This spring Ford will introduce a new flagship engine to its perennial best-selling and recent Motor Trend Truck-of-the-Year-winning F-150 pickup line—a 3.0-liter 250-hp, 440-lb-ft Power Stroke turbodiesel V-6 capable of hauling 2,020 pounds or towing 11,400. We asked what took so long because Ford essentially started work on this “Duratorq/Lion” series engine in 1999 and has been building and selling it since 2004 (in Jaguars, Land Rovers, Peugeots, Citroëns, and an Aussie Ford SUV). In response, engineers downplayed the association with these earlier engines, claiming that North American diesel engineers from the 6.7-liter Power Stroke V-8 program thoroughly redesigned it, and when pressed on the timing they suggested that the stars have only just fully aligned with the arrival of the 10-speed automatic in the aluminum truck.
