2021 Ford F-150 Review: The Truck Goes Techno

The world loves to color pickup customers as old style grandpas with beer bellies and deep skepticism of contemporary know-how – Abraham Simpson pining for the glory days in actual life, primarily. However Ford appears to suppose that the stereotype simply isn’t true, that thoughtfully built-in know-how could make a truck proprietor’s life a lot happier. And after spending time within the redesigned (and award-winning) 2021 Ford F-150, we agree.

A modernized infotainment bundle, revised styling, new powertrains, and extra productiveness options plant the brand new F-150 firmly within the fashionable period, with driver aids that wouldn’t really feel misplaced in a luxurious automobile coming alongside for the trip. Even quantity fashions like this F-150 XLT SuperCrew 4×4 seen right here get in on the motion. There are a number of issues, largely associated to Ford’s inane pricing and choices technique and its newfound need to cheapen all of its automobiles’ interiors, however total, the F-150 holds up as among the finest vans ever.

A car’s rankings are relative solely to its personal section and never the new-vehicle market as a complete. For extra on how Motor1.com charges automobiles, click on right here. 

If the redesigned 2021 Ford F-150 appears to be like acquainted, that’s as a result of it shares most of its dimensions – and certainly its fundamental construction – with the gross sales champ that preceded it. Nonetheless, none of its exterior panels are interchangeable, giving the F-150 a complete new character that’s much less aggressive and far more fashionable.

Up entrance, the LED headlights and foglights of our XLT tester get a C-clamp–impressed gentle signature that’s visually bisected by the entrance fascia trim. The brand new truck retains a particular stepped beltline, doing wonders for ahead visibility and establishing a hyperlink to F-150s of previous. In any other case, the physique sides are smoother and fewer cluttered (save the cumbersome fake vent on the entrance fender).

On our XLT tester, a Sport Look Package deal bundles a lovely dark-finish grille with black accents and body-color bumpers and door handles. This pack consists of 18-inch alloy wheels as normal, however our truck got here with 20s painted the identical darkish grey because the grille. Draped over Iconic Silver bodywork with black “sport material” upholstery, this truck is Terminator-chic – chilly, metallic, technological, and imposing.

The inside’s styling will get a extra complete replace than the outside, thanks partially to a rounder middle stack and gauge binnacle – the previous F-150 was far more angular inside. The door panels are new as nicely, with the window switches moved from their previous perches atop the windowsill to a extra pure decrease location. The F-150’s paddle-style inside door handles stay, although the cutouts are bigger, to permit gloved arms to suit the area extra simply says Ford.

The contemporary design is finished in class-average supplies. Mid-level fashions get flimsy-feeling plastic all through, cheapening the inside a bit an excessive amount of. That concern additionally applies to the power-stowing middle console shift selector – it folds flat when parked to create room for the distinctive Inside Work Floor console desk, nevertheless it lets out concerningly plasticky grumbles when shifting up or down. Working within the XLT Sport’s favor are refined door panel inserts that mimic the historic street map of Detroit, Michigan, Ford’s ancestral dwelling. An American flag motif additionally seems on both finish of each F-150’s dashboard when the door is open.

Consolation and area are a non-issue within the 2021 F-150. Because it shares most of its inside dimensions with its predecessor, meaning it boasts 43.9 inches of entrance legroom (beating the Ram 1500 and Toyota Tundra) and 43.6 inches of rear legroom (beating the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 and Toyota Tundra), in addition to aggressive headroom and best-in-class shoulder room entrance and rear. That mentioned, practically each crew-cab pickup on this section affords area for 4 absolutely grown adults with room to spare.

Entrance-seat occupants will respect the supportive energy bucket seats that include the XLT Sport bundle, in addition to cavernous entrance armrest storage, massive cupholders, and a small cubby in entrance of the shifter for odd objects (on some trims, this area is a wi-fi charging pad). A heated steering wheel and entrance seats had been a godsend on a 38-degree morning – this can be a truck for the Midwest, make no mistake. Rear-seat passengers will discover loads of area, first rate seat consolation, a fold-down middle armrest, and large door pockets, however not like the Ram 1500, the rear seat doesn’t recline or regulate, and it’s not heated on this mannequin. Pity.

One in all Ford’s get together tips is the aforementioned Inside Work Floor. On fashions with the bucket seats, the entrance armrest cowl is definitely break up in two, with a hinge that permits the highest half of the quilt to flip ahead over the middle console to create a flat, desk-like floor. Nonetheless, we don’t suppose the characteristic could be very helpful to somebody who doesn’t usually want to jot down with a pen and paper. Extra attention-grabbing to us could be the Max Recline bucket seats out there as a $350 choice on King Ranch, Platinum, and Restricted fashions – we hope this convenient creature consolation spreads to the XLT and Lariat quickly.

The non-obligatory tailgate step now features a few new helpful options. So geared up, the tailgate will get a ruler, pencil holder, and clamp mounting factors – Ford added these to the truck after studying that house owners had been utilizing C-clamps on the jobsite, which might sometimes slip and injury the tailgate. Reconfigurable cargo tie downs enhance performance that rather more.

Each F-150 comes with an 8.0-inch touchscreen, Ford’s new Sync 4 infotainment software program, and normal Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, however this XLT Sport got here with the “Excessive” choice pack, ditching the bottom display screen for a large 12.3-inch show with embedded navigation and wi-fi smartphone connectivity. In our week with the truck, it mechanically related to CarPlay seamlessly, nevertheless it did sometimes glitch and require a restart to work appropriately once more. Ford isn’t alone on this – wi-fi Carplay typically provides us suits.

Additionally included on our tester is a big, 8.0-inch productiveness display screen between two analog gauges, with easy performance that permits the driving force to maintain tabs on instantaneous gasoline financial system, auxiliary gauges, steering angle, off-road pitch and roll angles, audio, and navigation. Ford’s steering wheel controls make utilizing the instrument panel display screen a bit difficult, although. It’s finest to set the display screen to at least one characteristic and depart it there, reasonably than toggle by the menus whereas driving.

Conversely, the massive middle touchscreen may be very simple to function on the fly, owing to massive on-screen buttons and a horizontal design that retains eyes up. Ergonomic analog local weather controls present up beneath the show – bodily buttons for the win. Ford’s infotainment is extra superior than the Ram 1500’s Uconnect 12 system due to Sync 4 and its attendant over-the-air software program updates, and its widescreen show appears to be like extra spectacular to this writer’s eyes than the Ram’s portrait orientation.

An non-obligatory Professional Energy Onboard generator runs shops that seem within the mattress of the F-150. Our instance fed 2.0 kilowatts to 2 120-volt shops, which is sufficient to run a one-person jobsite or tailgate get together, however different powertrains supply 2.4 kW or 7.2 kW (the latter getting one 240-volt and 4 120-volt shops).

We had considerably low expectations of this instance’s EcoBoost 2.7-liter twin-turbocharged V6, however to our shock, it held up very nicely in each visitors situation we threw at it – fast onramp acceleration was easy, and turbo lag was all however nonexistent. With 325 horsepower and 400 pound-feet on faucet, we shouldn’t have been shocked. On this case, a fairly easy 10-speed computerized transmission sends energy to all 4 wheels (rear-wheel drive is normal), though it could generally dispatch a jarring downshift for no obvious motive.

We didn’t load the F-150 down a lot in our time behind the wheel – a solid-wood desk sooner or later and an assortment of mechanic’s instruments the subsequent – so you might say we used it like a typical way of life proprietor would possibly. It served its place very nicely, insofar as engine and transmission efficiency had been involved.

We will’t say the identical of its suspension efficiency. Whether or not empty or (barely) laden, the entrance finish bobbed round on undulating pavement, feeling underdamped, whereas the leaf-sprung rear axle sometimes shuddered over uneven roads. Ram’s buttoned-down chassis works higher in common commuting due to its rear coil springs, to say nothing of its out there air suspension.

Even when dealing with isn’t the F-150’s robust swimsuit, it nonetheless boasts stout brakes. Just a few journeys down a steep grade revealed zero fade, and as we realized in our first drive, it may possibly deal with these sojourns even with a trailer or numerous payload onboard. And because of an non-obligatory 360-degree digicam and rear parking sensors, it’s comparatively simple to wrestle this full-size truck round city or in a decent car parking zone. Large home windows and a low beltline assist, too.

All F-150 trims XLT and above now come normal with Ford Co-Pilot360 2.0, which incorporates lively security options like entrance and rear computerized emergency braking, lane departure prevention, blind spot monitoring, and reverse sensing (the suite can also be non-obligatory on the bottom XL). Our tester featured Co-Pilot360 Help, which provides navigation-linked adaptive cruise management with stop-and-go performance, lane centering, and intersection monitoring.

Taken as a complete, the 2021 F-150 we drove labored faultlessly on the freeway, conserving the truck well-centered between the lane markers even on curves. It additionally managed stop-and-go situations nicely, sustaining a protected distance between the main car and accelerating and braking easily. Though it doesn’t supply the hands-off performance and lane-change help of, say, Cadillac’s Tremendous Cruise, Co-Pilot360 Help does an exemplary job of casting a wider security web and lowering driver fatigue. Later this yr, each the F-150 and the Mustang Mach-E will supply Energetic Driving Assistant, a really hands-free foil to the Caddy.

Ford says the 2021 F-150’s 2.7-liter EcoBoost engine will ship 19 miles per gallon metropolis, 24 freeway, and 21 mixed in four-wheel-drive kind, which simply crests our 20-mpg mixed goal for half-ton pickups and earns an ideal 10. Our real-world testing backed that ranking up. With numerous freeway driving, we noticed indicated numbers nearer to 25 mpg. In every week of combined driving, the instrument panel claimed 22 mpg, spectacular real-world numbers for a full-size truck.

The four-wheel-drive Chevrolet Silverado 1500 achieves 19 mixed with a 5.3-liter V8 or 20 mixed with a turbocharged 2.7-liter inline-four. A comparable Ram 1500 matches the Ford precisely when geared up with a mild-hybrid V6, whereas the extra highly effective mild-hybrid V8 will get 19 mixed. Lose the electrification and the V8’s quantity falls to 17 mpg.

The 2021 Ford F-150 XLT 4×4 begins at an inexpensive $43,805 in SuperCrew, 5.5-foot mattress kind. However as with all Blue Oval product, choices add up quickly, leading to a gasping price-as-tested of $62,311, a 29-percent improve. Among the largest wallet-lighteners listed here are the $5,730 “Excessive” gear group, which provides a bigger infotainment show with Sync 4, heated and powered entrance seats, distant keyless begin and entry, and different niceties. A $1,495 panoramic moonroof exhibits up, as does a $1,090 trailer-tow bundle and a $1,195 cost for the two.7-liter EcoBoost. The coordinating Sport Look pack is an inexpensive $300, however optioning 20-inch wheels calls for one other $1,395.

Ford a minimum of deserves some credit score by making most choices a la carte as an alternative of requiring prospects to step into the next trim degree. For instance, this XLT Sport affords most of the similar options that will be out there on a King Ranch or a Platinum (a panoramic roof, superior driver-assist tech, an onboard generator, and a giant infotainment show), excellent for consumers who need the toys however don’t want leather-based or wooden. Nonetheless, at greater than $62k, the XLT feels a bit unspecial, particularly when a Ram 1500 Restricted – geared up with a regular V8 and non-obligatory adaptive cruise – is just a few grand extra.

By taking part in with the net configurator a bit extra judiciously, it’s doable to construct a well-equipped F-150 XLT 4×4 for about $50,000, which feels extra palatable to the common truck household than this expensive, sporty tester. No matter the associated fee, the 2021 F-150’s mission temporary was to combine refined know-how and considerate office options into the nation’s best-selling car household, and in that vein, it’s an unqualified success.