Ford’s 2023 F-Sequence Tremendous Responsibility has develop into the Porsche 911 of professional quality pickups. Every provides no fewer than 18 fashions, has no less than three engine choices and 4 energy outputs, sends torque to both the rear or all 4 tires, and is arguably the very best at serving its total mission. However in contrast to the 911, the Tremendous Responsibility is about as frequent as an Apple iPhone. They’re on development websites, farms, and oil fields, towing boats and RVs, and parked in your neighbor’s driveway.

Although Ford is fast to throw the “all-new” stamp at its fifth-generation F-Sequence Tremendous Responsibility, the truck is extra of an evolution than a totally new massive rig. Beneath, the body, underpinnings, brakes, and driveline elements (other than a newly obtainable 11.6-inch rear axle) go largely unchanged. The outside, nonetheless, options edgier aluminum sheetmetal, and every trim will be recognized by its particular facia and design components.

Tech’d Up

Throughout the spacious cabin, the F-Sequence enters the fashionable period of tech-laden pickups by appropriating components from the F-150. The XL now comes customary with an 8.0-inch infotainment touchscreen, whereas a much bigger 12.0-inch unit is reserved for the XLT and past. A high-speed 5G information connection allows fast steaming to maintain younger ones occupied with YouTube Youngsters or when it’s time to make the most of the obtainable Inside Work Floor and tether into the workplace. An obtainable head-up show is a Tremendous Responsibility first, as is a digital instrument cluster that may be personalized to indicate extra information than one would possibly ever want.

Ford’s 2.0-kW ProPower Onboard is newly obtainable on the Tremendous Responsibility to offer energy to the job website or camper. Driver-assist methods resembling adaptive cruise management and lane-keeping help are supplied, however essentially the most welcome upgrades are discovered within the tailgate, which now will be had with energy opening and shutting capabilities. It additionally cleverly applies present expertise to resolve an outdated downside. In the event you’ve ever tried backing up with the tailgate down, likelihood is you’ve run into one thing as a result of the backup digicam faces the bottom and the sonar sensors can’t compensate for the additional size of the lowered gate. The tailgate now will be had with sensors and a digicam within the high rail, thus eliminating backing into that mound of dust or loading dock.

Energy Up

When Ford launched Godzilla, its pushrod, 16-valve 7.3-liter V-8, it was a breath of contemporary air in a world gone mad with electrification. That 430-hp V-8 with 485 pound-feet of torque carries over and is joined by one other new V-8 for 2023. The brand new 6.8-liter is a short-stroke 7.3-liter with its personal crankshaft, connecting rods, and pistons. Changing the venerable 385-hp 6.2-liter, it produces 400 horsepower and 445 lb-ft. It is unique to the XL trim and is primarily meant for fleet use.

The Energy Stroke turbocharged 6.7-liter diesel V-8 stays the bread-and-butter engine within the lineup. Its 475 horsepower and 1075 pound-feet of torque already had the bragging rights when it comes to ouput, and in our testing, propelled a 2020 F-250 Tremor to the highest of the rostrum when it comes to acceleration. To deal with greater temperatures, stainless-steel manifolds and piping feed a single turbo with a liquid-cooled compressor housing to permit extra increase. With larger consumption strain, the Energy Stroke Excessive Output now generates a monstrous 500 horsepower and 1200 pound-feet.

A ten-speed computerized is the one transmission supplied, albeit in two variations. The 6.8-liter encompasses a totally different gearset from the one hooked to Godzilla and the turbo-diesel. On all however the XL, four-wheel drive is now customary.

Trailering for Dummies

Heavy-duty pickups are all about doing work, and that usually means hauling insane quantities of weight. By Ford’s estimate, 90 p.c of Tremendous Responsibility homeowners use their vans to tow. Relying on the way it’s configured, the Tremendous Responsibility can tug a measly 17,600 kilos with a standard hitch or a whopping 40,000 kilos on a gooseneck-equipped, single-cab, rear-wheel-drive F-450. It’s the tech that surrounds towing that makes the duty really easy.

Ford’s Professional Trailer Backup Help stays and is arguably the least helpful tech of all of the trailering instruments. Throughout Ford’s temporary train, we backed a large, enclosed trailer right into a coned-off space on the primary try utilizing solely the mirrors and searching again out the window. In two makes an attempt with Backup Help, which steers robotically, we by no means received it into the spot.

Ford, nonetheless, has made hitching up the trailer straightforward. With Professional Trailer Hitch Help activated, the truck will lock on the hitch ball and robotically reverse, flip, and brake the truck as soon as the hitch is aligned with the ball. The times of guessing and a number of in-and-outs to verify the alignment are historical past.

A completely geared up Tremendous Responsibility has extra cameras than the purple carpet on the Oscars. Ford not solely provides a 360-degree picture of the truck, however the choice so as to add 4 cameras to the trailer to offer a chicken’s-eye view round it, too. There are additionally extra sensors so as to add to the trailer to boost the flexibility of the blind-spot warning system. Say you’re pulling a triple-axle, 30-plus-foot trailer behind a truck that’s over 21 toes lengthy. In some circumstances, making a flip will probably be a problem. Ford’s non-obligatory Trailer Navigation is designed to assist decide a route given the trailer’s dimensions and weight.

The Tremendous Responsibility provides the flexibility to recollect as much as 10 totally different trailers. From there, it shops the typical gasoline financial system with every trailer in tow, and it robotically adjusts the indicated distance to empty.

However does all of it work? We pulled round 30,000 kilos at Ford’s Michigan Proving Grounds in Romeo, Michigan, with relative ease. You realize there’s 15 tons of trailer behind the truck, however even up a 7 p.c grade, the Excessive Output diesel nonetheless generates significant acceleration.

Grime Received’t Damage

For Tremendous Responsibility clientele extra serious about journey than work, the off-road-focused Tremor bundle ($4395) returns as an choice on XLT to King Ranch, short-bed, single-rear-wheel F-250 and F-350 Crew Cabs. Whereas the bundle’s electronically managed locking rear differential, limited-slip entrance differential, fuel-tank and transfer-case skid plates, and 35-inch Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac tires carry over, the Tremor provides a couple of new tips for 2023.

Path Flip Help locks the within rear wheel, drastically decreasing the turning circle. Its effectiveness varies relying on the soil beneath the tire, however any help pivoting these behemoths via tight and twisty trails is welcome. There’s additionally a brand new Rock Crawl drive mode, which prompts low gear within the switch case, locks the rear differential, and dials again the accelerator’s sensitivity. Geared up with the Excessive Output 6.7-liter, the Tremor effortlessly climbed a lumpy rock incline. It was virtually too straightforward to be enjoyable.

Need to cruise the two-track and neglect in regards to the accelerator? Path Management returns to offer an off-road cruise-control expertise. In 4High, the pace is adjustable from one to twenty mph in single mile-per-hour increments. Received a nasty downhill to descend? Change to 4Lo, and Path Management will be adjusted in 0.5-mph increments from one to 10 mph. Sit again, loosen up, and let the truck do the work if you happen to so want—though we nonetheless desire the old style two-pedal mode.

Whereas the Tremor provides an important bundle of kit, the brand new XL Off-Street bundle is an intriguing alternative for these searching for a fundamental truck with a bench seat, rubber flooring, and a few modest off-road chops. The Off-Street bundle provides the Tremor’s electronically managed locking rear differential, skid plates, Path Management, prolonged vent tubes for the switch case and axles for elevated water fording, and 33-inch Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac tires as an alternative of the Tremor’s 35s, all for the engaging value of $995. Which means a bare-bones, immensely succesful off-road rig will be had for below $50,000.

Pounding Pavement

Exterior of the Tremendous Responsibility’s excessive towing capabilities and off-road antics, it stays fairly gratifying to drive on the road, too. Our temporary time on the two-lane roads surrounding Ford’s Proving Grounds was spent behind the wheel of a well-equipped F-350 Lariat with the Excessive Output diesel, an engine that’s supremely quiet in on a regular basis driving. There’s a large surge of torque when the turbo spools, a lot that the rear tires barely keep composure throughout a one-three upshift. Again after we pitted the Tremendous Responsibility in opposition to the heavy duties from Chevrolet and Ram in a tractor pull, we reported that Ford’s greatest disadvantage was its incapacity to make increase in 4Lo at 0 mph. Ford, acknowledging we discovered its weakest hyperlink, got down to match that. Possibly it’s time for a rematch?

For being such a large automobile, the Tremendous Responsibility’s journey high quality is effectively managed. There’s some hippity-hop of the axles when there’s sustained high-frequency chop within the street, however that is to be anticipated from a truck with mega payload and towing capabilities. There’s extra disconcerting squish within the brake pedal than we recall, and the steering motions are about as direct as you would possibly anticipate from an 8000-plus-pound rig.

Have It Your Means

Once more just like the Porsche 911, the F-Sequence Tremendous Responsibility varies broadly in value. On the backside of the spectrum, a fundamental, rear-wheel-drive, single-cab F-250 begins at $45,865. On the high, the F-450 Restricted can simply exceed $100,000. In between there, nearly any mixture will be tailor-made to 1’s particular wants. Irrespective of how a Tremendous Responsibility is spec’d, it will likely be a succesful rig.

Senior Testing Editor

David Beard research and evaluations automotive associated issues and pushes fossil-fuel and electric-powered stuff to their limits. His ardour for the Ford Pinto started at his conception, which befell in a Pinto.