2025 Ford F-150 Lobo: Not Exactly the Street Truck We Hoped For

The street truck segment is essentially dead, at least when it comes to production models. The Ford F-150 SVT Lightning is long gone, and so is the Dodge Ram SRT-10. GM, meanwhile, never found it a viable option to turn the Chevrolet SSR into something more.

Now, about two decades later, street trucks are attempting a comeback. For 2025, Ford has introduced a Maverick Lobo and more recently an F-150 Lobo. The latter, however, is a timid effort to please enthusiasts of the genre.

• Also: 2025 Ford F-150 Lobo Debuts as Street Truck From the Factory
• Also: 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo is a Modern-Day Street Truck From the Factory

The Lobo package is based on the F-150 STX SuperCrew with a 5.5-foot cargo bed. It’s not about luxury or technological refinement. Instead, this truck is designed as a sportier-looking take on a beloved American classic. The transformation is rather conservative, starting with unique 22-inch wheels and minor cosmetic revisions that mark a departure from other F-150s. There’s a wide gloss-black mesh lower grille and a unique upper grille for a more aggressive front fascia. A cowl hood as well as updated headlamps drawing a family line with the Maverick Lobo are also included.

Ford didn’t stuff its most powerful engine under the hood, namely the 3.5-litre EcoBoost V6. Rather, it settled on the good old 5.0-litre V8, which delivers 400 horsepower and a more captivating sound that’s likely to appeal to F-150 Lobo customers. Going against street truck tradition, the automaker made no changes to the engine. Four-wheel drive is standard.

Just Fancy Enough

The F-150 STX is the second lowest of eight available models, excluding all-electric F-150 Lightning models. As you can imagine, content is not really impressive beyond a sophisticated, versatile centre console and a completely digital instrument cluster. While the driver’s basic needs are covered, it’s admittedly strange to find a column-mounted shifter, keyed ignition and ordinary fabric seating surfaces. The missing bedliner and soft-close tailgate make the Lobo look and feel cheap, too, despite its price tag suggesting otherwise.

Spending an hour behind the wheel was enough to realize that this truck probably won’t be a hit here in Canada. While fun, the V8 doesn't offer the versatility and efficiency of the 3.5-litre V6. What’s more, the oversized wheels combined with the lowered suspension result in a stiff ride. Sure, handling is notably good, far from boring, but there are many additional compromises you have to make. For example, maximum payload is limited to 1,450 lbs. Towing capacity? Down to 7,900 lbs—only 400 lbs more than a Ford Ranger.

In other words, Ford’s new F-150 Lobo is neither a real street truck nor a real work truck. The company should probably have made it available with a Regular Cab or SuperCab, not to mention in 4x2 configuration in addition to 4x4. Okay, maybe not in Canada, but at least in the U.S. where road and weather conditions are nicer.

We do like the various styling tweaks and how the Lobo displays a bit more character. However, it’s tough to stand out when over 90 percent of all F-150s are SuperCrew models. Unique body colours and graphics allowing for greater customization would have been sweet. The Ford team missed a good opportunity, here.

It’s actually the reason why some U.S. dealers, including LeBanon Ford in Ohio, are tuning regular-cab, short-bed F-150 XL models in order to make serious performance trucks. These rare builds can be specified with a 5.0-litre V8 that easily accommodates a Roush supercharger, increasing output to 805 horsepower. That’s rather extreme, of course, yet still backed by the manufacturer’s warranty—and arguably the next best thing for those who miss the F-150 SVT Lightning from the early 2000s.

Our Verdict

The 2025 Ford F-150 Lobo is, in a word or two, a mixed bag. It will attract a few customers south of the border, but not so many in Canada. Now, will GM strike back with a Silverado street truck of its own? What about Ram? We'll have to wait a few years to find out. And if they do, then we’ll be able to say that Ford has successfully revived a trend from the past.