10 Cool New Features of the 2015 F-150

It’s annoying when you take delivery of your new vehicle and say, “why isn’t that there?” or “why is that feature not on my truck?” Well, Ford went out of their way to make sure there were features on the 2015 Ford F-150 that they knew you would want or need and not ask for later. Here are their ten picks they want to make sure you know about.

“If I do my job, the customer simply intuits that things are right – both inside and outside of his truck – without even having to think about it,” said Cary Diehl, Ford human factors engineer, who worked on the design and development of the all-new F-150. He and the rest of the 2015 F-150 engineers went though and made sure these features were there when you need them.

1. Hard buttons on keypad – Makes it easier to feel the keypad buttons out rather than make them smooth and flush.

2. Beltline armrest on front doors – If your arms aren’t comfortable because the arm rest is way too high or way too low, you’re not going to want to be in the truck for very long.

3. Sculpted, finger relief inside door handle for easy hold – gives you better grip and helps you hold your door better on a windy day.

4. Buttons clustered for ease of use – Customer surveys showed a strong preference for controls clustered together. All lighting controls – headlamps, side spotlights, bed light – are grouped together on the left-hand side of the instrument panel, while all radio controls are to the right and below with the climate controls. Towing and other controls are to the right of the steering wheel as well.

5. Steering wheel feel – Not a big fan of smooth steering wheels that don’t let you get a good, firm grip on the wheel? Well, there are finger indents on the wheel to make the steering feel better.

6. MyView productivity screen customization – Nobody looks at, likes, or needs the same screens for the MyView, so you can now customize it to your needs or wants.

7. Entertainment information exclusively in center stack – Ford made a data-driven decision to not include any radio or entertainment features in the instrument panel cluster behind the steering wheel.

“Our customers were adamant that trucks are different from cars, and vehicle information is essential,” Diehl explained.

“Their truck is their tool, and they need to know what it’s doing. Other stuff can be in the center of the dashboard, or what we call the center stack.”

The only entertainment information that appears in the instrument cluster of the F-150 are incoming calls and turn-by-turn directions.

8. Four-spoke steering wheel – If you like driving with the bottom portion of the steering wheel, for left it open for you. Just wonder why they didn’t wrap it.

9. Grooves in tailgate handle – Grooves in the tailgate handle allow you to open and close the tailgate with one hand. That is rather convenient. Yes, I was trying to not to use a pun there.

10. Large box step – A lot of these box and side steps look like they were designed for people with small shoes or feet. Not Ford’s as they know most of their truck drivers will be wearing boots.

Tell us what’s your favorite new feature in the forum.>>