Added hood vents, chrome grille, six inches of lift, and shiny 20-inch wheels give this Ford pickup an added layer of badass, too.
If you’ve driven past a Ford dealership, you’ve probably seen a Tuscany FTX version of the F-150 proudly displayed up front. It’s big on aftermarket style and flash, but the 2012 model in the video above only has its stock 5.0-liter V8. Not for long, though.
To transform the last-generation F-150 FX4 into an FTX, Tuscany gave it functional hood vents, a chrome grille, body side cladding, six inches of lift, and shiny 20-inch wheels. They even reworked the bed, lining it with carpeting and topping it with a hard tonneau cover. Those touches might limit its functionality, but they sure make the FTX look different.
However, mechanically the FTX is almost completely untouched. It breathes a little more freely through a cat-back exhaust system…and that’s about it. The 5.0-liter V8 doesn’t have any mods. Then American Trucks steps in.
They give the FTX a total engine makeover by plugging in 47-lb fuel injectors, upgrading the fuel rails, bolting in an air-to-water intercooler, and installing a higher-performance throttle body. This, of course, is all to accommodate the added grunt of the FTX’s new Roush TVS Phase 2 supercharger.
The 2.3-liter blower boosts the 5.0’s respective rear-wheel horsepower and torque figures from 310 and 328 lb-ft to a flat 500 and 480. Those increases fatten up the FTX’s low- to mid-range output, in particular.
Numbers like those are great no matter where you let them out. American Trucks is especially interested in how they affect the FTX’s towing speed on the highway. Before putting the supercharger in, they clocked the FTX going from 30 to 60 mph as it climbed an on-ramp with a Ford Mustang-filled trailer behind it. The stock FTX did the run in 30 seconds. How much time did the Roush supercharger shave off of that time? You’ve got to watch to find out.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
