2023 Ford F-150 tested and tuned for Australian conditions

The 2023 Ford F-150 XLT and Lariat will be available for sale in Australia from the second half of 2023.

Best of all, this isn’t just a conversion and a copy paste of what the American market receives, Ford tells us these vehicles have be tested in Australia for Australian conditions.

3

Overseas model shown

“When F-150 hits Australian showrooms, customers can rest assured it has been put through the same local durability program as the Ranger and Everest which, of course, is the same program the left-hand-drive F-150 went through in the States,” said Dave Burn, Performance and Customisation Chief Program Engineer for Ford Australia.

“We’ve torture-tested, tuned and re-worked the right-hand-drive F-150 so that Aussie customers know they’re getting the full factory F-150 experience. We’re doing everything to make sure the truck will be right at home here in Australia,” said Burn.

As part of this durability testing, the 2023 Ford F-150 was put through conditions ranging in temperature from -40 degrees celsius to +50 degrees celsius. It towed trailers, was pushed through mud, sand, water crossings and corrosion testing. Ford even tells us that the F-150 travelled more than 135,000 kilometres to make sure the vehicle was ready for the conditions we experience here.

3

Torture testing was conducted at Ford’s Silver Creek Road durability track, which Ford mentions was done hundreds of times. Then some of the world’s most challenging roads were replicated in the laboratory at its You Yangs Proving Ground assessing driveline, wheels and suspension to the limit.

Both the XLT and Lariat models will be powered by a 3.5-litre EcoBoost V6 engine, mated to a 10-speed automatic transmission. They will be sold in 4x4 crew cab configuration, with both a SWB (145-inch wheelbase) and LWB (157-inch wheelbase).

Ford has told us that the vehicles will be available in showrooms from the second half of 2023, however pricing has not yet been announced. We’ll update this closer to the market release in Australia next year.