Category: F-350

2018 Ford F-350 Super Duty Diesel V-8 4×4 Crew Cab Release Date & Price – Longtime viewers of this distribution often will remember a car review (or several) that easy-to-open on steering feel and reaction. But may you title one in which that distinct feature described a full-size, heavy-duty pickup truck? The 2018 Ford F-350 Platinum is absolutely not a sports car, and but in this article, we are zeroing in on its steering.

There are myriad breakthroughs rolled into the F-series Super Duty for 2018, which includes an all-new aluminum body and mattress (just like the light-duty F-150), a tougher stainless steel framework, and an improved Power Stroke turbo-diesel 6.7-liter V-8 engine solution. Nevertheless for truckers who from time to time enterprise into packed urban regions or limited worksites, the Super Duty’s new variable-percentage steering system might be its most remarkable improvement. The set-up provides the driver the perception of greater maneuverability by, as Ford positions it, mechanically introducing or subtracting rotations to driver feedback at the steering wheel. Explained yet another way, for a presented steering enter, the front wheels will transform much more at reduced speeds and a lot less at better speeds. What is absolutely special about the installation is that it is based in the steering wheel’s hub, not in the steering equipment alone, as is typical. This made it possible for Ford to preserve the F-series’ hydraulically helped recirculating-tennis ball steering system, simplifying the producing procedure.

So how exactly does it work? A planetary gearset installed in between the steering wheel and the steering line gets inputs from an electric motor and the steering wheel, leaving behind the steering shaft to the front axle as the “output.” At decrease speeds, the electric motor bolsters driver inputs, converting the front wheels far more for an offered steering insight compared to they would at increased speeds. The variable-percentage set-up is not going to minimize the Super Duty’s transforming group of friends, however, the steering certainly helps make the huge truck feel wieldier. We seasoned virtually no palm-over-fingers flailing in parking loads-a typical sign of large trucks’ gradual steering proportions-and we documented a greater feeling of stability at highway speeds. Some road feel even controls to get to the driver’s fingers. Our only qualm is that on a straight road at about 40 mph, trapped among “low” and “high” road speeds, the computer would seem doubtful of which steering proportion to choose. This is experienced as strange surges or unpredicted sags in reply to small inputs at the steering wheel and some mild wandering around.

Except when you try out slapping magnets on the new Super Duty’s flanks, you would most likely in no way know its body is now created from aluminum. The entirely encased framework remains to be metal. The aluminum is designed to preserve body weight; it can, but we cannot nevertheless talk to exclusively just how many pounds have already been cut. That is simply because Ford also additional features for 2018 and uprated the F-350’s axles and four-wheel-drive elements, incorporating some pounds back in. Also, this F-350 experienced the single-rear-wheel choice, whilst the most current pre-aluminum 2015 F-350 we analyzed got the dualie rear axle. Not-very-apples-to-peaches, this F-350 considered 8060 pounds, compared with the 2015 dualie model’s 8520 pounds. We can easily talk to a lot more power on the new Super Duty’s stainless steel framework, which Ford promises is 24 periods firmer than well before. The anchor, in fact, appears Viagra-prepared, even when the body brackets in between it and the aluminum cab and mattress permit some quivering. This Super Duty’s heavy-duty 350-spec suspension, which trips more difficult than the much more livable F-250 installation, did not support quell the jiggle.

Ford delivers the Super Duty in XL, XLT, Lariat, King Ranch, and Platinum trim amounts. Our test truck arrived filled up in the Platinum spec, despite the fact that we photographed a King Ranch for this narrative. The interior is deluxe, with leather-wrapped seats (kneading in front), timber and metal trim, an 8.-inch touchscreen, dual-zone automatic climate control, and a lot more. We refer to this as if this organize of luxury is of interest to you more than all-out towing capacity, we’d recommend staying with the easier-cycling F-250 (as well as an F-150). The F-350 is certainly a work truck below, so only moneyed haulers who possibly generally have a heavy trailer in the pull or fill the mattress frequently ample to relax the drive should think about the F-350 in costly King Ranch or Platinum varieties. For individuals who appreciate probing the external towing boundaries of trucks smaller than semis, Ford boasts that the F-350 are able to lug up to 32,000 pounds. Our truck experienced the optionally available gooseneck/fifth-wheel trailers bond essential for that task, and in addition, it was included with a flexible under-fender recipient problem rated for towing up to 21,000 pounds. Progressively larger golf ball brackets are nested one in the other to assist 2.0-, 2.5-, and 3.0-inch trailers balls. Right now, the F-series trucks’ towing maximums are class top; the future, Ram or Chevrolet will certainly outdo them. We did not check out the F-350’s towing capacity simply because nor a NASA space shuttle neither a fuel tanker had been useful. If you pull a sheer race car or travel trailers, it most likely will feel as even though nothing’s back there.

The F-350’s body cannot pull it on your own, of course, and that is in which the improved 6.7-liter Power Stroke V-8 diesel engine is available in. Ford changed the engine’s fuel-shipping setup, turbocharger, and electronic controls to up its top torque from 860 lb-ft to a mighty 925 lb-ft; the optimum horsepower retains at 440. This monster is an $8795 solution over the standard 6.2-liter gasoline V-8, and it ably movements the F-350, unburdened or else. We captured a snappy 7.2-second zero-to-60-mph time, once more, class top rated (right up until various other HD truck is better than it, of course). Engine reply pulling clear of a quit can feel slow, and that is simply because the computer restrictions torque in the first three transmission equipment (there are six overall) to keep traction when safeguarding the driveline. As soon as started, the engine settles into a sub-2000-rpm slumber. From nonproductive to the 3600-rpm upshift level, the diesel is clean and so tranquil that, externally the truck, it is challenging to discern from a gas mill. Braking is evenly easy, with a decently linear pedal coming back a 202-foot cease from 70 mph; that is eligible as excellent for an issue that is four lots. We even captured 15 mpg over the study course of our test-3 mpg superior to the last F-350 we examined and compared to some F-150s we have examined.

What is amazing is that Ford bundled countless up-dates into the Super Duty and then held it hunting mainly the identical. Longtime buyers, we presume, will enjoy the bluff front end’s carried on likeness to a barn wall. Ford does include new C-shaped LED working lighting that is more than a foot taller-their lit up location and the resultant brightness are so excellent, in fact, that somebody could virtually drive at night without having to use the truck’s true headlamps (nearly). Additionally, it scattered much more chrome just about everywhere, probably to creatively warrant the Platinum’s $64,780 base price. In supplement to the above mentioned $8795 diesel engine, our $79,180 truck emerged optioned with a $390 sealing rear differential, a $370 fifth-wheel preparation package, $185 blow up rear seatbelts, $95 LED clearance lights on the roof, $165 prewired adornment changes, a $725 your bed camera, and a $495 squirt-in bed liner. The most high-priced product exterior of the engine room was the $2785 Platinum Ultimate package, including a panoramic sunroof, adaptive cruise control, lane-leaving alert, and 360-level video cameras. To us, although, the only should-have solution is the maneuverability-boosting steering, a $685 additional on the Lariat trim and up (and standard on the Platinum). A firmer framework, far more LED lighting features, much more luxury, and greater pull reviews are expected in a remodeled heavy-duty truck today. One that hard disks smaller than it appears, as performs this Ford, is our idea of a big-truck development.