The big news at Ford this year is the big debut of their new, big truck: the Super Duty. While a lot of the discourse around “half ton” trucks — a spectacularly outdated nomenclature — is that they’re entirely too much vehicle for the vast majority of their use cases, given that the hardest work they’ll ever have to do is support their owner’s ego while going to and from the office, the Super Duty is the real deal. This week, we’re specifically looking at a grandiose goliath: the 2023 Ford F-250 Super Duty Limited.
All vehicle design is a compromise between capability, comfort, and cost. Ford knows a lot of F-150s will primarily be “lifestyle” (read: commuter) vehicles and builds them accordingly with a focus on comfort, whereas the F-250 (and it’s even more serious siblings, the F-350 and 450) are built with a distinct focus on capability first, with some comfort being reintroduced at a cost: $123,415 for our absolutely decked out test vehicle.
Our Limited-trim F-250 has almost no options. If you select this, you’re getting nearly every single ounce of opulence that Ford has to offer as standard. That includes but isn’t limited to 20-inch wheels, powered side steps, a panoramic sunroof, quilted leather seats, a faux suede headliner, an 18-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system, and heated, ventilated, and massaging seats. Infotainment is handled by Ford’s Sync 4 software displayed on a new, larger 12-inch screen integrated into a revised dash and centre console, which itself includes a multitude of USB ports, a wireless charging pad, a tablet holder, and more storage than an entire Miata.
This is not to say this is a pavement-princess luxe truck. With solid front and rear axles, and a distinct absence of air suspension, plus the optional eight-foot box on our test vehicle, this F-250, for all its creature comforts, never doesn’t feel like a bus. It’s some 26 feet long, and has a nearly 60-foot turning circle. You actually have to be cognizant of wide turns in traffic, and accept that you’re never taking it through the overwhelming majority of drive-thrus.
To be clear, this is not a knock against it: Ford’s Super Duty trucks are tools. This one is a very nice tool, but it’s still a tool. This tool was equipped to comfortably haul up to 30,000 pounds via a gooseneck trailer hitch — the bed has integrated cut-outs for this — and a huge load of cargo, tools, and/or whatever else, and it does it spectacularly well. The solid axles don’t have the best road manners, but they’re tough. The heavily reinforced springs and shocks ride hard when unladen, but they’re tougher than fancier air units. This thing is about work first.
Ford’s had a number of slick towing tricks available for a while, including their trick trailer steering setup, but they’ve included a set cameras that can be added to your trailer that integrate with the 360-degree birds-eye view. They’ve also added a camera and proximity sensors in the top of the tailgate, so that when it’s folded down for backing up to a gooseneck hitch, that ages-old blind spot is eliminated. Another towing trick is the addition of scales in the rear suspension; these estimate the tongue weight of your trailer and assist in balancing. Ford has gone to great length to make hard work easy.
Perhaps the biggest thing they’ve done to this end is the new “High Output” version of the venerable 6.7-litre PowerStroke diesel V8 engine, which gets a revised turbo, manifolds, and tuning tweaks to produce 500 horsepower and a ridiculous 1,200 pound-feet of torque. It’s mated to Ford’s 10-speed automatic with four-wheel-drive. Ford, GM, and Ram are in a perpetual arms race of one-upmanship with their heavy-duty diesel engines, but for the time being, this is the torquiest motor you can buy in a production vehicle — for less than a million dollars, with a normal driver’s licence.
On the road, this monster will happily light up its back tires, and you will be constantly fighting with the traction control if you have a heavy foot. It fires up quickly and runs surprisingly quietly, but definitely still makes signature big diesel Tonka truck noises, which now includes a switchable jake brake to help protect the brakes on long downhill descents. Fuel use is astonishing, as I averaged 13.3 L/ 100 km — approximately half of what we observed in the gas-powered F-250 Tremor. Power comes on smoothly and generously, and once the still-sometimes-confused 10-speed automatic figures out what it’s doing, this truck moves with serious authority.
The new exterior design conveys serious authority as well, with what Ford is calling C-clamp LED headlights encapsulating a chunky four-bar grille. Other tweaks come in the form of functional air extractor vents on the front fenders, and cut-out steps on the side of the bed for much easier access. Said bed also comes with Ford’s folding tailgate step, multiple tie-downs, two kilowatts of plug-in power, and if the digital eyes aren’t enough, there’s the trick telescopic tow mirrors to keep a physical eye on everything. Our tester came in Azure Grey Metallic paint, which is a bit of a misnomer as it looks an awful lot like a really nice shade of denim blue. It pops nicely against the bright red “6.7L High Output PowerStroke” badging, and compliments the two-tone Admiral Blue and Slate Grey leather.
For all its decadence, this isn’t a no-compromise truck. If the majority of your time will be spent commuting to and from work, you’d be better suited to any F-150. The F-250 is awkward to manoeuvre and shudders violently over sharp breaks in the pavement when unladen. It needs to be working to make sense. This leather-lined leviathan is made for the person who’s done well for themselves, but needs a serious tow rig for their even more serious lifestyle. Whether it’s farm equipment, horses, race cars, boats, or whatever else your heart desires, the 2023 F-250 Super Duty Limited can haul it all, and fairly comfortably ferry the family, too.
See Also
2023 Ford F-150 Limited PowerBoost
