Whether you like it or not, electronic advancements continue to be a major push in the truck market. The raging debate (which I like to call the Battle of the Buttons) has those that adore the safety and convenience of traction control, infotainment, backup cameras, and so on, pitted against the trucking traditionalists whose ideas of technology starts at power steering and ends at four-wheel-drive; anything else is just window dressing.

Sport Mode on the F-150 is activated by pushing the tow/haul mode button twice. An amber S appears in the lower-right portion of the tachometer indicating sport mode is active.

For better or worse, Ford has forged ahead with the pro-BOTB stance. One of its latest features in the best-selling 2015 F-150 has been the Sport Mode, borrowed from the cousin car, the Mustang. Activated by pressing down the Tow/Haul mode button twice, Sport Mode reduces the number of gear changes in normal driving. This cuts down on fuel efficiency, but increases the fun factor by holding onto gears for longer durations.

As a result, driving the F-150 feels more responsive and spirited, as the engine revs higher before shifting gears. “Our team realized how well the new F-150 handled and responded to acceleration due to its reduced weight,” said Karl Jungbluth, Ford transmission calibration engineer. “So we decided we could adapt the sport mode capabilities of the six-speed automatic transmission from Mustang to F-150 to enhance the overall driving experience for truck customers.”

When active, an amber “S” to shows up in the lower right section of the tachometer. It comes standard on all F-150s made in the current generation, no matter their engine option or drivetrain setup.

Is this the kind of feature you’d enjoy in a pickup? Or is it one more characteristic that you wish would disappear from the truck market?