2025 Ford Maverick Lobo First Drive Review: A Fun Street Truck That’s Begging for More

There hasn’t been a sporty Ford compact since the automaker put the last-gen Focus and Fiesta STs out to pasture. That was more than five years ago, meaning we haven’t had a cheap and cheerful performance model wearing a Blue Oval badge in this decade. Enter the 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo which, while not a hot hatch, is still what we the people have been asking for: A factory street truck built to carve corners.

Even though a pickup might not be the most logical successor to the Focus and Fiesta, this is also a world where we have off-road Porsche 911s. Let’s just be thankful that this bit of frivolity is available at a price point where just about anybody can decide for themselves.

But from a glance at the options sheet, the Maverick Lobo maintains its low cost of entry by keeping things relatively no-frills. That seems appropriate for a truck whose identity is closely tied to its price point, but is there enough in this formula to connect with car enthusiasts who would rather be dodging cones in a parking lot than raccoons on a back-country trail? A day behind the wheel in sunny San Diego told me all I needed to know.

The Basics 

To hear Ford tell it, the Lobo wasn’t even really the company’s idea. The sport truck formula was simply an acknowledgment of something that was already being produced in the driveways and garages of its growing ownership base. Right there at home, owners were converting their turbocharged Mavericks into autocrossers and track rats, taking advantage of the truck’s sharp, compact chassis and tunable four-cylinder engine.

The exterior was inspired by Ford’s SEMA collaboration with Tucci Hot Rods, and a take on those wheels even made it to production. The rest of the truck’s visual upgrades are far more subtle; the glossy “Lobo” badge on the fender is barely perceptible against the textured black plastic.

Seeing the groundswell of enthusiast shenanigans, the Maverick team challenged itself to come up with something that would appeal to the high-performance crowd while still allowing headroom for those who wanted to turn up the wick at home. From that point on, the Lobo’s 250 horsepower and 277 lb-ft of torque were locked in. The cooling system was upgraded and there were non-performance tweaks to the engine, but ultimately, the Lobo’s character distinction would come from its lowered suspension and all-wheel-drive system.

The Maverick team dipped back into the parts bin and pulled out the same trick rear differential used in the Tremor. That may not sound like high-performance pedigree, but that twin-clutch unit is a direct descendant of the rear differential that was offered in the Ford Focus RS, and it’s what makes this wolf howl.

When you put the truck in “Lobo” mode, the differential’s high-performance program kicks in, transforming it from an everyday all-wheel-drive unit into a smart, torque-vectoring monster that can adapt to whatever foolishness you happen to be up to. Autocrossing? It’ll detect your inputs and help you put power down coming out of corners. Drifting? It’ll let you keep the rear end loose on the throttle and apply torque vectoring as necessary based on your steering inputs—a bit more sophisticated than the “Drift Mode” offered in the Focus RS.

So, to sum up, we’ve got the engine and brakes from a Focus ST, the rear diff out of a Focus RS, and the body of a small pickup truck. Welcome to 2025, where we’re making up performance cars as we go along.

Now, the Maverick may be small by pickup standards, but even Ford shies away from calling it “compact.” At 200.9 inches, it’s a foot longer than a BMW M3 and nearly 30 inches longer than the old Focus RS. And thanks to that rear diff and its beefier brakes, the Lobo weighs nearly as much as the new AWD Maverick Hybrid, checking in at 3,814 pounds. If you were wondering why I compared its size to the M3, it’s because the Lobo weighs about as much as an xDrive and offers almost exactly half the hp.

Driving Experience 

That knowledge allowed me to couch my expectations. Sure, this is a sporty truck, but Ford never promised it would be fast. And indeed, it scoots along a lot like the standard 2.0-liter EcoBoost models. Ford also yanked the shortest gear ratio from the Lobo’s transmission, leaving it with just seven gears—and without the one most likely to cause everybody headaches if owners start tuning the engine. Smart.

Even with an extra helping and a half of stamped-steel ass hanging off the back, the Maverick feels surprisingly small on the road. The hood sits high enough to remind you that you’re driving a truck, but it stops short of punishing your sight lines. In fact, virtually nothing about the Lobo is punishing at all. From the inside, it feels an awful lot like a garden-variety Lariat. Sounds like one, even.

We confirmed that with the Lobo’s engineers, who said there’s opportunity there for customers who want to personalize their cars. And while nobody was ready to say anything official about a potential Ford Performance exhaust, any employee who was asked about it would get all twinkly-eyed before delivering whatever version of a non-answer they’d committed to memory.

So it’s not that quick, it’s not that loud, and apart from some high-contrast wheels and strategically painted body panels, there’s not much to differentiate this wolf from the sheep around it. It’s like they did this all on purpose or something.

Appropriate to its incognito theme, Lobo mode is intended for track use only—there’s even a bright orange message that pops up saying as much when you activate it. But we got more than just some street time in the Lobo. Ford took the time to set up an old-fashioned autocross course at San Diego’s Pechanga Arena and turned us loose between the cones to see for ourselves just how much fun Lobo mode can be.

Thanks to the subdued exhaust, the Lobo’s howl comes mostly from its tires. Slinging this pickup through slaloms and gates gets the Lobo talking with its outside voice, and the differential is every bit as impressive as Ford’s engineers promised. Goose it in a sweeper and the tail will walk its way out on command, happy to hold a slide as long as you like. Brake hard into a Chicago box and the diff works quickly to put the rear in position for an exit; once pointed, mash the gas, and power out with some counter-steer dialed in and the rear will keep you pointed exactly where you want to go.

I was so focused on fooling with the differential on my first outing that I barely noticed how composed the Lobo could be if pushed more deliberately. I managed to scam my way into a second set of laps so that I could concentrate on the slalom, where the Lobo was surprisingly willing to hold a tight line. No sawing, no yawing, no big, ugly squeal on the exit as I hauled it around to the next gate—just constant chatter from the overtaxed but still obedient Goodyear Territory HTs. Those are touring all-seasons, for anybody keeping track at home.

Ford Maverick Lobo Features, Options, and Competition

Apart from the Lobo-specific upgrades we’ve already detailed, you’re essentially getting a well-equipped XLT model with a standard power-adjustable seat—not the sort of thing you can take for granted in this lineup. For 2025, the 13.2-inch Sync 4 infotainment system became standard on the entire Maverick lineup, unfortunately bringing with it the elimination of physical climate control buttons. All of that is buried in the touchscreen now.

If you’re so inclined, you can option the Lobo up to the equivalent of a Lariat, which gets you niceties such as the Bang & Olufsen audio system and dual-zone climate control. As for the competition… um, what competition?

Maverick is already weird. It competes with the Hyundai Santa Cruz on paper, but there’s no equivalent to the Lobo to be found in that lineup. If anything, this is most directly comparable to a Subaru WRX. They cost about the same, have about the same power, offer standard all-wheel drive and both have some sporty DNA. Too bad the Maverick weighs 325 pounds more than the lightest automatic WRX.

The Early Verdict

For years, we’ve bemoaned the slow death of affordable enthusiast cars. The 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo may not look like your idea of a traditional sport compact, but take it from somebody who was plenty skeptical: this thing’s fun.

And it’s fun despite being held back by Ford’s conservative approach. At every turn, it leaves you speculating about the potential. Imagine what it could do with more power. Imagine how it would grip stickier tires. Imagine how it would sound with an uncorked exhaust. And since it’s not that expensive, you’ll have plenty of budget leftover to do those things, right?

That’s Lobo in a nutshell.

Ford’s serious about all the autocross and track talk too. The Maverick team has kept in touch with various sanctioning bodies to make sure none of them would balk at the prospect of somebody showing up in one. Gone are the days of pickups automatically being pigeonholed as rollover risks; the Lobo should be eligible for event registrations from day one.

In some ways, the Lobo feels like an unfinished product—a half-measure somewhat akin to the original, 2WD Maverick hybrid we saw at launch. But they have one key thing in common: they’re both a gamble. Ford was taking a huge chance by offering an inexpensive, front-wheel-drive pickup with a hybrid battery in it. That particular gamble paid off. Now, Ford is betting there are enough enthusiasts out there to make a sport truck worthwhile. Here’s hoping they hit it big once again.

Quick Take

A surprisingly fun but unfinished sport compact—the perfect canvas for your dream street truck build.

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