Test drive: 2024 Ford F-150 Tremor rocks, Hybrid improves (2024)

• 2024 F-150 Hybrid eliminates belt-starter, rear-wheel-drive option
• F-150 Tremor handles most off-road situations
• Pro Access tailgate features a swinging door in the center of the tailgate

The changes to the refreshed 2024 Ford F-150 may seem mild on the outside, but they add up to significant improvements across the lineup. A new tailgate design with a swinging mid-door highlights the most obvious change, and it works great while towing, which sets it apart from GM’s otherwise superior 6-way power tailgate. A larger standard touchscreen showcases the interior updates, but the F-150 Hybrid improves as well.

We address those changes here, and also illustrate why the F-150 Tremor might be the most complete version of the bestselling truck. Curious about the Raptor R? We tackle that uncompromising beast at Motor Authority on our 2024 F-150 Raptor R first drive through King of the Hammers desert terrain.

2024 Ford F-150: What’s new?

Every 2024 Ford F-150 now comes with a 12.0-inch digital gauge cluster and a 12.0-inch touchscreen. Fortunately, Ford still employs large dials for volume, tuning, climate control, drive modes, and the excellent towing assistant dial for Ford’s Pro Trailer Backup Assist feature.

All non-hybrid F-150s with a 5.5- or 6.5-foot bed now get a 36-gallon fuel tank to reduce fill-up frequency, and a Class IV hitch also comes standard.

Changes to the exterior are modest but notable. A new wrap-around grille curves into the fenders and houses slightly modified C-shaped LED headlights. An available modular bumper hangs below, enabling a factory-installed winch or a Rigid LED light bar and other accessories. It has end caps that expose more tire—the Tremor sports 33-inch Grabber A/TX tires (275/70R18) on black 18-inch wheels.

The taillight design bends like an elbow and occupies more of the fender than the tailgate to better account for Ford’s available Pro Access two-way tailgate with a center door that swings open to the passenger side.

What about this 2024 Ford F-150 Pro Access tailgate thing?

The tailgate folds down manually or via power as usual, but Ford now puts a door inside the tailgate that hinges open at 100-, 70-, or 37-degree angles, the latter making it easy to open and access the bed with a trailer attached. That resolves one of the limitations of GM’s 6-way power tailgate, though GM’s is more flexible for hauling longer loads securely, as well as rocking out to an integrated tailgate speaker.

In design it’s more like Ram’s 60:40 barn door split gate. In Ford’s case, it’s roughly the center third that swings open. A grab handle in the bed and a retractable step help users climb up, as does a longer and wider center bumper step, all of which allowed Ford to ditch the retractable handle helper. It’s a cleaner, more functional design that makes getting things in and out a whole lot easier. Running the hoses from the compressor strapped onto the tie downs to refill the tires after off-roading a Tremor was much less of a reach.

The Pro Access tailgate is optional on Lariat, Tremor, and Raptor models, and standard on King Ranch, Platinum, and Platinum Plus trucks. It’s not available on the Raptor R.

Is the 2024 Ford F-150 Tremor a poor man’s Raptor?

It’s hard to call a $66,145 truck a poor man’s anything, but the 2024 Ford F-150 Tremor is the total package for truck owners who don’t use much paved road on the daily commute. They might not go extreme off-roading but they do whatever the hell else they want to do, from towing up to 13,500 pounds, or to haul a tree stand deeper into the hunting grounds. Compared to the Raptor, it’s more than a half-foot narrower, it’s lighter on its 18-inch feet, and it can tow more (the Raptor tows 8,300 pounds, the R tows 8,700 pounds).

The 400-hp 5.0-liter V-8 comes standard on the Tremor, but my tester had the turbocharged 3.5-liter V-6 with the same V-8 horsepower but 500 instead of 410 lb-ft of torque…for an extra $90. I had to triple check that amount.

With either engine, the 2024 Tremor costs less than a Lariat and $14,180 less than a Raptor. It can’t do all the things a Raptor can do, of course, but it just might be the most complete F-150 on sale. I tested the new model on a switchbacking access road up and down a mountain, deep in off-the-grid territory, ascending over rocky ruts and descending into terrain too tough for Subarus or soft-roaders. It impressed me enough to recommend it as the F-150 to buy.

It comes as a crew cab with the short bed, and includes a locking rear differential as well as hill descent control and Trail Turn assist that locks the inside rear wheel to make tighter turns that essentially shrink the wheelbase. It rolls on 33-inch General Grabber A/TX tires over black 18-inch wheels, has an inch wider track thanks to Tremor-specific control arms and knuckles, and rides on monotube front shocks and twin-tube rear shocks. The ground clearance rises to 9.8 inches (1.6 inches higher than your standard F-150) and the approach, breakover, and departure angles improve. It all adds up to easy off-roading. The orange accents, four tow hooks, and standard running boards add some flair and function.

An optional modular front bumper finished in black can accommodate a dealer-installed Warn 12,000-pound winch. In Off-road mode, the fog lights on either side of the bumper respond to the steering wheel position so when you steer right, only the passenger side fog light illuminates.

The F-150 Tremor handles all the off-road terrain you’ll likely encounter, unless you seek out the extreme.

How did the 2024 Ford F-150 PowerBoost hybrid improve?

Changes to the first-generation F-150 hybrid are subtle but significant. Ford eliminated the belt-integrated starter generator and it no longer offers the hybrid with rear-wheel drive. It’s a four-wheel-drive hybrid deal or nothing, starting on XLT grades as a crew cab with the short bed for about $58,500 (XL hybrids are for fleet customers only).

During brief road testing in the desert beyond Palm Springs, Calif., the PowerBoost hybrid exhibited smoother power handoffs between the motor and engine power at low speeds.

This road test also included a chance to test BlueCruise 1.2, Ford’s limited hands-free driving system. It’s fine, but still pales to GM’s Super Cruise system.

When the hybrid powertrain launched with the 2021 model year, it could feel uncertain in low gears, as if the system didn’t know when to use engine, motor, or dual power at once. Now, on roads leading to the highway, it felt quieter, calmer, and overall less noticeable, which is what I want out of any hybrid powertrain.

Behind the wheel, the change was subtle, and Ford didn't tout it during the press briefing. Yet engineers confirmed that significant software enhancements were made to enable Ford to eliminate the belt starter.

The 12-volt battery still engages the starter connected to the flywheel on startup, as in other combustion engine vehicles, but more than 300 software enhancements to the hybrid motor deleted the need for a second starter on the accessory belt drive, according to Ford. The 35-kw motor thus spins up the engine through the 10-speed automatic transmission. Otherwise, mechanically it's the same, with the motor powered by a small 1.5-kwh battery pack, and the twin-turbo 3.5-liter V-6 doing most of the heavy lifting in making 430 hp and 570 lb-ft of torque.

It still comes with the 2.4-kw onboard generator that has 85 hours of run time on a full tank (30 gallon for hybrids) of gas. The 7.2-kw generator remains a $750 upgrade.

The F-150 Hybrid with four-wheel drive still nets 23 mpg combined, but this year, the city rating drops 1 mpg to 22 mpg while the highway rating increases by the same amount to 24 mpg.

Add up all of these small changes, and it’s easy to see how the Ford F-150 continues to lead the pickup truck segment in America.

Ford paid for lodging and a return flight for The Car Connection to present this firsthand report.