The front bench is still split three ways: The center section flips down to reveal a console with storage and cup holders. The console is flat, so you can put a clipboard on top of it and it won’t slide off until you stop, start or change direction quickly. Captain’s chairs on FX and Lariat models, especially with power adjustment and the optional adjustable pedals, provide good driver positioning for virtually everyone. The seat bottoms may be lacking in thigh support for longer-legged drivers, and the headrests are aggressively tilted forward and may wear on neck muscles unless you have the seatback fairly reclined.

Front seat room is about what it was before but decreased hip room. However, the rear seats are as good (SuperCab) or better than before, the SuperCrew adding hiproom, headroom, and nearly four inches of rear legroom. It’s a vast, spacious area for the three seats with a flat floor all the way across and full roll-down windows. On the down side, it could take a while to cool off in hot conditions, we were surprised to find no factory DVD rear entertainment available, and the floor mats cover only a third of the carpet by our tape measure.

The rear seat cushions lift up to stow vertically, with four grocery bag hooks on the underside of the wider driver-side seat and, if equipped, the subwoofer for the Sony sound system under the right rear seat; rear cabin storage seats-up amounts to nearly 58 cubic feet. With captain’s chairs up front there are vents in the back of the center console. There are three tethers and two anchor sets for baby seats, outboard rear headrests rise enough to protect tall passengers, but there is no center rear headrest.

We sampled a couple of Lariats, one with buckets and white-stitched black leather, the other a 40/20/40 bench in tan leather; the lighter color interior looked richer, but also busier since it had dual colors for the dashboard where the black truck didn’t. Either seat is comfortable, the advantage of the bucket being goodies like heating/cooling on higher trim models. Most of the touch points on Lariat felt good, with a sort of rubberized texture to the door armrests, but there is still plenty of hard plastic in pillar covers and lower doors to ease cleaning.

The cloth upholstery in the STX feels comfortable and durable; in temperature extremes we’d prefer it to the leather on the Lariat. Apart from seat coverings and the steering wheel, the STX doesn’t feel overly budget conscious.

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