2023 Ford Maverick Tremor Review and Test Drive
Ford is shaking things up in the small pickup segment.
Ron Sessions
Article QuickTakes:
Introduced for the 2022 model year, the Ford Maverick is a compact pickup truck based on the same platform that underpins the Ford Bronco Sport and
Small trucks sold in large numbers in the U.S. in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, catering to entry-level buyers. However, the small trucks often grew into midsize trucks — like the Ford Ranger — while prices increased along with standard equipment and capability.
Recently, many automakers, Ford included, eliminated their subcompact and compact car models, leaving younger or first-time buyers with nowhere to land other than with a used vehicle. With prices beginning in the low $20,000 range, Ford believes the Maverick can attract those entry-level buyers.
Aside from its compact size, the Maverick differs from most offerings in today's market because of its unitized body construction that does not use a separate ladder frame. This design and engineering approach gives it a lower stance and a ride quality similar to a traditional car.
New for 2023, the Ford Maverick Tremor is a $2,995 option package for off-roading. It requires the truck's 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, and Ford offers it only with mid-level XLT and top-of-the-line Lariat trim levels. Base prices for a Maverick Tremor range from the high $20,000s to the low $30,000s, including the destination charge to ship the truck from the Hermosillo, Mexico, factory that builds it to your local dealership.
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Functionally, the Tremor differs from the stock Maverick by adding a 1-inch lifted suspension, retuned springs and shocks, a steel front skid plate, an advanced all-wheel-drive system (AWD) with a torque-vectoring dual-clutch locking rear differential, 30-inch Falken Wildpeak all-terrain tires, and Trail Control.
For this Maverick Tremor review, I evaluated a truck with XLT trim in southern Arizona. In addition to the Tremor Off-Road package, it came with the Tremor Off-Road Plus Appearance package, the Ford Co-Pilot 360 collection of advanced driving assistance systems, mud flaps, and a spray-in bed liner, bringing the manufacturer's suggested retail price to $34,485, including the $1,595 destination charge. Ford provided the vehicle for this Maverick Tremor review.
2023 Ford Maverick Tremor Review: The Design
All Maverick models are four-door crew cabs with a 4.5-foot-long cargo bed. Despite the truck's shared architecture with the Ford Escape and Bronco Sport, the Maverick's upright sides and oversized grille look sufficiently tough next to the midsize Ranger and full-size F-150.
Outside, my Tremor test vehicle wore an exclusive paint color called Avalanche Gray. All Tremors feature a front bumper with an enhanced approach angle, smoked headlights and taillights, and bright-orange accents on the grille, fender vents, tow hooks, and wheels. In addition, my test vehicle added appearance upgrades, including Carbonized Gray graphics on the hood, roof, and doors. At the rear, the standard trailer-hitch receiver has a four-pin connector. The Tremor is rated to tow 2,000 pounds.
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Inside, the orange accents continue on the seats, instrument panel, and floor console. Sturdy-looking tray-type all-weather rubber floor mats look ready to handle dirt, mud, and other detritus. There's lots of hard plastic in the Maverick cabin, but that's a concession Ford made to get the price down for budget-minded buyers. Nevertheless, what's there looks durable and appealing.
The Tremor also gets an upsized 6.5-inch driver-configurable digital display with graphic displays that change with the truck's selectable drive modes. They include Slippery, Sand, Mud/Ruts, Tow/Haul, and Normal.
The front bucket seats, manually adjustable and unheated in XLT trim, are roomy and comfortable, with ample headroom and legroom. The rear bench seat offers plenty of headroom, but six-footers will be cramped back there unless the front-seat occupants move forward a bit. I'm 6 foot, 2 inches tall, and I didn't fit in the back seat with the driver's seat adjusted to my preference.
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The XLT Tremor's seat trim is a grippy, attractive cloth with a denim-like look and feel. A urethane steering wheel, keyed ignition, and single-zone manual air-conditioning system in the XLT Tremor speak to that model's price-sensitive mission. Buyers must upgrade to the Lariat trim to get a leather-wrapped steering wheel, heated front seats, a power-operated driver's seat, Active X artificial leather upholstery, dual-zone automatic climate control, and push-button ignition. But the Lariat adds thousands of dollars to the bottom line.
Storage cubbies abound. Aside from the glovebox, there are small compartments behind and alongside the infotainment screen, three partitioned open cubbies for odds and ends at the forward part of the center console, concealed storage under the padded center armrest, big bottle holders in the doors, and a pair of cupholders on the center console.
Lifting the rear seat's lower cushion reveals two concealed storage compartments, which are large enough to store a laptop, camera, or tablet. The rear seatback also folds down, offering a flat platform for carrying bulkier objects in the cabin.
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The cargo bed is only 4.5 feet long but offers 33.3 cu-ft of stowage, 10 tie-downs, a toaster-size cubby in the passenger side cargo wall, and a power tailgate lock. A Flexbed system accommodates bed crossbars, a bed divider, a bed net, and a host of accessories, including a bed extender, tonneau covers, a plastic drop-in or spray-in bed liner, and bed lighting. In addition, the Maverick's cargo bed is available with an optional 400-watt, 110-volt outlet and comes pre-wired with a pair of 12-volt leads to power accessories.
2023 Ford Maverick Tremor Review: The Technology
In keeping with Maverick's value mission, its infotainment system is simple. An 8.0-inch low-resolution LCD touchscreen with easy-to-read large type sits atop the dash. Basic analog rotary volume and tuning knobs live beneath it on the center stack, and there are up/down buttons for those functions on the steering wheel as well.
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The XLT Tremor's sound system is a bare-bones six-speaker AM/FM unit with passable fidelity. With Lariat trim, an optional eight-speaker Bang & Olufsen premium audio setup is available, adding a thumping subwoofer for more prominent bass. It also includes reduced-static HD Radio, and a three-month trial of SiriusXM satellite radio.
Neither infotainment system offers embedded navigation, but Ford included Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone connectivity, both wired in this case, which both offer navigation apps. In addition, there are USB-A and USB-C ports above the center console for easy connectivity, and a wireless phone charger is an option.
Pairing my Samsung Galaxy 21 Android phone with the Ford Maverick was an easy process. In addition, using the voice-control button to find directions to points of interest or make calls from my contact list proved quick and seamless through the Android Auto connection.
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One tech feature unique to Ford products is the SecuriCode keyless-entry keypad. A numbered keypad on the driver's door frame provides access to lock and unlock the truck without the key or keyless entry remote. Ford has offered this convenient but redundant feature in many of its products for decades, and it's standard with Maverick XLT and Lariat trims.
In a vehicle that's basic and focused on low cost, the Maverick XLT Tremor's standard collection of driving-assistance systems is rudimentary, including just a forward-collision warning system with pedestrian detection, automatic emergency braking, a backup camera, and automatic high beams. However, the Tremor test truck featured the optional Ford Co-Pilot 360 package, which adds blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist, and a driver-monitoring system. This option is a bargain, priced at $650, and I recommend it.
Cruise control is standard on the XLT Tremor. In addition, an adaptive cruise-control system is available at extra cost but only in the topline Maverick Lariat Tremor.
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During the evaluation, the lane-departure warning and lane-keeping assist systems worked as advertised, helping the driver keep the Maverick from wandering out of its lane, provided distinct and well-maintained lane markings were available.
While the Maverick Tremor isn't a large truck, I found parking and maneuvering in tight quarters challenging. The standard backup camera is helpful for reversing, but the tall hood makes it hard to judge the distance from the front bumper to objects when parking. A front parking sensor would be a good addition here, but Ford doesn't offer one for the Maverick. A surround-view camera — unexpected in a low-cost vehicle such as the Maverick — would also be a handy option here.
In National Highway Traffic Safety Administration crash tests, the Maverick earns an overall rating of four out of five stars for safety. However, as of this writing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has not published crash-test ratings for the Ford Maverick, so
2023 Ford Maverick Tremor Review: The Drive
The biggest takeaway from driving the Maverick Tremor (and any Maverick, for that matter) is that it doesn't feel like a traditional truck. Even with the Tremor's 1-inch lift, the step-in, and ride height, it is more akin to a crossover SUV than a pickup. That's because the Maverick shares its bones with the Bronco Sport and Escape.
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On the road, the Maverick's ride motions are considerably more controlled than those of a traditional, body-on-frame pickup. And the Maverick's lower center of gravity makes it feel more responsive to steering inputs and better planted on or off-road than the midsize 2023 Ford Ranger.
In addition, the Maverick's optional turbocharged 2.0-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine makes a healthy 250 horsepower and 277 lb-ft of torque. In the Tremor, by my estimate, that translates to acceleration to 60 mph from a stop in about six seconds flat.
Unfortunately, the Tremor's all-terrain tires don't help fuel economy. At an EPA-estimated 21 mpg, the Tremor's fuel economy estimates drop significantly from a standard Maverick with AWD and the EcoBoost engine (24 mpg). Nevertheless, during 150 miles of driving primarily on paved roads, my XLT Tremor test truck returned 21.9 mpg. With its standard 16.5-gallon tank, that equates to a 361-mile driving range.
The significant factor in the Maverick Tremor's nimble (for a truck) handling is its dual-clutch rear differential. A torque-vectoring feature in the rear differential allows the Tremor to direct the drive torque to the rear wheel with the most grip. Also, the steering response impresses, as Ford has minimized understeer in tight corners.
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One downside of a cabin with lots of hard plastic trim and minimal soundproofing is the amount of background noise over coarse surfaces. It reminds you that this is a low-cost vehicle that, nevertheless, offers a lot of fun-to-drive character.
The Maverick Tremor is not a hardcore off-roader, but its 1-inch raised suspension and advanced AWD with a dual-clutch rear differential make it quite capable in off-pavement situations. In addition, a bank of controls on the center console gives the driver easy access to the Tremor's six drive modes that can tailor the drive system to tackle sand, mud, ruts, slippery surfaces, and more. The controls also enable the driver to lock the AWD system's power split evenly between the front and rear axles or side to side at the rear axle when needed in challenging terrain.
Ford also equips the Maverick Tremor with Trail Control. This off-road cruise control system maintains a driver-selectable set speed, freeing up the driver to steer around obstacles without worrying about operating the throttle or brakes.
Is the 2023 Ford Maverick Tremor a Good Truck?
The 2023 Ford Maverick Tremor shines because it doesn't lose any of its small pickup practicality, brilliant packaging, cargo flexibility, or everyday usefulness while expanding its ability to handle the sort of off-pavement situations the average buyer might someday encounter.
Ron Sessions
In addition, the Maverick Tremor's lively turbocharged engine and eight-speed automatic offer ample performance. Although fuel economy could be better, the AWD pickup is still more fuel-efficient than many midsize trucks.
Overall, the Maverick Tremor is a fun-to-drive small truck that will fit into most garages and household budgets, which is more than you can say for most of today's pickups.
Ron Sessions
