I, as well as a few others, suspect the Sport has a digital sandbag for self preservation. While i was crawling around underneath it, i observed the drivetrain components to the rear wheels. the driveshaft is easily 1 inch or less in diameter in some spots. i suspect the f-150 has a heavier drive train, and thus, doesnt have the same factory protections. Plus the f150 has a traditional drivetrain rather than relying on the computer to tell it when to send power to the rear.
With the better gearing, solid driveline, and what i suspect is a more aggressive (or less protective?) tune, i wouldn't be surprised if the f-150 is nearly as fast as a stock Sport. i watched a video of an eco f-150 layin a smackdown on the street.
Does the rear drive-line appear beefier than the 2.0 AWD?
If not, you could be on to something. The sport, as advertised, is priced
just too low to deliver everything it promised.
The other thing I hope someone is able to tune eventually is the suspension. I would like to
see heavy turn-in or slalom like driving, be able to turn the struts into steel rods,
instantaneously, giving you the feeling of a go-cart, yet the other 99% of the time
feel like my 2.0. Would have liked to see a separate suspension switch on console
(no menus to go through, just a real button being immediately accessible), instantly
providing this type of active suspension, without changing anything else.
Forget the pothole stuff, just give me the ride quality of your average
fusion (which is really nice), right up until I drive aggressively. I feel this could have
been done virtually for free with all the sensors on the car already (steering wheel sensors,
crash G-sensors, etc..). This is something no other car has, upwards of double (++) the price.
Forget 0-60 or 1/4 mile, what a coo ford could have had.