My Weekend Romance

So, my pal, Peter Treydte comes into the office this past Monday morning and loudly declares, “Hey Tim, you’re no longer a diesel virgin.” We all laughed. It’s true though. I drove a bone-stock cherry red 2005 Ford F-250 crew cab 4×4 Power Stroke turbodiesel over three hundred miles last weekend. It was a great experience and one that truly changed any preconceived notions I had that modern diesels were still big, clunky, and slow.

As I stated in a previous post, I’m a hot rodder. I build street machines. Cars. Not trucks. In fact, the only trucks I’ve ever owned were two $500 trucks that helped me move, and each time, I sold the truck right after.

I’ve been at Banks since last September and the diesel bug already bit me, but it wasn’t until this past weekend that I got infected. That Ford I drove was a blast! I had a permanent smile all weekend. The truck’s powerband was sweeeeet and it’s automatic transmission’s shifts came quickly and were just firm enough. Bam-Bam-Bam-Bam. I’ve heard praises about Allison’s automatics and can’t wait to test one myself, but Ford’s TorqShift felt perfect to me.

My overall reaction to the F-250 was one of complete surprise. I’m amazed at how powerful and fast the truck was both around town and on the freeway. Flooring it up the big hills on the freeway out of Los Angeles to the North, the truck was astonishing. I hit over 100 m.p.h. several times and I loved it. When cruising at 85, its 6-liter turbodiesel was just loafing.

I love powerful vehicles. If you didn’t need to tow or haul anything or you weren’t a power freak (like myself) you could easily live with this truck in stock form. It’s that good. But of course, I can’t wait to see how well it performs with a Banks Big Hoss Bundle installed on it.

The goal for my trip was to experience the unmodified truck and then do the same Los Angeles to Santa Barbara to L.A. loop after it gets the full Banks Sidewinder All-Terrain treatment. It should be finished in the next few weeks. I’ll post my comments after I do the second loop.

Once fitted with its Banks Sidewinder All-Terrain modifications, the F-250 will join its recently completed Chevy and Dodge Sidewinder All-Terrain siblings for the long haul on Hot Rod Magazine’s Power Tour this coming June. If you get the opportunity, you have to come out and see them!

Well, I no longer think diesels are too big, clunky, and slow. Yeah, they’re still big, but with its new coil-spring front suspension, the Ford wasn’t at all clunky. In fact, it actually handled very well. And it certainly wasn’t slow. Now, if it was just faster. Oh wait, it’s going to be. Well, I’m off to buy a radar detector.

Sincerely,
Your faithful,
“Corporate Blogger”