Macho comes to life in the 2008 Ford F-250

It's Ford's toughest looking truck ever, yet the F-250 offers the most refined ride to date on a Super Duty. A great body and all-new chassis are an unbeatable combination.

My truck didn't have running boards, but hopping on board was a breeze. I grabbed onto the A-pillar-mounted interior assist-grip, put one leg on the inside floor and lifted myself. Getting out was just as easy when holding the assist grip to let myself down.

The interior of the cab was top-of-the-line luxury. My brother-in-law, a loyal Ford truck man, said he found his dream truck when he sat inside the tester. He drives an F-350 and it gets heavy-duty hard use on the farm. When he retires from farm work, he'll opt for the leather interior upholstery. One of the interior design treatments he liked on the 2008 F-250 Super Duty was the drilled, machine-like air vents.

Ford designers say the front end and grille emphasize the in-your-face "Built Ford Tough" macho image. The grille on my tester was body-colored and black, drawing emphasis to the powerdome hood. The naked wheelwells drew my eye to the large 20-inch tires and robust springs.

One of the major benefits to the changes Ford made on the Super Duty is the excellent ride and handling. I gave someone a ride home who had gotten a ride to the office in another automaker's full-size pickup. She remarked before we even drove out of the parking lot that the ride on the F-250 was much smoother. Indeed, I kept repeating during my week with the 2008 F-250, "This truck drives like a sedan."

An all-new chassis provides the Super Duty with increased strength and durability, as well as improved ride and handling. Ford's all-new rear leaf spring suspension improves the ride without taking anything away from its capability. The redesigned leaf springs and stiffer bushings also contribute to better front and rear roll control during cornering.

The F-250 utilizes a moonbeam, coil-spring front suspension geometry that provides for the good on-center steering feel and response. Engineers added reinforcements for increased payload and trailering capacities. My 4x4 with the short box had a payload capacity of 2,850 pounds and a towing capability of 12,500 pounds.

The test truck was the five-passenger Crew Cab 4x4 with the 6.75-foot box with a base price of $35,880. The optional engine on this model was the 6.4-liter V-8 PowerStroke turbo-diesel built with the Ford Clean Diesel Technology, a system with a sharp reduction in particulates and emissions. Along with the optional engine, the tester was equipped with a five-speed automatic transmission.

and an exhaustive long list of nearly every possible available feature under the sun, bringing the as-tested sticker price to $54,805.

The clean-diesel engine makes 350 horsepower at 3,000 rpm and 650 lbs.-ft. of torque at 2,000 rpm. My passenger also commented that the truck was quieter and didn't have the loud diesel noise that the other manufacturer's large pickup truck emitted. Ford's clean-diesel engine uses a state-of-the-art common rail fuel injection system with Piezo-electric injectors. Ford says the Piezo injector technology enables the PowerStroke engine to run quietly.

The Super Duty lineup also features two gasoline engines. The 5.4-liter Triton V-8 delivers 300 horsepower and 365 lbs.-ft. of torque. The 6.8-liter Triton V-10 makes 362 horsepower and 457 lbs-ft. of torque. These prices start at $23,305. -- Connie Keane