With the release of the Ford Maverick Lobo sport truck, The Fast Lane Truck‘s Kase van Rees and Andre Smirnov put it to the test against a more sensible all-wheel-drive Maverick Hybrid to see if the sporty model is faster when the rubber meets the road. It is an intriguing battle of performance versus practicality.

The two trucks present very different approaches. The Maverick Hybrid, driven by Rees, uses a 2.5-liter four-cylinder hybrid system that makes 191 horsepower and is paired with a CVT. The Ford Maverick Lobo, driven by Smirnov, is a different beast entirely. It is powered by a 2.0-liter EcoBoost delivering 238 horsepower through a unique transmission.

“This is a unique transmission where they removed one of the gears. The second gear is now gone,” Andre said. It’s an all-wheel-drive system tuned more for street traction than off-roading.

The Showdown

With whispers that the Lobo wasn’t much faster than the hybrid, the team lined them up at a drag strip a mile above sea level. In a surprisingly close race, the Lobo edged out the hybrid. The Lobo ran the quarter-mile in 15.74 seconds, while the hybrid came in at 15.98 seconds.“So, I beat you by like two tenths,” Andre pointed out. The team also performed a 30-mph roll race, which the Lobo also won by about a truck length, proving it is measurably quicker in a straight line.

The Lobo’s performance, however, comes at the cost of utility. Andre noted the Lobo’s maximum towing capacity is only 2,000 pounds, half of the 4,000-pound rating of the hybrid.The hybrid also has a higher payload capacity, carrying 1,367 pounds compared to the Lobo’s 1,160. Rees’ final verdict leaned toward the more useful truck: “The hybrid has a little bit more towing and a little bit more payload, and I think that’s where my money will go. Hybrid for me,” he said.

While the hosts were split on which truck they’d personally buy, the drag race settled the performance question. The race proved the Lobo is the quicker of the two, but it also showed that the hybrid’s instant electric torque helps it keep things surprisingly close, making for a fun and interesting comparison at the track.