Thislilfishy

Who are we kidding, the only 'work' truck equipped like that is the one the Boss is driving. Hell, we still have to drive around in the craptastical useless e250 vans.

It will be interesting to see what the stripped down f150 will look like inside and out. Enough with the luxury editions.


Ian

nagata

The instrument cluster & screen, door panel controls, and center stack all bear a resemblance to my 2013 Dodge Dart Limited, which is a very good thing IMO, because these areas in the Dart are fantastic.

We'll see what the interiors look like on the lower trim levels; my '13 XLT is very nice inside, but it's got some clunky areas compared to my Dart or the G8 GT I had before, particularly the door panels and lower center stack; they're not nearly as sleek as this new interior, so hopefully the 2015+ lower trims get some of the improvements I see in these pictures.

Yes, I know I'm comparing a mid-level trim (XLT) to high level trims, but at least the overall scheme of the door panels and dash controls should improve across the board on 2015+ models.


I can get behind DR9 in regards to the cluster LCD screen and "hands-free" keyless entry/push-button start...Now that I've had a LCD screen in the clusters on my regularly driven vehicles for the last few years (09 G8, 13 XLT, 13 Dart), it'd seem old tech to go back to a 100% analog cluster. I still want gauges for tach, fuel, temps, etc, but a digital speedo is absolutely better, wish the cluster screen in my '13 had a digital speedo option. Having hands-free entry and push-button start on my Dart is a stupid awesome luxury, it's just so nice not to have to fish keys out of my pocket and fumble with them, definitely wish my '13 had this feature as well, but that's alright.

I know it seems ridiculous to think that these items are "must-haves," but once you've got them, you certainly don't want to go back. When I drive my '96 Mustang GT, it feels like I've gone back 50 years, but it's just a weekend fun toy so I'm generally not in it for more than 30-40 minutes at a time, and when I am in it, I'm having too much fun making the 4.6 roar and keeping the rear 315 Nittos on the edge of traction to pay attention to the lack of interior amenities When it comes time for another new F-150, I'm sure I'll "settle" for regular old keyless entry and keys because I won't buy the high trim level that comes with hands-free, but at least it'll definitely have the cluster screen.

TW84

In the picture with miles to empty, if you do the math, 23 gallon tank that's 24.2+, 33 gallon 16.8+?

GearheadGeek

I think I misinterpreted DR9's reference to "keyless push" ... when I read it I thought he meant he wanted it WITHOUT the Keyless Entry keypad, but in retrospect I think he means he wouldn't buy a vehicle without pushbutton start. I'm not in love with pushbutton start but I don't hate it. As long as it's still available with the keypad I'm fine with it, and figure I may end up with pushbutton start because I want a fairly high-trim truck for long cushy trips.

Ekusa

Its gotta be the 23 gallon, 16.8 is pretty terrible

GreenScrew

Keyless entry will be included on those trim levels, and there will be times that it will be useful but if you've not had a Ford with push-button start its really nice like Nagata said that you don't even need it to open the locked door as long as you have your keys "with" you. So the keypad will be nice when you need to get in, but don't have your keys with you. The only negative to this experience for me (not sure if there is a way around) is that I often will hide/leave my keys in the truck so I don't need to worry about them in my pocket. Doing this with push-button start is effectively leaving the vehicle unlocked. Day-to-day not an issue for me, but when I go out at night or for other activities, I will be disappointed to have to take the fob with me.

GearheadGeek

[MENTION=61138]GreenScrew[/MENTION]

Hmm... that could be a problem for me, in fact, though probably the truck behaves differently when running than when the engine is shut down. I often leave the current truck running with the AC on and doors locked (via the keypad) when I'm on the road with the dogs and stop at a rest area or truck stop. There are times when it's 100F when leaving home for camping in cooler locations, and there's a lot of Texas to get through until temperatures are low enough for it to be safe for the dogs with the windows open.

If you can leave the engine running, step out and lock the truck with the keypad and have the "touch" unlock disabled because the engine is running that's fine. That would also make sense for the running state, because you wouldn't want someone to be able to walk up to your vehicle and open the door when you're stopped at a light with the doors locked. I have the '07 F150 and an '05 Legacy turbo wagon, I've never had a pushbutton-start vehicle.

Your scenario of leaving the keys hidden inside with the engine off would be problematic, though. Someone trying door handles could get in. I wonder if it can distinguish between the fob being inside the truck or just outside...

GOBLUEJD

My wife has a 2014 MAZDA6 with PB Start and if she is in the car, with it running (in gear or parked) you can not open the door from the outside if it is locked. That being said, if the car is not running, keys are INSIDE the vehicle, you can not lock the car period (the car knows keys are inside). However if you have a keypad OUTSIDE like the F150, it senses keys are INSIDE, but will probably let you lock the vehicle via keypad. The similar scenario is my 2012 F150, if truck is running, you can not hit door locks to lock. You have to use the keypad.

So I think this is TRUE "If you can leave the engine running, step out and lock the truck with the keypad and have the "touch" unlock disabled because the engine is running that's fine. "

nagata

I can't speak to how Ford's hands-free keyless entry/push-button start system works/will work, but on my Dart, once the vehicle has been started (requires the key to be inside the vehicle), I can get out of the car and lock it with the door handle button, the car will stay running until I come back. The system absolutely knows the key has left the vehicle, a warning comes up on the dash screen, but the engine does not shut off. As an experiment, I started the car in my driveway, put the key outside, then drove into my garage, there was no interruption in functionality; I assume this is for safety, can't have the car shutting off in some bizarre event that the key leaves the vehicle while it's in motion.

The system is actually sensitive enough to determine if the key has been placed or dropped into the trunk; if the key is in the trunk and you close the lid, it automatically opens back up.

Now, all of these features rely on the remote having a good battery; the system is suppose to provide an alert when the remote's battery starts to get low. As a back-up, there's a physical key within the remote for opening the driver's door, and even if the remote battery is dead, supposedly touching the remote to the push-button gives the vehicle system the signal that it can start. I would expect Ford's system to have all the same features and fail-safes if not more.

GreenScrew

Remote start could also provide some benefit for the scenario of keeping the vehicle running while you take the fob with you, although only for short duration (depending on the duration of remote start setting).