Pickup trucks may be designed as work vehicles, but they’ve become as popular among people with white collars as people with blue collars. The 2016 Ford F-150 Limited exemplifies this trend, offering nearly every gadget in Ford’s catalog in a chrome-bedecked package.
The Limited is distinguished by a model-specific grille and 22-inch wheels, satin-chrome door handles, exhaust tip, tailgate badge, and mostly body-color bumpers. If those clues are too subtle, the word “Limited” is also spelled out in raised letters on the hood.
That extra glitz is matched by a long list of standard equipment, including blind-spot monitoring with cross-traffic alert, a panoramic roof, power running boards, LED headlights, and remote start with tailgate release. An optional technology package adds lane-keep assist, a 360-degree camera system, and dynamic trailer hitch assist.
Speaking of trailers, the F-150 Limited also boasts Ford’s new Pro Trailer Backup Assist as an option. It allows the F-150 to automatically steer itself and a trailer while backing up, making what can be a tricky maneuver trouble free for the driver. All he or she needs to do is twist a knob on the dashboard to set the desired steering angle.
Like most of the rest of Ford’s lineup, the F-150 Limited also gets the new Sync 3 infotainment system. This replacement for the unloved Microsoft-based MyFord Touch is supposed to be faster and easier to use, and includes an AppLink for a degree of smartphone connectivity.
Other notable features include a 10-speaker Sony audio system (with five-year subscription to SirusXM Traffic and Travel Link), and 10-way power-adjustable heated and cooled leather front seats, which also have a massage function. The interior of this truck is really starting to seem more like a lounge than the cabin of a vehicle.
As with the exterior, the interior gets a few callouts to denote this luxury F-150’s pedigree. There’s a laser-engraved VIN plate on the center console lid, model-specific floor mats and instrument cluster face, and aluminum and fiddleback eucalyptus trim.
While Ford offers no fewer than four engine options on the F-150, you can only get one on the Limited. It’s the turbocharged 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6, which produces 365 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque. It’s coupled to a six-speed automatic transmission, with either rear-wheel drive or four-wheel drive.
The 2016 Ford F-150 Limited goes on sale this winter. Pricing will be announced closer to the on-sale date.
