Very first Drive Review
arrow
Big bang.
Ten percent more energy than final year and a solid whump of added torque from the Energy Stroke diesel imply that it’s Ford’s turn to leapfrog its truck-producing competitors to claim “best-in-class” honors for 2015. Even though the blue-oval team is making a lot more important pickup truck news with its aluminum-intensive F-150, in this case we’re talking heavy-duty or, in Ford parlance, “super-duty” light trucks, the F-250, F-350, and F-450.
We climbed into a pair of the revised 2015 F-350 models for brief drives. Each were 4-by-4s wearing the King Ranch badges that denote luxurious trimmings, both in crew-cab/quick-bed spec. 1 was a dual-rear-wheel version wearing that edition’s normal 17-inch wheels shod with Bridgestone tires the other truck had a single wheel on either finish of the rear axle and the optional 20-inch chrome wheels and Michelin light-truck tires. Each have been equipped with the Energy Stroke diesel V-8 and TorqShift 6-speed automatic transmission. Prominent badges reminded us that the rigs would happily burn B20 biodiesel if provided the likelihood.
With only short exposure, our very first impressions were that this year’s far more powerful engine appears remarkably quiet—not as clattery or ever-present as the Cummins diesel-powered HD Ram we drove earlier this year—and that the duallie was, surprisingly, simpler to maneuver and rode better than the single-wheel version. A Ford engineer who was riding shotgun told us the single-wheel model was equipped with an uprated towing package and that its huge wheels and distinct rear-axle and spring setup affected the ride and steering feel.
 |
On the Heavier Side of Light Duty
Each and every truck’s bed was burdened with more than 1000 pounds of weights so it wasn’t actually possible to do a seat-of-the-pants estimation of acceleration, but offered the curb weights, power ratings, and previous encounter, we anticipate these rigs can get to merging velocity with lots of area to spare on a highway ramp. Unladen, zero-to-60-mph times need to be about 8. seconds. Though they’re called one particular-ton trucks, that’s not significantly of a load by contemporary requirements. Ford says that these Power Stroke F-350s, based on gear and trim, can be rated to tow up to 26,700 pounds (or as small as 12,500). The gross combined weight rating can range up to 35,000 pounds. Thoughts you, these are meant for farm and function-website use, though the distinctions in between private-use and industrial cars are blurring. Advertising nomenclature notwithstanding, these pickups are really classed with their half-ton stablemates as light-duty trucks rather than with true medium- or heavy-truck segments exactly where commercial-grade haulers fit.
Ford is not assisting to maintain this distinction, nonetheless, boasting that this second-generation Energy Stroke diesel is essentially an engine so powerful that it’s all but identical to the one employed in the medium-duty F-450. (Ram made equivalent claims on behalf of its Cummins-built 6 last year).
 |
More Squeeze Tends to make Much more Juice
The Power Stroke now uses a bigger turbocharger and redesigned fuel-injector nozzles to make bigger bangs in each and every of the 6.7-liter engine’s 8 cylinders, adding up to a rating of 440 horsepower (up from 400) and 860 lb-ft (versus 800 last year). That neatly tops the figures Ram employed to claim the title as the hardest puncher with its Cummins diesels final year (385 and 850)—and by an even wider margin more than the torque rating GM claims for the Duramax diesels in the Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra HD models.
Also with a firm eye on its cross-town rivals, Ford placed a push button on the dash to actuate the exhaust brake. Like these at Ram and GM, the exhaust brake generates back pressure via the turbo to develop drag. Ford claims that in addition to the straightforward one particular-touch actuation, this year’s version also works more successfully.
Dearborn also boasts that it upgraded the interior trim on the King Ranch models for 2015. It looks a bit far better but to our eye didn’t match the quality of components in the Ram and Chevy trucks we’ve sampled not too long ago. The leather, now wearing the King Ranch’s “snake” brand a lot more prominently, looked great but there was significantly less of it and occasionally it was utilized in odd areas, even though inexpensive-searching plastic bits (notably pockets on the console and the inner door panel) felt flimsy. On the a single hand, F-350s in King Ranch trim can run $ 55,000 to $ 70,000 or so and chintzy trim might be off-putting. Nevertheless, buyers in this segment are constantly asking for more capability, Ford claims, so maybe they’ll be prepared to overlook such aspects in favor of boasting the greatest power numbers.
View Photo Gallery
Other Stories You May well Like
2015 Ford F-350 Super Duty Power Stroke Diesel V-eight First Drive: Boosted For Greater Grunt
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder