Is there anyway to get the new drive modes (eco/snow/etc) that come on 2018+ on a 2016? Would Ford ever release a software update for these?

 

You have to have 10 speed transmission for the modes to work.

 

And it has to be 2018 and up

 

As others have mentioned you need the 10 speed. I suspect there is either a limitation in the PCM as to what it can manage there, or Ford just doesn't want to spend the money on R&D to add drive modes to a transmission they are phasing out. I suspect it's the latter since you can buy a 2019 3.3L with a 6-Speed, and I don't imagine the 10-Speed PCM would be too difficult to use on the 6-Speed (maybe they already are), but they would still have to go through an entire cycle of powertrain engineering to configure the correct shift points and everything else for the drive modes.

A good amount of cost for no real advantage on the sales side as I don't think anybody has bought or not bought an F-150 for the drive modes.

I will say this to hopefully put you at ease about this, I had a 2017 that only had Tow/Sport and now a 2019 with all the modes, all I feel I really got out of it was I have to cycle through more stuff before getting to Sport mode on the rare instances I use it. I use Eco mode sometimes, but only because it makes the adaptive cruise less "enthusiastic" than Normal is. I will try the snow mode in the winter, but all it seems to do is soften up off the line acceleration and that, I was able to do all that in my 2017 by just manually selecting 2nd gear when starting off.

Anyway, I know you want it, but I just wanted to say that as much as I always seek out new tech and love getting a new vehicle for new toys, as I did with my 2019, the new drive modes are something I wouldn't miss if they had just left it alone.