The 2011 Ford Super Duty trucks have been much anticipated by anyone with diesel in his veins. The prospect of an all-new 6.7L engine designed, built, and tested by Ford and Ford alone certainly piqued interest. It was with great excitement that we traveled to Arizona to attend the media event Ford sponsored to introduce journalists to the new Super Dutys. We were not disappointed in any way, shape, or form.

The V-8 turbocharged diesel engine is not revolutionary, but it is a whole different concept than what was powering previous Super Dutys. First, the turbo is placed on top of the engine where the intake used to be, which minimizes the exhaust path lengths and maximizes the effectiveness. The turbocharger is a single-sequential turbo that has a double-sided compressor wheel on a single shaft to reduce turbo lag. Fuel delivery is via a new common-rail, direct-injection fuel system. A two-stage combustion event (a pilot injection of fuel begins the combustion process before the main injection) results in a smoother-running engine and a more refined sound. Actually, at idle, there's another pilot injection event to make the truck even smoother and quieter. Multiple resonators are used to deaden the usual diesel sounds, too.

Since this was an all-new design and Ford needs to make sure it comes out of the gate a success, Ford did a tremendous amount of testing. And we're not just talking about the usual scientific testing in a laboratory-they did lots of that-real trucks were put in the hands of real people, like Florida Power & Light, Reynolds Asphalt & Construction, and real ranchers and farmers. These people hammered the trucks as best they could and reported their impressions to Ford. The bottom line is that Ford put a great deal of effort into this, and from what we can tell the company has hit a home run. But with 390 hp and 735 lb-ft of torque, maybe we should call it a grand slam.

With that kind of power, the transmission better be able to withstand the onslaught of power, so Ford designed an all-new six-speed automatic transmission to go with the engine. The 6R140 heavy-duty Torqshift transmission is mated to both the 6.7L diesel engine and the available 6.2L gas engine. Bigger and stronger gears, including double overdrive, combine with a new torque converter to provide beefed-up support of the engine. One interesting fact is that Ford has decided to drop the manual transmission and added some features to the automatic to appease those die-hards (which might not be possible). The user can put the transmission in full manual mode and make all the shifts himself. A new turbine damper allows the Super Duty to lug down to 900 rpm.