2022 Ford F-150 Tremor Review: Diet Dino

One of the freeing things about being an adult is eating whatever you want, whenever you want. Yet just because you can, doesn’t always mean you should.

Take the Ford F-150 Raptor. The eight-foot-wide baja-blasting pickup is one big box of Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs. Capable of the sort of fun that leaves your whole body humming? Sure. Yet unless your daily commute involves beating sand dunes into submission, a steady diet of Ford’s big dinosaur can be overkill.

The 2022 Ford F-150 Tremor is part of a more balanced breakfast. It’s still capable off the paved stuff, but doesn’t sacrifice as much of the real-world usability that makes the F-150 such a titan of the industry.

With the latest 14th-generation F-150, the Tremor slots into the off-roading branch of the F-150’s vast trim tree, somewhere above the FX4 package, but stopping shy of the full-fat Raptor. Viewed within the context of the wider range, it’s somewhere between a Lariat and King Ranch. So the Tremor isn’t some stripped-out truck, but rather a well-equipped one.

The changes come at both axles. Ford has retuned the front and rear springs, and fit unique monotube shocks up front, with twin-tube items out back. The setup provides softer damping at low speeds, to better keep the wheels in contact with uneven, low-grip surfaces. The Tremor gains revised front hub knuckles and upper control arms, as well. The changes add up to an extra 1.5 inches (38 millimeters) of travel in the rear, and 1.0 inches (25 mm) up front. Ford quotes improved off-roading angles too, with 27.6 degrees of approach, 21.2 for breakover, and 24.3 for departure.

The 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6—the only engine for Tremor duty—kicks out nice, round figures of 400 horsepower and 500 pound-feet of torque. It routes through a 10-speed automatic to a standard four-wheel drive system. A locking rear differential is standard, and eager owners can pair that with an available Torsen front limited-slip diff, which is equipped here.

Spotting the Tremor isn’t too hard, with orange badging and a matching grille insert. 18-inch wheels feature a model-specific matte silver color, wrapped in 33-inch all-terrain tires. A Raptor-style bash plate stretches far below the F-150’s chin. There’s a hit of big bro’s aggression in the looks of the Tremor—but this one, y’know, still fits in (most) parking spots.

The orange theme continues inside the Tremor. The black leather seats feature embroidered Tremor logos, with the contrast stitching popping up all over the cabin. There’s another splash of Active Orange on the trim surrounding the air vents, too. Along with a few other Tremor-unique design touches, it’s enough to make the truck feel special, but low-key enough to work on a day-to-day.

The latest F-150 has a straight-forward center console layout, with big, easy-to-use rotary dials and clearly labelled switches, ports, and buttons. Tremor also includes a half-dozen aux switches overhead, allowing owners to easily add their own accessories. Ford’s cool fold-flat shifter is here too, with a fold-over center console turning it into a makeshift office.

Those seats are suitably vast, big couches for a big vehicle. I’d still rank the Ram 1500’s thrones above them, but the Ford gets close, offering good lower back and thigh support.

Available only in SuperCrew configuration, the Tremor offers simply enormous amounts of space in both rows. It’s so roomy in the back that I could walk around—hunched, of course—with the rear seats folded up. This came in handy when I pressed the Tremor into duty for a family member’s move. The large, square space swallowed box after box. The 5.5-foot bed did the same, though the lack of bumper side steps and the added ride height combine to make the pop-out tailgate step all but essential in getting up there. Towing is capped at a very healthy 10,900 lb (4,944 kg), while payload tops out at 1,885 lb (855 kg).

Ford has gifted the Tremor with a great suite of driver-friendly technology to maximize usability and practicality.

The in-cabin tech is some of the best in the game. I’m a big fan of the available 12.0-inch digital instrument panel. Big, chunky font faces and cool animations across the various drive modes make it easy and enjoyable to use. An 18-speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system throws down tunes that are crisp and clean. Late May can go from sweltering to nearly freezing in the span of a few hours, so I was thankful for the quick-acting seat heating and ventilation. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are both wireless here, and the F-150 will even pull navigation information from both for display in the instrument panel. That’s still a rarity in the market, so bonus points to Ford.

The large central touchscreen houses a few useful off-road tools, as well. When off-roading, it’s easy to pull up the front-facing camera, which provides tread layovers for extra confidence. On top of that, the Tremor plucks Trail Turn Assist from the Bronco, locking the inside rear tire while in 4Hi or 4Lo to tighten the turning radius. Trail Control is here as a sort of mud-and-rocks cruise control, maintaining a steady speed to keep the driver focused on steering inputs. Hill Descent Control returns, too. New to Tremor is the Trail One-Pedal Drive equipped here. Switch it on and the F-150’s electronic brain will automatically apply the brakes as you ease off the right pedal. Along a slow and tight path north-west of Toronto, the Tremor was secure and easy to guide.

Should you need to set up camp, the Tremor includes bright area lighting all around the truck, and the 2.0-kW Pro Power Onboard setup to power a bunch of accessories.

The 400-horsepower version of the 3.5-liter EcoBoost does good work. It’s properly torquey, and even sounds pretty mean, so the Tremor never feels lacking. The 10-speed isn’t as impressive, though. It can be jerky at low speeds, especially in conjunction with the standard stop-start system. The transmission calms down on the highway, ticking away at barely over idle on a steady cruise, and quickly shedding a gear or four when passing power is needed.

A happy side-effect of the off-road upgrades is that the Tremor transforms into one of the nicest-riding F-150s you can buy. The softer damping and thick-sidewalled tires give it a smooth, relaxing on-road character, the kind that makes long distances melt away. It isn’t the best-riding F-150—that title goes to the Lightning and its independent rear suspension—but it’s pretty cushy, even for those who might not be used to trucks.

This tester came with Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free highway cruise control. It’s easy-peasy to operate; when driving on some of the thousands of compatible pre-mapped highways, an in-dash notice tells the driver the system is ready. From there, activating adaptive cruise control automatically activates BlueCruise. It worked smoothly for me, day and night.

If only it were less thirsty. Despite doing more highway miles than anything else in its week with AutoGuide, the Tremor struggled to keep a 16 mpg (14.3 L/100 km) average. That’s exactly what the EPA/NRCAN quotes are for the city, with highway and combined ratings coming in at 20 and 18 mpg (11.8 and 13.2 L/100 km), respectively. Ouch.

The F-150 Tremor starts at $55,265 ($60,495 CAD), including $1,795 ($1,995 CAD) in destination charges. This particular one sees a whole heap of options thrown at it, which swells the price up to a heady $76,980 ($85,915 CAD). The largest single contributor is the Tremor High pack, which adds, among other things, heated and vented front seats, the exterior box lighting, integrated trailer brake contoller, remote start, LED exterior lighting (with swivelling headlights), wireless charge pad, 360-degree camera, digital instrument panel, and towing package. The Mid and High packages also give the Tremor an upgraded 4WD system.

Both Ram and Chevy offer up similar packages in the 1500 Rebel and Silverado Trail Boss, respectively. They can end up pricier too, though in both cases that can be put down to the optional diesel engines. Off-road prowess and fuel economy that doesn’t make your wallet cry? That’s the Tremor’s one major weakness.