2025 Lariat Hybrid AWD in Shadow Black

[benjaman]

Hi All, long-time lurker from the Twin Cities, Minnesota, first time poster here.

I picked up my new Maverick today, 2025 Lariat with the elusive hybrid AWD in black without the blackout package, but with moonroof and tow package. I like the black, but with the blackout package it becomes a bit much, better to have some highlights, in my opinion (I quite like the smoked truffle interior). This was exactly what I had been looking for and I found it at a local dealer, ordered from Ford and today it arrived. Best of all, they still gave me the employee discount from last month since I had put a deposit down during the period when that was active. Nice!

First thing I did after getting home was to put on a different set of wheels/tires, which I had waiting in the garage, so now I have a 23-mile set of Lariat 19" wheels with OEM tires for sale, which I'll post in the other forum. I replaced them with 17" Fifteen52 Traverse MXs in Magensium and Falken Wildpeak AT/3W at 235 65R17. I know a lot of folks run up to 245, but that didn't seem totally necessary and we get a lot of snow in Minnesota, so slightly narrower tires can be a benefit and have marginally better gas mileage.

As bought:

With new shoes:

Thanks to all of you for posting so much useful stuff that really helped me make what I believe to be an informed decision. Great forum! Another thing I have in the garage is a bed extender ramp (Extreme Max) and I'll soon post some pictures about how a Triumph Tiger 900 fits into the bed...

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[rk06382]

Welcome to the Maverick Truck Club forum from Alaska!

 

[Dad]

She's a beauty and you won't find a better group of folks for all things Maverick

 

[FRANCO]

Hi All, long-time lurker from the Twin Cities, Minnesota, first time poster here.

I picked up my new Maverick today, 2025 Lariat with the elusive hybrid AWD in black without the blackout package, but with moonroof and tow package. I like the black, but with the blackout package it becomes a bit much, better to have some highlights, in my opinion (I quite like the smoked truffle interior). This was exactly what I had been looking for and I found it at a local dealer, ordered from Ford and today it arrived. Best of all, they still gave me the employee discount from last month since I had put a deposit down during the period when that was active. Nice!

First thing I did after getting home was to put on a different set of wheels/tires, which I had waiting in the garage, so now I have a 23-mile set of Lariat 19" wheels with OEM tires for sale, which I'll post in the other forum. I replaced them with 17" Fifteen52 Traverse MXs in Magensium and Falken Wildpeak AT/3W at 235 65R17. I know a lot of folks run up to 245, but that didn't seem totally necessary and we get a lot of snow in Minnesota, so slightly narrower tires can be a benefit and have marginally better gas mileage.

As bought:

With new shoes:

Thanks to all of you for posting so much useful stuff that really helped me make what I believe to be an informed decision. Great forum! Another thing I have in the garage is a bed extender ramp (Extreme Max) and I'll soon post some pictures about how a Triumph Tiger 900 fits into the bed...

 

[FRANCO]

I really liked the aesthetic change and when you can please tell us the measurements of the wheels and tires you put on and what impression it gave you from the driving. I hope it fills you with satisfaction. I am also planning to acquire a hybrid and I do not like the 19-inch wheels with that low profile. Regards.

 

[benjaman]

Thanks very much and no problem. These are 17” Fifteen52 Traverse MX wheels in Magnesium, paired with 235-65R17 Falken Wildpeak A/T3W tires. I really like the setup and the difference in ride quality on the road is barely noticeable (after dropped the pressure by a couple of PSI).

Why the choices?

There are many strong opinions on tires on the internet. I chose the older version of the Wildpeaks for two reasons: they were massively discounted at Tirerack and supposedly have better snow/ice traction than the newer generation—win/win for Minnesota. I’ve found them to be supple on the road, plenty of traction on dirt, fortunately no snow experience yet. I didn’t have enough miles on the stock tires to really compare gas mileage.

The width is another thing: some folks prefer 245 width for a beefier look, but there are some dissenters who have experienced scraping, which I wanted to absolutely avoid because, again, snow, for which a bit narrower is actually also better for traction. Also, it was unclear but some seem to have experienced reduced gas mileage with wider tires, which wouldn’t seem worth it. And the 235s are almost sized identically to the stock tires and between the slightly wider tire and more aggressive tread, I think it looks plenty good.

In fact, since I took the pictures, I actually added Mabett fender flares because the truck looked a little naked too me. Cheap, easy to install, and a little bit of scratch protection.

The only choice I sometimes wonder about is the color of the wheels, which is darker in real life than on the product images on the web. Without the blackout package, the silver version may have looked more consistent with the front faux-chrome, but who knows. I do like the look the way it is, so don’t think about it too hard. These are likely to look better when dirty. With blackout package, I think these would be the ones to get also.

 

[FRANCO]

Thank you very much for your reviews, they are very useful, they really turned out very nice, greetings

 

[mepot101]

Love the Shadow Black!
I'm with Henry Ford: You can have any color you want, as long as its black.

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