America is the land of cheap horsepower. Our Constitution guarantees us the unalienable right to buy obscenely powerful vehicles for extremely reasonable monthly payments — or at least it will once Congress starts returning my calls. Now, Ford has decided the honor of Cheapest Horsepower In The Country should go (in true American fashion) to a pickup — if you’re willing to take a couple extra steps to get it.
Last week marked the 2021 rendition of the SEMA Show. For the kids in the audience, SEMA is that event where YouTubers reveal their builds based on Khyzyl Saleem renders, but it’s also a trade show where aftermarket parts manufacturers introduce new products for the coming year. This year, the Ford Performance crew decided to show up with a trick up its sleeve — a factory-backed supercharger that nearly doubles the stock horsepower of an F-150.
The kit, offered through Ford dealers and (when dealer-installed) backed by a three-year Ford warranty, boosts any V8 F-150 up to 700 hp and 590 lb-ft of torque. Those are numbers we’ve become desensitized to, in a world of Hellcat-powered Ram TRXes, but we’re used to it coming at a heavy cost: the TRX starts at over $70,000. The F-150's supercharger, fully installed, is expected to run around $10,000 — not chump change, but still a deal. Hear me out.
The cheapest V8 F-150 is a rear-wheel-drive, two-door XL with a six-foot bed. Before incentives, but after the $1,995 V8 option, that’s a $31,285 truck. Add in ten grand for the supercharger, and you’ve got seven hundred horsepower for just $41,285 — less than the average price of a new car.
That’s just $58.98 per horsepower. For context, a stock F-150 is going to run you $73.23 for each of the 400 horses under its hood. The cheapest performance car for horsepower is even further off: the 2022 Chevrolet Camaro LT1, at $75.73/hp, takes the crown there. A price under $70 is incredible, but getting under $60 per horsepower is downright absurd. Yet, Ford Performance is here to make your dreams come true.
For $41,000, a two-door rear-wheel-drive F-150 with Hellcat power is an incredibly impractical vehicle. Get one in red with some custom vinyl down the side, however, and you’ve got the perfect truck for hauling your overnight parts from Japan. After all, you’ve saved thirty grand over buying a TRX — go ahead and treat yourself.
DISCUSSION
700 Horsepower? Like what is the average suburbanite weekend warrior owner of these things going to do? Probably immediately run it into guardrail...