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2011 Ford F-150 Lariat SuperCab 4x4 (photos)

Ford's F-150 retains work utility with its body-on-frame construction, payload capability, and four-wheel drive, but enters the 21st century with a new, efficient engine that's every bit as powerful as the older V-8.

Wayne Cunningham
Wayne Cunningham reviews cars and writes about automotive technology for CNET's Roadshow. Prior to the automotive beat, he covered spyware, Web building technologies, and computer hardware. He began covering technology and the Web in 1994 as an editor of The Net magazine.
Wayne Cunningham
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Ford has been building its F-series pickup trucks since 1948, with the first F-150 model coming out in 1973. That is a long history for any vehicle model, and has allowed the F-150 to gain a loyal following. For the 2011 model, Ford did not sacrifice any of the truck's capability, but added modern convenience features.

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The F-150 looks brawnier than ever, with a high riding position and clifflike drop-offs all the way around. The mirrors stick out wide, and include a lower convex section to eliminate blind spots.

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The most intriguing modern feature of this F-150 is the EcoBoost engine, a turbocharged direct-injection V-6, which produces more power than a 5-liter V-8 while getting slightly better fuel economy. This engine's power figures are 365 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque.

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The F-150 can be had with three different cab styles: normal, SuperCab, and SuperCrew. The latter two include a rear seat.

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The SuperCab uses rear half doors to give access to the rear seat, which has adequate legroom. To open the half doors, the front doors need to be open.

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Ford maintained classic body-on-frame architecture for the F-150 so as not to compromise its trailer-pulling and payload-carrying capabilities.

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Different F-150 models have a payload capability ranging from 930 pounds all the way up to 2,860 pounds. This model can carry 1,760 pounds, with a 6.5-foot bed.

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Despite the practicality of the F-150, this Lariat edition has an upscale interior, with heated and cooled front seats and faux wood trim.

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The steering effort required is reasonable, without being overboosted.

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The voice command buttons provide access to Sync features such as placing calls by name and requesting music from an attached MP3 player.

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The upper directional buttons let you view different information on the truck's instrument cluster display, such as fuel economy and Off Road apps.

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The instrument cluster has a traditional layout, with small gauges across the top. But the high-resolution center screen offers additional useful information.

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The six-speed automatic transmission boasts low ranges and a manual shift mode.

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The navigation system stores its maps on a hard drive, making for fast reaction times and good detail. It shows plan and perspective views.

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Traffic data is integrated with the navigation system: overlaid on the maps and used to suggest detours by route guidance.

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Sirius Travel Link shows a lot of useful information, such as gas prices, weather, and movie times.

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The Sync phone system pairs with Bluetooth phones, letting you place calls by saying the name of a contact.

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The stereo works with a wide array of audio sources, from stored digital media from MP3 players, USB drives, and the truck's own hard drive, to satellite radio.

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The music library interface looks the same for any source, whether it be a USB drive or MP3 player.

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The only driver assistance feature is this rearview camera. It is very useful, given the size of the truck, but it only includes distance lines, not trajectory.

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