Tow test: Ford Australia F-150 XLT LWB

When it comes to being big, bold and beautiful, the Ford F-150 is the top tow vehicle contender on American roads. So, how does it measure up when it hits the Aussie landscape with a caravan in tow?

The Ford F-150 the USA’s most popular vehicle, and — besides the sight of a B-52 plane cruising overhead at 40,000ft — is one of the most potent symbols of ‘Murican dominance when seen overseas. Ford’s F-150 is a sizable thing when transposed onto Australian roads, and we get it, that’s obviously a big part (no pun intended) of its appeal. But is it maybe too big? For a lot of you that definition probably doesn’t exist, but for others who may be constrained by driveway space, budget or simply their desire to easily find a big enough car park, size matters.

So, how does Ford’s big dog measure up? We hitched up a correspondingly massive flagship caravan, Jayco’s Silverline Outback 24.75, and went for a drive.

What was on offer

The vehicle we got to take on our two-day coastal jaunt was the entry point to the Aussie F-150 range, the F-150 XLT. But don’t let its position at the bottom of the family tree fool you into thinking it’s a bare-bones poverty pack. Not that anyone will come to that conclusion upon scoping its $107,945 price sticker (plus $700 for the premium paint on our test vehicle), but nevertheless some may spy the halogen headlamps, cloth seats and column shifter and think this is a mere farm-spec pickup. You can save $995 by opting for the short wheelbase XLT, but we received the long wheelbase (LWB) for our test.

It may be workman-like, but the F-150 XLT is resolutely well-equipped. The front seats are both power-adjusted (12-way for the driver, 10-way for the passenger), with power-adjusted pedals for even more ergonomic joy. Dual-zone climate control is standard and so is cruise control, lane-keep assist, blind-spot monitoring, and an eight-inch digital dash. Though the XLT does miss out on the adaptive cruise control, 12-inch screens and leather upholstery of the Ford F-150 Lariat, it still feels like it wants for very little.

Speaking of, however, it would have been nice if the XLT got the front parking sensors and 360-degree parking camera of its up-spec brother — this model only makes do with a rear camera and rear parking sensors, and for a car of these proportions that doesn’t quite seem like enough. That eight-inch infotainment screen is also notably under-spec, being dwarfed by the scale of that massive dashboard and providing very limited screen real estate and correspondingly small graphics that can be difficult to read.

There’s also no 12V outlet in the XLT’s load box, though you do at least get a hardy spray-on bedliner, pull-out stairs in the tailgate, sturdy tie-downs and Ford’s BoxLink cargo management system. A bigger issue is the headlamps. Being halogen units, they don’t throw out enough lumens nor do they have a decent spread, with nighttime driving often necessitating high beam in order to get a good view.

The tow

If you expected a huge n’ heavy American pick-up with 298kW and 678Nm to be suited to towing, well, you’d be right. No prizes for guessing that. What is something of a surprise is just how civilised and relaxed it is.

The F-150’s turbo petrol V6 received a fair degree of scepticism from our American cousins when it was introduced to the previous-generation of the USA’s favourite pickup, but in the 14th-generation F-150 it flexes some rather strong legs. Its 298kW power max arrives at a fairly high 6000rpm, but it twists out a more meaningful 678Nm of torque at a very accessible 3100rpm. Connected to Ford’s now-ubiquitous 10-speed automatic transmission, the combination of gearing and torque means the F-150 can seemingly move mountains.

Do you wish Ford Australia had brought over the atmo V8 option to accompany the turbo V6? In numbers terms, the V6 is the better choice: the 5L Coyote V8 option provides the same amount of power as the V6 at the same rpm, but offers just 565Nm at 4250rpm. The V6 is simply the better engine.

And when tasked with towing, the V6 is remarkably unflustered by mass or drag. At times you need to glance in the mirrors to remind yourself that yes, there is a caravan behind you, because in terms of acceleration and braking the F-150 simply shrugs off that extra load, and on level ground it’ll maintain a relaxed 100km/h cruise with the engine spinning at a diesel-like 1500rpm in 10th gear. The transmission will sometimes click down into ninth if there’s a gentle uphill grade, but with the amount of inertia in our particular combination it took particularly prolonged inclines to necessitate any more downshifting than that. The transmission logic is also rather good, which is a great thing because manually selecting gears via the column shifter is an ergonomic pain.

The suspension is at ease with heavy loads too — with about 200kg of weight pressing down on the towball, the ride quality is supremely settled without feeling overly floaty, with barely any pitching when truck and trailer ride over most long-amplitude bumps — though certain frequencies did have us wanting just a smidge more rebound damping on the front to keep wallowing at bay.

With the ability to tow up to 4500kg, it should be no surprise that our 2806kg (tare) Jayco didn’t tax the F-150 any great deal. However, while that’s a massive tow capacity, the F-150’s payload capability falls short of typical mid-size dual-cabs, with the XLT LWB rated to carry 794kg onboard before it hits its 3265kg GVM. Got a lot of gear? Maybe stow it in the caravan rather than the tub and exploit that 7765kg GCM instead. It’s a bit of a shame — that tub is impressively spacious after all.

The F-150 XLT’s suitability for towing extends beyond its on-road performance, though. Thoughtful features include the Pro Trailer back-up assist system, which simplifies trailer reversing greatly by allowing drivers to simply direct the trailer’s line via a dash-mounted jog wheel instead of the steering wheel (but which requires the installation of a trailer-mounted sensor). There’s also the built-in trailer light check function, integrated trailer brake controller, and the ability for the blind spot monitoring to be able to take trailer length into account if you punch its dimensions into the infotainment system (and the trailer is under 10m in total length). Handy. The reversing camera also provides a near-vertical top-down view of the towball to help prevent bumper bingles when hitching up.

Oh, just quickly for those of you wondering why Aus-delivered F-150s can only pull 4500kg on a trailer while US-market examples can lug up more than 6000kg: it all comes down to certification, as Ford Australia would have had to certify the F-150 as a truck in order to legally unlock that extra towing capacity.

Tyres

As standard, the F-150 XLT has 20-inch alloy wheels and is shod with Hankook Dynapro AT2 all-terrains sized in 275/60 R20. For highway work (we didn’t touch much in the way of dirt on this drive), they function well, with low noise and decent grip coupled with a generous sidewall that filters out fussier road imperfections.

Fuel consumption

The F-150 has a 136-litre fuel tank and Ford quotes a combined urban/highway fuel consumption of 12.5L/100km for the F-150 3.5L Ecoboost, however prior to hitching up the Jayco we were seeing a real-world average of 12.3L/100km. After 602km of towing, both at highway speed and 60–80km/h backroads driving, the F-150 returned an average of 20.6L/100km. A respectable result, considering the weights involved and the sheer drag of that big Jayco.

Safety and comfort

The inside of the F-150 has more space than a planetarium. Jokes aside, there’s loads of room to sprawl, on a level that’s pretty much on par with long-wheelbase German limos like the Mercedes-Benz S-Class or BMW 7 Series. The rear seat is where it’s felt the most: there’s stacks of legroom even with the front seats pushed way back and the bench is wide enough to take three average-sized adults across it without any shoulder-rubbing shenanigans. Outward vision is also great thanks to that massive glasshouse, and while the cloth trim might be a downmarket fit-out for some tastes, it feels good and hard-wearing.

The driver’s seat is a comfy place to be, with plenty of power-assisted adjustment not only in the seat itself, but in the pedal box too. Small or big, it doesn’t matter — you should have no trouble finding an agreeable posture behind the wheel. The column shifter is a bit naff for a 2024 vehicle, but it’s better than the fancy power-retracting shift lever of the up-spec Lariat in one key way: it provides you with a sizable storage pocket in the centre console that’s perfect for phones, keys, wallets, dipping sauces, whatever. You can also deploy the fold-out tabletop over the console to give a flat working surface while in motion, something you can’t do in the Lariat as its shifter gets in the way. Additional storage pockets on the side of the centre console and within the upper dash are also handy places to stash your gear, while flipping up the rear seats reveals a spacious tray that’s perfect for stowing towballs, tongues, chains, tie-downs and other towing paraphernalia.

There’s a solid safety suite in the F-150 XLT, with six airbags, stability control, trailer sway control, autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane-keep assist, and blind-spot monitoring. Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) has yet to rate the F-150’s crash safety.

The wrap

With the F-150 you need to pay a lot, but you receive a lot in return. On its own, it’s supremely spacious and easy to drive. Hooked to a caravan, it truly demonstrates its worth as an adept tow vehicle. There’s some room for improvement (those weak headlamps need work and front parking sensors would be a good idea), but the fundamental package is very easy to like.

As far as super-sized utes go, the F-150 — even in base XLT trim — has much to recommend it.

Measuring up

Pro

• Huge interior, genuinely comfortable ride, effortless to tow with

Con

• Payload is no better than a mid-size dual-cab, it’s pricey, weak headlamps

FORD F-150 XLT LWB RATINGS

Value for money 6/10

There’s two ways of looking at this: it’s either a really expensive ute, or it’s the most affordable way of getting a 4.5T tow rig with a factory warranty. Either way, six figures is six figures

Towing performance 10/10

It’s difficult to think of another ute that tows big weight with such ease

Hitching up 8/10

With a bevy of electronic driver assists and a top-down camera angle over the hitch, it’s easy to get a caravan safely connected

Creature comforts 7/10

Spacious interior, but the electronics side could be beefed up — that screen is tiny

Accessibility of spare parts 8/10

There are Ford dealers everywhere, but the specialised nature of the locally converted F-150 may mean some new parts might have a long lead time

Fuel economy 7/10

Sure, our real-world result was just north of 20L/100km, but considering the weights and aero profiles involved, that’s not too shabby

Solo performance 8/10

Were it not for its sheer bulk, we’d describe it as car-like to drive. Watch your corners

Engine power 9/10

Silky-smooth V6 has plenty of muscle and seems to barely notice additional weight.

Innovation 8/10

We like the effort Ford has put into its tow-friendly features, and if you take the time to program in your trailer’s dimensions it simply makes touring with a caravan so much easier

X-Factor 8/10

It’s an impressive big ute, but if we didn’t tell you that these things started life as LHD vehicles you’d probably never tell. The F-150 is arguably the best right-hook conversion on the market right now

Ford F-150 XLT LWB SPECS

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES

DRIVETRAIN

GENERAL

Ford F-150 XLT LWB price from $107,945

OPTIONS FITTED

• Premium paint

Ford F-150 XLT LWB price as shown $108,645

More information

Ford Australia
P: 13 3673

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