In the United States of America, big trucks are a big deal. And the most successful among them is the Ford F-Series. For nearly 50 years, the F-Series has been the best-selling model in its segment, and the light-duty F-150 is a significant contributor to that success. Drive one for a while, and it's not surprising why the F-150 is so popular.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Last year, JD Power published a 2024 Ford F-150 Lariat review with the PowerBoost hybrid drivetrain. This year, the test vehicle features the Tremor off-road package and a 5.0-liter V8 engine. Additionally, Ford makes several changes to the 2025 F-150:
The 2025 Ford F-150 is available in regular cab, extended cab (Super Cab), and crew cab (SuperCrew) body styles with short, standard, and long cargo beds. It comes in XL, STX, XLT, Lariat, Tremor, King Ranch, Platinum, and Raptor trim levels, with several sub-trims including the Lobo, Platinum Plus, and Raptor R. Pricing ranges from $41,005 to $113,125, including the $2,195 destination charge.
For this 2025 F-150 review, Ford provided a test vehicle equipped with Tremor trim and the following options:
Equipment Group 402A upgrades the base Tremor with leather upholstery, heated and ventilated front seats, heated rear seats, a heated steering wheel, a head-up display, a surround-view camera, and a 14-speaker premium audio system. Additionally, it adds a more robust transfer case with automatic four-wheel drive (4WD) and a front Torsen differential.
The test vehicle's manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) was $83,045, including the destination charge to ship the truck to a dealership from the Dearborn, Michigan, assembly plant.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Ford expanded the 2025 F-150 lineup with two new sub-trims. At the lower end is the STX-based F-150 Lobo street truck. At the higher end, an even more luxurious F-150 Platinum Plus model is available. In addition, Marsh Gray and Space White (seen in the photos) are new paint colors, and the F-150 XLT Black Appearance package swaps leather seats for ActiveX, an artificial leather.
The F-150's ADAS menu is much longer than before. The new standard and available features include:
Additionally, Ford has modified how customers can take advantage of its BlueCruise hands-free driving technology.
A new One-Time Purchase of BlueCruise is available when ordering or taking delivery of an F-150, with a guaranteed minimum of seven years of service. That option wasn't available before. Also, if you decide to use the complimentary 90-day trial subscription, afterwards you can choose new monthly or annual plans, but not the One-Time Purchase option.
The only other notable change is that more affordable versions of the F-150 XLT are no longer available with the following features: navigation, a surround-view camera, Pro Trailer Hitch Assist, and Pro Trailer Backup Assist. These remain available on the more expensive versions of the XLT.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
BlueCruise provides hands-free driving capability on 97 percent of the controlled-access highways across Canada and the U.S. These approved roads are known as Hands-Free Blue Zones, and when you're driving on one of them, you can choose to use BlueCruise. It takes over the steering, braking, acceleration, and lane changes and essentially drives the F-150 for you. However, you, the driver, must be ready to take complete control at any time.
I drove the F-150 Tremor out to the western fringes of the Mojave Desert for testing and used BlueCruise extensively on Southern California freeways. While it required me to take control several times due to various reasons, it proved remarkably capable, smooth, and trustworthy at nearly all the time. There was a moment when odd lane markings caused a glitch that sent the truck into the next lane, and fortunately, there wasn't a car in it. That would not have been pretty.
That's less an indictment of BlueCruise and more a reality with Level 2+ semi-autonomous driving technologies in general. The F-150 needed me to take the wheel due to road construction, sun glare, and when encountering suboptimal road markings. Sometimes the hand-off from the technology to the driver was gradual, with plenty of time to react. Less often, BlueCruise insisted I immediately take control. And remember, I performed this testing on a sunny, clear day in the desert without weather complications.
As impressed as I am with BlueCruise, its performance and flaws demonstrate that we have a long way to go to reach fully autonomous driving that is trustworthy regardless of lighting, weather, and road repair situations. So, don't plan to relinquish your driver's license any time soon.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
Push the F-150 Tremor's engine start button, and the standard 5.0-liter V8 roars to life, settling into a low rumble at idle. It sounds sensationally good. But that's the only benefit of choosing it over the twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 engine.
The EcoBoost is a no-cost option for the Tremor, and it offers the same 400 horsepower as the V8 plus 100 extra pound-feet of torque (510 vs. 410). The EcoBoost also gets better fuel economy (18 mpg vs. 17 mpg in combined driving). Plus, the EcoBoost engine allows the Tremor to tow more weight (300 pounds more, with a 10,200-pound tow rating).
Now, are those significant differences? No, except the torque thing. Is it worth spending more on gas and accelerating a little slower to enjoy the intoxicating exhaust note from a Tremor V8? Possibly, but only you can decide. You should know however that the twin-turbo V6 emits a pleasant chuffing sound when it's gathering speed. Not the same thing as the unmistakable sound of the V8, but still enjoyable.
I drove the F-150 Tremor V8 from Ventura County to Mojave, California, and back. The trip included highway driving, desert running, trail creeping, rural two-lane roads, twisty mountain roads, and city/suburban driving. The Tremor averaged 15.9 mpg. Yikes. Still, that's only 1.1 mpg lower than the official EPA rating, so maybe that's an acceptable result.
The V8 sounds great and accelerates the F-150 with authority. Better yet, the Tremor feels better buttoned down on highways than a Ram RHO I tested earlier this year. The Ford has a firmer ride, tauter handling, and is quieter inside at speed than the Ram. The Tremor also tackled the same level of difficulty terrain as the RHO, though both trucks' width proved a liability on some sections of desert trail due to encroaching brush. Also, the Ram averaged 14 mpg on the same evaluation route.
With all of that said, if you were to park the Ford F-150 Tremor and Ram RHO side by side and tell me to drive one for the next year, I'd choose the truck wearing a blue oval badge on its grille.
Photo: Christian Wardlaw
There is so much right with the 2025 Ford F-150 and very little wrong. It's as if this truck serves as the blueprint that the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, GMC Sierra 1500, Ram 1500, and Toyota Tundra should follow, but don't at their peril. I know brand loyalty runs deep in truck buyers, but coming from a brand-agnostic position without any parents who drove particular trucks before my time, my favorite light-duty full-size pickup truck is the F-150.
Christian Wardlaw is a veteran automotive journalist with 30 years of experience in the field and has held automotive editorial leadership positions at Edmunds, JD Power, and The New York Daily News. Today, Chris owns a content agency called Speedy Daddy Media, and in addition to JDPower.com, his work appears on Capital One Auto Navigator, CarGurus, and Edmunds.
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