2008 Ford F350 Super Duty Review

Ford F-Series Super Duty, the industry's leading heavy-duty work truck and a mainstay of businesses throughout America, has been overhauled for the 2008 model year. Ford's Super Duty pickup has been the leader in the over 8,500-pound truck segment since launch, offering best-in-class payload, gross vehicle weight ratings (GVWR) and trailer tow ratings. The new Super Duty, which will go on sale in early 2007, will help ensure that Ford Motor Company maintains its nearly 30 years of leadership in the pickup truck business.

Offered in three cab styles - Regular Cab, SuperCab and Crew Cab - and with two bed lengths, the new Super Duty will feature a bold look inside and out, an all-new, more powerful, state-of-the-art Power Stroke ® Diesel and a host of unique, innovative features not found on any other truck. And the line of Ford Super Duty trucks has been expanded for 2008, with an even more capable workhorse: the new F-450 pickup.

"The F-450 pickup doesn't just raise the bar for heavy duty pickups, it tosses it out. Game over," said Mark Fields, President of the Americas. "Every aspect of the new line of Super Duty trucks, including capability enhancements, design changes and feature innovations is uniquely designed after spending a great deal of time talking with - and listening to - our customers."

Ford's Super Duty set the standard in the over 8,500-pound truck segment when it was launched in 1998 as a 1999 model. Unlike competitors who simply modify their existing light-duty trucks, Super Duty utilizes its own unique architecture, designed and developed specifically to meet the needs and demands of the over 8,500-pound truck customer. This unique approach, with two dedicated architectures, is just one reason why the Ford F-Series has been America's best-selling truck for 29 years and why Super Duty has dominated its segment, outperforming and outselling the competition every year since launch.

"We've been able to attract customers and pull big share numbers with Super Duty because we made the decision to set Super Duty apart from the rest of the segment," said Cisco Codina, group vice president, North American Marketing, Sales and Service. "We've built our leadership reputation over time. Just being able to say that we've been America's best-selling truck for 29 years says that we've been here, understanding and consistently meeting the needs of the true truck customer."

For true truck customers, Super Duty is their life-blood, serving the multifaceted aspects of their lives. Whether towing a backhoe to the construction site or towing a boat to the lake, they demand a truck that is capable and dependable. Super Duty consistently meets those needs.

"The Super Duty customer isn't the guy who buys a pickup because it's cool to have a pickup. These guys are working with this truck," said Ben Poore, Ford Truck marketing manager. "They're hauling and towing, often earning their living with their trucks, and their truck has to be as reliable and dependable as they are."

All-new F-450 pickup adds capability for customers who demand the most

Today's Super Duty customers are consistently searching for more capability. Ford research has shown that more than 90 percent of Super Duty owners tow, and their towing needs are growing. To meet that need, Ford is introducing the new F-450 pickup model. It combines the right axle, right powertrain, and right suspension to manage the loads of pulling a heavier trailer while maintaining a refined, comfortable ride.

For example, the F-450 pickup rides on its own unique chassis. It incorporates a new rear leaf-spring suspension while u sing the radius arm front suspension from the F-450 chassis cab. This set-up provides for the tightest turning radius in its class, greatly improving maneuverability when towing.

"The increased towing and cargo hauling capability, the engine enhancements and all the refinements make the F-450 absolutely the most capable pickup truck we've ever built—period. And that is exactly what our customers are asking for," said Pete Reyes, Super Duty chief engineer.

According to a study by the Recreational Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA), towable RV shipments have grown steadily over the past five years, topping out at 323,000 units shipped in 2005, a 15.4 percent increase over 2004. In the same time frame, conventional motor coaches experienced a decline in sales, with shipments of the Type A variety down 18.1 percent in 2005.

The RVIA says that higher fuel prices and a desire for more flexibility are driving customers out of conventional motor coaches and into towable travel trailers and fifth wheels. And as these customers move to towable trailers, they will still expect to have the same level of luxury features - such as tile floors, granite countertops and big-screen TVs - as they had in their motor coaches. For example, almost 90 percent of fifth-wheel RVs shipped in 2005 had at least one fold-out room, according to RVIA data.

The 2007 F-350 Super Duty already offered best-in-class maximum payload of 5,800 pounds and maximum towing capacity of 19,200 pounds. The new 2008 F-450 pickup widens the capability gap, offering a maximum payload of more than 6,000 pounds and towing capacity of more than 24,000 pounds - a 5,000-pound increase over the class-leading F-350. All of this added capability comes with the same increased level of refinement found in the new F-250 and F-350.

"Customers tell us they want to tow and the F-450 delivers," said Reyes. "The trailer builders will be writing us thank-you letters because they can sell trailers with granite counter tops and fireplaces. And adding another horse to the trailer is no problem for the F-450 pickup."

All-new 6.4-liter Power Stroke ® Diesel is cleaner, quieter and more powerful

A more powerful 6.4-liter Power Stroke ® Diesel joins a powertrain lineup that already includes the segment's most powerful gasoline engine, the 362-horsepower 6.8-liter V-10 Triton.

Annual U.S. diesel truck registrations have increased to more than 500,000 a year from about 400,000 in 2001. Ford has long been the industry leader, selling 1.3 million diesel-powered F-Series pickups in the United States since 2001 alone. Ford sells more diesel-powered pickup trucks annually than Chevrolet and Dodge combined. Nearly three-quarters of all Ford Super Duty trucks sold are diesel-powered.

The new engine benefits from an innovative development process designed to more accurately reflect how Super Duty customers use their vehicles every day. The team began by collecting real-world data from working Super Duty commercial customers, tracking their daily duty cycles. That data was used to develop durability tests that more closely represented real-world use. To better assure durability, the tests were conducted using the most extreme and abusive conditions and run to five-times the life cycle that the hardest-working truck would ever experience.

"By the time we launch this vehicle," said Dan Davidson, Powertrain supervisor, "the engine will have seen more than 10 million equivalent miles of testing both on the dyno and in test vehicles."

The 6.4-liter Power Stroke ® Diesel delivers 350 horsepower at 3,000 rpm and 650 lb.-ft. of torque starting at 2,000 rpm and utilizes Ford Clean Diesel Technology, which includes, among other features, a high-pressure, common rail fuel system, Piezo-electric fuel injectors and an advanced diesel particulate filter system to deliver strong performance while reducing particulate output by more than 90 percent and posting emissions numbers on par with gasoline engines.

High-tech, series sequential turbochargers provide improved response and better low-end performance. The unique system uses a small, electronically controlled, smart remote variable geometry turbocharger that comes on at low rpm to provide extra boost at take-off. As rpms increase, the larger fixed turbo joins the smaller turbo to boost power through the middle of the torque curve. As optimum speed is reached, the larger turbo takes over. Tests have shown zero-to-60 times of more than a second faster than the outgoing 6.0-liter.

Transmission choices include a six-speed manual with overdrive or a TorqShift™ five-speed automatic. The powertrains use a new unique mounting system that better isolates the powertrain and reduces vibration. Both two- and four-wheel-drive models will be available on the 2008 Super Duty.