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It’s been a whirlwind several months for Ford Motor Company as they launched the 14th-generation F-150, the best-selling vehicle in America. And also launched the revolutionary Mustang Mach-E their all-electric competitor to Tesla. Oh, and they also are re-introducing the iconic Ford Bronco into the lineup, including the launch of brand-new Bronco Sport, which I just reviewed.
All of that excitement aside, and Ford is still focusing on their money-making vehicles – trucks. This time, for the 2022 model year, they are introducing two new appearance packages along with new technology, through Sync 4, to the Super Duty line of trucks.
These hardy, big work trucks are popular with farmers, ranchers and those who really need to tow and haul. And let’s be honest, many Super Duty owners still use them as daily or at least regular drivers too. So it’s nice that Ford is updating their bigger trucks too.
“Super Duty customers aren’t just working harder these days, they are also working smarter,” said Todd Eckert, Ford Truck Group Marketing manager. “We’re further helping our customers raise their game and get the job done with purposeful technology through the introduction of SYNC 4 with a larger 12-inch screen and 24x7 cloud connectivity for both their truck and mobile devices.”
The all-new, landscape-oriented 12-inch center touch screen with SYNC® 4 is standard on Lariat and above models, with physical controls below for quick access to commonly used functions. Occupants can easily multitask functions by splitting the screen to see navigation, music, truck features and the new digital owner’s manual.
With twice the computing power of the previous-generation system, all-new SYNC 4 can wirelessly connect smartphones without the USB cord for seamless integration of Apple CarPlay™ or Android Auto™ compatibility, as well as SYNC AppLink® apps. Customers can interact with the truck using more conversational natural voice control to ask for points of interest or delays along a route. SYNC voice control and a 4.2-inch center screen remains standard on the XL series trucks with SYNC 3 available while an 8-inch center touch screen and SYNC 3 are standard on XLT.
“These additions build on the major updates we made for 2020 and we keep working hard to bring the best in capability and productivity to assist our hardworking Super Duty customers every day,” said Eckert.
New Appearance Packages for Ford Super Duty
For 2022, Super Duty offers a new stylish Lariat Sport Appearance Package that includes body-color bumpers, exterior mirrors and grille, as well as a chrome exhaust tip and black platform running boards.
The wildly popular Black Appearance Package is now being made available for XLT models for 2022. This includes 20-inch Ebony Black painted premium wheels, body-color front and rear bumpers, grille bars, and six-inch Ebony Black running boards – even the front and rear Blue Ovals have been painted black. The Black Appearance Package will be available fall 2021.
New colors available inside and out include a Baja interior for Lariat, a Navy Pier and Light Slate interior for Limited, and an Atlas Blue exterior color.
The current-generation Super Duty is the toughest, most powerful, most capable Super Duty, with an available 7.3-liter V8 with the most gas horsepower and torque in its class – 430 horsepower and 475 lb.-ft. of torque. The available third-generation 6.7-liter Power Stroke diesel V8 delivers 1,050 lb.-ft. of torque and 475 horsepower. Super Duty’s capabilities speak for themselves, with maximum gooseneck towing of up to 37,000 pounds, best-in-class maximum fifth-wheel towing of 32,500 pounds, best-in-class maximum conventional towing of 24,200 pounds and best-in-class maximum payload capacity of 7,850 pounds.
Super Duty is available with a variety of standard and optional Co-Pilot360 features to help assist in keeping work as safe as possible. Hill start assist is standard on all Super Duty trim levels. To help you stay in your lane, Lane-Keeping Alert is available on XL and XLT and standard on above models. Pre-Collision Assist with Automatic Emergency Braking comes standard on XLT and above trims and alerts you of potential collisions with vehicles in your path. Available Blind Spot Information System with Trailer Coverage monitors for vehicles in blind spots – even with one next to your trailer. Pro-Trailer Backup Assist, Adaptive Cruise Control, Adaptive Steering and 360-Degree camera are all available features to help on every job.
Sync 4 System
In addition to the faster processing speed, the new infotainment system from Ford is vastly improved over Sync 3. I wrote recently why the Sync 4 System is one of the highlights of the 2021 Ford F-150.
The bigger screen, with the horizontal orientation will be interesting to see in the F-250. Wireless Apple CarPlay (and Android Auto for those odd birds who still cling to their Samsung) is outstanding too. Apple CarPlay is intuitive and outstanding and trumps any other features of a vehicle’s infotainment system, including navigation.
Lastly, the voice commands on Sync 4 are vastly improved from the previous iterations. This allows for less distractions and more hands-free technology. How can that be a bad thing?
The 2022 Ford Super Duty which is built at the Kentucky Truck Plant in Louisville, Kentucky, and Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake, Ohio will be available this summer. The Black Appearance Package will be available this fall according to Ford.
Leave your comments on whether these changes appeal to you or not.
Jimmy Dinsmore has been an automotive journalist for more than a decade and been a writer since the high school. His Driver’s Side column features new car reviews and runs in several newspapers throughout the country. He is also co-author of the book “Mustang by Design” and “Ford Trucks: A Unique Look at the Technical History of America’s Most Popular Truck”. Also, Jimmy works in the social media marketing world for a Canadian automotive training aid manufacturing company. Follow Jimmy on Facebook, Twitter, at his special Ford F-150 coverage on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can read the most of Jimmy's stories by searching Torque News Ford for daily Ford vehicle report.
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