Instrumented Test
Ford has had some success with special-edition pickup trucks, and the Tremor is the latest, as well as the last created on the current F-150 platform before the truck switches to aluminum construction for 2015. It represents a departure from previous pickups created by Ford’s Special Vehicle Team (SVT) skunkworks (such as the Lightning and Raptor), with a V-6 engine providing thrust rather than a good ol’ big-inch American V-8.
Sound a bit heretical? Don’t worry, this is not your garden-variety V-6. It’s the 3.5-liter twin-turbo EcoBoost V-6 that’s already dislodged many F-150 loyalists from their longstanding V-8 traditions.
There’s a good reason for this. Turbo engines are torque monsters, and Ford’s 3.5 huffs up plenty of it—420 lb-ft, ramping up steeply from just above idle, peaking at 2500 rpm, and sustaining that generous grunt most of the way to five grand. There’s instant throttle response, too, feeding torque to a 4.10:1 rear end with an electronically locking diff. It’s a pretty good prescription for hustle in a hot street truck.
Top: 2014 Ford F-150 Tremor FX4 3.5L EcoBoost. Bottom: 2014 Ford F-150 Tremor FX2 3.5L EcoBoost.
Street Cred
Street cred is what the Tremor is all about. Although it has decent ground clearance and the option of four-wheel drive (we tested both rear- and four-wheel-drive versions), the Tremor isn’t conceived as or equipped to be a desert racer. That’s the province of the wonderfully wicked Raptor (try saying that three times fast without sounding like Elmer Fudd).
On the street, cred goes to presentation and straight-ahead performance. In the first scoring category, the Tremor measures up pretty well with its black 20-inch aluminum wheels, even better than pretty well when combined with the graphics package (although many of us weren’t fans of the truck in white). The standard-cab body reduces the truck’s visual mass, as well as its curb weight. Inside that cab, the black interior is accented with nifty red stitching and silvery trim, and it’s nothing if not studly. The black bucket seats, with leather bolsters and faux-velour centers, are racy in appearance and supportive in hard cornering.
More on hard cornering in a minute. First, how hot is it? Let’s say it’s well above room temperature, but not quite torrid—6.0 seconds to 60 mph, which is pretty quick for a vehicle that weighs 5123 pounds. The 4x4 version, 238 pounds heavier, did the dash in 6.4.
2014 Ford F-150 Tremor FX2 3.5L EcoBoost.
That’s still pretty brisk, but it loses a bit of its luster compared with some bigger, four-door turbocharged F-150s we’ve put on the clock. For example, the EcoBoost FX4 SuperCrew 4x4 we tested in 2011 (at 5699 pounds, 338 heavier than the 4WD Tremor) sprinted to 60 mph in 6.1 seconds. Another 0-to-60 perspective: In 2001, we hustled an F-150 Lightning to 60 in 5.2 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 13.8 at 104 mph. Yes, the Lightning had an appetite for smoky burnouts and, with 380 horses and 450 lb-ft from a supercharged 5.4-liter V-8 in a 4702-pound pickup, a big edge in power to weight. But still, what does that say about this latter-day street rod? The Tremor’s heat doesn’t really measure up to the presentation.
Deliberate Dynamics
As you’d expect, the Tremor isn’t exactly Dancing with the Stars material, something that’s true of just about any production pickup. Although body motions aren’t extravagant for a vehicle of this type, transient responses are reluctant, and grip—supplied by a set of all-season Pirelli Scorpions (275/55-20)—is so-so at 0.75 g, with or without 4WD. Push the Tremor into a corner with excessive zeal, and you’ll find yourself heading straight for the bushes. The stability control can be disabled, but this doesn’t reduce the reluctance to rotate into a corner, and it’s not clear why anyone would want to switch it off anyway.
