2015 Ford F-150
Ford F-150 2.7 liter and 3.5 Liter Ecoboost for 2015: Losing the Fat
2015 Ford F-150
Plusses: The Aluminum-bodied F-Series picks are impressive. The loss of 700 pounds of weight is a good thing, and to believe otherwise is a simply a denial of reality. The 2.7 liter V6 equipped crew cab F-150 accelerated much faster than The Car Exam realized, especially carrying four full-sized adults on board. It may have lacked the niceties of the more fully-loaded 3.5 liter V6 Ecoboost (and the 2.7 may not have accelerated quite as fast as its more potent counterpart), but it was still impressive.
2015 Ford F-150
The 3.5 Ecoboost model The Car Exam tested boasted a sunroof, backup camera, more towing capacity, and much more. The 2015 Ford F-150 is not nearly the same as F-150 from the mid 2000’s and before that, that’s for sure. There are a lot of technological goodies on the new F-150s (like blind spot monitoring, for example)–in fact, a visit to Ford’s website will fill you in on what all of them are.
2015 Ford F-150 Sunroof
2015 F-150 Dash
The interiors are far more upscale than any other Ford pickup before, and they are even more comfortable driving around in the city on an a daily basis, while the F-150 is still a tough, rugged, pickup truck for people who need a durable, long lasting pickup. The material on the seats of the 2.7 liter-laden Ecoboost wasn’t nearly as nice, either, but every buyer will have a different budget and different needs, which Ford understands. Nevertheless, the interiors are roomy in the crew cabs, the ride on each model is more than acceptable, as are the impressive sound systems (the My Touch system can be finicky, though). Again, these are not F-150s from the year 2000–they are much, much better.
2015 F-150 Dash
Minuses: The words “low cost” and F-150 don’t exactly go together when it comes to price. Don’t roll into you local Ford dealership and expect to find a $14,000 to $20,000 pickup–those days are long gone. When Ford eliminated the Ranger at the beginning of the decade here in the U.S. (except in many other countries, where it is still being produced, and it looks like one attractive-looking pickup), lower-cost alternatives for Ford consumers went away, only leaving full-sized pickup in Ford stable.
2015 Ford F-150 – Overhead view
If you want a smaller truck, try the new 2015 Chevrolet Colorado (which was driven and will be the focus of a future review on The Car Exam), the GMC Canyon, the upcoming, refreshed Toyota Tacoma, and the outdated Nissan Frontier. It’s too bad Ford abandoned the compact/mid-sized truck market, because not everyone wants a full-sized pickup truck.
2015 Chevrolet Colorado
The exterior styling could have taken on a more daring look; if you look at both the 2014 and 2015 F-150s at a side angle view, you can can’t tell the difference between the two trucks instantly. Some potential buyers may be turned off by the styling of the rear bed door. Will the Aluminum bodies be more costly to repair? Edmunds.com did a great three-part story about that, and The Car Exam will provide links to the Edmunds webite (see the highlighted words in this and the following sentence). It looks like if you take your truck to a qualified body repair shop for the bodywork on your 2015 F-150 (do your homework first), you should be okay–but the cost could still be higher, depending upon what needs to be done to your F-150. Also, fuel economy may be better, but if you don’t need a pickup for everyday use (just periodic boat or other vehicle towing) and you want or need something with far superior fuel economy, then you may want to consider another vehicle to purchase as your primary transportation.
Final Grade: A strong “A” grade from The Car Exam; the 2015 Ford F-150 is a very worthy successor to the 2014 model–it’s lighter, stronger, and much better than it was before…As usual, less fat is definitely a good thing.
2015 Ford F-150 Price Range (M.S.R.P. starting prices for 2.7 liter Ecoboost and 3.5 liter Ecoboost-equipped models):
The XL ($25,420), XLT ($30,695) and Lariat ($38,685) models have both the 2.7 liter and the 3.5 liter Ecoboost engines available as an option; the King Ranch ($48,495) and Platinum ($50,960) models have the 3.5 liter Ecoboost and a 5.0 liter V8 and as options only.
Ford F150 website link: http://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/models
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