quote:
CR is doing its best turn every vehicle into a ****ing crossover. They absolutely do not understand form and function.
Not sure why you think this. Do you actually read CR reviews or just scan the headlines? CR isn't an offroad focused magazine nor a fan magazine for truck buyers. But a truck should be reliable, reasonably comfortable, stop well, and have good brakes, shouldn't it?
CR says about the F150 driving:
The Driving Experience
Ride comfort and noise: The chassis absorbs road bumps nicely but the body tends to jiggle at both low and high speeds, especially when the cargo bed is empty. Interior noise is well suppressed, with only a bit of road and wind noise. The 5.0-liter V8 has a muscular growl that's more satisfying than the EcoBoost's turbo whine.
Handling: Despite having relatively little body lean, the F-150 feels ungainly rounding corners and agility is hurt by numb, fairly sluggish steering. At our track, both F-150s reached their handling limits early and posted only a low speed through our avoidance maneuver. Electronic stability control helped keep them on course.
Powertrain: Both engines are strong and get decent fuel economy. The optional 365-hp, 3.5-liter EcoBoost twin-turbocharged V6 engine provides more torque than the 360-hp V8, which gives it a more effortless feel in the midrange, especially when hauling a load. It was also a mite quicker accelerating from 45 to60 mph. We recorded the same 15-mpg overall fuel economy with both engines. Both are mated to a smooth six-speed automatic transmission and provide similarly strong acceleration. 2011 EcoBoost-equipped trucks had 10 gallons less fuel capacity, but later models offer the same size tank.
Towing capacities vary by wheelbase, axle ratio, and drivetrain. But with most variations, the EcoBoost V6 is rated to tow several hundred pounds more than the 5.0-liter V8. The V6 is rated for 8,200 pounds while the V8 maxes out at 7,700 pounds. While pulling our 7,500-pound test trailer, the V6 took 16.2 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph, which is competitive for this class; the V8 required 17.8 seconds. The optional integrated trailer-brake control works well.
Braking: Overall performance was fairly good. Stops in the wet and dry were reasonably short for a big truck.
Headlights: The low beams provide very good forward illumination and good levels of sideward light and intensity. The high beams have only adequate levels of forward illumination and do not improve on the low beam's intensity. There's also a sharp cutoff at the top of the low-beam pattern.
They measure acceleration while towing 7500 lbs. The don't do that when they test a Ford Escape.