Ford Wants You to Believe the New F-150 Lobo Is a Street Truck

I had high hopes for the Ford F-150 Lobo, but it’s not enough. My expectations were set by the Maverick Lobo, which not only rocks a distinctive bodykit and lowered suspension but also improved cooling and a trick rear differential that makes it pretty agile on an autocross course. But the full-size F-150 variant feels like little more than an appearance package, and even then, it’s not immediately clear that it’s supposed to be a street truck with all that wheel gap.

At least it has a V8.

The F-150 Lobo isn’t a trim but rather an add-on available for the STX trim. It does feature lowered suspension, but only in the back, where there’s a two-inch drop. That tweak eliminates the regular F-150’s rake, and that’s likely what reduces the max payload to 1,450 pounds, with tow capacity dropping as well to 7,900 pounds. That may not seem like much of a loss until you realize that the most capable 4×4 F-150 with the 5.0-liter can tow 12,900 pounds.

Ford’s Coyote engine makes the same power in this application as it does in other F-150s: 400 horsepower and 410 lb-ft of torque. That’s not weak at all, and if you want more power, the aftermarket parts catalog is endless; I can see customers adding a Roush supercharger to these, for sure. Every Lobo comes with a dual exhaust, a 3.73 rear axle with an electronic locking diff, plus an upgraded two-speed automatic 4WD system.

The biggest visual differences are the cowl hood and wide-mouth lower grille. Its upper grille design is unique, too, along with the LED signature and taillights. Ford notes the truck’s “ground appearance package” and 22-inch wheels in its press release, but the all-black Lobo featured in these photos seems to hide these details or, at the very least, obscure them. I’m curious to see what it looks like in the other available colors: Atlas Blue Metallic, Carbonized Gray, Oxford White, and Rapid Red Metallic Tinted Clearcoat.

Tuners like Roush have already built legit street trucks on the current-gen F-150 platform. Heck, so have Ford dealers. I wouldn’t expect the Blue Oval to go all out and give the Lobo 700 hp or anything, but when you already know what could be, it’s tough to put this pickup in the same category.

The Lobo package adds $4,695 to the F-150 STX, with total pricing clocking in at $59,995 after destination and delivery charges. It’ll be available this fall.

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