Ford’s F-150 borrows some transmission tech from the Mustang

By Stephen Edelstein Published August 7, 2015

You can find sport modes in all sorts of vehicles these days. These use electronics to change the character of a car or truck and make it more, er, sporty. But is that something you really need in a full-size pickup truck?

Ford thinks so. It equipped the F-150’s six-speed automatic transmission with a sport mode to help make the aluminum-bodied truck more entertaining to drive, and says it cribbed some tech from the Mustang to do it.

Recommended Videos

On the F-150, sport mode is activated by pushing the “two/haul” mode button twice. An amber “S” appears in the lower-right area of the tachometer when the selection is made. When in sport mode, the transmission holds the lower gears longer, which allows the engine to stay in the meatier area of its power band longer, improving response and reducing the need for downshifts.

Typically, automatic transmissions will try to select the highest gear possible to drop engine rpm, improving fuel economy and making for a more quiet ride. But this often means downshifting back into the power band’s sweet spot to get more power when the driver wants to accelerate.

Sport mode also matches engine rpm to whatever the transmission happens to be doing as the truck decelerates into a corner, helping to smooth out downshifts.

All of this behavior is based on the calibration of the same transmission in the Mustang. Since both vehicles were in development at roughly the same time, they were often driven together in tests, which gave engineers the idea to share the calibration, Ford says. The company also adapted the Mustang’s “aero curtain” aerodynamic aids to the F-150.

Sport mode is standard on all F-150 models, and can be activated whether the truck is in rear-wheel drive, four-wheel drive automatic, or four-wheel drive high.

The transmission technology-sharing between the F-150 and Mustang could soon go both ways. The F-150 is expected to get a new 10-speed automatic transmission to help further improve its fuel economy, and rumor has it that the F150’s transmission and its copious gears will make it into the Mustang as well.

Topics

Stephen Edelstein

Contributing Editor

Stephen is a freelance automotive journalist covering all things cars. He likes anything with four wheels, from classic cars…

Cars

The Ford Mustang Mach-E isn’t just getting cheaper, it’s getting better

A red 2021 Ford Mustang Mach-E in a field.

Ford and Tesla have both made headlines over the past few months for engaging in a relatively aggressive pricing battle. The Mach-E and the Tesla Model Y are among the most popular electric cars out there, and they've both gotten a fair bit cheaper in the last few months. The model Mach-E now sells for $42,995, and the base model Model Y goes for $47,490 -- both before incentives.

I've reviewed a number of different Mach-E models over the past few years, and they're always one of my favorite cars to drive. But after driving the Mustang Mach-E California Route 1 Edition for a week, it was apparent that the Mach-E isn't just getting cheaper -- it's also getting better.

Cars

Electric trucks aren’t ready for the big leagues — but I still loved the F-150 Lightning

Ford F-150 Lightning

Electric cars are getting pretty cool. While Tesla popularized the concept of a "fun" electric car, these days there are quite a few options out there, like the Kia EV6, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, and even some luxury options from Mercedes and BMW. These cars offer awesome performance and often a sweet design, making them excellent choices for first-time EV buyers.

But with electric trucks, it's a slightly different story. To be clear, they're just as powerful, -- often more so -- than electric cars. But when you're driving a truck, you expect to be able to use that power in different ways, and frankly, electric trucks seem to have a way to go before they'll hold up in those settings.
Towing is tough
The Achilles' heel of every electric truck comes down to hauling: Adding a ton of weight to the load seriously impacts range -- and not in a trivial way. Add a camper or even a lightweight trailer, and you might find that you're getting half of the expected range out of a charge. That means that you'll have to charge up more than every 150 miles, and if you're towing a camper, it's very likely that you're driving further than that. And even lighter loads can have a heavy impact on range.

Cars

Ford will sell some Explorer SUVs with missing features

2020 Ford Explorer ST first drive

Impacted by the ongoing global chip shortage, Ford has said it will begin selling some of its Explorer SUVs without particular features, but added that customers can have the necessary components fitted later once the chips became available.

The news was first reported by Automotive News in a report citing a meeting between Ford executives and dealers on Saturday, March 14.