It was a bold move for Ford to make such radical changes to the 2015 Ford F-150 and by that I mean as the first pickup truck with a military grade, high strength, all-aluminum body. Of course the first issue is you can’t stick a magnetic sign on to to it, so a vinyl wrap is on the cards. The real gain (or loss) is the 700 lbs of weight reduction over the outgoing model.
Ford let us loose with the 2015 Ford F-150 2.7 L EcoBoost model, which has the small displacement twin-turbo-6, with 325-horsepower and 375 lb-ft. of torque. A quick look under the hood reveals how small this engine is…..it’s tiny and sits way back in the engine bay. The engine is mated to a six-speed automatic transmission. The automatic four-wheel-drive system features a two-speed transfer case. The other 6 cylinder engine option of note is the 3.5L with 365 horsepower and 420 lb-ft. of torque, however, it’s the 2.7 L that is the most intriguing.
There’s enough grunt to smoke the rear tires from a stop and only marginally slower than the 3.5 L. It is also impressively smooth, it never feels strained and simply pulls like a train. There is no noticeably turbo lag and and it works well with the upgraded 6-speed automatic transmission. The standard auto stop/start kicks in and starts in an instance. We typically don’t like stop/start systems but this one is not intrusive at all and after a while you forget about it. We hit 60 from a standstill in 6.5 seconds and onto a 15 second 1/4 mile. Pretty decent considering the small displacement V6 pulling it.
On the road the F-150 feels light and nimble, unfortunately the steering just feels light and vague. It is certainly no match for the the Ram 1500 we tested earlier this year. If Ford can fix the steering they have a true winner.
Interior
Leather 8 way power seats are standard on the Lariat trim and they are both heated and ventilated . Power adjustable pedals with memory and keyless access with a push-button starter come standard on the Lariat trim. The new 8-inch productivity screen provides useful information from fuel economy to towing data right in front of you on the instrument cluster. You can create a customized “MyView” home screen to access your most frequently used screens in one place. The menu includes gauge setup, trip computer, fuel economy, and towing/off-road applications.
The revamped interior is a nice place to be, the only issues are slightly awkward styling, we feel the vents on the drivers side look backwards and even though Ford has made improvements, it could look better. In higher end versions of the Ram they get it just right.
Conclusion
We have to say that the new F-150 pickup is a vast improvement over the old one and a strong challenger to the newly redesigned Chevrolet Chevrolet Silverado. It boasts a better interior than last year’s model did, better gas mileage and the ecoboost 2.7 is simply sensational. Did we say that we like it?
Gallery
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2015 Ford F-150 2.7L EcoBoost 4×4 Specifications
BASE PRICE $42,110
PRICE AS TESTED $43,300
VEHICLE LAYOUT Front-engine, 4WD, 5-pass, 2-door truck
ENGINE 2.7L/twin-turbo DOHC 24-valve V-6
POWER 325 hp
TORQUE 375 lbs.-ft
TRANSMISSION 6-speed automatic
CURB WEIGHT (F/R DIST) 4935 lb (59/41)
0-60 MPH 6.5 sec
QUARTER MILE 15.2 sec @ 93mph
TOWING Up to 8,500lbs
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