Yahoo Finance The Ford F-150 / F-150 Raptor Is the Best Full-Size Pickup
Today’s full-size, light-duty pickup trucks not only can perform an impressive amount of work, they can do so with surprising ease and comfort. Indeed, these do-it-all workhorses are indispensible to individuals and businesses alike for their myriad abilities on and off the pavement. Yet one rises above the others due to refinement and innovations that push the art of the full-size pickup farther than its competition: the Ford F-150.
While the F-150 most definitely still drives like a pickup truck, the level of sophistication in its operation sets the bar for the class. With the availability of an updated 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 making up to 450 horsepower and 510 lb-ft of torque as well as a 10-speed automatic transmission, the 2017 F-150 is the most powerful and high-tech truck on sale today, yet its essential goodness is present all the way down to its $27,735 base price and with lesser six- and eight-cylinder engines. The Ford’s revolutionary aluminum bodywork—no automaker has ever come close to building as many aluminum-bodied vehicles per year—help make it one of the lightest half-tonners. It boasts immense towing (12,200 pounds) and hauling (3270 pounds) maximums, and exclusive-in-its-segment features such as the optional Pro Trailer Backup Assist with its separate reverse-steering toggle wheel eases trailer maneuvering. Lavish variants also allow the F-150 to play the part of luxury liner exceedingly well, with available massaging seats, dual-pane panoramic sunroofs, and a raft of active-safety assistants.
And let’s not forget about Ford Performance’s incredible Raptor, which for 2017 is all-new, lighter, and more powerful—and still the only high-performance off-road production truck extant. That this amazingly capable beast is not even the most expensive F-150 trim and actually rides better than many other pickups is as stunning as its ability to bound over just about anything at speed. If it weren’t so enormous, we’d suggest NASA consider sending one to Mars for rover duty.
The F-150 is simply the most fully realized full-size pickup truck on the market, and it’s this broad bandwidth—from base-level work truck to luxury four-by-four to factory-warrantied desert racer—that raises the Ford above its peers and to a spot on our inaugural 10Best Trucks and SUVs roster.
2017 Ford F-150/F-150 Raptor
VEHICLE TYPE:front-engine; rear-, rear-/4-, or rear-/all-wheel-drive; 3-, 5-, or 6-passenger, 2-, 2+2-, or 4-door pickupBASE PRICE:$27,735–$64,220ENGINES:DOHC 24-valve 3.5-liter V-6, 282 hp, 253 lb-ft; twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve 2.7-liter V-6, 325 hp, 375 lb-ft; twin-turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 24-valve 3.5-liter V-6, 375 or 450 hp, 470 or 510 lb-ft; DOHC 32-valve 5.0-liter V-8; 385 hp, 387 lb-ftTRANSMISSIONS:6-speed automatic with manual shifting mode, 10-speed automatic with manual shifting modeCURB WEIGHT (C/D EST):4500–5900 lbFUEL ECONOMY:EPA combined/city/highway driving: 16–22/14–19/18–26 mpg
2017 10Best Trucks and SUVs: Return to Overview
The Competition
As this year marks the inaugural 10Best Trucks and SUVs competition, we couldn't follow our usual 10Best procedure of limiting the invitees to the previous year's winners plus vehicles that are new or significantly updated. Therefore, we also invited some competitors based on our previous experiences, including (but not limited to) comparison-test results. As with 10Best Cars, a competing vehicle must have a base price of less than $80,000 and be on sale by January 31, 2017. Unlike 10Best Cars, our Trucks and SUVs awards are given out by category. Next year, we will invite the returning winners, new and/or significantly updated models, and the models that were unavailable for evaluation this year.
For the full-size pickup truck segment we invited the following:
Chevrolet Silverado 1500
Ford F-150/F-150 Raptor
GMC Sierra
Nissan Titan
Ram 1500
