If you’ve been waiting for a small truck that is street-ready for your Tokyo Drift moments – or to just take to the track and let it rip – the 2025 Ford Maverick LOBO (a specialty trim) is your tricked-out truck. Sorta.
Okay, not many people are just wanting around for a truck that is ready to street race (which is pretty much illegal everywhere on the planet), but with its lowered body and a 2.0-liter EcoBoost turbo inline-4 engine, offering 250 horses and 277 pound-feet of torque, this Maverick LOBO is truly ready for the races.
(Note: This review will focus on the LOBO only; other trims of the regular Ford Maverick are indeed quite family-friendly, as highlighted by U.S. News and World Report.)
This fast lobo-wolf is not for the faint of heart, nor for someone who needs a small truck for everyday commuting.
Yet for those of you who are looking for something that has the power to tear-it-up when you can let-it-rip legally (please be safe this holiday season!), Wow, this Maverick LOBO is fun – and easy – to drive.
Brian Wong of Edmunds.com is a true gearhead and racetrack guy who put the LOBO to test and wrote a comprehensive review on what it can and cannot do. I am not a gearhead admittedly, so I appreciate guys like Brian who can clearly and in plain English explain what’s going on with a vehicle like the LOBO.
He doesn’t mince words, but he is fair. Here’s his written review and he has a video review as well.
Yet to say the 2025 LOBO is tricked-out is sorta misleading.
You do get All-Wheel Drive (AWD), a 7-speed automatic transmission (as opposed to 8-speed, and you gearheads will get the difference), 19-inch black wheels, an aggressive-looking black grille (as seen here), lowered performance-tuned suspension (a good thing, really), paddle shifters, upgraded brakes (Focus ST calipers), a bigger touchscreen and some sporty-looking interior stitching on the seats.
I tested the 2025 Maverick LOBO just last week. I will say right off the bat that on the whole, I do drive like a little old lady. I am a very courteous, cautious driver, always paying attention to the road and signaling my intentions so other drivers know what I am about to do. I have never been about speed, even though I do love the thrill of the racetrack (and the 1960s hot rod sounds of The Beach Boys, Jan & Dean and other great bands).
(Fun Fact: Jan & Dean’s best hot rod song is called Drag City, and it’s not about a drag performance.)
That said, I have seen many would-be writer-driver-colleagues go down in flames because they loved speed just a little too much, wrecked a loaner car – and then were never asked to review a new car again. So indeed, sometimes you do need to go slow (BTW Julie London, a chanteuse of the 1950s, sings a great old jazz song called Go Slow).
When it comes to high-performance racetrack-ready trucks, the 2025 Ford Maverick LOBO really is a class by itself; there really are no direct new competitors on the market. Your next best option would be to buy a truck and trick it out yourself.
And good luck with that. Generally speaking, to do it right, it will cost you almost as much if not more than the vehicle itself.
Well, here we are as the New Year approaches. We have survived 2025. Barely. But here we are.
My New Year’s resolution? To survive 2026, plain and simple. Making plans and setting goals are nice, but when so many of us are not sure how we will pay the rent or pay for medications, if we do indeed see a fat jolly man next December, we will have done well.
So please, keep the faith, whatever that faith may be.
From all of us here at gaywheels.com to all of you, Happy Holidays.
And Feliz Navidad, as sung by the original Jose Feliciano.
