What is that in my hand, you might ask, as we stand next to a 2026 Ford F-150 LOBO.
Well, it’s the ignition key for this kind-of basic pickup truck, albeit one that Ford has added a lowered sport-tuned suspension, 22-inch gloss black wheels, and “That’s an engine!” 5-liter Coyote V-8, as my gearhead son said.
That’s right – this is the first test vehicle I have had in years that needs a key stuck in a dashboard-mounted ignition slot.
We all know that Ford F-150s are the best-selling pickups in the U.S., with almost 829,000 sold last year, and almost 835,000 in 2024. And through August of this year, add a half million more.
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The LOBO is almost at the starting point of a sales-rich F-150 lineup that includes ultra-lux Lariat, King Ranch and Platinum versions. This one’s based on one of the F-150’s standard trims – the STX SuperCrew. And it’s for folks who do not need the supercharged Raptor, but want some fun with a real pickup that can haul people, stuff or a trailer, and has 4-wheel-drive if you need it.
So here’s what you get.
Take the 14th-generation F-150, introduced in 2021 and refreshed a bit in 2024. Add gloss black grille with LED running lights through its middle, some of them splitting the stacked headlight design. Add an aggressive lower grille with air dam and fog lights. Slashed black LOBO-badged fender vents look real, and join faux dual vents on the wide hood, which really look add-on.
Lower sills get gentle ground effects flares, while the rear step bumper has cutouts for dual black-chromed exhaust tips. And it all rides on a noticeably-lowered suspension – a 2-inch drop – wearing meaty Bridgestone Alenza rubber on faceted 5-spoke black alloy wheels
Ford uses aluminum to lighten its pickups. Our LOBO wears alloy on every panel, including the hood. On top of the basic white paint you’ll find some of the usual gloss and flat black accents.
All in all, the LOBO has some street attitude without looking too racy – low but not wild. Some truck-owning friends loved the simple, slightly slammed look. Ford should make this a spunky 2-door pickup with this short bed for more serious attitude.
2026 Ford F-150 LOBO Interior: Spacious With Upscale Touches
Despite the 2-inch suspension lowering, the A- and B-pillar mounted grab handles come in handy to pull oneself into the big SuperCrew cabin, where you are met with a basic black plastic Ford truck interior. Yes, there’s gloss graphite gray trim on the dashboard, with some chrome accents.
The interior design of what some would call a “street truck” is familiar, used on the most recent runs of F-150s. Based on that simpler STX trim, there’s a textured black plastic cowl over a 12-inch digital gauge display – an upgrade to the STX’s analog gauges .
It showcases a 120-mph speedometer, 8,000-rpm tach (7,000-rpm redline) and small engine gauges across the top – the center of the screen can host cruise control, trip meter or other information.
At center stage is another 12-inch touchscreen for navigation along with a 6-speaker audio system and other apps running on Ford’s SYNC 4 system, with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Main menu touchscreen icons to access apps, audio, Android Auto and others strip the bottom of the screen.
The steering wheel gets a simple, padded urethane rim with the usual controls up front, and manual tilt and telescope adjust.
Below the center screen are big, rubberized knobs for audio volume and tune, plus fan speed and temperature – no dual-zone climate control here, just like no push-button start. Another throwback to the analog days of pickup trucks is a column shifter vs. one in the center console, which freed up more storage space.
The Drive Mode selector – Normal, Sport, Eco, Tow/Haul, Slippery, and Off-Road – is to the right, framed in 2-WD/4WD Auto/4WD/4WDLow buttons. And you have a 12-volt and 120-volt outlet on the right side.
With a classic column shifter on the steering wheel – manual shift is done via a rocker switch there – the center console is wide open for storage. There’s side slots, plus big cup holders and a rubberized tray where a shifter goes on other pickups. There’s dual USB ports at the front of the hard plastic-framed center console – no inductive charger pad for cellphones, though. And you can flip the top of the padded center armrest forward to make a long, wide laptop-capable table.
The black cloth bucket seats up front are supportive, soft and comfortable, with basic manual adjustments and some nice stitching, but no seat heat. Like the dashboard, the doortops are also hard plastic, with padded leatherette armrests below.
The rear bench seat is huge. It’s able to handle three adults with great head and leg room, with a/c vents and another set of 12-and 120-volt outlets. There are rear cup holders but no center armrest. The seat bottoms flip up 60/40 to open a flat carpeted floor to carry stuff. The wide rear window has no sliding opening.
The 5.5-foot cargo bed in back can pack lots of stuff inside its 52.8 cubic feet of space, with four cargo tie-downs and another 120-volt outlet. Liftover isn’t too high, but the tailgate is not damped as it drops.
It is a basic interior with some upscale touches – but still a sort of comfy work struck vibe.
2026 Ford F-150 LOBO Shares Mustang GT’s Power Plant
Pop the hood, and there’s a sight familiar to many Mustang owners – snaking composite intake runners atop a 5-liter V-8 – aka the Coyote.
It has 400 hp and 410 lb-ft of torque, which is upgradable to 700 horsepower with an optional Ford Performance/Whipple supercharger kit.
The transmission is a 10-speed automatic with a two-speed 4WD system and standard Ford 3.73 electronic locking axle ratio.
Fire up that 5-liter, and there’s a nostalgic muscle car roar before it settles into an idling rumble. Poke the gas pedal and power delivery is almost immediate, even in Eco mode, with a smooth 10-speed automatic transmission. Put the pedal down and acceleration is linear with clean upshifts with 60 mph coming in 6.7 seconds with a nice exhaust sound. Fun note – we got some rear rubber in the 1-2, and 2-3 shifts in our unladen truck on hard launches in Eco mode and rear-wheel-drive, all handled by traction control.
It’s smart that when you are in Sport mode, it automatically shifts into auto all-wheel-drive – smarter for traction. Depress the pedal, and this truck just moves out with no drama, with all four tires grabbing as 60 mph came up in 5.9 seconds with a classic V-8 roar. You can manually shift by tapping a button on the stalk, then awkwardly using the rocker switch on it. It’s not really fun for sport shifting, but easy when towing or downhills require it.
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It’s not as quick off the line as a Ram TRX SRT’s 777 hp/supercharged 6.2-liter V-8, or Ford’s 720-hp Raptor R with its supercharged 5.2-liter “Carnivore” V-8 (about 3.5 second to 60 mph each). But it is well mannered in Sport mode. The all-wheel-drive puts the power down neatly to all four tires.
We managed not much more than 17-mpg, driving mostly in Eco and on highways, where this F-150 was fairly quiet with a touch of tire and wind noise. With a 23-gallon fuel tank, we easily had 500-miles of indicated range when topped up.
The lowered rear suspension has a stiffer setup all-round for sportier handling and reduced body roll compared to standard 4×4 trucks, Ford says. The rest is independent double-wishbone with coil-over shock and stamped lower control arm in front; leaf spring with solid axle; 5-link coil in back. It’s comfortable, absorbing bumps without a shudder or head-toss, speed bumps handled quickly with a buffered rebound.
In normal cornering, the LOBO easily lopes around with neutral handling and minimal body roll. The lane-keep system gently rumbles the steering wheel if you drift. Expressway ramps saw the LOBO just stay its line with no drama, while faster steady-state cornering saw limited body roll and some very gentle understeer crop up – easy to play with. Overall, a pretty nimble big pickup.
Power steering has a direct if light feel in Eco mode, something which firms up in Sport mode, with a decent turning circle for a 232-inch-long truck. The 13.7-inch front/13.2-inch rear disc brakes had a decent pedal feel on this 8,100-mile-old truck, a bit of travel before a solid bite. We felt no fade after repeated stops from speed, with a bit of nose dive but no rear lockup.
There’s lots of flavors of Ford F-150s, from the base XL starting at $32,790, on up to the $79,000 Raptor – our LOBO was mid-pack starting at $51,070, with a few options – $4,695 LOBO package with 22-inch wheels, 3.73 electronic lock rear axle and all-season rubber; $2,340 5-liter V-8; $1,705 STX details; and a few more to add up to $62,240 before discounts. Some truck owners I told said that sounded OK.
Bottom line: Not a show-stopper, not a muscle truck – just a nicely planted sporty-yet-basic pickup that can do a lot well. It’s quick and well-mannered. I grinned a lot driving this well-dressed truck, sort-of a 4-door Mustang with a cargo bed.
2026 Ford F-150 4×4 LOBO SuperCrew Specifications
Vehicle type – full-size 5-passenger extended-cab 4-wheel-drive pickup
Base price – $51,070 ($62,240 as tested)
Engine type –24-valve DOHC alloy V-8
Displacement – 5 liter
Horsepower (net) – 400 @ 6,250 rpm
Torque – 410 @ 4,250 rpm
Transmission – 10-speed automatic transmission
Wheelbase – 145.4 inches
Overall length – 232 inches
Overall width – 95.7 inches w/mirrors
Height – 75.4 inches
Front headroom – 40.8 inches
Front leg room – 43.9 inches
Rear headroom – 40.4 inches
Rear legroom – 43.6 inches
Cargo bed – 5.5-foot-long/ 52.8 cu. ft. volume
Payload/towing – up to 2,080 pounds/8,200 (4,600 less than non-LOBO) pounds
Weight – 5,525 lbs.
Fuel capacity – 23 gallons
Fuel mileage – 16 mpg city/24 mpg highway