fitek
Well-known member
- First Name
- Peter
- Joined
- Aug 17, 2021
- Threads
- 9
- Messages
- 142
- Reaction score
- 69
- Location
- Washington state
- Vehicles
- Ford Transit 350EXT
- Thread starter
- #1
I had a half hour test drive in an F150 Lariat yesterday. Just to set some context, as it’s important in reviews IMO: I’ve driven and owned quite a few vehicles in my life (including 18 months as a Zamboni and shuttle van driver), but a full size pickup is not one of them.
I sat in a Pro trim in Kirkland but wasn’t allowed to drive it. I was impressed. I daily drove a base trim ’98 Tacoma for many years (and still own it) and that pickup was really bare bones (but a step up from the 80s 500 cc motorcycle I had been riding). Every penny Toyota could pinch was pinched, including digits on the odometer (trip meter? hah! forget about it!). The seats in the Tacoma were thankfully cloth instead of vinyl but they were soft and very uncomfortable. Interior materials were cheap hard plastic. Somehow Toyota managed to make a crappier interior than the 1990 Hyundai I had in high school and still sell lots of 'em a decade later.
The Pro’s vinyl seats are nothing like the vinyl I remember from the 80s. The Pro seats feel almost as good as the ones in the Lariat. They’re soft and not supportive but whatever; compared to the Tacoma, they’re comfortable. The rubber floor, which is supposed to be less desirable than the higher trims, is actually something I wish I had in all my cars given it's muddy 9 months of the year in the Pacific Northwest. The 12” Sync infotainment is plenty good. It is bigger and better than the Sync I paid $1500 for in my 2015 Transit, which, at best, was merely tolerable in 2016. The materials used in the interior are adequate.
Major issue was my wife is short and the driver seat does not appear to adjust vertically. We’d have to get a different seat or resort to a pillow or something silly. She also had trouble climbing in with no running boards.
The Pro is a lot of truck for $40K.
Now my wife drives a 2016 Porsche Macan S, which is a great driving car and sort of my benchmark for luxury now (I know there are much fancier cars out there). It was not a very expensive car, although it’s the most expensive car we’ve ever bought, even though it was used. I believe it should be low $60k new. It drives as well as a crossover can. The interior feels like a proper luxury car, very tasteful. Seats are firm, supportive, and comfortable. Ride is a good balance of performance and comfort. Steering feels heavy and precise. Its' major issue is the rear seats are cramped and the odd shaped cargo area is very limiting. Oh, and the infotainment, HVAC, and ownership experience are very annoyingly German.
Climbing into the Lariat I was underwhelmed. Yes it’s nicer than the Pro, but is it twice as much money nice? No. Of course the value added per dollar with cars is never linear. Ford does cheap very well (go take a look at a Maverick, I would be happy to have that truck if there was a 4WD hybrid version) but the Lariat trim interior doesn’t exude tasteful luxury, even if on paper it has the same bullet points as the Macan. Very obviously fake wood, metallic painted plastic. This is how Ikea would make a high end car interior. It does have the heated and ventilated seats like the Porsche, but the seat material doesn’t feel different to me than the Pro and the seats are soft and not supportive. I wanted to try the sound system, but didn’t bother. The one in the Porsche isn’t that great, by the way— my favorite stock so far was in the Mk7 GTI SE I owned for four years (that car also had “leather” seats that were disappointingly fake).
Ok, onto driving. First, the Lightning is fast as hell. My wife and mother-in-law were both in the car and screamed as I went full throttle from a slow roll to 70 around a short right hand on ramp. My son and I giggled. Some tire squeal, the truck leaned a fair bit, but it was planted. BlueCruise worked fairly well on I-5 for the three or four minutes I engaged it; it was initially wide open then some slow truck caused traffic. Up the stair step road at our freeway exit, some idiot designer's narrow road that alternates going straight up a steep hill and parallel to the contour lines, with tight turns. This road was a blast in the GTI where I didn’t have to slow down at all. It is fun in a proper Subaru too. It is a chore in the nearly 23 foot long Transit, which is too long to take the turns and stay in its’ lane. The Macan handles it fine, but you can feel the heavy crossover’s weight lurching around and I don’t enjoy it. The Lightning was about the same, but softer with more body roll. I bet it’s still fast because it accelerates so quickly in the straights. It does not make for a pleasant ride for the passengers though. My female passengers were visibly feeling ill already and we were only five or six minutes into the test drive. Maybe I should have done two separate test drives?
I let my wife drive. She said it was “fine”, but felt too big. Tried parking downtown and she did OK, but she was stressing. We couldn’t get the 360 camera to turn on when parking forwards. The spots are tight and it would be very helpful. You can switch to the 360 screen in the Sync UI, but the camera and parking sensors do not engage. You can pause and put the car in reverse to check things out before proceeding. The 360 camera detail is quite good. I put two fist sized rocks down on the ground and they show up clearly on the display. The Porsche has a fish eye backup camera and 360 sensors, but the contrast is so poor it can be hard to make out details and the parking sensors are prone to glitching.
I tried to think of the nearest fire road, but there wasn’t time, so we drove down a nearby cobblestone road instead. It’s only two blocks long. In the GTI, with its nearly sport car suspension, the experience threatens to shake loose old dental fillings. The Porsche somehow doesn’t do well on it either. My usually lightly loaded Transit van, also not good. Our old Subaru Outback with the soft suspension that has seen better days handles it best, though with many rattles emanating from random places and clunking sounds from the universal joints. It wasn’t nice in the Lightning but beat the rest of the stable by a mile. No weird rattles (which I somehow expect from an EV, based on friend’s Teslas). Out of curiosity, I drove to our house and pointed the Lightning straight over the curb, across the lawn, and back onto the road again. Didn’t feel that curb at all. The leaf springs in the back of the Tacoma, with no load in the bed, would have pogo sticked over that curb and catapulted anything in the bed. I felt I was at the controls of a tank. Har har, the well to do retirees in our neighborhood must again be recoiling in horror at the Appalachian goings on at our property. I briefly considered whether I could load the pile of scrap metal in the yard into the bed and drop it off at the recycling place by the dealership, but no, time was short. At this point the female passengers had enough of the “test drive” and decided to stay home. Oops.
I got stuck behind a retiree driving ten below the speed limit on the way back to the dealership, but did try to push the handling once I was able to pass. I’ve heard the Lightning handles like a GTI, but I disagree. It handles fantastically well for its’ size, but it does not feel like a GTI at all. The GTI is short and light with quick and precise steering. You can fly around a tight corner with a quick flick of the steering and it will stay flat. It is a go cart that is more comfortable and practical than a true sports car. The Lightning is huge and soft and very American. The big Buicks and Cadillacs I recall from the 80s and 90s come to mind. This one isn’t slow and does not roll like a log in turns and is much better in every way, but it certainly doesn't seem to have any German DNA.
The rear seating is, like any other F150 with the big cab, very roomy. No complaints there. Wife could even sleep across the rear bench. My son couldn’t touch my seat from his booster. One of the upsides of a very American vehicle. I like the storage under the bench seat. Perfect size for rifles in soft cases as you load up to shoot some cans at a quarry in the woods.
Where’s that leave us? We’re going to test drive other EVs. In particular, I'm hoping the IONIQ5, EV6, or coming Genesis cross over are a decent fit. I’d still prefer a Lightning but will consider the XLT and SR if needed. Ultimately the wife has to be happy or I’ll never hear the end of it. Honestly for the price of one of the basic Lightning SRs vs Lariat ER, assuming Federal credits are available, we could almost get two cars and replace the Porsche and rickety Subaru.
I sat in a Pro trim in Kirkland but wasn’t allowed to drive it. I was impressed. I daily drove a base trim ’98 Tacoma for many years (and still own it) and that pickup was really bare bones (but a step up from the 80s 500 cc motorcycle I had been riding). Every penny Toyota could pinch was pinched, including digits on the odometer (trip meter? hah! forget about it!). The seats in the Tacoma were thankfully cloth instead of vinyl but they were soft and very uncomfortable. Interior materials were cheap hard plastic. Somehow Toyota managed to make a crappier interior than the 1990 Hyundai I had in high school and still sell lots of 'em a decade later.
The Pro’s vinyl seats are nothing like the vinyl I remember from the 80s. The Pro seats feel almost as good as the ones in the Lariat. They’re soft and not supportive but whatever; compared to the Tacoma, they’re comfortable. The rubber floor, which is supposed to be less desirable than the higher trims, is actually something I wish I had in all my cars given it's muddy 9 months of the year in the Pacific Northwest. The 12” Sync infotainment is plenty good. It is bigger and better than the Sync I paid $1500 for in my 2015 Transit, which, at best, was merely tolerable in 2016. The materials used in the interior are adequate.
Major issue was my wife is short and the driver seat does not appear to adjust vertically. We’d have to get a different seat or resort to a pillow or something silly. She also had trouble climbing in with no running boards.
The Pro is a lot of truck for $40K.
Now my wife drives a 2016 Porsche Macan S, which is a great driving car and sort of my benchmark for luxury now (I know there are much fancier cars out there). It was not a very expensive car, although it’s the most expensive car we’ve ever bought, even though it was used. I believe it should be low $60k new. It drives as well as a crossover can. The interior feels like a proper luxury car, very tasteful. Seats are firm, supportive, and comfortable. Ride is a good balance of performance and comfort. Steering feels heavy and precise. Its' major issue is the rear seats are cramped and the odd shaped cargo area is very limiting. Oh, and the infotainment, HVAC, and ownership experience are very annoyingly German.
Climbing into the Lariat I was underwhelmed. Yes it’s nicer than the Pro, but is it twice as much money nice? No. Of course the value added per dollar with cars is never linear. Ford does cheap very well (go take a look at a Maverick, I would be happy to have that truck if there was a 4WD hybrid version) but the Lariat trim interior doesn’t exude tasteful luxury, even if on paper it has the same bullet points as the Macan. Very obviously fake wood, metallic painted plastic. This is how Ikea would make a high end car interior. It does have the heated and ventilated seats like the Porsche, but the seat material doesn’t feel different to me than the Pro and the seats are soft and not supportive. I wanted to try the sound system, but didn’t bother. The one in the Porsche isn’t that great, by the way— my favorite stock so far was in the Mk7 GTI SE I owned for four years (that car also had “leather” seats that were disappointingly fake).
Ok, onto driving. First, the Lightning is fast as hell. My wife and mother-in-law were both in the car and screamed as I went full throttle from a slow roll to 70 around a short right hand on ramp. My son and I giggled. Some tire squeal, the truck leaned a fair bit, but it was planted. BlueCruise worked fairly well on I-5 for the three or four minutes I engaged it; it was initially wide open then some slow truck caused traffic. Up the stair step road at our freeway exit, some idiot designer's narrow road that alternates going straight up a steep hill and parallel to the contour lines, with tight turns. This road was a blast in the GTI where I didn’t have to slow down at all. It is fun in a proper Subaru too. It is a chore in the nearly 23 foot long Transit, which is too long to take the turns and stay in its’ lane. The Macan handles it fine, but you can feel the heavy crossover’s weight lurching around and I don’t enjoy it. The Lightning was about the same, but softer with more body roll. I bet it’s still fast because it accelerates so quickly in the straights. It does not make for a pleasant ride for the passengers though. My female passengers were visibly feeling ill already and we were only five or six minutes into the test drive. Maybe I should have done two separate test drives?
I let my wife drive. She said it was “fine”, but felt too big. Tried parking downtown and she did OK, but she was stressing. We couldn’t get the 360 camera to turn on when parking forwards. The spots are tight and it would be very helpful. You can switch to the 360 screen in the Sync UI, but the camera and parking sensors do not engage. You can pause and put the car in reverse to check things out before proceeding. The 360 camera detail is quite good. I put two fist sized rocks down on the ground and they show up clearly on the display. The Porsche has a fish eye backup camera and 360 sensors, but the contrast is so poor it can be hard to make out details and the parking sensors are prone to glitching.
I tried to think of the nearest fire road, but there wasn’t time, so we drove down a nearby cobblestone road instead. It’s only two blocks long. In the GTI, with its nearly sport car suspension, the experience threatens to shake loose old dental fillings. The Porsche somehow doesn’t do well on it either. My usually lightly loaded Transit van, also not good. Our old Subaru Outback with the soft suspension that has seen better days handles it best, though with many rattles emanating from random places and clunking sounds from the universal joints. It wasn’t nice in the Lightning but beat the rest of the stable by a mile. No weird rattles (which I somehow expect from an EV, based on friend’s Teslas). Out of curiosity, I drove to our house and pointed the Lightning straight over the curb, across the lawn, and back onto the road again. Didn’t feel that curb at all. The leaf springs in the back of the Tacoma, with no load in the bed, would have pogo sticked over that curb and catapulted anything in the bed. I felt I was at the controls of a tank. Har har, the well to do retirees in our neighborhood must again be recoiling in horror at the Appalachian goings on at our property. I briefly considered whether I could load the pile of scrap metal in the yard into the bed and drop it off at the recycling place by the dealership, but no, time was short. At this point the female passengers had enough of the “test drive” and decided to stay home. Oops.
I got stuck behind a retiree driving ten below the speed limit on the way back to the dealership, but did try to push the handling once I was able to pass. I’ve heard the Lightning handles like a GTI, but I disagree. It handles fantastically well for its’ size, but it does not feel like a GTI at all. The GTI is short and light with quick and precise steering. You can fly around a tight corner with a quick flick of the steering and it will stay flat. It is a go cart that is more comfortable and practical than a true sports car. The Lightning is huge and soft and very American. The big Buicks and Cadillacs I recall from the 80s and 90s come to mind. This one isn’t slow and does not roll like a log in turns and is much better in every way, but it certainly doesn't seem to have any German DNA.
The rear seating is, like any other F150 with the big cab, very roomy. No complaints there. Wife could even sleep across the rear bench. My son couldn’t touch my seat from his booster. One of the upsides of a very American vehicle. I like the storage under the bench seat. Perfect size for rifles in soft cases as you load up to shoot some cans at a quarry in the woods.
Where’s that leave us? We’re going to test drive other EVs. In particular, I'm hoping the IONIQ5, EV6, or coming Genesis cross over are a decent fit. I’d still prefer a Lightning but will consider the XLT and SR if needed. Ultimately the wife has to be happy or I’ll never hear the end of it. Honestly for the price of one of the basic Lightning SRs vs Lariat ER, assuming Federal credits are available, we could almost get two cars and replace the Porsche and rickety Subaru.
