2009 F-150 First Person Impressions

Hey guys,

I just spent the past 3 days in Dearborn up close and personal with the 2009 F-150, along comparable models from Toyota and Chevy. Thought I'd share some of info and thoughts:

Overall Impression:
Coming into this training, I assumed like everyone else that this model change was a minor face lift. Just looking at the truck, it easy to get this first impression. My whole view changed dramatically after spending 8 hours at the test track Tuesday driving, towing, off-roading, hauling, and generally beating the shit out of this truck along with the "competition". When you tear it down, it's almost entirely new (2200 changes), and you can see the improvements in every facet of the truck. Bottom line, we now have the most capable, highest quality truck on the market by a wide margin. With rising fuel prices, most personal use buyers are out of the game and the people buying pickups today need that capability.

New Frame:
The back half of the frame is completely new. Made out of high strength steel on the back half , the frame is much lighter and stronger than the 08 model. Apparently it's strong enough to go under 250/350 Super Duty. This, along with other weight saving efforts (like a new magnesium transfer case) have lead to about a 100 -150lb weight savings across all cab styles. The new frame is lighter to help improve fuel efficiency, yet also 10% stiffer in torsional rigidity for greater capability. Bottom line, the new frame means best in class towing/hauling, better MPGs, a smother ride, and less vibration in the cabin.

When comparing the frame to Toyota and Chevy, it's clear we're dramatically better. Visibly, the Tundra frame looks tiny in comparison, and uses rivets and C-channel vs. boxing and welding. The frame weakness is apparent when driving. When I drove across the Silvercreek 2 bump track (a milder version from the truth about trucks video), the Ford was under control and remarkable smooth and quiet. I had trouble keeping the Chevy on the track, and Tundra wasn't much better with its dashboard vibrating like a jackhammer. We've all seen the video of the Tundra's bed dancing on the Silvercreek 1 track. Well, apparently they no longer run that test. The Tundra was rented from a local dealer, and were billed about $4800 in body and paint damage from the bed smacking the cab.

New 4.6 3-Valve and 6 speed
The 6 speed is incredibly smooth, and transforms the way the truck drives. The base 4.6L gets the 4-speed, while the 4.6L 3-valve and the 5.4L get the 6 speed. The new 4.6L 3-valve really impressed me. It seems like it pulls almost as hard as the current 5.4, and it's definitely much more refined and powerful than comparable V8s from Chevy and Toyota (4 and 5 speed equipped respectively). It should be in the high 200's in horsepower, low 300's in torque, and should have a mileage advantage over the comparable vehicles.

New Cab configurations
The Crew Cab is now 6 inches longer, and now has ridiculous amounts of legroom in the back. They did a great job of engineering the load floor, moving one of the frame supports so you now have a completely flat load floor. The rear seat now easily folds out of the way, and you can easily slide in fit your 50" Plasma box in the back of the cab. This is not even attemptable in the Chevy. The Tundra's Crew cab is huge, and looks like you could slide in the TV, but the rear seat folds down to the floor, instead of up against the back of the cab, making the cab to short for the box. By the way, with how cramped the Chevy's back seat is, I can't see them competing in the Crew Cab segment without changing the truck. It was simply unbearable for me to sit back there relative to the other two.

Super Cab gets a flatter floor, easier folding rear sheet, and the front seatbelts are now integrated into the rear doors instead of the seats.

Regular Cab loses the rear access doors and gets the longer door from the Crew Cab. This seems like a loss at first, but I think makes the truck look better, and Ford says they did it to improve visibility when you check your blind spot.

Interior
Simply unbelievable. The material quality is out of this world, and the seats are incredibly comfortable. You now sit in the seats, not on top of the hard cushions of the current truck. The controls are all laid out very well, and everything looks great. These trucks are incredibly quiet, where as you get a lot more wind noise in the Chevy and Tundra.

The new Platinum takes this to a whole new level. It's got a double laminated windshield and extra sound insulation. This thing is Lexus quiet. Overall, this package was really impressive, with brushed aluminum trim that cover a lot of the interior. The monochrome looks awesome on the outside, and this thing has everything, even a power tilt wheel.

The interior of the Chevy looks good, but the material simply feels cheap. I gotta say, this was my first time driving a Tundra. Personally, I like the interior styling, but the ergonomics are atrocious. I couldn't reach the radio buttons without reaching across the center console, and there is no headroom in that truck. At 6'4" I'm not short, but I shouldn't be smashing my head on the roof every time I hit a bump.

New Nav
This thing does everything. The screen is a thing of beauty, and you can watch DVDs on it in park. There's a one slot CD player, and no changer. Instead, you can load your entire CD collection onto the hard drive. The Sirius travel link gives you all the traffic data, movie times, and gas prices of 120,000 stations nationwide. A few years ago, who would of thought Ford would be a technology leader?

Bed changes
The truck team did a great job of making the bed more useable. The pop out box steps make moving stuff around the bed easy and can hold up to 500 pounds of weight, and we now have the tailgate step from the Super Duty. They did a great comparison of our new load management system vs. Chevy and Tundra. Basically, ours is a lot easier to use, handles a lot more weight, and makes the others look like Wal-Mart clearance items. One interesting note on the Toyota tailgate. We've all heard about the tailgates falling off these things. Well, they showed us the owner's manual where it tells you to not drive with the tailgate down because of this. At the same time, their accessories catalog includes a bed extender. How does that make any sense?

Towing
Along with the trailer brake control coming down from Super Duty, all 2009 F-150s have a new system called Trailer Sway control standard. This system runs off Advance Trac, and basically uses brakes and throttle adjustments to prevents/correct trailer sway situation that can cause an accident. The system is seamless, and works with any trailer, automatically detecting the load of a trailer through the Yaw Sensor of Advance Trac.

We got to drive the Ford, Chevy, and Toyota while towing identical 6000 lb trailers through an uphill and downhill course. All three of these vehicles did the job just fine, but it was remarkable how easy it was in the F-150. The combination of the 6-Speed (with a tow mode that automatically engine brakes) along with the new Trailer Sway Control, almost give the illusion that the trailer is not even there. There's no trailer push downhill, and you hardly need to make any steering adjustments. Driving the competition, however, you definitely have to do more corrections on the turns, and fell the trailer push the Truck in the down hill sections. Basically you would be fine towing in the Tundra and Silverado, but you'd be much more physically and mentally exhausted over the course of a long drive constantly accounting for the trailer.

In one of the best towing examples we did, a professional driver drove us in an F-150 and purposely put the truck into a trailer sway situation. It was incredible watching the system correct the situation automatically.

Bottom Line
Guys, this is just the tip of the iceberg of everything we covered. There's a great safety story with all the standard safety features, and I could keep writing for while on many different topics, but this email is getting WAY to long. Basically, we have the best truck in the industry, and it's not even an competition.

Recommended Action: Direct Comparison at the Dealership

The superiority of our truck is readily apparent when you compare them directly to the competition. I would suggest that you keep a used Silverado and Tundra of the current body style at your store at all times once the 2009 F-150 arrives. Sell/Wholesale them as they get to 45-60 days old, and go get another one at the auction. Allowing sales consultants to directly show how our truck stacks up will be a great closing tool.

YouTube links:
A lot of the demonstrations from the training session is already on YouTube from people's camera phones. These really aren’t supposed to be out there, but they are so you might as well use them. Check it out!