Ford's Mighty New F-450 Super Duty Truck Can Tow Over 15 Tonnes

What do you buy when a Ford F-150 just isn’t brawny enough? Try the new F-450’s 935lb ft peak torque figure for size.

The new Super Duty truck joins the lineup with an improved 6.7-litre Power Stroke diesel engine. Its eight long-stroke pistons produce 450bhp and comfortably more than double the peak torque of a Volkswagen Amarok V6 TDI. Muscle.

As well as the traditional 4x4 layout Ford will build the 2018 F-450 in a rear-wheel drive 4x2 configuration, using a lighter and more efficient drivetrain that frees up more towing potential. With the standard gooseneck trailer fitting, a ball hitch in the load bay of the truck that’s attached to the chassis, the rear-driven F-450 can haul over 15.4 tonnes (34,000lbs). That’s an entire fighter jet.

It’s thanks to a hefty steel box frame construction and a military-grade aluminium body, and makes the 4x2 F-450 the most powerful and most capable, in Ford’s words, Super Duty truck it has ever built.

Even without the special trailer hook-up it can tow 9.5 tonnes (21,000lbs) via a regular ball hitch, which would represent one hell of a caravan. Or a big ol’ boat. Alternatively, in the load bay itself you can stow some 3.3 tonnes, or 7360lbs. It’s fairly strong.

The Power Stroke diesel has been given redesigned, stronger cylinder heads along with new calibrations for the fuelling and turbo that take advantage of the updated heads’ extra capacity for power.

It will come in four trim grades: XL, XLT, Lariat and Platinum. Prices are reasonable by European standards, too. The entry point is $52,830, equivalent to £39,481. The cheapest VW Amarok V6 TDI is £31,753, rising to £38,731. The big Ford represents a serious amount of pulling power for your dollar.