Only in the world of trucks, like this 2026 Ford F-350 Lariat, is a gargantuan gas-sucking 7.3-Litre V8 engine lovingly nicknamed “Godzilla,” considered a practical option. I love it.
Everyone wants the diesel. If you’re gonna get a big truck, and then take the further step to graduate into the hallowed heavy ground beyond half-tons, you gotta take the last step and get yourself a big stonking diesel with four-digit torque figures. Truck marketing is and has always been an arms race, built around the mantra of “too much is never enough,” and it’s taken us to some silly places. Ford’s new-ish Godzilla V8, for all its appetite for fuel barrel-chested eight-cylinder roar, marks a stroke of sanity in an insane world.
Don’t get me wrong, I like diesels, have owned a couple myself, and always enjoy the industrial gurgle of a serious truck engine, especially if it’s under my command. They are a specialized tool and excel at specific jobs, and if you’re gonna be doing long and/or heavy hauls on the regular, they can make a lot of sense. But that specialization comes at a cost.
A judicious Godzilla
In Ford’s case, the jump from the base 6.8L V8 to this 7.3L V8 is $1,500. The option box to put a Powerstroke diesel in your new truck carries an $11,725 ask with it, and you’ll have to add four grand more if you want to make the most of your flex and get the high-output version - which you obviously have to if you’ve already come this far. Yes, gasser Godzilla has a little bit of a drinking problem - I averaged 18.4L/100km in my week with it - but you’re gonna have to really mile out your diesel rig to make up the difference of that initial ask.
…and that’s assuming no high-pressure fuel injectors, fuel injection pumps, SCR components, NOX sensors, DEF injection parts, turbochargers, and whatever other diesel-specific and definitely-not-notoriously-finicky hardware don’t give you any trouble along the way.
Godzilla is a much simpler beast; refreshingly so against the onslaught of smaller-displacement, higher-pressure, tighter-tolerance engines that perform better in test environments, but rarely translate to end-user satisfaction.
The spec sheet reads like it hails from the past: a cast-iron block with a single camshaft actuating 2-valve heads via pushrods, port fuel injection, forged crankshaft, 4-bolt main bearing caps, and not much else, actually. The only concessions to modernity are a variable camshaft timing and electronic throttle control; and those have been around for decades.
No replacement for displacement
Power ratings come in at 430 horsepower, and 485 foot-pounds of torque; 400 of which is available from 1,500 rpm all the way to the 6,000 rpm cut-off. Thanks to a relatively modest compression ratio of 10.5:1, it is quite happy to make this power consistently, even under extreme conditions, on cheap gas. If you drive sensibly and do a lot of highway, it can almost be respectable in its fuel use, dipping down to 15L/100km, and despite being larger and significantly more powerful, it drinks less than any prior Ford Super Duty gasser.
More important than any of these numbers and stats is the way this neo-classical beast drives; this is a charmer of a motor. Truck engines tend to be unsexy, often with wheezing intakes, flat exhaust notes, and more noise coming from fans than infernal combustion. Not so is the case here; Godzilla’s got swagger that belongs in a muscle car. I might go as far as to say this might be my favourite engine on the market right now, even usurping the mighty Mopar 6.4.
It’s got the same reassuring background burble of the best gentle giants of the past, with an authoritative barrel-chested roar when you’re in a hurry, and overarching demeanour of effortless, linear muscle. It's a smooth operator, and it’s the right blend of quiet, but never silent, in the very best way. I love this thing.
Hauling
It hauls, figuratively and literally, too. The last Super Duty I drove had Ford’s high-output 6.7L Powerstroke diesel with two and a half times more torque, and it certainly didn’t feel two and a half times faster. With ten speeds to disseminate its brawn, it’s quick enough to hustle to 100km/h in a little over six seconds, and the poor rear tires are perpetually at your mercy. Towing capacity in this single-rear-wheel F-350 goes all the way up to 21,000 lbs on a gooseneck trailer, with payload capacity coming in at 3,410 lbs on this specific build (marginally higher than the diesel, for whatever it’s worth).
Lariat lining
The rest of the truck is typical Ford, in a good way. This mid-level Lariat is a nice blend of niceties and utility, including heated and ventilated power seats, power sliding rear window, adaptive cruise control, surround view cameras, 12-inch infotainment display, with a Premium package adding a heads-up display, Bang & Olufsen audio, and powered running boards.
Fit and finish is good, Ford’s ActiveX leatherette almost feels nicer/more suited to a truck’s life than their nicest stuff, and everything works well.
Driving impressions
The single-rear-wheel F-350 is very, very similar to the F-250, with only key difference being a higher gross weight rating (11,100 lbs) courtesy of stiffer suspenders. If you don’t need this additional capacity, skip it. This truck rides noticeably harder and transmits way more shudder through its bones than the same body on a slightly softer chassis.
It’s fine for what it is, but if you don’t need what it is, don’t do it to yourself. Otherwise it drives well, is easy enough to maneuver, it handles and stops confidently, and is surprisingly quiet when it’s not shaking your fillings out.
Money & Wrap it up
Pricing for this truck, with its excellent seats, nice trim, good tech, bedliner, and a sweetheart of an engine, rings in at $107,304. Not being a light-duty truck, it also skirts around Canada’s luxury tax.
The old adage goes that there’s no replacement, and while technology has come a long way since that adage first started getting thrown around, it remains true. A big engine is satisfying like nothing else, and the peace of mind that comes with a mechanically simple, unstressed workhorse like this 2026 Ford F-350 is hard to put a price on.
