OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
We have this while the RAM is in the (body) shop. Don't ask, I was away at the time. We'll be without it for a week or so.
Truck is your basic Enterprise rental in XLT trim. Has 4x4 and the 5.0L with start/stop. Cloth interior, power driver seat, Sync, steering wheel controls...etc. It's not as well equipped as the RAM, but it's still reasonably well equipped.
Pros:
- Ride quality is quite good
- Steering feel is quite good
- Transmission feels competent with no bizarre shifts or hunting
- Seats are comfortable and have adequate adjustment
- Wheel-mounted controls are well-placed and easy to use
- HVAC seems to work well (It lacks automatic climate control)
- Back-up camera has steering-following lines
- Has excellent power
- Gauges are clear and easy to read
- Feel of both the shifter and turn stalk are quality; they don't feel cheap
- Sync system is reasonably intuitive and works well with CarPlay
- Fit and finish seems quite good, with everything lining up, no weird gaps.
- Cabin insulation seems good and there were no rattles or noises
- Brake feel is good with excellent modulation
- Visibility is good and the mirrors, despite being small, appear adequate
Cons:
- The start stop drives my wife mad. I tried it, and there's definitely a delay. Luckily, "Sport" disables this feature
- Throttle response not in "Sport" is like pushing an oar through a swimming pool of 5th wheel grease.
- Sound quality of the factory speakers was certainly lacking, though I appreciate that this unit does not have the upgraded sound system. The systems we've had in the RAM trucks blow it out of the water, even the more "base" system we had in the EcoDiesel.
- The turn signal indicators are low in the cluster and thus difficult to spot when you are doing the "3 click" for a lane change which has left me wondering a few times if it actually signalled
- Position of the door lock switch on the door is odd, and takes some getting used to
- Due to the somewhat vague throttle, maintaining a speed takes a bit of work. I find you are either going faster than you intended, or slowing down. This isn't an issue we experience with the RAM. Perhaps this is exasperated by my operation in "sport"? Not sure. Cruise control of course fixes that.
- Interior quality is definitely not up to the same standard as the '19 RAM, though I acknowledge it is quite serviceable
- Centre console area, this is one of the areas where the RAM really shines, with the multiple phone holders, myriad of USB connections, flexible storage options....etc. That's all lacking here.
- Sync isn't UConnect, the latter which is a better system in my opinion
- Sync's WiFi won't connect to my HP Aruba access point, it would however connect to a Cisco Meraki MR20 I setup to test, so this may be a compatibility issue
- Sync acts extremely wonky if you don't have Siri enabled (I don't have Siri enabled) and may or may not let you play your music
- The engine makes a very strange noise, almost like a whistle or electric sound, when taking off from a stop.
Upon my return, aware of the situation, my wife was complaining that this vehicle was a "gutless wonder", but since I was keen on not using start/stop I drove it in sport from the get-go and found it worked great. Tried it in "Normal" and it does feel slow without exaggerated throttle inputs. I assume this is done for fuel economy reasons. The amount of power available is more than adequate, it just seems the delivery of this is heavily dampened unless you operate in "Sport".
Fuel economy-wise, it's averaging 12.1L/100Km so far, which is quite good; definitely better than the RAM. But the RAM gets driven pretty spiritedly, so that's definitely a contributing factor, along with its far more responsive throttle.
All-in-all, this is a very well-built truck and if this was 2017, I'd be far more impressed. Unfortunately, the 2019 update to the RAM really raised the bar and keep in mind, our RAM is "Sport" trim, so it isn't a Laramie or anything exotic, but it is a much nicer truck for the money. Still, I doubt one would be displeased with the service the F-150 will provide, as I expect it will hold up extremely well, as my buddy's 2012 has.
Some pics:
Truck is your basic Enterprise rental in XLT trim. Has 4x4 and the 5.0L with start/stop. Cloth interior, power driver seat, Sync, steering wheel controls...etc. It's not as well equipped as the RAM, but it's still reasonably well equipped.
Pros:
- Ride quality is quite good
- Steering feel is quite good
- Transmission feels competent with no bizarre shifts or hunting
- Seats are comfortable and have adequate adjustment
- Wheel-mounted controls are well-placed and easy to use
- HVAC seems to work well (It lacks automatic climate control)
- Back-up camera has steering-following lines
- Has excellent power
- Gauges are clear and easy to read
- Feel of both the shifter and turn stalk are quality; they don't feel cheap
- Sync system is reasonably intuitive and works well with CarPlay
- Fit and finish seems quite good, with everything lining up, no weird gaps.
- Cabin insulation seems good and there were no rattles or noises
- Brake feel is good with excellent modulation
- Visibility is good and the mirrors, despite being small, appear adequate
Cons:
- The start stop drives my wife mad. I tried it, and there's definitely a delay. Luckily, "Sport" disables this feature
- Throttle response not in "Sport" is like pushing an oar through a swimming pool of 5th wheel grease.
- Sound quality of the factory speakers was certainly lacking, though I appreciate that this unit does not have the upgraded sound system. The systems we've had in the RAM trucks blow it out of the water, even the more "base" system we had in the EcoDiesel.
- The turn signal indicators are low in the cluster and thus difficult to spot when you are doing the "3 click" for a lane change which has left me wondering a few times if it actually signalled
- Position of the door lock switch on the door is odd, and takes some getting used to
- Due to the somewhat vague throttle, maintaining a speed takes a bit of work. I find you are either going faster than you intended, or slowing down. This isn't an issue we experience with the RAM. Perhaps this is exasperated by my operation in "sport"? Not sure. Cruise control of course fixes that.
- Interior quality is definitely not up to the same standard as the '19 RAM, though I acknowledge it is quite serviceable
- Centre console area, this is one of the areas where the RAM really shines, with the multiple phone holders, myriad of USB connections, flexible storage options....etc. That's all lacking here.
- Sync isn't UConnect, the latter which is a better system in my opinion
- Sync's WiFi won't connect to my HP Aruba access point, it would however connect to a Cisco Meraki MR20 I setup to test, so this may be a compatibility issue
- Sync acts extremely wonky if you don't have Siri enabled (I don't have Siri enabled) and may or may not let you play your music
- The engine makes a very strange noise, almost like a whistle or electric sound, when taking off from a stop.
Upon my return, aware of the situation, my wife was complaining that this vehicle was a "gutless wonder", but since I was keen on not using start/stop I drove it in sport from the get-go and found it worked great. Tried it in "Normal" and it does feel slow without exaggerated throttle inputs. I assume this is done for fuel economy reasons. The amount of power available is more than adequate, it just seems the delivery of this is heavily dampened unless you operate in "Sport".
Fuel economy-wise, it's averaging 12.1L/100Km so far, which is quite good; definitely better than the RAM. But the RAM gets driven pretty spiritedly, so that's definitely a contributing factor, along with its far more responsive throttle.
All-in-all, this is a very well-built truck and if this was 2017, I'd be far more impressed. Unfortunately, the 2019 update to the RAM really raised the bar and keep in mind, our RAM is "Sport" trim, so it isn't a Laramie or anything exotic, but it is a much nicer truck for the money. Still, I doubt one would be displeased with the service the F-150 will provide, as I expect it will hold up extremely well, as my buddy's 2012 has.
Some pics: