My 2008 Super Duty Review

[06TWO50Diesel]

I had all this posted in TRHLands post, but thought I would transplant it to it's own thread for those looking for a quick review. Hope this helps some of you guys out!

I went to the dealership today and picked up the brochure. They had 5 of them out front. I picked a red FX4 crew cab, short bed, 6.4L. They threw me the keys, I drove it around for about 20 minutes. I thought'd I'd give you guys my feedback.

-QUIET! Diesel turns on, you almost turn your ear to hear it. As quiet as the 5.4L '05 gasser I have for work. I was surprised. It's a DIESEL!! They're supposed to make little kids run with lunch in hand! This did not have that effect.
-QUIET!pt.2 The cab and ride was very quiet. GREAT improvement IMO. It's something that will be nice on a long trip (like the one I took a month ago, 21 hours driving to New Orleans to lend a hand). You do get noise fatigue. I think that alone is one of the best imporvements on the new 08s.
-Ride It's smoother. A bit stiffer, but smoother all around. Driveability was pleasant. Turning seems improved. I'm not sure if they assessed that, but it seems to be a smaller radius.
-Interior It's as great as I thought it would've been. The gauges are user friendly (they are they same 'numbering font' as the 05-07s, just surrounded with chrome "gadget" like material). Everything was in a nice placement for reach and visibility. Love the iPod hook up right on the dash. It was comfortable. I was in a cloth interior and was happy, and I'm sure the leather must feel great. Spaceous as usual for the Super Duty. Nice storage room on ALL four doors. Center console was large and had interior compartments. The glovebox, well that's all it was. Fit your gloves in it. I mean, WOW! It was tiny. Other than that, interior won me over. Enough, that it'd be a HUGE sell point for me.
-Mirrors These were sweeeeet! Large viewing area. The 'blind-spot' mirror is a great imporvement. I felt like I was looking through a magnifying glass when I got back into my 06. My favorite part is the power adjustability from the cab door. In-out, and the coolest looking feature is the power fold. Booth sides fold into the door in tandem. If you get the chance, watch this! It feels "nasa" like.
-Power This is where I was a bit dissappointed. I will say one thing, my truck has an SCT tuner, exhaust, and intake. But for 350hp and 650lbft. I was a bit let down. It had power, but didn't feel much different than my 6.0L did in stock form. Honest. I think it's probably all that restriction crap that the EPA put on there. Bunch a tree huggers. The salesman was explaining all of it, I was like,"and I'm supposed to be happy about that? you took away my power" Don't get me wrong, it's not a gasser, it does feel like you have 650lbft. at your dispossal, but I think the shift points and all are on the lighter side and once again enhancing the ride comfort. So it's good and bad.
-Appearance The grille has grown on me. The lights are moving there way up in my book. The whole package is pretty awesome in person. Worth a look. Overall... 6.5/10. (the 06 front end being 10/10, not just cause I own one, but becaue I think they were the best yet) I know it's kind of a high rating. I will say when I first saw it, hands down 3/10. Over time it grew on me. Then seeing it in person and also in different colors helped out as well. I want to see a black sport pkg truck. I dunno, it might be a winner. Side vents are ok. Not my favorite. Tailgate is sweet. Kinda beefy looking. Everything else looks the same.
-Tailgate Step This thing is just cool! VERY easy to use and felt sturdy. No sway or wobble in the step or "helping handle".


-Final Word! (cliff notes) If you made it down here, I commend you for reading through my babbling. I like the 08s. Enough to buy one and trade in my tricked out 06? That is for a later date and a price that has to sweep me off my feet. The power is a let down. The interior is a MASSIVE plus. The exterior is good, may take a while to get used too.
As for me and my 06. I think we'll be sitting pretty for a while. Or atleast until I know I can mod that 6.4 and get some power coming from it, or some soot for that matter!!


-nate

[HK45T]

I felt like you did great truck but was very unhappy with the power. Sorry to say it but i got a ride in a new duramax LMM at my local dealer they had it to try it out and wow it will blow the doors of the powerstroke. If Gm can make a fast duramax with all the epa stuff why cant ford.

[King Hardhead]

I agree with your review. I love the interior, but the front end is enough for me to steer clear of the 08. I love my KR 06!

[RET]

Nice write-up.
Thanks
RT

[rufushusky]

Originally Posted by HK45T

I felt like you did great truck but was very unhappy with the power. Sorry to say it but i got a ride in a new duramax LMM at my local dealer they had it to try it out and wow it will blow the doors of the powerstroke. If Gm can make a fast duramax with all the epa stuff why cant ford.

GMs on average is much lighter than fords.

[WOOL-PULLER]

my buddy owns a duramax and he rode in the 6.4 i had on loan from the dealer last night and he said it was faster than his duramax. i have not been in many duramax's myself to compare. most people i know own powerstrokes.

[therealdgh]

I too drove two different 6.4s this weekend, an F-350 dually and an F-250 FX4 longbed. I agree with most of 06TWO50Diesel's comments other than the grille and lights. I still need a little time to adjust to the design of them. Although, the lights are the diamond cut pattern with clear lenses, which is a plus in my book. I was impressed with the integrated boost and trans temp guages in with the regular temp and oil pressure guages across the top (if these are on earlier models, I didn't know) even though they were a bit small. The folding mirrors were fun to play with, I just wonder if the motors would hold up to ice/snow in colder climates as far as being able to break through.
On the power, I found that the initial response lag was not fun. However, when it kicked in, it went!
In another post, they mentioned having to take the body off to service the engine - this is true. There was a Ford corporate team there at the event I went to and I asked them a ton of questions to get the "official" responses. You cannot, I repeat, cannot fit your hand in that engine compartment too easily - especially if you are a big guy and have big hands. They have everything so tight in there, it is amazing. Although, with the grill attached to the hood and the step bumper, it seemed easier to get to the oil and trans dipsticks. In order to service the major components in the engine, they have to do a cab lift to get to it. I was told they had it down to under 45 minutes.
To drain the water separator, though, you have to get under the truck. Didn't like that.
The last thing that was a bit disheartening was the coolers on the front. There are seven layers of coolers on the front of the engine. The only problem...if you get into a front end collision (according to the Ford rep) it would be around $4000+ just for all the coolers. The only major component between them and objects coming at them is the grill and front bumper.

Didn't mean to hijack the thread, just wanted to agree with you on it.

[TYREBOYS_DEMAXIN]

Originally Posted by rufushusky

GMs on average is much lighter than fords.

there is a guy i know that weighed both trucks(chevy,ford)and he said the difference was like 500 pounds..the trucks he used were both 3/4 ton c/c s/b but i forgot the actual weight..lets say even if there was a 1000 pounds difference it shouldn't make such drastic change in performance of the engine..i guess what i'm trying to say is ford could have done better in the power department for the new 6.4L PSD...just some thoughts i was having

[TYREBOYS_DEMAXIN]

Originally Posted by WOOL-PULLER

my buddy owns a duramax and he rode in the 6.4 i had on loan from the dealer last night and he said it was faster than his duramax. i have not been in many duramax's myself to compare. most people i know own powerstrokes.

question what year is your buddys demax..the reseon i ask is if he has a 01 thru 05 it should be slower then the brand new 6.4L PSD....i think the new LMM DTD is faster then the PSD and the CTD stock..i've been itchen to go to the dealer and test drive all three and see for myself..

[Ditty]

I'll tell you what...1000lbs makes a BIG difference in performance for our trucks. Marty's truck is 1000lbs lighter than mine and he ran a second faster than I did in the 1/4 with less mods. (Granted I'm 6spd, lifted, and on 35's)...but I'm making about 75-90 more HP at the wheels than he is. If I was auto...I'm sure he would still have 1/4 to a 1/2 a second on me. Weight is the killer when saying stuff like "this truck is faster than that truck".