Will the 2009 Ford F-150 be crowned the 2009 Motor Trend Truck of the Year? Find out Tues, December 16.

Link: http://blogs.motortrend.com/6379028/...150/index.html

 

With the great reviews and all of the new safety features and other improvements they added to the new f-150, I would be surprized if it didn't get motor trends truck of the year.

 

Has any pickup ever really been better than the F-150 in any given year? Award or not, it's always been the best, bar none.

Although I must say, those flat black B-pillars sure do look ridiculous. They really draw your eyes right to them; they just look so out of place, like a part that was supposed to be painted but was missed. Really bad. Other than that stand-out detail, all the trim lines of the refresh (XLT, Lariat, Platinum, etc) look really nice.

Hope the refresh wins the award! But win or not, it's always been the best truck out there.

 

i personally have always been a ford man. i've always thought they where superior trucks. but i don't put any stock in MT'S TOTY award after they gave it to the toyota tundra. however i would like to see the f-150 win just for the bragging rights.

 

This is something Ford definitely wants to win. It would be a travesty if the new Dodge Ram won. Despite what the guy keeps saying, who has no plans on buying this truck, the new F150 has been fully redesigned.

Take a step back in time.

This is the review from Edmund's in 2004. Note the words fully redesigned.

What's New for 2004

The F-150 is fully redesigned for 2004. It's bigger, more powerful and offers a greater variety of features and body styles than ever before.

Now today.

This is the review from Edumunds in 2009. Note the words fully redesigned, again.

What's New for 2009.

The 2009 Ford F-150 has been fully redesigned, with styling changes inspired by the Super Duty Series trucks and mechanical changes inspired by the competition. The former include a taller hood line and more macho grilles, while the latter includes higher-output engines along with a new six-speed automatic transmission.

 

They had to give it to the Tundra that year because it was the best "NEW" truck for that year.

The F150 should win this year, especially since the Dodge Ram is the only other "NEW" truck for 2009.

 

Don't forget about the H3T for some reason it has been getting allot of attention.

 

Didn't the Ridgeline also win this award?

I hope the F150 does win. Then we can dig up all the comments on how Motor Trend's TOTY award was a joke when the F150 DOESN'T win.

 

People thought it was a joke because they didn't understand the rules. In order to be eligible for truck of the year, it has to be a new truck. It can't simply be a refresh or just have a new powertrain or some package or a new look. Therefore the F-150 wasn't eligible all of those other years. It has to be new inside and out. This year 4 trucks are up for the award: 09 F-150, Dodge Ram, Humer H3T and Suzuki Equator. Motor Trend gets two trucks from each maker and then they do their tests. It's going to be a tough one between the F-150 and the Ram. I'll even say the Hummer has a chance. Possibly the Equator, too. You never know what they're going to find. You can read more about how it works here... 2009 Motor Trend Truck of the Year: http://blogs.motortrend.com/6319341/...ers/index.html



2009 Ford F-150 - The Ford has been completely redesigned from inner frame to outer skin. Of note, it's kept the rear suspension basically the same but have lengthened the rear leaves and widened them a considerable amount. Naturally, what Ford is aiming for is a smoother, more compliant ride. Exterior styling is significantly changed with the front nose and grille completely reshaped and bulked up. In addition, the rear tailgate has been sculpted for improved aero and restamped for added character. Ford will offer three V-8 engines -- two are 4.6L blocks, with the more powerful utilizing a better-breathing three-valve-per-cylinder head. The largest V-8 offered will be the 5.4L three-valve head at 310 hp and 365 lb-ft of torque. The strategy here is simple: After rebuilding the frame, Ford engineers have gone over every inch of the truck, trying to make it stronger, bigger, quieter, and better suited to satisfy core truck buyers.

2009 Dodge Ram

2009 Dodge Ram - The Dodge has been completely reworked inside and out. Although the powertrain and frame of the truck stay much the same, every other piece has been overhauled in order to differentiate this truck from the two other major players: F-150 and Silverado. The most obvious change is the forward canting of the trademark grille. The idea here was to design an aggressive grille that could scare the bejesus out of you when looking in the rearview mirror. The Charger-like grille sits in front of three different engine choices -- a 3.7L V-6, a 4.7L V-8, and a newly modified 5.7L Hemi V-8. The last has a more aggressive variable valve timing setup and cylinder-deactivation program, making this the most powerful and fuel-efficient Hemi to date. In addition, Dodge has hugely upped its interior game with all-new materials, trim packages, and optional equipment. Ram also offers the exclusive RamBox bed on the all-new CrewCab models, which includes two large storage trunks on both sides of the bed rails, effectively creating two lockable bins. But the biggest change for Ram is committing to a live-axle and coil-spring setup on all half-ton pickups. This does sacrifice maximum payload and towing numbers, but the idea will be to make up for that loss with improved ride control and comfort.

 

Nice, I like that picture, even if they did choose that odd color for the 150. I still can't get over how dodge decided to make the front end of their ram all droopy and sad, almost like a mouth in a frown. Certainly doesn't look tough.

For anyone who's seen the movie Team America, the droopy-sad ram front always makes me think of Intelligence saying "I'm sorry." in that semi-retarded voice. Bad Intelligence!

Suzuki what? Suzuki still makes automobiles?

 

mmk