After a cheap and cheerful $100 to fill the 36-gallon fuel tank, we’re soon cruising back into downtown Dubai, enjoying the cabin’s amenities as we do. There’s the usb-interface and radio for one, multi-function steering wheel and ten-way electric leather seats for another, and…well, apart from air conditioning and seat coolers/heaters, that’s it. It’s all very basic, which is understandable: given that the majority of the FX4’s life will be spent hitting the dunes, the last thing you’d want is a top of the range sat-nav or touchscreen infotainment system that would more than likely be filled in with sand and ruined first time out the blocks.
This doesn’t stint the comfort though. There’s lashings of head and legroom –perhaps a hair more in the back wouldn’t go amiss – while power adjustable pedals make finding the correct driving position a piece of cake. Rather interestingly, the raised suspension, give or take a bit of jostling, has not made the ride as bone-shakingly uncomfortable as I’d expected.
Which brings us nicely to the drive, and here’s where it really gets interesting. Horsepower and torque may remain the same, but the added weight of the suspension arms, roof lights and new tyres all add up. To call the power from the V8 ‘sluggish’ would be slightly unfair given that this is no stripped out track car, but you wouldn’t call it ‘quick’ either, peak power only appearing at 5500rpm and this leaving pick-up in the lower revs a little uneventful. Be warned when you slam on the brakes, since that same 2500kg (plus change) will suddenly be right over the front axle.
The biggest bullet point though is reserved for the steering. Designed as it is for desert thrashing, there’s very little feel for the Ford’s front end through the enormous steering wheel. Since the larger Nitto tyres also have less room to manoeuvre in the wheel arches than the standard examples, the FX4 142’s turning circle has widened as a result. To make a legal u-turn will require four completely empty lanes…
…and even then it’s touch and go whether you actually make it. More often than not though, three-point turns will be the order of any day, and you’ll soon get used to doing them quickly as an impatient line of motorists informs you every five seconds with a blip of the horn that said move is taking too long.
Here’s the big conundrum though: I actually quite like the FX4 Hi-Runner Package. Off-road there’s little to fault it, weight issues aside, but it’s when you venture forth into civilised society that the drive becomes more interesting: every turning is an event, your eyes darting this way and that to make sure you don’t inadvertently wipe out a small hatchback in your blind spot; you’ll be well practiced with your parking within a matter of days; extended journey times make you pre-plan the day ahead; nobody, but nobody, will flash their headlights in an attempt to bully you out of the fast lane on the highway. It’s as hilarious as it is nerve-wracking to drive, but will lose that sense of character if you try to take it too seriously.
With the Ford F-150 FX4 142, the onus is on making an impact. And in the Middle East, where such things are fawned rather than frowned upon, the big brute may just have found its ideal hunting ground. Providing owners can find somewhere to park it, of course.
