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New Ford F-250 base 6.7-liter PowerStroke Diesel has been upgraded to 475 horsepower and 1,50 foot-pounds of torque.. Photo by John Gilbert.

Only a small percentage of pickup buyers need to haul a big enough trailer or large enough loads to require more than the standard engine, and if they do, they can increase the size and power of the engine, or go to a turbocharged diesel for increased power and torque.

After Ford started building its own turbo-diesel, and dazzling the industry with both the power and quiet operation, the competition grew bigger and stronger too. So Ford came out with a “high-output” turbo-diesel that sent the power off the charts, but also the price tag.

Through the 2022 model year, Ford continued making both the PowerStroke Diesel and the High Output PowerStroke Diesel, giving discriminating power-seekers an amazing choice. 

By the time the 2023 model year came around, Ford started questioning its own decision, and upgraded the “base” PowerStroke 6.7-liter Turbo-Diesel by revising it to encompass most of the significant features that made the High Output version so much stronger.

It was a treat to test-drive a 2024 F-250 Lariat with the PowerStroke 6.7 Turbo-Diesel for a week-long road test recently, although now I’m more confused than ever! 

The F-250 is significantly larger than the basic F-150, the leading seller worldwide among pickups, and all vehicles, in fact. I didn’t realize how much bigger the F-250 was until I managed to make an 8-correction effort to get into a perpendicular parking spot at a grocery store, and came out to find a little vehicle parked next to me. But it wasn’t just a little vehicle, but a full-size F-150!

Beyond the F-250, of course, Ford makes an F-350 and an F-450 to haul whatever enormous thing people have to haul. But the F-250 seems capable of doing the job for 98 percent of the workforce.
Ford engineers updated the basic PowerStroke Turbo-Diesel for 2023 by installing the H-O version’s cylinder heads, pistons, fuel pump, fuel injectors, and a new emission system, and they also gave the engine a 2-quart increase in oil sump capacity to provide better oiling,

When they were done, the only advantages the High-Output version has is a water-cooled compressor to force more coolant through to preclude heat build-up. Both engines get 10-speed automatic transmissions, and switchable all-wheel drive.

The bottom line, for me as well, I’m sure, for normal power-seeking buyers with large boats or small living trailers is that the power and horsepower are now close to identical. 

If you want the High Output Diesel, you can get 500 horsepower and 1,200 foot-pounds of torque, but you can save a few thousand by “settling” for the basic PowerStroke 6.7 Turbo-Diesel, which has “only” 475 horsepower and 1,050 foot-pounds of torque.

That’s where my confusion rises. If you are on a slight grade, stopped for a stop sign or cross-road, and you try to start up in normal 2-wheel (rear) drive, you can feather the throttle with your right toe as much as humanly possible, but it’s still almost impossible to launch without wheelspin because of all the power.

Same at a normal stoplight, where you know you’re bigger than everybody else around you, and you don’t want to overdo it, but when you start up, it may seem like you’re doing the kind of burnout they’re doing up at Brainerd International Raceway this weekend at the NHRA national drag-race show. 
The difference is that the racers are trying to put on a show, while you and your F-250 PowerStroke Turbo-Diesel are trying to be subtle!

Switching into 4-wheel-drive actually improves the road-holding and feel, but it won’t do great things for your fuel economy. We got up to 20 miles per gallon by staying in 2WD and using the gas pedal judiciously.

The deep red —Ford makes two red exterior paint jobs, and this was the darker, more subtle shade — made the F-250 stand out in a crowd, without being overly flashy. The 8-foot bed is something my younger son would like, because he likes to haul his bicycle and camping gear wherever he goes, and the shorter beds don’t give him adequate space.

The F-150 invented the Swiss-Army-type tailgate a decade or more ago, but such gadgetry isn’t necessary on the F-250, which has footholds carved into the bumper on both the left and right rear corners, and a smaller similar step up near where the cab meets the bed, so you can hop up there to easily reach stuff that might be stashed in the bed, but too far to reach from the rear.

There is a power tailgate, which is a nice touch.

The F-250 pricing starts in the $50,000 range and rises quickly as you add features. Adding the Diesels is the largest jump, and the sticker for the test vehicle was a lofty $96,255. For that price, you may indeed want to use the vehicle as more than just a worker machine.

In all, the F-250 is an imposing vehicle from the exterior, but if you have a family and want to use the big truck to also go to the shopping center or the movies, or for a vacation trip, you won’t have to hesitate, because the interior of the F-250 is the result of Ford realizing that its very nice interiors had suddenly been overtaken by competitors like Ram, which have quietly gone to the top of the chart with their interiors.

The new Ford interior is very classy, with new and refined materials, and very lush leather on seats that show Ford was taking notes all those years when it used to select aftermarket Recaro bucket seats for their superb bolstering. The test truck had excellent side and back supports, power operated of course, and allow you to climb in to either the driver or front passenger bucket and nestle down in well-padded but supportive comfort.

That’s important with this truck, too, because one refinement Ford has yet to achieve is overall driving comfort for occupants. If you load up the pick bed, the theory goes, then the Ford pickup will ride smoothly, but without any load, the very impressive and newly revised suspension might jar your fillings loose on rough roads — or, for example, pre-repaved Duluth streets.

Also, when you pull into a strip mall or ordinary parking lot, prepare also to take your time aligning the F-250 into an open slot, because the store-owners tend to make those painted lines too close together, and you don’t want to squeeze in close enough to smack the car next to you.

That same feeling of largeness hits you anytime you’re driving down a narrow street, because the extended side mirrors for trailering make you feel as though you might be over-reaching your specific lane, and holding your elbows in close to your body doesn’t help.