2020 Ford F-Series Super Duty claims best-in-class power, payload and towing ratings
1,050 pound-feet of torque, a 37,000-pound tow rating and a 7,850-pound payload max. Holy moly.
The heavy-duty pickup wars officially have a new leader. At the State Fair of Texas on Thursday, Ford announced power, payload and towing figures for the 2020 F-Series Super Duty lineup, and they're all best-in-class numbers.
For horsepower and torque, Ford takes top honors with both its gasoline and diesel engines. The 7.3-liter gasoline V8 is officially rated at 430 horsepower and 475 pound-feet of torque. The 6.7-liter PowerStroke diesel V8, meanwhile, produces a whopping 475 hp and 1,050 lb-ft of torque. That torque number is only a 50-lb-ft increase over the Ram Heavy Duty's 1,000 lb-ft.
On the towing front, Ford says the diesel-powered Super Duty can manage 37,000 pounds with a gooseneck trailer (or 32,500 pounds with a fifth-wheel), which bests the Ram HD's 35,100-pound rating. That's a slightly more significant improvement, though I'm genuinely curious about how many heavy-duty pickup owners are regularly towing that much weight (it requires you to have a commercial driver's license, after all). Furthermore, Ford says the Super Duty can also tow the most with a conventional hitch: 24,200 pounds, with the diesel V8 engine.
For payload, Ford says its Super Duty achieves a max rating of 7,850 pounds with the 6.2-liter gas engine. That tops the Ram HD's 7,680-pound spec by 170 pounds, meaning Ford owners can throw a few extra cinder blocks in the back of their trucks.
Ford originally showed the 2020 Super Duty back in February, but didn't offer any powertrain or capability specs at the time. (Ford loves a long tease, don't forget.) The 2020 Super Duty gets a number of new driver-assistance features, like Ford's Pro Trailer Backup Assist, precollision braking with pedestrian detection, blind-spot monitoring with trailer coverage and lane-keep tech. Inside, there's a standard Wi-Fi hotspot that can connect as many as 10 devices.
The final detail still missing regarding the 2020 Ford F-Series Super Duty is price -- heavy-duty pickups can get superexpensive. Those numbers will likely be revealed closer to when the trucks hit dealerships later this year.
