|
|
 |
 |
||||||
|
February 14, 2007 This Week:
© 1998 - 2007
Copyright & |
The “Bold Endures 1” team, truck and trailer will be at Ford’s truck display at Daytona’s Ruby Tuesday restaurant on Saturday from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and at the Home Depot on Sunday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Both locations are on International Speedway Blvd. The team will be back on the road accumulating miles during its non-display time in Daytona. “The Bold Endures team is testing the pickup during actual road and traffic conditions while towing a load no other competitive truck can handle, which is still 6,000 pounds less than the all-new Ford F-450’s massive towing capacity.”
The Bold Endures tours build on the 10 million miles of testing the 2008 F-Series Super Duty engineering team logged to stamp the truck with the “Built Ford Tough” promise. The definition of "Built Ford Tough" is rooted in a series of grueling tests in the hot Arizona desert. For example, before the new F-Series Super Duty began reaching Ford dealers, the truck’s testing regiment included nearly three million miles of real-world customer durability testing in some of the most extreme conditions possible. At Ford's Arizona Proving Ground (APG) in western Arizona, Super Duty test vehicles were driven thousands of times over 50 miles of torturous terrain specifically developed to shake, twist, rattle and batter the trucks. Furthermore, the trucks were tested during the summer when the average temperature was 103 degrees Fahrenheit with peak heat reaching 120 degrees.
All Super Duty durability tests at APG are done with maximum loads on the front and rear axles. For example, to allow for the customer who puts a snow plow on the front end, the front axle is loaded up. In addition, a maximum load is placed on the rear axle for the customer who loads to capacity on the rear of a truck, explained Wagner. Considering more than 90 percent of Super Duty customers tow with their trucks, that capability also is pushed to the limit at APG. One of several tests for towing involves a highway road with a challenging incline. Loaded at maximum gross combined weight – the weight of the trailer and the truck – the grade of the road acts as an additional load, further taxing the truck 's powertrain and towing components. Even with so many improvements, Ford is lowering the F-Series Super Duty’s base manufacturer 's suggested retail prices (MSRPs) while adding more standard content to provide more value to truck customers. The base prices (including destination and delivery) for the 2008 F-250 Super Duty range from $23,305 for a Regular Cab XL 4x2 model to $38,425 for a top of the line F-250 Crew Cab Lariat 4x4. The same configurations for the 2007 model year were priced at $23,455 and $38,670, respectively. Since its debut in 1948, Ford has sold more than 32 million F-Series trucks around the world. Today, there are more F-Series pickups on the road with 250,000 miles than any other brand. It has also been the best-selling truck in America for 30 consecutive years and the best-selling vehicle for 25 years in a row. The Ford F-150 half-ton pickup, like the Super Duty, is the capability leader in its segment with best-in-class payload and towing capacities. New for the 2007 model year, Ford has added to an unmatched lineup of more than 60 unique F-Series offerings with new F-150 FX2 Sport and Harley-Davidson SuperCrew models. (16.02.2007)
|
||||||
