Ford Built a Factory Street Truck. The F-150 Lobo Reviews Say the Drop and the V8 Are Right, the $60,000 Sticker Is Not

For thirty years the recipe for a street truck has been the same: take a half-ton, drop it, put big wheels under it, make it loud, and do it all yourself. With the F-150 Lobo, Ford sells that recipe from the dealer lot: a 5.0-liter Coyote V8, about two inches less ride height, 22-inch wheels and a ground effects kit. This summer two outlets got the keys long enough to see whether the factory version holds up.

Motor1's Jeff Perez drove a stock Lobo in July. AutoGuide's Lee Bailie drove one in September that had Ford's optional dealer-installed Whipple supercharger. TORQFOLIO did not drive either truck. Here is what they reported, with an earlier CarPro test for background.

What a Lobo is

The Lobo is a package on the F-150 STX, sold only as a SuperCrew with a 5.5-foot bed and four-wheel drive. Motor1 lists the 5.0-liter V8 at 400 hp and 410 lb-ft with a 10-speed automatic, a ride height about 2.0 inches lower than a standard F-150, 22-inch wheels and a 5,000-pound curb weight. The look comes from a 10-piece ground effects kit, a cowl hood, an LED light bar, an illuminated badge and black trim.

Perez broke down how the price stacks up: a bare STX at $47,650, the 5.5-foot bed for $2,335 and the Lobo trim for $4,695. His truck, with $495 Rapid Red paint, came to $63,875. CarPro, which tested a black Lobo in May, listed 275/50R22 all-season tires, a 3.73 electronic locking rear axle and 8,200 pounds of towing.

The drop works

This is the part of the Lobo that every reviewer liked. Perez wrote that the V8 gives the truck a sporty character and that the lower ride height helps it corner. Bailie went further and said the lower stance makes the Lobo feel more planted than other full-size trucks he has driven. CarPro's Jerry Reynolds made the same point in May, describing a truck that feels less top-heavy than a regular F-150 while keeping a comfortable ride.

For the street truck crowd, that matters. A factory drop that improves handling, keeps a warranty and still rides well is the argument for buying this instead of ordering a lowering kit for a regular F-150. Reynolds' line was the simplest: "the Lobo reminds you trucks can still be fun."

The 700-hp version

AutoGuide's truck is the one that will get the most attention at a meet. With Ford's Whipple supercharger installed by the dealer, Bailie lists 700 hp and 590 lb-ft and about 4.5 seconds to 62 mph. He found the throttle sharp in every drive mode and the truck surprisingly easy to drive gently every day. The costs are real, though: the supercharger alone is $10,250 plus installation, it needs 91-octane or better, the blower whine comes through even with the windows up, and he averaged 12.8 mpg. His test truck came to $78,375. AutoGuide scored it 70 out of 100, with a 9 for powertrain and a 4 for efficiency.

The cabin is a 1990s time capsule

Because the Lobo is built on the STX, the interior is basic. Perez listed cloth seats, manual seat controls and a metal key with an ignition cylinder, alongside a 12.0-inch touchscreen and digital cluster. Bailie called it a "de-contented STX interior" with hard plastics, no heated or cooled seats, no dual-zone climate, no running boards and no proximity unlocking.

There are a few bright spots for people who use a truck as a truck. Reynolds singled out the Mobile Office Package, with its work surface and 400-watt outlets, as especially useful, and praised the roomy SuperCrew cab and its flat rear floor. Not everyone minds the rest, either. Reynolds called the key and the simplicity "good memories of a simpler time in cars," and Perez said he found the simplicity refreshing. The problem is what that simplicity costs.

The price is the verdict

Perez summed it up in one line: at $63,875 as tested, "That's a whole hell of a lot for a truck that, frankly, doesn't offer a whole hell of a lot." He said he genuinely enjoyed it but expects it to be a hard sell, and predicted "the Lobo probably won't be around for very long." Bailie called the cost high for the equipment, even before the supercharger.

TORQFOLIO's read

The reviews say Ford got the hard parts right. The drop, the wheels, the Coyote and the sound are exactly what a street truck builder would choose, and the testers say the stance actually makes it drive better. What Ford got wrong is the math. At more than $60,000, the Lobo competes with a used truck plus a lowering kit, wheels, a tune and an exhaust, and plenty of builders in this scene will take that trade.

If Motor1's prediction is right and the Lobo has a short run, the trucks that do get built could turn into the kind of factory oddity people hunt for later, like the Lightning and the SVT trucks before it. Buy one because you want a warrantied, lowered V8 F-150 today. Skip the Whipple unless you really need 700 hp in a cloth-seat work truck.