Heart Transplant: The 2018 Ford F-150 4X4 SuperCrew Power Stroke Diesel

The 2018 Ford F-150 4X4 SuperCrew Power Stroke Diesel.

It's been forty or more years since they used the slogan in their advertising, but...Ford has a better idea.  Diesels are terrific for towing, because of their serious torque, and for offsetting the often-dismal fuel economy of the truly big 3/4-ton and larger trucks they're used in.

So, why not put a smaller diesel in a half-ton pickup, put some serious towing capacity in the hands of buyers who don't really need the monster F-250 Super Duty,  and offer some significant fuel economy to buyers of the F-150?

2018 Ford F-150 4X4 SuperCrew Power Stroke Diesel.

The F-150 diesel is a 3.0-liter V6 turbo diesel.  250 horsepower and a you-won't-find-this-anywhere-but-a-diesel torque rating of 440 pounds per foot.  Mated to a ten-speed automatic transmission, the F-150 diesel (available across the F-150 line, from the XL work truck to the luxo Platinum) moves, quickly, shifts smoothly, pulls like a locomotive and gets some pretty nice mileage:

2018 Ford F-150 4X4 SuperCrew Power Stroke Diesel fuel economy reading.

That's the reading when I parked the F-150 after a week's worth of urban street and freeway driving...22 miles per gallon even.  And I see now that I look at the picture that I had the auto stop-start in the off position (the logo above the odometer), so the figure could likely have been even better.  My mileage, though, syncs right up with the EPA estimate of 20 city/25 highway/22 combined.  Opt for two-wheel drive and the numbers leap to 22 city/30 highway/25 combined.

2018 Ford F-150 interior.

The base level for a SuperCrew version of the F-150 Power Stroke Diesel is the Lariat.  That's $43,375.  Choose 4X4 like our tester, and that becomes $50,800.  King Ranch would be $58,355 and Platinum $60,910.

Ford sent us a pre-production unit, which means a blank window sticker, and Ford's online configurator is less than clear, but I'd ballpark somewhere between $57,500 and $60,000 for our tester, which had the following extra-cost options:

• 20-inch chrome-like PVD wheels
• Technology Package (including active park assist and a 360-degree camera)
• Lariat Chrome Appearance Package
• Wheel well liner
• Spray-in bedliner

And while that's a lot of money, it's also a lot of truck.  And, if you've been truck shopping lately, you know it's really not a lot of money...at least in the context of other well-equipped, full-size trucks.  There's a reason the F-150 is the number one selling vehicle (not just truck, vehicle) in America year after year after year.  The 3.0-liter Power Stroke Diesel just broadens its appeal.