THIS ROAD BULL BOASTS PLENTY OF PURE POWER
The Ford F-350 Super Duty Lariat looks good, rides beautifully on highways and hauls a heavy load, writes Derek McNaughton.
Riding a bull takes balance, grip and a whole lot of strength for at least eight seconds. Driving the 2017 F-350 diesel 4X4, itself a bone crusher of muscle, requires something of the same, except there’s no fear of getting trampled when you fall off.
In all my years of testing trucks, never have I ridden in anything so unforgivingly stiff. Never has broken pavement meant the need to hold so tight to the reins. But never has a truck felt so true to its purpose that its enjoyment extended far beyond its means.
The F-350 Super Duty might be full of rage and fury, but it’s a roll-up-your-sleeves, let’s-getdirty animal of utility and rides beautifully on the highway while looking great. Its rigidity was designed that way to account for the heavy loads it will ultimately endure. Indeed, add a trailer or heavy payload, and it settles right down.
Speaking of payload and towing, Super Duty numbers can get ludicrous, probably more for barn-floor bragging than reallife scenarios. Really, how many Super Duty owners will use their pickups to haul 32,500 pounds (14,742 kilograms), the max for the F-450 with a gooseneck and dually set up? In the 350 and 250 series, the numbers are still high, at 18,000 lbs (8,165 kg) behind their hitches, but here again, loads that heavy should probably be relegated to Peterbilts or Macks.
In our F-350 Lariat Crew Cab short box, the max tow rating was 15,000 lbs (6,804 kg), plenty enough for half-broke horses, boats, diggers or race cars. That rises to 20,800 lbs (9,435 kg) with a goose neck. Payload max is 4,470 (2,028 kg), but can rise to 7,630 lbs (3,461 kg) when properly equipped.
Of course, those huge numbers were attainable because our truck was equipped with Ford’s revised 6.7-litre Power Stroke V8 diesel. This Ford-developed engine with a compacted iron-graphite block is a revised version of that in the previous generation Super Duty, except now it gets a single, sequential turbocharger that features a dual compressor and single turbine fixed to a common shaft. You can actually hear the turbo spool sometimes, too.
The engine isn’t too loud, and quiets on the highway. The engine now puts out an astonishing 925 pound-feet of torque, while horsepower remains unchanged at 440.
Gears are selected via an oldschool column shifter that frees up space in the centre console, but the location makes manual shifting of the six-speed automatic less than ideal, requiring a toggling of the right thumb. Sure, big paddle shifters behind the wheel might seem sports-car like, but they would be far more effective.
At the low end, power is instantaneous and beyond plentiful, less so at higher speeds when the turbos run out of breath. But it’s good for zero-to-100 km/h sprints of a shade over seven seconds, and this with 8,000-pounds of curb weight. I was also able to hit a low of 12.8 L/100 km in average highway fuel consumption when driving with some tail winds. With its 128-L tank, the highway range was consistently over 900 km. The 350’s long-term average was closer to 18 in combined use, though, which is still respectable given the truck’s size. And it is big. Side steps are a must to climb in and out of the truck, especially with 20-inch wheels that put the truck at over 81 inches (2.05 metres) tall. Optional folding steps tuck away to maintain ground clearance of about eight inches.
Less forgiving than the F-250 Super Duty, the F-350 gets a high-strength steel frame that’s 24 times stiffer than before, and the old one wasn’t a slouch either, evidenced by a comparison drive against some Chevrolet HD trucks.
When empty the ride can be a challenge at times, and some quivering in the cab will result over bumps and more brutal roads. The steering is unique; optional adaptive steering will angle the wheels more at low speed and less at high speed. At first, cranking the wheel can feel heavy, but an electric motor is boosting the driver’s input to the steering wheel at slow speeds, trimming lock-to-lock turns, and subtracting it at higher speeds. On the highway, it tracks well and doesn’t require a lot of work.
Ford’s optional rear tailgate step, improved with the 2015 model year, will be a must for every Super Duty when accessing the bed. Super Duty cabs are the same aluminum structures used in the F-150, but the hood, fenders and box are unique to the Super Duty, giving it an immediate presence that can look a touch overdone with all that chrome.
Inside, the look and feel is pretty much the same as most F-150s: clean, attractive and logically laid out, with ample storage and cubbies. Ours was equipped with a trailer brake controller and upfitter switches near the map lights. Like the F-150, the 350 is good at repelling wind noise.
While our Lariat might be on the higher end of the trim spectrum, an XL or XLT is available for those needing a Super Duty for work crews and job sites. A King Ranch and Platinum are also offered for those with few financial constraints. As it was, our Lariat stickered at $94,463, but a big part of that was the diesel option, at $9,950.
That might seem steep, but cut back on the options (except the diesel) and the F-350 will come in at the price of many loaded-up half-tons. The difference is the F-350 earns way more respect because its tremendous power, towing and payload mean it will do so much more, at the rodeo or anywhere else.