First off i am SO sorry because i left the camera and phone at home when i left for ford today for their unveiling party.
Anyway i got to test drive a brand new 2009 F-150 King Ranch Supercrew 5.4L V8 4x4 with everything except nav.
First off ill start with the interior:
The interior is much larger than the 04-08 models being as it is stretched 6 inches more and the dash is not as deep. Overall the cabin has a very upscale appearance and is very comfortable. The new leather is a deep color not orange as it appears in the pictures floating around, and is much more resistant to scratches than the previous. The embedded King Ranch logos look very nice and fit into the trucks style very well. The extra room in the back seat was more than enough for me to fit in there with plenty, and i mean plenty, of room. I think the seats will be alot more comfortable for long distance drives than the current gen is.
As said above this truck was pretty well equipped. The Microsoft Sync system worked very well with my ipod and the salesman's thumb drive, as well as syncing with the dummy phone they had. The power fold mirrors are a nice touch but not new that i dont have on my 07 XLT which i thought was nice.
Reverse Camera works really well especially in the tight lot i parked it in to try it out. helped me back up to a cement wall within inches.
Sony sound system sounds wonderful as well.
The Ride:
My trip consisted of about 5 miles of clear interstate driving down a 2 way highway, short gravel road to a friends house, and then down another highway in traffic back to the dealership. The truck is much quieter inside than the 04-08s. Pickup seemed to require alot more input than that of my 07 (pedal seemed alot stiffer or something, requiring more effort to pickup) however when the correct input was given it picked up well. I would have thought i was in a car when driving down the interstate and other roads because of how smooth it road.
Sticker: $41.5k
All in all i must say this truck has grown on me alot. The taillights are not as bad as they appear in pictures. The thing i really dont like is the oversized headlight but as the truck did i suppose they will grow on me and just become part of them.
Didn't realize that it was coming in the Blue... Thanks for that.
It's almost like Ford is reading the KR forum's old posts -- several of us had asked for a navy KR many years ago (similar to the old charcoal blue). Then we asked for cooled seats...
I could go on with a few more... I think the program folks know about us though.
I do agree with the remote start starting the seats also, the heated steering wheel would be nice , but I would much rather have a heated windsheild. Like on some lincolns. I shocked that heated windsheilds are not standard in some areas, it should be considered a saftey feature..
Didn't realize that it was coming in the Blue... Thanks for that.
It's almost like Ford is reading the KR forum's old posts -- several of us had asked for a navy KR many years ago (similar to the old charcoal blue). Then we asked for cooled seats...
I could go on with a few more... I think the program folks know about us though.
They probably spend most of their time in the GD section.
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Jim
Flowmaster 40, K&N dropin, Tint, Roush wheels, 305/50/20s
Edge Evo with PHP custom tunes, GF 2" shackles
cool our local dealership unveiling is NOV 6th. But they have had atleast one 09 on the lot for two weeks now. I cant wait, hopefully ill get to drive one around
__________________ Jmod... 3/5 Drop... Tint 15%F 1%R... Dynomax BulletDual 16" Efans
P&P TB/Plenum... L HL/Corners... Custom Sub BoxReverse Fogs jamzwayne : I'm not saying dont get any hoopie patch for your dang-dang scott1981 : Fly your American flag, but dont let it block the view of your toyota. gators241987 : Chris Hansen is a coc.blocker jbrew : 5fours are notorious for leaking up front @ the water jackets
when u get out of the truck u can leave the defroster on, assuming you have manual controls or are able to do this. Same with the seats no?
In my '97 and '98, you'd just select defrost on the dial before shutting off truck, then remote starting it would turn heat on and defrost would be selected.
In my '04, even with EATC which I always have on, you can manually turn on the Defrost before shutting off your truck along with leaving EATC on. That way when you Remote Start the Defrost will come on with the rest of the heat; you'll just need to hit Auto when you get in to turn Defrost off if you don't need it anymore. But the heated seats will not work that way. Also I don't believe the heated side view mirrors will work that way either. No idea why. Those two items appear to be on momentary switching or something, compared to always-on switching like the Defrost or EATC (sort of like the very sad way Ford sets up their Upfitter Switches in their Super Duty's - they shut off unless the vehicle is running - totally & completely useless that way).
From what I understand, the new sad 'n droopy Ram will remote start and the heated seats and steering wheel will turn on.
you can hook up the heated side mirrors and rear defrost to one of the auxiliary option wires coming out of the remote start unit. I hooked up my heated side mirrors to my Ford remote start by just tapping into the switch wire. So after I remote start my truck, I press the button one more time and the mirrors come on.
Maybe you could do that for the seats too but it may require additional relays?
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Steve
04' Silver/DSG FX4 Screw My Gallery