2025 Ford Maverick Lobo Doesn't Need A Full Moon To Transform Into A Beast
In 2018 the Ford Motor Company announced that it would stop building cars of any flavor, with the Mustang as the lone exception. Fans of sporty Fords past were understandably perturbed, as they'd be waving goodbye to the ST, RS, and SHO sport sedan and hot hatchbacks from their beloved blue oval. Without a fun sporty hatch to focus on, pun intended, Ford's engineers shifted their knowledge to making its smallest truck into something that isn't afraid of a little hustle. The Maverick Lobo, a new production trim inspired by the Tucci Hot Rods SEMA build, takes all of the sporty tuning tricks Ford learned from its prior hot machines and applies them to the diminutive Mav. It's a unibody pickup, after all, and the result is closer to a modern sport sedan with a bed on the back than a traditional truck. Rejoice, for the sport truck has returned.
Full disclosure: Ford flew me to San Diego, put me in a nice hotel and fed me so I could drive the 2025 model year facelifts for the Maverick and Bronco Sport.
The Maverick Lobo shares the turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-4 with all other nonhybrid Maverick models, so you aren't getting any extra shove, but 250 horsepower and 277 pound-feet of torque should be plenty to get a 3,800-pound truck around in a spirited, if not exactly face-melting, manner. Consider, for a moment, that the Maverick Lobo's specs are within shouting distance of a mid-level German sport sedan, and you might begin to see the vision. The Lobo has been lowered and stiffened over stock, and the new for-legal-reasons-track-only Lobo drive mode provides more aggressive rear torque vectoring from the standard twin-clutch rear differential, giving it a much sharper and sportier feel. The tuning on this differential uses lessons the engineers learned on the Focus RS project, and the DNA is instantly evident on a switchbacky mountain road.
Read more: Buy One Of These Electric Pickup Trucks Instead Of Humiliating Yourself With A Tesla Cybertruck
Ford made some pretty aggressive styling updates to the Maverick for 2025, including a larger grille, updated headlights, and some minor sheetmetal adjustments. For the Lobo, Ford created a new lower airdam, side skirts, and rear bumper to make it stand out from the crowd, while blacking out all of the trim, including an all-black Ford oval and a black roof. The suspension is dropped half an inch at the front and a little over an inch at the rear to bring the unloaded truck a bit more level. There's better steering tuned to make the Maverick "drive more like a performance car," according to Ford. The front brake calipers are cribbed directly from the Euro-spec Focus ST, and engineers said the stiffer front shock top mounts migrated over from the electric Mustang Mach-E line. The Lobo also gets the larger radiator and fan, and transmission cooler, from the normal Maverick's 4K towing package to help keep things at the right temperatures.
Kicking the truck into Lobo mode makes everything feel sharper and more exciting. The main differences are sharper throttle input, a greater emphasis on synthetic engine noises in the cabin, and a more aggressive rear differential. That simple switch makes the truck feel like a leashed animal, pulling against the reins to scrabble at the road and shoot away from a hairpin. Even though much of what I'm feeling is heightened by the fake engine noise, I kind of don't care. There's an old-school aggressive feel to this thing, like it's alive underneath me, and it's eager to go as quickly as I'll let it. While the more normal modes have the Maverick Lobo wallowing through corners like the econo-truck it's based on, Lobo mode's active differential work has the truck pivoting around an axis in a sports sedan kind of way. I find myself putting in less steering input and getting around the corner flatter and more composed. Flipping between the modes on a fast road is pure delight.
To sum it up, this is a pretty cool "sport truck" that does about 88% of what enthusiasts want out of a daily driver. It's never going to be a WRX or Audi S4 competitor, but you aren't setting lap records on your way to the grocery store. If you are middle-aged but not quite yet ready to commit to growing up, the Maverick Lobo might be your sweet spot. You can hustle it on a back road and it'll go quick enough to get your blood flowing, but it can also haul the big bags of feed you need for your new chicken coop, or the bags of fertilizer for your urban garden. More than anything, though, it looks cool as hell doing it. The wheels, in particular, make this truck.
I grew to like this plucky little sport truck, but I maybe wouldn't describe it as love. It's a compelling product in a new-car world with few of those remaining. There were a few things about the Maverick, however, that pulled me back into reality. Even as a lowered truck, this machine still has a ton of wheel well gap and body roll. The interior, while made of good quality materials that feel nice, wasn't up to the task of trimming out my $43,000+ tester unit. (The Lobo starts at $36,850 including destination.)
The seats, for example, are too upright, too small, and not nearly well bolstered enough for this thing. The base of the seat ended at about the middle of my thigh, while every sports sedan or hatchback I've ever driven runs the edge of the seat out to under my knees. More than anything, though, this truck needs an optional summer-only tire to really propel it to the next step. The standard fitment Goodyear Wrangler Territory tire just doesn't have the grip to back up any sporty claims the truck may put forth.
It's not the Focus RS you wish Ford would still build you, but the Maverick Lobo is the sportiest non-Mustang Ford will build you right now. While driving the Lobo had me pining for Fords gone by, it isn't lost on me that this is maybe the best-driving pickup ever built. If you cut your teeth on Taurus SHOs and Fiesta STs, but now you need to make Home Depot runs, the Maverick Lobo might be your perfect one-vehicle solution.
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