US utes are very popular in Australia and the Ford F-150 Lariat long wheelbase – the top dog in the F-150 line-up – is the latest arrival in America’s full-size pick-up invasion of our car market. 

If you’re considering a US ute like the Ram, Chevrolet Silverado or even the Toyota Tundra, then the F-150 seems, on paper at least, well-engineered, well-equipped and purpose-built for towing and touring. 

But is the F-150 a big, roomy all-all-rounder or is it too bloated and impractical?

How much does the 2025 Ford F-150 Lariat LWB 3.5L Auto cost?

There are two F-150 grades in Australia – the XLT and the Lariat – and both are available as a short or long-wheelbase.

Our test vehicle is the Lariat long wheelbase. It’s a five-seat dual-cab ute with a price-tag of $140,945 (excluding on-road costs). The XLT is about $33,000 cheaper.

What features do you get in the 2025 Ford F-150 Lariat LWB 3.5L Auto?

Standard features onboard the 2025 long wheelbase Ford F-150 Lariat include a 12.0-inch touchscreen multimedia system (with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), heated and ventilated leather-accented seats, a two-panel power moonroof, 20-inch chrome-like alloy wheels, front and rear parking sensors, a cabin-length power-operated sunroof, and a remote-controlled and power-assisted tailgate.

Exterior paint choices include Oxford White (at no extra cost) or Agate Black, Iconic Silver, Rapid Red (on our test vehicle), Antimatter Blue or Carbonised Grey – each costing $700.

The long-wheelbase F-150 Lariat is 6184mm long (with a 3994mm wheelbase), 2030mm wide, 1995mm high, and it has a kerb weight of 2555kg.

With a stretched wheelbase, this F-150 seems massive but it’s actually is not a whole lot bigger than a Ford Ranger*, 300 Series Toyota LandCruiser, or a new-gen Nissan Patrol – and it does have undeniable presence. (*For reference, the Ranger is 5370mm long, 1920mm wide, and 1880mm high; the LC300 (Sahara ZX) is 5015mm long, 1980mm wide, and 1950mm high; and the Patrol is 5165mm long (all variants), 1995mm wide (all variants), and 1940mm/1955mm high.)

The Lariat’s 20-inch chrome-like alloys and Pirelli Scorpion ATR all-terrain light truck tyres (275/60R20) cap off this pick-up’s bulky style.

The F-150’s interior is cavernous, but it’s functional and comfortable with a premium look and feel.

The multi-media system is easy to pair to your phone and operate – just allow yourself a few minutes before you set off in the Lariat for the very first time so you can get your head around how to navigate your way through the system.

There’s ample storage space – including a deep centre console*, cup-holders and bottle-holders for everyone, as well as the usual glovebox (times two in here) and seat pockets for rear-seat passengers. (*In a stroke of Ford genius, the auto shifter power-folds forward into a recess, giving you room to unfold the lid of the centre console and turn that large surface into a picnic table or work desk.)

Space is further maximised in the rear 60/40-split seat as it has a fold-out storage underneath it, or the seat itself, if not in use, can be stowed away to free up even more room in the cabin.

The stretched Lariat’s tub is 2005mm long and 1656mm wide with 1285mm between the wheel-arches – so it will fit an Aussie pallet, or a stack of camping gear etc. 

This load space has a 12-volt outlet, night lights, a tub camera, a durable-looking spray-in tub liner, as well as fixed tie-down points at each corner and four sidewall-mounted tie-down points (two on each inner wall).

This F-150’s side-steps serve an obvious practical function, as do its remote-controlled and power-assisted tailgate, which has a fold-out step and a slide-out guide pole.

Bonus usage points for the raised ruler markings on the tailgate’s inner wall and the two G-clamp fitting positions at each side of the tailgate’s top edge.

The Lariat has a keyless entry system with a keypad on the exterior of the vehicle (front passenger door): punch in your permanent access code and you're in.

The F-150 does not have an ANCAP safety rating because it has not been tested.

As standard it has six airbags (driver and front passenger front and side airbags, plus side-curtain airbags), and top-tether points on the three rear seats.

Driver-assist tech includes AEB, blind-spot monitoring, lane-keeping assist, front and rear parking sensors, tyre-pressure monitoring, a 360-degree camera, trailer sway control, dynamic hitch assist, trailer sway control, back-up assist, trailer light check and trailer theft alert.

The F-150 has a five-year/unlimited-km warranty.

Roadside assistance is available for up to seven years but check with your dealership for more details.

Servicing is scheduled for every 12 months or 15,000km. 

Capped Price Servicing applies to the first four scheduled services and, at time of writing, was listed as $429 a time.

What is the 2025 Ford F-150 Lariat LWB 3.5L Auto like to drive?

The F-150 has a 3.5-litre twin-turbo petrol V6 – producing 298kW at 6000rpm and 678Nm at 3100rpm – and that’s matched to a 10-speed automatic transmission.

The Lariat has full-time 4WD and an electronic rear diff lock. Selectable driving modes include Sport, Eco, Tow/Haul, Normal, Slippery, Deep Snow/Sand and Mud Ruts.

F-150s are imported to Australia from the USA as left-hand-drive vehicles and reengineered to right-hand-drive by Melbourne-based RMA Automotive, at the company’s production facility in Melbourne.

The utes undergo a comprehensive transformation – including changes to steering, driver displays, aircon, as well as software upgrades, to name but a few – aimed at making them capable of excelling in Aussie conditions.

And RMA Automotive has done a great job.

The F-150 is a big vehicle with a steel ladder-frame chassis and a lengthy wheelbase, but it suits Aussie conditions, especially with Aussie-tuned steering, great on-road ride and handling and that 4500kg towing capability built into it. 

It's well-controlled with a planted feel on sealed surfaces, the steering has a nice weight to it in all conditions, acceleration is smooth, and the 10-speed auto offers clever management of this big vehicle. 

It’s very quiet and comfortable in the cabin – you can just barely register the low-level rumble of the twin-turbocharged V6 as you truck along stretches of highway and rural back roads.

On-road, this is an almost perfect open-road touring vehicle. The bonus is, as a Lariat driver, you have access to a whole suite of driver-assist tech which specifically includes stuff geared towards making the task of towing safer, more controlled and, as a result, more enjoyable than it otherwise may be.

However, when you get this big ute off road, it has limitations. It has to be driven with real care and consideration, and you have to know the off-road parameters in which this ute works best. If you drive anything more severe than light-to-medium-duty off-roading, then you are risking damage to this ute’s side steps or underbody. 

The Lariat’s suspension – IFS (twin wishbone) with coil springs at the front, and live axle on leaf springs at the rear – is set up to absorb lumps and bumps on sealed surfaces and even on gravel tracks, but it is less capable of doing the same job during low-range 4WDing. It becomes very bouncy, when you’d be excused for expecting that longer wheelbase would offer a bit more stability and control through shallow to moderate ruts, but it really is a wild ride. 

Beyond that though, visibility is great, the driving position is commanding, steering at low speeds is well-weighted and precise, and throttle response is impressive.

While there’s little to nit-pick in terms of this ute’s four-wheel drive system, the traction control system is somewhat clunky. When the terrain becomes more challenging, that off-road traction control system just seems to whirr and click and clunk away with lacklustre application – it’s not exactly smooth or seamless. 

The F-150 has the kind of off-road angles you’d expect for a vehicle this large: approach angle is listed as 24 degrees, departure angle is 26.3, and the ramp-over is 19 degrees.

Ground clearance is listed as 225mm and wading depth is 600mm.

The tyres – Pirelli Scorpion ATR all-terrain light truck tyres (275/60R20) – aren’t that good for off-roading either – even though they’re marketed as all-season tyres.

Bigger tyres and an aftermarket suspension lift would go some of the way to help sort out the F-150’s off-road issues with less-than-ideal rubber, poor ground clearance and off-road angles.

For such a big ute, payload is an underwhelming 710kg; for reference, the Ram 1500 (878kg) and Chevrolet Silverado (757kg) offer more, and even mainstream dual-cab utes, such as the Ford Ranger – 966kg (kerb weight)/1010kg (min kerb weight) – offer better payloads.

Towing capacity is 750kg (unbraked) and a noteworthy 4500kg (braked). GVM is 3265kg, and GCM is 7765kg.

Official fuel consumption is listed as 12.5L/100km (on a combined cycle).

I recorded 14.8L/100km on this test, which included a lot of high- and low-range 4WDing.

This F-150 has a 136L fuel tank so, based on on-test fuel consumption, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 920km from a full tank. 

(Note: If you calculate driving range using the official fuel-consumption figure, you could reasonably expect a driving range of about 1088km from a full tank.)

Is the 2025 Ford F-150 Lariat LWB 3.5L Auto any good?

There’s a lot to like about the Ford F-150 Lariat LWB but it is better suited to load-lugging, towing and touring, than it is to hard-core 4WDing.

Despite that – and its less-than-ideal payload – if you’re keen to own a US ute, the F-150 should be on your shortlist of potential buys.