2023 Ford F-Series Super Duty Review: Huge, Capable, Comfortable and Versatile

Many of the features you love from the F-150 … but with 1,200 lb-ft of torque.

Published June 25, 2023

The Ford F-150 is America’s most popular vehicle. It meets nearly every truck (or luxury family car) buyer’s needs. But a significant percentage of buyers have requirements — either commercial or pleasurable — that are a bit more expansive than the F-150 can handle. That’s where the F-Series Super Duty comes in.

The Super Duty is bigger and built explicitly for truck stuff like towing and hauling with compromise. And now, Ford has just come out with a new Super Duty for the 2023 model year.

The new Super Duty hits the Built Ford Tough extremes, offering up to 8,000 pounds of payload capacity and 40,000 pounds of towing capability. But it also has to be exceedingly versatile. A Super Duty can be a stripped-down mine truck; it can be a swanky family boat hauler. A significant number of buyers Ford describes as “Fleetail” (Fleet + retail) may need a Super Duty to do both, depending on the day of the week. And, yeah, some folks out there want a badass off-roader with a cartoonishly large displacement V8. (The Super Duty offers the choice of four).

Ford invited me out to its Michigan Proving Grounds to spend a day testing the 2023 Super Duty. I didn’t get as much time behind the wheel as I would have driving the truck around for a week at home. But I did get to test the Super Duty under conditions — towing nearly 20,000 pounds up a steep grade — that would have been impossible to simulate on my own.

The 2023 Ford Super Duty: What We Think

Ford does not f*** around with the F-Series. That’s as true with the Super Duty as with the standard F-150. Ford considered almost any customer scenario conceivable, applied its engineering know-how and delivered an absurdly capable, versatile and customizable truck. It’s even a handy off-roader if you can find a trail that can accommodate it.

Not every Ford truck buyer needs a Super Duty. But the truck will more than meet the needs of anyone who buys it — practical or entirely frivolous.

The Super Duty will be more truck than you need on the road

Ford let us test the Super Duty on the roads around the Michigan Proving Grounds. Even by Michigan standards, these are flat and straight, with ex-urban traffic density and no intricate turning or parking maneuvers required.

I drove a ritzy Platinum trim F-250 fitted with the 6.7-liter High Output diesel with 500 horsepower and 1,200 lb-ft of torque. Traveling unladen on normal roads in the Super Duty felt like a competitive weight lifter being tasked with controlled, 3-pound bicep curls: overkill for the task at hand.

The Super Duty, like the F-150, feels agile for its size (which is prodigious; I had trouble capturing its expanse in my camera frame). It’s not super-quick and sporty. The steering is light … and so were my throttle inputs on the wet tarmac to keep the wheels from spinning. But with meaty power and a smooth 10-speed automatic, you can cruise up to traffic speed (and well beyond, if you’re not paying attention) with impressive ease.

The Super Duty is surprisingly capable off-road

I tested the Tremor Package and the entry-level XL Off-Road package on the MPG off-road trail. The Super Duty with the Tremor was surprisingly agile for a massive 7,000-ish pound truck with a long wheelbase — almost like a big Bronco.

The Super Duty isn’t as specialized a performer as the Bronco. But you get 35-inch tires and 10.5 inches of ground clearance and flex. The truck has multiple off-road modes, Trail Control (sort of like off-road cruise control) and the Bronco’s Trail Turn Assist feature that locks the inside wheel on loose surfaces to make surprisingly tight turns. Ford also went nuts with the customizable terrain camera views and off-road infographics. It made off-roading feel easy.

The XL Off-Road Package is more of a basic work truck capability package. Ford has us skip events the Tremor did, such as the rock crawling section and a steep, decently muddy hill descent. The ride was mostly composed, but got bumpy and bounced me from my seat a few times.

The Super Duty tows like an absolute beast

The Ford Super Duty is the top-towing pickup you can buy. With a gooseneck setup and the High Output 6.7-liter diesel, it can tow up to 40,000 pounds — likely more than enough to tow just about anything you’d want to tow with a pickup. It’s enough to tow an aircraft carrier anchor, or an elephant riding an F-16.

I towed a 19,500-pound trailer — 5,500 pounds more than an F-150 can tow — with the 6.7-liter High Output diesel up a steep grade. I can’t say it felt like nothing, especially when engine braking going downhill. But the truck felt more than up to the task of pulling that substantial amount of weight without undue effort. Opting for the gas engine limits towing capacity, but I still hauled an 8,000-pound boat with the 7.3-liter V8 with relative ease.

Towing at press events is awesome because you don’t have to set up the trailer yourself. But the Super Duty can be fitted with a myriad of aids to make that process easier. And I did get to watch the Super Duty with Pro Trailer Backup Assist align itself with the hitch flawlessly — multiple times.

The Super Duty interior is up to F-150 spec now

The F-150’s comfy interior wins over people who didn’t think they wanted a truck. The Super Duty feels just as nice. The Platinum trim I drove had the F-150’s Max Recline seats and the premium 18-speaker B&O sound system. The materials feel premium. It has a ton of spacious and smart storage options. And I loved the classic column shifter.

The Super Duty doesn’t have the F-150 Lightning’s 15-inch screen. And that’s a good thing, because the 12-inch unit is more readable while driving and vital functions are controlled by easy-to-use buttons.

What are some Ford Super Duty alternatives?

Tyler Duffy

The Heavy Duty pickup is a very American segment. Ford Super Duty alternatives from the Big Three include the Chevy Silverado HD, the GMC Sierra HD from GM and the Ram 2500 and 3500 pickups from Stellantis. The all-new 2023 Super Duty reclaims its coveted best-in-class towing and payload ratings.