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  • I'm Justin with americantrucks.com, and on this episode of The Haul, we take a closer

  • look at what's new with the 2018 F-150 and answer the always important question, "Will

  • it do a burnout?"

  • Spoiler alert, it does.

  • This is the 2018 F-150, and in typical mid-cycle refresh fashion, there's some subtle and not

  • so subtle changes found throughout the exterior and interior along with a few changes made

  • to the rather expansive powertrain lineup.

  • So, hang out with me for a little bit as we go over the latest addition to Ford's legendary

  • and extremely popular F-Series pickup.

  • And let's start up front here, because the most noticeable changes to the 2018 F-150

  • can be found from that A-pillar forward.

  • This does include a brand-new grille design for 2018 in addition to a brand-new front

  • bumper and a new headlight design.

  • Now, just like previous model years, your trim level will ultimately determine what

  • your front grille will look like.

  • Even though this is a base XL model truck, we did opt for that STX package, which delivered

  • this very cool and very unique honeycomb shape, a design I really like with these new 2018

  • trucks.

  • Now, if you didn't opt for the STX package, then chances are you're getting a variation

  • of that two-bar grille design running the entire length of the grille into those new

  • C-clamp headlights.

  • Now, you're still getting fleet-level halogen headlights even on a moderately equipped $50,000

  • truck, which is a small little gripe of mine.

  • But that aside, I really do enjoy the 2018 front end refresh.

  • And STX grille aside, that two-bar look gives off a very powerful, super duty type of vibe

  • and keeps with the design consistency Ford likes to achieve within their lineup.

  • Walking along the side of the truck, not much has changed here.

  • However, you are looking at one of 6 new wheel options, the STX-specific 20-inch machined

  • aluminum wheel wrapped in the Hankook all-terrain tires.

  • Ford has even introduced a 22-inch wheel this year on that big baller Limited truck.

  • You're also looking at one of four new colors for 2018, the lead foot gray, which I absolutely

  • love.

  • There's also a stone gray, a magma red, and, finally, guard makes its return to the F-150

  • lineup after a couple of years off.

  • Now, the STX truck that we have here does include color-matched bumpers in addition

  • to that unique grille and wheels we just talked about and, finally, some bedside graphics.

  • A nice little package that kicks up the otherwise boring look of the base XL and XLT.

  • Out back, some more noticeable changes as well, including the tail light and tailgate

  • area.

  • The tail light itself is pretty much the same shape as those 2015 through 2017 tail lights.

  • However, the illuminated portion has now been divided into an upper and lower section.

  • The tailgate, well, looks pretty familiar but with one big exception, that F-150 logo

  • has now been stamped into the tailgate itself, very reminiscent of the Toyota Tacoma, of

  • course, but a welcomed change here to the 2018 truck.

  • Now, all together, guys, these exterior changes are pretty much what you'd expect from a mid-cycle

  • refresh, subtle enough not to really anger your fan base, but with enough new features

  • and bits to keep things interesting.

  • But what do you say we talk power plants?

  • Now, the 2018 F-150, arguably one of the most expansive engine lineups within the half-ton

  • market with five, yes, five different engines to choose from.

  • This does include a brand-new, for 2018, base engine, a 3.3-liter naturally aspirated, high-compression,

  • dual-injected V6, making 290 horsepower and 265 foot-pounds of torque, and that's gonna

  • be the only engine mated to the 6-speed automatic transmission.

  • Every other engine for 2018 does receive the new 10-speed automatic trans.

  • Aside from that, every single engine out of the five does receive the auto start, auto

  • stop feature, aimed to save you a few bucks at the pump, but, to be honest, it's a little

  • bit annoying, and I wish there was a way to permanently disable it.

  • Up next, you have the baby EcoBoost, right?

  • That little 2.7-liter, twin-turbo V6, small on displacement, but big on output, this time

  • around making 325 horsepower and 400 foot-pounds of torque.

  • That's up 25 foot-pounds from the 2017 model year while horsepower does remain the same.

  • Of course, the great-sounding 5-liter V8 is back for 2018, this time boasting more compression,

  • dual-injection, and more power, 395 horsepower and 400 foot-pounds of torque at the crank,

  • and it absolutely rips.

  • As you can tell, it is the engine choice for our lead foot gray truck here in this review,

  • and, honestly, guys, it sounds better than ever.

  • We did throw this truck on the dyno here, because we do have one at the shop, and we

  • wanted to compare the power output to the tires compared to a 2015 5-liter truck.

  • And, honestly, we were blown away by the results.

  • The 2018 truck made 341 horsepower and 355 foot-pounds of torque to the tire.

  • Compare that to the 2015 5-liter truck, which made 278 horsepower and 316 foot-pounds of

  • torque to the tire, and, honestly, the 2018 is making a lot more everywhere throughout

  • the band.

  • Great news for 5-liter fans here for the 2018 truck.

  • But if I can talk a little bit more about that Coyote, it's only been eight short years

  • since that thing has been around but in that amount of time easily cemented itself amongst

  • other Ford great engines in the lineage, like the 427 and the 351, and is definitely a crowd

  • favorite with both Mustang and truck owners alike.

  • But, with all that being said, the Coyote is still not the premium power plant in the

  • F-150 lineup.

  • No, sir.

  • That title does belong to the mighty 3.5-liter, twin-turbocharged EcoBoost V6, back unchanged

  • from the 2017 model year.

  • This does include horsepower figures of 375 at the crank and a whopping 470 foot-pounds

  • at the crank as well.

  • And, just like the Coyote, the 3.5 EcoBoost was also born in 2011.

  • And while it doesn't share that same awesome exhaust note, it does boast best-in-class

  • towing at just over 13,000 pounds in addition to best-in-class payload at just over 3,000

  • pounds, so, obviously, the workhorse of the lineup.

  • But, if you're keeping track at home, you're probably thinking to yourself, "Well, that's

  • four engines.

  • What about this fifth?"

  • Well, I'm happy to say for the first time ever coming spring of 2018 there will be a

  • diesel engine under the hood of an F-150, and that is just huge news.

  • F-150 fans, rejoice.

  • You've been asking for it for a long time.

  • Well, it's finally happening.

  • We don't really know too much about this 3-liter turbo diesel code-named Lion, but we can expect

  • it's gonna pool pretty well with torque figures in the mid to low 400s, if I were to guess,

  • while getting the economy gas guys can only dream about.

  • [00:07:32] [music]

  • [00:07:58]

  • The 2018 truck does still deliver that high-strength, military grade aluminum body, as Ford likes

  • to call it, married to the high-strength box steel frame and eight different crossmembers.

  • The 2018 truck does actually deliver a slightly thicker gauge metal for that frame this year,

  • increasing your payload capabilities, like we talked about a little bit earlier, but

  • also strengthening things up a little bit more over that previous year.

  • Suspension-wise, pretty much everything has been carried over from the '15 through '17

  • trucks, so not a lot to talk about there.

  • However, if you do wanna go off-road without forking out Raptor money, the FX4 package

  • is still gonna be the way to go as it's been for years past.

  • This does include off-road-tuned shocks, skid plates, locking diffs, better rubber, and

  • a 360 camera, just to name a few.

  • And while our STX truck doesn't have all of that, we do have the slightly better all-terrain

  • tires and that locking 355 rear diff on our truck, which, honestly, guys, is gonna be

  • more than enough for most owners out there to get some kicks off-road but without donating

  • a kidney to get into a Raptor, which, if I can be completely honest, wouldn't be that

  • bad of a deal.

  • Now, Ford does kick things up a little bit for the 2018 interiors, including four new

  • interior packages, none of which really apply to the truck we have here.

  • But since that's what I'm sitting in, let's talk about it a little bit more.

  • This is a 101A Equipment Group truck, guys, so essentially as bare-boned as they come.

  • However, we do have the XL Sport package going on for us in addition to that STX package

  • we talked about a little bit earlier.

  • So, that gives us things like SYNC 3, the touchscreen navigation system, and the sport

  • cloth here.

  • However, it's still nearly a $49,000 truck, and, honestly, it feels a little bit sparse

  • for the money.

  • However, if you do kick things up a little bit, here's some of the new stuff you can

  • expect.

  • The XLT truck does get a new sport cloth interior and carbon fiber accent package.

  • The King Ranch gets a new Kingsville leather interior, which is similar to previous years

  • but features a new richer brown leather, very masculine and very fitting of a King Ranch.

  • The Platinum truck gets this new dark wine red interior known as Dark Masala.

  • And then, last but not least, you have the navy pier interior on the Limited, very dark

  • blue navy interior, very sharp, all leather, heated console, heated shift knob, and heated

  • steering wheel, but you are paying top dollar to get that package.

  • Now, one thing that Ford does and does really well is give buyers endless amounts of options

  • to create their ideal rig.

  • This includes seven different trim levels, the XL, the XLT, the Lariat, the King Ranch,

  • the Platinum, the Limited, and, oh, yes, that Raptor.

  • On top of that, you're looking at different appearance packages within those trim levels,

  • like the STX that we have right here, and, on top of that, five different engines to

  • choose from, including the new diesel coming to the F-150 lineup for the first time ever

  • in 2018.

  • For all these reasons and more, the F-150 continues to be the most popular truck in

  • the country.

  • In fact, 2017 marks 40 consecutive years that this is the most sold truck in America.

  • And, oh, yeah, by the way, you're also looking at the 2017 Motor Trend Truck of the Year.

  • Guys, we hope you enjoyed this brief look into the 2018 F-150.

  • And don't forget to get involved in the discussion.

  • What do you think of that new front end?

  • How about the lead foot gray color?

  • Get involved.

  • Drop us a comment wherever you're watching this.

  • And also don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more great truck content.

  • I'm Justin.

  • Thanks for watching.

  • And, for all things F-150, keep it right here at americantrucks.com.

I'm Justin with americantrucks.com, and on this episode of The Haul, we take a closer

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