Ford is the king of limited edition vehicles. We have a hard time keeping track of the special edition F-150s, and that's our job. Then there's the Mustang, which takes it to another level. The Ford F-150 Foose Edition includes 22x9-inch forged wheels with Pirelli 275/45 rubber, a lower body kit, two-color graphics, a billet grille insert, and a lowered suspension. Those are just the parts you can see from the outside.
The body kit is tame enough to keep if from looking overdone-Chip wouldn't have approved it if it did-and it managed to turn heads on the freeway. Now, for the bad news: The body kit is painted to match the truck's factory-applied paint, but the graphics are just stickers, very high-quality stickers, but stickers nonetheless.
Hopping behind the wheel of our Foose Edition loaner, we appreciated the FX2 Sport gauges and upgraded leather, but we were a little less impressed with the engine's performance. OK, we weren't disappointed in the engine. When you hear "450 horsepower" you have certain expectations, and there's no doubt that the Roush supercharger and intercooler are adding a ton of extra grunt to the 5.4L. Unfortunately, the 450 horses in this truck are saddled with a lot of weight, so the explosive acceleration you'd expect just isn't there. The dual cat-back exhaust is also surprisingly quiet, which is great when cruising on the highway, but it doesn't really open up at full throttle to let the engine wail like it deserves to. Then again, if we had to choose between the mellow sound and a noisy drone, we'd take mellow any day.
The Ford doesn't really explode off the line, but once the supercharger builds some boost, it really puts down power. Unfortunately, while the power is very linear, allowing for strong acceleration up to fast-lane speeds, the truck's curb weight seriously hampers what could be a truly fun package. It's really hard to make a SuperCrew sporty ... it just wasn't meant to be.
Still, the suspension of the Ford is a serious improvement. Driven on the same stretch of highway as our long-term Tundra tester, the steering input was easier in the F-150 and the ride was much less bouncy, so there was a lot less feedback into the seats, yet more into the steering wheel. We credit that to the tighter suspension and 22-inch wheels. At first it was a little alarming to feel the road that much, but feeling it in your hands does beat feeling it in the pit of your stomach.
Another quirk we noticed in the Foose Edition, that we've come across in other supercharged F-150s, is the full-throttle acceleration can cause the engine to hit the rev limiter before the transmission knows what's going on. This only happened once, but it did make us worry for a split second that something had gone wrong.
Our overall feel from the Foose Edition was that while the finished package makes for a great all-around truck, there's just a lot of fun we could have had with the $18,845 in options that make this a Foose Edition. If you want a unique truck that can handle just about any task and don't want to get your hands dirty, the Foose Edition belongs on your short list of options. But, you are paying for exclusivity and there's nothing more exclusive than the one-of-a-kind truck you built on your own. The question remains: How badly do you want a warranty?
Highs
Turns heads
Quick for a crew cab
Sporty for a crew cab
Lows
Still a crew cab
You'll be buying a lot of 91-octane
Graphics are only stickers
$55K and no navigation, Sync, or steering wheel audio controls
Price (as tested)
$55,200
Engine
5.4L SOHC V-8
Horsepower
450
Torque (lb-ft)
500
Transmission
four-speed automatic
Axle Ratio
3.73:1
Suspension
Independent with coilovers (front), live axle with leaves (rear)
Brakes
four-wheel disc, four-wheel ABS, stability control
Curb Weight
5,700 lbs
Power to Weight
12.7lbs/hp
MPG
11/14