After letting Ram and Chevrolet get the soar, Ford lastly launched a factory-backed right-hand drive F-150 in Australia in 2023.
Be aware: That is an up to date model of a assessment that was first revealed in July 2024. There have been no main adjustments to pricing or specs since then.
A mid-life refresh is anticipated to reach shortly within the first quarter of 2025 (January to March inclusive).
We’ve up to date key particulars corresponding to pricing and specs with probably the most up-to-date data out there. Learn the unique model of this assessment right here.
WATCH: Paul’s video assessment of the 2024 Ford F-150 Lariat LWB
Teething issues aren’t uncommon for a first-year mannequin, however the F-150 has had greater than its share between two stop-sales and a number of remembers. Ford is compensating house owners who’ve needed to endure them, as it really works to rectify a lot of predominantly lighting-related compliance breaches.
We hope for Ford’s sake these are the final hiccups within the F-150’s rollout. Why? For starters, we really feel dangerous for consumers who’ve needed to put up with this. However the F-150 can also be a genuinely good pickup truck that greater than stacks up in opposition to the Ram 1500 and Chevrolet Silverado 1500.
Ford Australia launched the F-150 in simply two trim ranges and in two lengths, to maintain issues easy and keep away from extra points.
The short-wheelbase XLT on take a look at is as fundamental as a Ford F-150 will get in Australia, full with fabric seats, halogen headlights, and common cruise management.
Okay, so it’s not a farm truck – it nonetheless comes with options like power-adjustable entrance seats and blind-spot monitoring, in any case. However in a market the place consumers are snapping up Silverado LTZs and Ram 1500 Limiteds, to not point out top-spec variations of ‘regular-sized’ utes, the XLT stands out in both a very good or dangerous approach, relying in your viewpoint.
When you’ve learn the feedback of virtually any Ford Australia social media publish, you should have seen offended remarks from individuals who say they gained’t purchase an F-150 with out a V8.
We suspect many of those consumers are the identical who deride any Mustang with out a V8, regardless that that car has been provided with four- or six-cylinder energy for the reason that very first 12 months.
You may nonetheless purchase a V8 F-150 in North America, with a 5.0-litre V8 out there, to not point out the supercharged 5.2-litre of the Raptor R.
However People obtained over the must-have-a-V8 factor years in the past. Whereas six-cylinder engines have been out there in usually low-spec F-150s for many years, the primary twin-turbo V6 mannequin launched within the US in 2011.
Each the three.5-litre provided right here and the smaller 2.7-litre accounted for round 60 per cent of US-market F-150 gross sales in 2020.
Can we miss the burble of a V8? Positive. However our recommendation is to recover from it, because the V6 is an excellent factor. Apart from, Ram is ditching its V8 and Toyota already has, leaving simply GM when you merely will need to have a bent-eight.
Be aware: The F-150s pictured on this article haven’t obtained the rectification work
How does the Ford F-150 evaluate?
View an in depth breakdown of the Ford F-150 in opposition to equally sized automobiles.
Ford
F-150
How a lot does the Ford F-150 price?
For now, the F-150 is obtainable right here with only one engine and two trim ranges – XLT and Lariat – although each can be found in both short- or long-wheelbase guise.
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XLT LWB (left) and XLT SWB (proper)
| Mannequin | Value earlier than on-road prices |
|---|---|
| Ford F-150 XLT SWB | $106,950 |
| Ford F-150 XLT LWB | $107,945 |
| Ford F-150 Lariat SWB | $139,950 |
| Ford F-150 Lariat LWB | $140,945 |
To see how the Ford F-150 stacks up in opposition to its rivals, use our comparability instrument
What’s the Ford F-150 like on the within?
Let’s speak in regards to the F-150’s tub first. In any case, this can be a load hauler, proper?
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Lariat SWB proven
The bathtub within the short-wheelbase F-150 measures 1705mm lengthy, 1656mm vast (1285mm between the arches) and 543mm tall. When you step as much as the long-wheelbase mannequin, you get an additional 300mm of size.
You get tie-down factors in all F-150 fashions, plus a spray-in bedliner. Solely Lariat fashions get a 12V socket again right here, nevertheless. The Lariat additionally boasts a power-opening and shutting tailgate.
When you need assistance clambering up into the XLT’s tub, Ford has included a useful step that folds out of the tailgate. A pole additionally lifts as much as offer you one thing to seize onto.
It jogs my memory of the outdated wives’ story of NASA spending buckets of cash on a pen for astronauts whereas Russian cosmonauts merely used a pencil.
In brief, it looks as if a extra difficult, doubtless dearer to provide resolution to an issue Ford Australia solved within the Ranger by simply chopping out a little bit of the bumper to create a step.
Extra complicated or not, it really works properly. One other neat contact is the incorporation of a ruler within the moulding of the tailgate – and whereas that is an American truck, there’s fortunately a metric ruler. There are additionally areas to fit a drink and pencils.
The courtesy white lamps subsequent to the centre high-mounted brake mild will likely be disabled as a part of Ford Australia’s rectification work, as they fall foul of Australian Design Guidelines (ADRs).
The XLT has at all times missed out on the Lariat’s intelligent Zone Lighting function, as seen on the Ranger. Nevertheless, Ford says it’s eradicating Zone Lighting from all Lariat fashions because it doesn’t meet ADRs.
The bottom F-150 additionally has a vibrant white LED mild on the surface of the tailgate, however this seems to be spared from Ford’s required rectification works.
It’s straightforward to step up into the cabin because of the aspect steps and easy-to-grip seize handles.
Visibility out of the F-150 is great, with the entrance of the cabin feeling notably ethereal because of the beltline dip in the direction of the mirror – a design cue that’s been on F-150s for 20 years now.
These doorways are comfy to lean on, too, with all 4 of the F-150’s doorways that includes soft-touch trim up high. The inside is in any other case primarily completed in laborious plastic, but it surely seems to be practical but good-looking.
No, it doesn’t look upmarket, not helped by the 8.0-inch touchscreen that appears positively misplaced within the large dashboard, however general the inside feels a step above that of the Ranger.
There are a swag of various inside supplies used right here – on the dashboard alone there no less than 5 – and the trim items close to the facility window controls on the doorways look a bit like Nineteen Nineties Laminex.
Regardless of this, the inside isn’t too fussy, nor does it look low cost. These are fabric seats, however the patterned inserts and two-tone gray color scheme makes them engaging – no less than to my eyes. They’re power-adjustable and comfy, too.
Most significantly, every thing feels properly screwed collectively. We didn’t observe any creaks or rattles within the cabin, with the one construct high quality difficulty being a little bit of plastic flash across the mixed mild/wiper stalk.
Talking of issues sprouting out of the steering column, the F-150 has a standard column shifter not like the console-mounted levers or dials present in rivals. It doesn’t really feel low cost just like the one within the pre-update Silverado, and is stable and satisfying to make use of, although getting it out and in of park is slightly awkward.
Forward of the motive force is an 8.0-inch instrument cluster display screen and analogue gauges, as an alternative of a 12.0-inch absolutely digital setup like within the Lariat.
Whereas that doesn’t sound as fancy, that is a horny, legible cluster, and the most effective mixes of analogue and digital. We particularly love the engaging blue needles.
The infotainment touchscreen is barely an 8.0-inch unit as an alternative of a 12.0-inch one like within the Lariat, which additionally makes it a step down from the cheaper Ranger.
The controls are all straightforward to succeed in, and there are chunky dials for issues like quantity and local weather management adjustment and drive mode choice. A lot of the headlight controls are to the right-hand aspect of the steering column.
As is typical of a Ford, the cabin is bathed in gentle, blue lighting. And as is typical of an American pickup, there’s storage aplenty.
Whereas that doesn’t sound as fancy, that is a horny, legible cluster, and the most effective mixes of analogue and digital. We particularly love the engaging blue needles.
The infotainment touchscreen is barely an 8.0-inch unit as an alternative of a 12.0-inch one like within the Lariat, which additionally makes it a step down from the cheaper Ranger.
The controls are all straightforward to succeed in, and there are chunky dials for issues like quantity and local weather management adjustment and drive mode choice. A lot of the headlight controls are to the right-hand aspect of the steering column.
As is typical of a Ford, the cabin is bathed in gentle, blue lighting. And as is typical of an American pickup, there’s storage aplenty.
The again seat places the Ranger’s to disgrace, and there’s a very flat ground plus USB-A and USB-C shops and cupholders on the rear of the centre console.
There are additionally cupholders within the rear doorways, although they’re a bit squared-off. We didn’t attempt, however we suspect a Farmer’s Union would match completely.
Ford has fitted its SecuriCode keyless entry keypad on the F-150, permitting you to enter a keycode to unlock the car as an alternative of utilizing your key.
It’s a intelligent function which Ford launched all the way in which again in 1980, and which few bothered to repeat. However RMA Automotive, may you not have moved the keypad to the motive force’s aspect?
| Dimensions | Ford F-150 XLT SWB |
|---|---|
| Size | 5884mm |
| Top | 1995mm |
| Width | 2430mm (2030mm excl. mirrors) |
| Wheelbase | 3694mm |
| Tub size | 1705mm (at ground) 1662mm (high of tub) |
| Tub width | 1656mm 1285mm (between arches) |
| Tub peak | 543mm |
To see how the Ford F-150 stacks up in opposition to its rivals, use our comparability instrument
What’s below the bonnet?
Whereas there are twin-turbo V6 hybrid, electrical, and V8 powertrains provided in North America, for now Ford Australia is providing solely the twin-turbo 3.5-litre EcoBoost V6.
| Specs | Ford F-150 XLT SWB |
|---|---|
| Engine | 3.5L twin-turbo V6 |
| Energy | 298kW @ 6000rpm |
| Torque | 678Nm @ 3100rpm |
| Transmission | 10-speed computerized |
| Drive kind | Half-time four-wheel drive |
| Gasoline economic system (claimed) | 12.5L/100km |
| Gasoline economic system (noticed) | 13.9L/100km (inner-city, suburban, freeway loop) 13.4L/100km (over per week of blended driving) |
| Gasoline tank measurement | 136 litres |
| Gasoline requirement | 91-octane common unleaded |
| Braked towing capability | 4500kg |
| Kerb weight | 2451kg |
| Gross car mass (GVM) | 3220kg |
| Payload | 769kg |
| Floor clearance | 239mm |
| Strategy angle | 24.3 levels |
| Departure angle | 25.3 levels |
| Breakover angle | 20.0 levels |
This truly out-punches the Coyote V8 provided abroad, which has the identical quantity of energy however 122Nm much less torque. Ford may model the engine EcoBoost, but it surely’s not way more environment friendly in real-world driving than rival V8s.
Throughout the identical drive loop – albeit with barely totally different site visitors situations – we achieved 13.7L/100km in a Silverado ZR2, and 13.8L/100km in a Ram 1500 Laramie Sport.
The F-150’s payload determine isn’t something grand. As is sort of widespread for these full-sized American pickup vehicles in Australia, the F-150 can’t carry as a lot as some smaller utes, and also you’re going to hit that most determine fairly shortly when you begin loading up the cabin with individuals and the bathtub with their stuff.
It may well tow greater than a HiLux-class ute, nevertheless, with a braked towing capability of 4500kg.
To see how the Ford F-150 stacks up in opposition to its rivals, use our comparability instrument
How does the Ford F-150 drive?
The F-150 is one refined pickup truck. It’s virtually as if Ford wished to counter complaints of the absence of a V8 by making the V6 as clean as potential.
When the car is idling and also you’re exterior, it has a beautiful, burbly exhaust word.
When you get inside, nevertheless, you barely hear the engine. The predominant sound of the engine is the faint whistle of the turbochargers. What you’ll be able to in any other case hear of the engine sounds good, but it surely’s exceptionally quiet.
The cabin is even quiet at freeway speeds. There’s a little bit of tyre roar, however surprisingly little wind noise regardless of the massive, chunky exterior mirrors.
The engine mightn’t make a variety of noise, but it surely produces a variety of thrust. The dual-turbo V6 is effortlessly highly effective, and admittedly you gained’t miss a V8.
The ten-speed auto shifts easily and unobtrusively for probably the most half, and helpfully tells you what gear you’re in at any given second.
The auto will shift to the very best potential gear for the sake of effectivity, and we did observe an annoying behavior of holding onto seventh gear on steep descents.
In response, I wished to manually shift gears… however Ford makes this exceedingly troublesome. It makes use of the silly plus/minus buttons some American manufacturers appear so enamoured with, which by no means really feel as intuitive as flicking a paddle or transferring a shifter.
Making this even worse is that they’re positioned on the column shifter, the place they’re obscured by the rim of the steering wheel, and you must awkwardly attain over to press them. Utilizing these feels as awkward as choosing one thing out of soup along with your fingers.
Additionally awkward is parking the car. In XLT guise, the F-150 has solely a washed-out reversing digital camera and rear parking sensors.
There’s no entrance digital camera, nor are there entrance sensors, which isn’t ideally suited given the entrance form of slopes away after which drops off like a cliff, making it laborious to guage the place the car ends.
A car this huge is already going to be a trouble to park, and the absence of those options is keenly felt.
The steering additionally doesn’t loosen up a lot at low speeds, whilst you appear to succeed in full lock shortly, making it really feel particularly cumbersome to park.
Regardless of this, when you awkwardly manoeuvre out of a decent carpark and get out on the open street, it doesn’t really feel too cumbersome.
The steering is properly weighted, and has some heft to it with out being too high-effort. It’s a little bit of a cliche, however the F-150 does shrink round you.
On some narrower nation roads the F-150’s width was observed – extra so by a colleague within the automobile behind me, who commented it appeared prefer it was going to fall off the street edge.
On these rural roads, the F-150 proved exceptionally comfy. From time to time, the rear fidgets a smidge, and there’s a contact of body shake. So, it’s nonetheless a ute then, however that is one very soft ute.
It manages to supply a pliant experience with out ever feeling uncontrolled, with solely a little bit of float over, say, rural bridges.
The F-150 is a car you’ll be able to level at a poorly surfaced street and it’ll simply gobble it up, loping alongside totally fuss-free. Pothole? What pothole?
You’re by no means jolted round within the F-150, and it proved comfy once we took it off street as properly.
We took the F-150 on some grime forestry trails, in addition to some rockier, tougher trails, getting it muddy within the course of.
It’s going to really feel a bit vast on some trails, but it surely at all times felt comfy and surefooted. We didn’t take it on something so difficult we wanted to pop it into 4L or lock the rear differential, however that gear is there when you want it.
You too can toggle between slippery, deep snow, sand and dirt/ruts drive modes, in addition to regular, eco and tow/haul modes. These are all activated through a chunky rotary dial.
One vital disadvantage, notably when you journey so much via rural areas, is using halogen headlights.
Additionally, not like the Lariat, the four-wheel drive system within the XLT is barely a part-time setup, so there’s no 4A mode you need to use on pavement.
All F-150 fashions in Australia include Ford Professional Trailer Again-Up Help.
This lets you successfully steer your trailer as an alternative of your car offered you equip a yaw sensor to your trailer after which program its parameters on the touchscreen, which you then use to see what’s occurring behind you.
In earlier testing of this function, we discovered it to be intelligent however sadly a bit tougher to make use of in XLT fashions as a result of their smaller, lower-resolution touchscreen.
To see how the Ford F-150 stacks up in opposition to its rivals, use our comparability instrument
What do you get?
There’s fairly a bit much less customary package within the XLT than the Lariat, however for round $33,000 extra the top-spec F-150 would need to have extra gear…
F-150 XLT customary gear:
- Built-in trailer brake controller
- 4.5t-rated tow hitch and 70mm tow ball
- Professional Trailer Again-up Help
- Digital locking rear differential
- 2 x entrance restoration hooks
- Skid plates for entrance differential, switch case and gasoline tank
- 20-inch alloy wheels in 275/60 R20 BSW ATT all-terrain tyres
- 18-inch alloy spare wheel
- Computerized halogen headlights
- Tailgate step, ruler
- Spray-in tub liner
- Digital park brake
- Keypad entry
- Proximity entry with push-button begin
- FordPass Join
- Rear privateness glass
- Material upholstery
- 12-way energy driver’s seat with energy lumbar
- 10-way energy passenger seat with energy lumbar
- Energy-adjustable pedals
- Twin-zone local weather management
- 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system
- Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
- 8.0-inch digital instrument cluster display screen
- Satellite tv for pc navigation
- DAB+ digital radio
- 7-speaker sound system
- Tilt and telescopic steering wheel adjustment
- Electro-chromatic rear-view mirror
- Storage below rear seats
To see how the Ford F-150 stacks up in opposition to its rivals, use our comparability instrument
Is the Ford F-150 secure?
The Ford F-150 has by no means been examined by ANCAP. In its house market nevertheless, the 2024 Ford F-150 wears a ‘Prime Security Decide’ score from the US’s Insurance coverage Institute for Freeway Security (IIHS)
Commonplace security gear consists of:
- Autonomous emergency braking
- Blind-spot monitoring with trailer tow protection
- Lane-keep help
- Rear cross-traffic alert with trailer tow protection
- Reversing digital camera
- Rear parking sensors
- Tyre strain monitoring
- Entrance, front-side and curtain airbags
F-150 Lariat provides:
- Adaptive cruise management with cease/go
- Lane centring
- Evasive steering help
- Entrance parking sensors
- Encompass-view digital camera
- Site visitors-sign recognition
To see how the Ford F-150 stacks up in opposition to its rivals, use our comparability instrument
How a lot does the Ford F-150 price to run?
The F-150 is backed by a five-year, unlimited-kilometre guarantee.
| Working prices | Ford F-150 XLT SWB |
|---|---|
| Guarantee | 5 years, limitless kilometres |
| Service intervals | 12 months or 15,000 kilometres |
| Capped-price servicing | 4 years |
| Whole capped-price service price | $1716 |
| Common capped-price service price | $429 |
Servicing is required each 12 months or 15,000 kilometres, whichever comes first, with the primary 4 companies capped at $429 every. That’s in stark distinction with rival Ram and Chevrolet pickups, the place there’s no capped-price servicing out there.
To see how the Ford F-150 stacks up in opposition to its rivals, use our comparability instrument
CarExpert’s Tackle the Ford F-150
The Ford F-150 is an excellent pickup truck that has been let down by a awful rollout.
Not solely did Ford wait till after GM and Stellantis entered the pickup market in Australia, it additionally used a unique firm for the native remanufacturing that has made some rookie errors in the case of compliance.
One wonders why Ford didn’t merely use Walkinshaw, as GM, Stellantis and Toyota have completed. If this was to save lots of a buck, between remembers, compliance fixes and stop-sales that decision has backfired spectacularly.
We hope that is the final of the problems with the F-150’s native remanufacturing, as this deserves to be as profitable because the likes of the 1500 and Silverado.
Okay, so the smaller engine doesn’t work out to be that rather more environment friendly in real-world use than the Ram 1500’s V8, and it doesn’t sound pretty much as good.
The XLT additionally has some unusual function omissions for a car this costly – the dearth of entrance parking sensors and a entrance digital camera, for instance, make this an actual ache to park.
However that is an impressively refined car which, parking apart, is especially user-friendly. It’s highly effective and comfy, whereas undercutting its main rivals on worth and providing a extra beneficiant after-sales package deal.
The Ford F-Collection pickup vary is the US’ best-selling car for a cause, and it’s a disgrace {that a} clumsy rollout could have broken the truck’s fame.
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MORE: Every part Ford F-150