Full-sized pick-up trucks are growing in popularity on Australian roads with more and more makers lining up to sell them. This is the next big arrival.
Settling into a Bojangles restaurant in rural Virginia for chicken, biscuits and “fixins”, it’s clear we are in the home of the American pick-up truck.
Super-sized machines in the drive-through lane rumble past the windows like cattle funnelled into a feedlot.
Loaded with tools and hardware, many tow trailers as their drivers seek a cheap and easy lunch.
You would be brave to tow anything through an Australian drive-through lane.
It’s not a scene you will see in Australia.
Few takeaway shops at home are designed to handle full-sized pick-up trucks towing heavy equipment – but you could take a school bus through some of the takeaway shops we encountered.
And few of our blue-collar workers can afford to spend $100,000-plus on luxury American pick-up trucks that seem more of a status symbol than a tool of the trade.
The F-150 is the best-selling car in America.
Ford invited us to drive the latest F-150 in the US ahead of its arrival in local showrooms.
Like the Australian dual-cab market, the American ute scene is divided high and low, between working vehicles with cloth seats and steel wheels, and posh vehicles serving up alloy rims and heated leather chairs.
Our loan vehicle is firmly in the latter camp, shaping up as an F-150 XLT with the optional Heritage trim, a near cousin to what Ford will sell locally later this year.
Heritage Edition models in the US have two-tone paint.
It’s closer in nature to a high-grade Toyota LandCruiser than a dirt-hauling work truck, kitted out as a spacious, practical and reasonably deluxe family car for wealthy families.
The F-150 starts at about $US34,000 ($52,000) drive-away for a basic model in America, but the well-appointed XLT Heritage model shown here doubles that at about $US69,000 ($105,000) drive-away.
The F-150 XLT will start from about $117,000 drive-away in Australia – almost double the price of the Ford Ranger XLT sold for about $61,000 drive-away.
The F-150 has a broad and spacious cabin.
The F-Truck justifies its price with features such as a huge 12-inch touchscreen linked to an 18-speaker stereo, along with a properly panoramic sunroof and heated leather seats.
Practical touches include myriad USB points, a household power point for the back seat, a truly enormous centre console with a lid that flips forward to form a desk, and enough cup holders to stock the runners’ hydration stand on a marathon.
The car’s centre console flips forward to become a workspace.
Powered by a twin-turbocharged petrol V6, the F-150 sends 298KW and 678Nm to all four wheels through a 10-speed automatic transmission.
It’s a smooth and effortless unit that has no trouble keeping up with the cut and thrust of traffic.
Ford’s V6 performs well but lacks the throbbing charm of a traditional V8.
It’s also fairly thirsty, but that’s less of a problem when fuel costs less than $1 per litre.
The works well in wide American lanes.
The F-150 is a great fit for interstate highways in America, cruising along at highway speed with zero fuss.
It’s the smoothest, quietest car in a three-vehicle convoy that includes the new Ford Mustang and Bronco four-wheel-drive.
Light steering makes it easier to manoeuvre than many four-wheel drives.
We drove the F-150 on a road trip with the Bronco and Mustang.
Surprisingly cushy suspension does a great job soaking up bumps on eight-lane-wide concrete motorways.
The engine has loads of mumbo, and enormous mirrors work with driver aids such as blind spot assistance to make easy work of the car’s huge dimensions.
Wide lanes work in its favour.
Generous dimensions on major roads we encountered helped us fee at home in the F-150.
Car parks we encountered in the southeastern US were similarly spacious.
Light steering helps make the F-150 easy to manoeuvre.
It’s one thing to have plenty of room in the open lot of a rural fried chicken shop, but another matter entirely to find easy parking in an urban underground carpark.
Even so, the first carpark we found in Washington D.C. had ample room for manoeuvring, and parking bays wide enough to swing doors open without dinging the car next door.
Attempting the same feat in Australia often requires swivelling hips, a sucked-in tum, and fingers protecting the door edge.
High-end Ford F-150 models rival luxury cars for space and features.
There’s no doubt the Ford F-150 is a great car in the US, where it is the nation’s best-selling vehicle.
In the same way that Starbucks is a smash hit in the states but a miss in Australia, we’re not convinced the huge F-150 will be a good fit down under.
The F-150 is an impressive car.
FORD F-150 XLT
PRICE About $117,000 drive-away
ENGINE 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6, 298kW and 678Nm
THIRST About 12L/100km
TOWING 4.5 tonne
SPARE Full-size
Keyword: Why American trucks such as the Ford F-150 are better overseas