2025 Ford Maverick Lobo Revives the Street Truck With Clever Rear Diff, Track-Only Drive Mode

In today’s truck market, almost everything is off-road-focused. Nearly every pickup, SUV, and yes, family crossover either has a rugged-sounding name or at least one four-wheeling-adjacent trim package. That wasn’t always the case as automakers used to cater to go-fast street truck fanatics, too. It’s been more than a decade since we saw a model like that, but Ford just launched the 2025 Maverick Lobo: A truck that’s built for carving up the pavement. It starts at $36,595 including destination, with deliveries beginning early next year.

There will be two option packs for the Lobo, a base and a high-feature. The fully loaded model, which you can order starting today, lists for $42,090 with the destination fee. The $36,000 one will be orderable “late 2024.”

The Maverick Lobo has no desire to get its tires muddy. Instead, it wants to tear up the street and make sure drivers have fun doing it. So despite its 4.5-foot bed, the Lobo’s specs make it seem more like a hot hatchback than a pickup truck. What’s especially cool is that Ford made it by pulling from its performance car parts bin, just like so many Maverick owners have been doing the past few years.

Under the Maverick Lobo’s hood is a 2.0-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder that’s largely unchanged from the normal Maverick. I know what you’re thinking, but stick with me. It still makes 238 horsepower and 275 lb-ft of torque, and it’s proven to be fairly tuneable. It also has a larger radiator as well as a new transmission oil cooler to keep temps down during harder driving. As for the transmission, Ford simply took a gear out of the Maverick’s typical eight-speed gearbox, making it a seven-speed with paddle shifters for some added fun.

The big drivetrain news, though, is the addition of the twin-clutch torque-vectoring rear differential from the Bronco Sport Badlands and Maverick Tremor. In those other cars, the differential helps to add traction in low-grip situations. In the Lobo, though, it’s there to increase cornering capability on dry pavement and ultimately make the street truck more fun to drive. There’s also a Lobo Mode, which is essentially a more playful stability control setting that allows for more slip and uses the rear differential to actually help the Lobo around corners. Engaging it brings up a prompt on the screen, warning that Lobo Mode is for track use only. Let’s see how many customers heed that warning.

To further increase its driving fun, Ford took advantage of the Maverick’s plug-and-play capability with other Ford parts. The truck’s brake calipers are from the European-market Ford Focus ST, its brake rotors are from a Lincoln Corsair PHEV, its steering rack is from the Euro-market Ford Kuga because it’s a quicker ratio than the Maverick’s, its front strut mounts are from the Mustang Mach-E, and its rear monotube shocks are from the Maverick FX4, while the suspension overall is lower than any other Maverick—half an inch lower up front and 1.12 inches lower out back. Ford took note of the Maverick’s plug-and-play potential when it built a show truck with Tucci Hot Rods for the 2021 SEMA event.

Visually, the Lobo distinguishes itself from every other Maverick with its unique grille, slightly wider fenders, new fog lights, and 19-inch wheels. Check out those killer gloss-black aerodiscs. I wish Ford offered different finishes but I’m not going to complain. There’s another gloss black 19-inch wheel option if you get a black appearance package, but it’s these that you want if you’re looking for the street truck vibe. And to add some visual symmetry, the Lobo’s roof is also gloss black, matching the wheels while visually lowering the truck.

That same street truck vibe makes its way to the interior, where materials and trims were specifically made for the Lobo, separating its cabin from other Mavericks. According to the Maverick’s interior designer, the Lobo’s cabin was very much inspired by graffiti, hence the blue and yellow stitching and unique seat embossing. However, you have to look pretty closely to see the Lobo’s interior differences, as its overall design is mostly the same as every other Maverick.

In the Lobo’s defense, though, its interior doesn’t need to be flashy. Just its existence should make street truck enthusiasts happy, as it’s been a pretty dead segment for a while now, especially at the Lobo’s size and price point. Trucks like the GMC Syclone and Toyota Tacoma X-Runner don’t exist anymore and haven’t for some time. Now, every performance truck has an off-roading bent. To see Ford not only bring back the street truck but do it at a relatively affordable price point is super refreshing.

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