The 2018 Ford F-150 4X4 SuperCrew Power Stroke Diesel.

It's been forty or more years since they used the slogan in their advertising, but...Ford has a better idea.  Diesels are terrific for towing, because of their serious torque, and for offsetting the often-dismal fuel economy of the truly big 3/4-ton and larger trucks they're used in.

So, why not put a smaller diesel in a half-ton pickup, put some serious towing capacity in the hands of buyers who don't really need the monster F-250 Super Duty,  and offer some significant fuel economy to buyers of the F-150?

2018 Ford F-150 4X4 SuperCrew Power Stroke Diesel.

The F-150 diesel is a 3.0-liter V6 turbo diesel.  250 horsepower and a you-won't-find-this-anywhere-but-a-diesel torque rating of 440 pounds per foot.  Mated to a ten-speed automatic transmission, the F-150 diesel (available across the F-150 line, from the XL work truck to the luxo Platinum) moves, quickly, shifts smoothly, pulls like a locomotive and gets some pretty nice mileage:

2018 Ford F-150 4X4 SuperCrew Power Stroke Diesel fuel economy reading.

That's the reading when I parked the F-150 after a week's worth of urban street and freeway driving...22 miles per gallon even.  And I see now that I look at the picture that I had the auto stop-start in the off position (the logo above the odometer), so the figure could likely have been even better.  My mileage, though, syncs right up with the EPA estimate of 20 city/25 highway/22 combined.  Opt for two-wheel drive and the numbers leap to 22 city/30 highway/25 combined.

2018 Ford F-150 interior.

The base level for a SuperCrew version of the F-150 Power Stroke Diesel is the Lariat.  That's $43,375.  Choose 4X4 like our tester, and that becomes $50,800.  King Ranch would be $58,355 and Platinum $60,910.

Ford sent us a pre-production unit, which means a blank window sticker, and Ford's online configurator is less than clear, but I'd ballpark somewhere between $57,500 and $60,000 for our tester, which had the following extra-cost options:

• 20-inch chrome-like PVD wheels
• Technology Package (including active park assist and a 360-degree camera)
• Lariat Chrome Appearance Package
• Wheel well liner
• Spray-in bedliner

The 2017 Ford F-150 4X4 SuperCrew King Ranch.

Ford hit a home run when it whipped up the deal at the turn of the millennium with the folks at King Ranch.  The number one truck in America got a model named after the largest ranch in Texas.  Back in 2000, when manufacturers were truly beginning to grasp that size mattered when it came to pickup trucks, and that nothing succeeded like excess, introducing a King Ranch edition was a stroke of genius.

Fast-forward nearly two decades and the only thing that has changed is that the taste of the American pickup-buying public has grown more voracious.  The King Ranch is now in the middle of the F-150 lineup (if you remove the off-road Raptor and the work-truck XL), with the XLT and Lariat below and the Platinum and Limited above.

2017 Ford F-150 4X4 SuperCrew King Ranch.

The 2017 Ford F-150 4X4 SuperCrew King Ranch is by no means a bargain truck at a base price of $53,704, but a 4X4 SuperCrew Limited starts $10,476 higher.  And that is a chunk. 

Keeping that $10,476 in your bank account still buys you a very fine truck.   All the extra $2,500 or so to step up to the Platinum buys you are 20-inch wheels instead of the King Ranch's 18s and differences in trim (swapping out the King Ranch-branded stuff for....well....non-King Ranch branded stuff).

What comes standard?  Ford's 5.0-liter V8 engine, LED box lighting, a chrome exhaust tip, quad-beam LED headlights, LED side-mirror spotlights, a locking, removable tailgate, power adjustable heated power-folding exterior mirrors, a power sliding rear window with defroster and privacy tint, a remote tailgate release, angular stepbars, LED taillamps, tow hooks, curve control, a fail-safe cooling system, intelligent access with pushbutton start, a rearview camera, remote start, reverse sensing, a Sony/Sync 3 audio system with Sirius Satellite Radio, a trailer brake controller, garage door opener, voice-activated navigation, heated second-row seats, heated and cooled ten-way power driver and front passenger seats (memory for the driver), a 110 volt/400 watt AC outlet, dual climate control, genuine wood accents, leather bucket front seats, a leather-wrapped heated steering wheel, and a power tilt and telescoping steering column with memory.

That adds up to a spectacularly well-equipped truck.

2017 Ford F-150 4X4 SuperCrew King Ranch interior.

But, of course, there are options.  Enough that you can, and we did, run the as-tested price up above the base price of a top-of-the-line Limited.  Our tester had:

Equipment Group 601 A (King Ranch Series), including a tailgate step, blind spot information system with trailer tow monitoring, inflatable rear safety belts and power-deployable running boards. $3,780.

3.5-liter Ecoboost V6 mated to a ten-speed automatic transmission. Those are $500 each and well worth it.  Plenty of power, less weight over the front wheels and an impressive 17 miles per gallon city/23 miles per gallon highway EPA estimate.

The King Ranch Chrome Appearance Package, which upgrades to 20-inch chrome-like PVD wheels.  $1,995.

Adaptive cruise control. $1,250.

Max trailer tow package. That includes a 36-gallon extended range fuel tank.  Reasurring in that in a week's worth of driving, I never got below half a tank.  Somewhat scary in that a fill-up at $3.00 per gallon would set you back a hundred and eight dollars.  $1,195.

Power telescoping exterior mirrors. $250.

Active park assist. $440.

The Technology Package, including a 360-degree camera.  $990.

Wheel well liner.  $180.

Spray-in bedliner. $495.


In case you lost track, that's $11,575 worth of options.  Fold in $1,195 destination and delivery charges and the bottom line would be $66,474.  I say "would be" because Ford puts three instant discounts on the sticker...$500 King Ranch Lux discount...$750 King Ranch Chrome Package discount and $500 Tech/Park/Cruise discount....taking $1,750 off the tab.

Still, the bottom line, even with discounts, ends up a fairly sobering $64,724, almost $2,000 more than the as-tested price of the F-150 4X4 SuperCrew Platinum we reviewed this summer.  In the realm of today's pickup truck, it's probably a fair price, but it's incredible to realize you can spend still more and that the King Ranch is no longer the top of the F-150 trim level mountain.

2017 Ford F-150 4X4 SuperCrew Platinum

Pickup trucks have become all about the extras.  Humble two-door standard cabs do not cut it anymore, except as work trucks for public utilities.  No, a privately-owned pickup truck today has to be a pickup truck, a performance vehicle, a luxury vehicle and, ideally, bigger, glitzier and more expensive than the neighbor's pickup truck.

2017 Ford F-150 4X4 SuperCrew Platinum.

This has led to multiple levels of glitz.  Time was "XLT" was Ford's top-of-the-line F-150.  It has been a while.  Lariat stole that crown.  It was overtaken by the legendary King Ranch, but King Ranch is now third from the top, with the Platinum we drove above it and the Limited as the ultimate (for now ) Ford pickup truck.

$56,260 is the base price for a four-wheel drive SuperCrew Platinum.  As it should, that comes with a great deal of standard equipment, including LED box lighting, LED side-mirror spotlights, a locking removable tailgate, power adjustable heated and power-folding exterior mirrors, a power sliding rear window with defrost and privacy tint, a remote tailgate release, power-deploying running boards, chrome tow hooks, LED taillamps, heated second-row seats, a 60/40 power fold-up rear bench seat, an AC outlet, adjustable pedals with memory, carpeting with premium floor mats, genuine wood accents, heated and cooled front seats, a leather-wrapped, heated steering wheel, a memory driver's seat, multi-contour leather bucket front seats, a power tilt and telescoping steering column with memory, blind spot information, curve control, intelligent access with pushbutton start, a rear-view camera, remote start, reverse sensing, a premium audio system with voice-activated navigation, a trailer brake controller and a universal garage door opener.

2017 Ford F-150 4X4 SuperCrew Platinum interior.

As always, that's probably enough, but as always, there's more.  As in an extra $6,495 in optional equipment on our test vehicle:

• Ruby Red Metallic tinted clearcoat paint ($395)
• 20-inch polished aluminum wheels ($500)
• Upgraded 3.5-liter Ecoboost V6 ($500)
• The Max trailer tow package, including a 36-gallon extended range fuel tank ($1,195)
• Power telescoping and folding mirrors ($250)
• Active park assist ($440)
• Wheel well liners ($180)
• Spray-in bedliner ($495)

The 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor.

When I was a kid in the 1960s, the coolest thing on God's green earth to me was a late 40s-early 50s Dodge Power Wagon.  It was the ultimate expression of a pickup truck.  Go anywhere, do anything.  And growing up in the Eastern High Sierra from 1965 on, there were actually a few of them doing just that for this young man to admire.

Dodge has tried to recapture that magic on occasion (but not very hard) by applying the Power Wagon name to its trucks.  But the folks at Ford, they get it...and when it comes to a modern-day Power Wagon, they've got it.

2017 Ford F-150 Raptor tailgate.

I got to play with a Raptor on a dirt track when they first came out, around 2009 or so...and it was fun, but I had a hard time imagining living with one on a daily basis.

Well, thankfully Ford has given me a week in the new 2017 F-150 Raptor so that I know that, at least in the current generation, this big beast can actually be a daily driver that's very easy to live with.

Even on the west side of the Sierra, where I now live, trucks are a thing...and badass trucks are even more of a thing.  The Raptor is the baddest you can buy stock from a dealer.  And offroad, it will keep pace with the rigs that guys have spent thousands modding with aftermarket goods.

2017 Ford F-150 Raptor off-road display.

$48,325 gets you in a 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor 4X4 SuperCab with a 3.5-liter V6 Ecoboost.

About that engine---it is far more smooth, usable and efficient than the big block that was under the hood of the first Raptor.  You'll swear you're driving a V8.  And you can thank it for the fuel efficiency you have, which admittedly isn't anything to write home about until you remember what class of vehicle you're in.  The EPA estimates 15 city/18 highway.  And to keep you on or off the road longer between fill-ups, the Raptor comes standard with a 28-gallon fuel tank.

Also standard...dual exhaust, dynamic hitch assist, automatic LED headlamps, running boards, a trailer tow package with trailer sway control, a 110-volt AC outlet, air conditioning, compass, cruise control, leather-wrapped steering wheel, outside temperature display, power locks and windows, steering wheel-mounted paddle shifters, four-wheel disc brakes with ABS, curve control, electronic shift-on-the-fly four-wheel rive, a fail-safe cooling system, hill descent and off-road mode, hill start assist, off-road shocks, a reverse sensing system, SiriusXM Satellite Radio, skid plates, a perimiter alarm, illuminated entry and tire pressure monitoring.

At $48,325, that's a pretty complete truck.  But, of course, there are options, and our tester had 'em.

The biggest was Equiment Group 802A, which brought a power-sliding rear window, the vastly improved SYNC 3 infotainment system, a 4.10 front axle with Torsen differential, a 360-degree camera, blind spot information system with trailer tow monitoring, an upgraded dual-zone climate control system, LED box lighting and side-mirror spotlights, pro trailer backup assist, a remote start system, a single-disc Sony CD player with HD Radio and voice-activated navigation.  $9,345.

We were also treated to the Raptor Technology Package with adaptive cruise control for $1,950, 17-inch forged aluminum wheels for $1,165, a spray-in bedliner for $495 and a tailgate step (trust me, unless you have a 60-inch inseam, you'll need it) for $375.

Bottom line, with $1,195 destination and delivery charge, $62,850.  Cheap?  No.  Worth it?  Yes.  Especially if your life includes off-roading but you haven't got the space or funds for a dedicated off-roader.  The Raptor is as livable day in and day out as any F-150.  It just happens to be the baddest one on the block.