2020 Ford F-250 4X4 Diesel: A DriveWays Review…

by Frank A. Aukofer

So they say you’re not a real pickup truck person unless the $72,955 price tag on the Ford F-250 Super Duty doesn’t faze you — even the $10,495 extra for the 6.7-liter turbo diesel engine.

Pickup fans are special, not like the rest of us, and many dote on oil-burning compression-ignition engines because of the torque, which translates into ginormous power. The Ford F-250 Super Duty’s V8 diesel conjures 1,050 lb-ft of the stuff, likely enough to pull down your grandfather’s barn or uproot that oak tree in the front yard.

On the tested Crew Cab pickup, the torque, along with 475 hp, makes its way to all four wheels — if you wish — through a lusty 10-speed automatic transmission. A transfer case allows you to select two-wheel drive or even low range four-wheel drive for maximum grunt in the boonies.

You likely wouldn’t want to test your diesel F-250 in some trackless terrain, however, because it is one huge mother. Despite its 8.5 inches of ground clearance, this cookie is nearly 21 feet long and as tall as an NBA point guard, with all that implies for getting hung up on a rocky hump somewhere. Make sure you have a chase vehicle — a Land Rover Defender or Jeep Wrangler diesel.

They would be there for minor repairs — changing a tire or refreshing the SXM satellite radio. But forget dragging it out of the muck or riprap. It weighs 6,568 pounds — and that’s empty — and though you probably wouldn’t venture off-road with a load of up to 7,850 lbs, it would be daunting. Maybe try a lift out with a CH-53K chopper from the U.S. Marine Corps, which can carry four Humvees.

No. The F-250 Super Duty likely will find its niche somewhere else, perhaps providing bragging rights at the local truckers’ saloon, or hauling some rich guy’s $300,000 Sea Ray fishing boat to the local marina for an afternoon of grouper fishing with the guys and gals from the corporate Presidents’ Club.

For some, it likely will be all about image and a certain amount of practicality. The F-250, for all of its capabilities, can function as a family conveyance — as long as the parents and kids can handle the climb up into the cab. Don’t bother bringing the oldsters unless you’re willing to shoulder-boost their fannies.

Once inside, things get commodious. Unlike luxury cars, with their bulbous floor humps, the F-250 has a flat floor, especially important in back, where there are three actual comfortable seats with airy head room and plenty of stretch-out space for knees. Up front, the driver and passenger are similarly accommodated, with a smartly designed console that likely could accommodate a newborn calf but more likely a laptop and a box of decent Dominican cigars for rest stops.

Except for some bouncing around from the choppy ride when empty, the Super Duty F-250 will carry five of you to the beach house in North Carolina’s Outer Banks, with everything you need or want tucked safely away in the cargo box, protected if you’re smart by the old shower curtains in case of rain — or a custom bed cover if that’s your preference.

On the road, despite its bulk, the Super Duty cruises without curious behavior. There’s some drone from the diesel engine but not as much as you might expect. It tracks cleanly in a straight line and, if you don’t get silly about chasing Mazda MX-5 Miatas or Toyota Supras, handles curves without anxiety.

You won’t get killed at the gas pumps. Diesel engjnes are way more economical than our usual gasoline chuggers. Though the government doesn’t require economy numbers for machines in the F-250’s class, a test run of city, freeway and twisting roads for this review showed 18.5 mpg.

Though it’s a puzzle to many automobile enthusiasts, who value performance — and especially the tactile handling of sports-oriented roadsters, sedans, GTs and super cars — pickup trucks have much to recommend them.

Sure, they’re big, ponderous, usually thirsty and, by car standards, crude and clunky. But they obviously have a place in the automotive firmament, especially in the United States, their birthplace and nationality. Like Ford’s Super Duty F-250 4X4 Crew Cab pickup truck, they deserve their place, regardless of whether some of us get it.