The Plan
It all seemed so simple. Fly into San Antonio, attend the Ford Motor Co. media launch of the '08 Super Duty, learn every technical detail about the new 6.4L Power Stroke diesel and updated chassis, then drive Super Duty No. 370 (as in the 370th truck off the assembly line in Kentucky) back to Los Angles to test out the powertrain, interior, and handling. Well, that was the plan anyway.
The average temperature in San Antonio for January is 62 degrees F with an average rainfall that typically measures in the 1.5-inch range. And snowfall? Nope, it's not supposed to snow in San Antonio. Of course, seeing as this was a Super Duty launch, Mother Nature had a different plan in store for us.
Day 1: Ice Storm
The weather in Texas was brutal...
The weather in Texas was brutal and caught everyone off-guard. We can only imagine the ulcers that Ford's Public Affairs Department endured rescheduling and rerouting its Super Duty media event. Glow-plug test, anyone?
We arrived in Texas on a Wednesday morning to witness the tail end of a devastating winter storm that shut down airports, highways, and businesses all over central Texas. Ford rerouted us south to Corpus Christi, where the roads were still sort of open, so we could get some seat time in the company's newest creation.
When we got off the plane just after sunset, we were greeted by 45 Super Dutys with their parking lights glowing, 6.4L diesels idling, and all the transfer cases shifted into four-wheel drive. What an amazing sight.
We hopped into a black King Ranch F-350 for the ride north on Interstate 37 into the storm. We were immediately impressed with the smooth torque of the new Power Stroke and how quiet the interior of the crew cab was. As we roared through the night, we thanked the Ford designers for the new navigation system that showed us the way through the dark and freezing rain. We made it to the hotel in time to catch a late dinner and talk a few engineers' ears off. We even got a few hours of sleep before our 6 a.m. meeting.
Day 2: On The Ranch
Ford F-450 and F-550 trucks...
Ford F-450 and F-550 trucks come equipped with the Dana S110 rear axle. With its 11.81-inch ring gear and two extra carrier-bearing-cap bolts, it's the strongest axle in the segment.
We were up before sunrise and put on boots that Ford provided so we could play in the mud all morning. We drove from the hotel over to the Oak Tree Ranch, with the Diesel Power crew leading a Super Duty fleet to an icicle's paradise. At the ranch, everything was covered in an inch of the frozen stuff from the previous day's storm. We ate breakfast as we inspected the Super Duty displays and cutaways before heading over to do some tow-testing with 16,000-pound trailers.
The big hit of the day was definitely the off-road-driving course. Two Super Dutys were hot-lapped through a soon-to-be housing development where the roads were more mud than pavement. And the mud pits? Well, all the sleet that had fallen the day before was thawing and quickly turned the terrain into terra firma soup. The Power Stoke-equipped trucks throttled through everything with ease. It's amazing what ground clearance, good tires, a limited-slip differential, and enough torque to keep the wheels spinning will do. We drove through the loop twice and rode through it once more just to get our fill.
Around lunch time, the event was wrapping up, and most of the media were shuttled back to the airport and flown home. We, on the other hand, were handed the keys to Super Duty No. 370, a diesel F-250 crew cab with the FX4 trim package, and told there would be a tank full of diesel waiting for us at Ford's Arizona Proving Grounds (1,160 miles away) if we could get there Saturday morning before noon.
We stuck around the ranch to help tow some of the displays out of the muddy field, got our truck washed off, and hit the road around 3:45 p.m. Our plan was to run up to I-10 and then head west to El Paso, Texas, where we'd rendezvous with the other half of Diesel Power's staff the following morning. From there, we'd run through New Mexico, Arizona, and on to Nevada for a SCORE desert race on Sunday morning.
The Super Duty proved perfect for devouring hundreds of miles of interstate with 650 lb-ft of torque and a cruise control that blends throttle and transmission gear selection seamlessly. We rolled into El Paso and checked into an $80 hotel room in time to catch the 11 p.m. news and confirm our fears that southern New Mexico was bracing for the winter storm of the decade.
 |  We hung around till the official...  We hung around till the official media event wrapped up and then lent a hand with the cleanup. How cool would it be to have this display in your shop (or even your living room)? |  Our road trip began near Bandera,...  Our road trip began near Bandera, Texas, at the beautiful Oak Tree Ranch. When the media event wrapped up, we loaded our gear and programmed the GPS to lead us to El Paso, Texas. This is as clean as our Super Duty would be for the entire trip. |
 Thursday, 10:30 p.m.: The...  Thursday, 10:30 p.m.: The low-fuel warning light had been on for 50 miles, so we dropped our speed to 60 mph to make sure we'd get to our fuel stop in Fort Stockton, Texas. When we got there, it started snowing. |  Traveling north on New Mexico's...  Traveling north on New Mexico's I-25, we became instant celebrities driving the all-new Super Duty. Rest stops, filling stations, burger joints-it didn't matter where we were or how cold it was, truck owners wanted to know everything about the new F-250. |  What do we have here? Vehicles...  What do we have here? Vehicles with black vinyl camo and blue Michigan license plates always catch our eye. We passed a group of Ford test vehicles out on a development drive, including this soon-to-be-released Taurus X crossover. |