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.
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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.