R O A D    T E S T

The relationship was a fitful affair.  It was intense at times, and quite uneventful at others.  Nonetheless, we were impressed by our involvement with a Ford F150 Flareside about two years ago, when we took it for a one-week stand.  Reminded by the immense power and torque of its 4.2-liter V6 engine, we again set out on a journey to find out if there is something more powerful than the self-proclaimed ‘beast’ of pick-ups. 

We thought: there must be something more indestructible, more masculine and well, more F150 than the F150.  The answer comes in a more sensible, more powerful, and unfortunately more expensive package: the Ford F150 SuperCrew.  This is the 4-door F150, built for easier ingress/egress and a substantial increase in cabin space. 

Though the SuperCrew longed to go swimming in the crater of Mount Pinatubo, this didn’t seem practical.  When we saw the Ford’s beige leather upholstery and fully-dressed interior, we thought that Mount Pinatubo wasn’t deadly enough.  We decided to subject it to a harsher environment, where buyers tend to take this monster ninety-nine percent of the time: Manila roads. 

Ulysses: Friday, September 28 2001(Afternoon) 

The adventure started halfway to Ford Alabang, where we were scheduled to pick-up the SuperCrew for a weekend fling.  Traffic was agonizingly slow from C5 all the way to the Alabang exit.  Sitting in the backseat (for once, we had a driver because we didn’t want to drive a manual through three hours of hell), I felt like a little kid anxious to receive a new toy.  It felt like a personal rewards of sorts, especially after trekking the mountains of Atimonan, Quezon in a rickety jeepney a few weeks earlier. 

When we arrived at the dealer, I kept looking at the parking garage, trying to scope out what the SuperCrew looked like. (This was the first time I’d ever get to see it in person.)  It wasn’t difficult to spot.  In fact, the SuperCrew stuck out in the midst of Expeditions and Explorer Sport Tracs because of its high stature. 

Saying that the SuperCrew is tall is an understatement; a skyscraper is more like it.  With a height 200 mm taller than the Explorer Sport Trac and around 50 mm taller than the regular F150, the SuperCrew measures in at a high 1918 mm.  Comparatively, the Honda Civic checks in at 1455 mm, nearly half a meter shorter! 

When we took a closer look, it became clear that the SuperCrew wasn’t just about height.  It was about all the three dimensions.  For those living in Mars who haven’t seen an F150 up close, imagine this: take a regular Japanese pick-up, pump it up with lots of air (ala Looney Tunes) and deliberately switch the fuel from unleaded gasoline to pure anabolic steroids.

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