Ford pumps powertrains for 2018 F-150

It's tough at the moment to sell a car to a U.S. customer, so wily automakers-or those at a fortuitous place in their product cycles-are doubling down on trucks and crossovers. Regardless of that, nobody would ever expect Ford to hang back when it comes to keeping the F-Series pickup fresh, so for 2018 the light-duty F-150 line gets a light face-freshening and tasty rework of its powertrain lineup.

At the starting end of the F-150's current five-engine range, the former 3.5-L V6 is reduced to 3.3-L, but fear not: its all-new cylinder heads accommodate the twin direct-injection (DI) and port fuel-injection (PFI) setup that all 2018 F-150 engines use, so horsepower is up by eight, to 290 hp, and torque runs to 265 lb·ft (359 N·m), a 12 lb·ft (16 N·m) hike.