Driving Impressions
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People familiar with trucks, particularly those familiar with Ford trucks, will find the driving experience in the new F-Series greatly enhanced. Whether traveling straight ahead or negotiating twists and turns, the F-Series offers good steering feel. A high degree of directional stability adds to safety and comfort because it keeps the vehicle headed down its intended path.
Ride, too, is remarkably good. One big problem with pickup trucks has always been how poorly they tend to ride when empty; this can become really annoying on long trips down concrete interstates where trucks can bounce ceaselessly. We drove our F-Series pickup over bouncy concrete highways for several hours and the ride was car-like and comfortable, mile after highway mile.
The smooth, quiet overhead-cam engine adds to the driving pleasure. There's no truck-like roar or rumble, no feeling that it starts thrashing at higher speeds. Whether driving around the city or taking an extended highway cruise, the 5.4-liter Triton engine is the most velvety full-size pickup truck engine we've encountered. The smaller, 4.6-liter version is equally smooth, but it's less powerful, and we highly recommend the stronger 5.4-liter V8. It's $665 more, but we think it's money well spent and, besides, you'll probably get most, if not all, of it back at trade-in time.
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