of months, we have had other opportunities to drive similar diesel-powered F-350s with trailers of 10,000-12,000 pounds back-to-back with comparable GM trucks. Like, five turns lock-to-lock slow.
But for a truck designed to tow large trailers, slow steering is helpful in preventing the driver from inducing any sway while cruising down the road. It's not unusual for these heavy-duty diesel trucks to accumulate half-a-million miles or more before being put out to pasture.
But for a truck designed to tow large trailers, slow steering is helpful in preventing the driver from inducing any sway while cruising down the road. It's not unusual for these heavy-duty diesel trucks to accumulate half-a-million miles or more before being put out to pasture.