While Ford deserves credit for its light-touch street truck, the F-150 Lobo just doesn’t go far enough. It sits too high on tires that are too skinny, and it’s only available as a crew cab. Roush is doing what Ford should have and giving a basic two-door F-150 a street truck makeover.
The latest Roush Nitemare package is available on the F-150 XL and XLT trim levels, meaning you can now get a base F-150 with attitude. A suspension kit consists of new coilovers, twin-tube dampers, progressive-rate springs, and new sway bars with CNC-machined aluminum bushing brackets. This setup lowers the truck three inches in front and five inches in back. Roush claims this suspension gives the F-150 1g cornering ability.
Roush also adds 22-inch wheels with 305/40R22 General G-Max AS07 all-season tires, with slotted brake rotors to improve stopping power with those enlarged wheels. A cat-back exhaust system enhances the sound of the 5.0-liter V8 that’s standard on regular-cab versions of the XL (and a $2,340 option on the XLT crew cab). It makes 400 horsepower and 410 pound-feet of torque from the factory.
The lowered stance and bigger wheels and tires are the main attractions, but the Nitemare package also includes hood air extractors, a new grille with amber lights and “Roush” lettering, and an optional graphics package. The blacked-out exterior with a splash of orange around the grille looks decidedly Lobo-like, and also doesn’t match the interior, which gets red accents instead.
All of this costs $22,999 on top of the price of a new F-150, which is $42,125 if you go for a regular-cab XL or $50,850 for a crew-cab XLT (both prices include a $2,795 destination charge). So the upgrade package is equivalent to about half the price of the truck itself, and pricier than a base Lobo even if it’s added to a base F-150 XL. You can at least get a Nitemare at certain Ford dealerships, and the modifications are backed by a three-year/36,000-mile warranty.
Alternatively, you could skip the visual upgrades and slap the $10,250 Whipple supercharger kit from Ford Performance Parts on a base regular cab XL. That boosts the 5.0-liter V8 to 700 hp and 590 lb-ft for $52,375.
Got a tip? Send us a note at tips@thedrive.com.