Ford F-150 Ecoboost: MPG test when towing.

Status
Not open for further replies.
What fuel did they use for this testing?

My understanding is that the EB calls for premium fuel when towing a large trailer. I wonder what they used for the fill in both vehicles.

Also, why the 3.55's? Seems to me the mileage would be better with the 3.73's or even the 4.10 rear end.
 
8 mpg while towing? My old TBI 454 Suburban did that. (Don't ask me about the mileage while not towing.)
If you tow a lot, get a diesel.
 
Towing kills your mileage on a diesel too.

Nobody expects even into the double digits of MPG when towing over 6,000. What is nice is that the v6 can get the job done with some weight behind it, and provide decent fuel economy empty, which for most people is what they want out of a daily driver.

I have almost no fuel economy expectations with a trailer behind me, but the truck sure needs to be able to do the job.

I would have been more interested in a tow test with a proper travel trailer behind it. It's not the weight that taxes a truck in my experience, it's the wind drag. A car hauler like the one they used probably has less than half of the profile of a travel trailer "in the wind" outside the truck's slipstream.

I'm not a Ford guy (except for my Early Bronco), but I have to give kudos to Ford for delivering a truck that can get good fuel economy empty and can tow a decent weight!
 
Originally Posted By: calvin1
Towing with a gasser kills your mileage, film at 11.


:) No duh. Their test was a little silly, if you're going to only test 2 trucks, load them the same and make one of them a v8.

In another thread some people have theorized that the Ecoboost would have an advantage due to thermal efficiency, others have theorized that it would over-fuel to avoid melting itself and the v8 would win. It would be nice to have the actual answer.
 
Originally Posted By: Jim 5
Towing kills your mileage on a diesel too.



True, but a diesel doesn't have to do things under heavy load like retard its timing to prevent detonation and over-fuel to cool its turbo(s), either. So the penalty with a diesel is just that its doing more work which requires more fuel, not that its actually running in a less efficient mode as it gets worked harder. The latter effect may be the achilles heel of highly boosted gassers, even with DI.
 
9000# square front trailer??!? Of course youre going to get poor mileage. At that point, thermal efficiency is all you have, most any engine in any consumer vehicle will be taxed.

What saddens me more is the 18.5 MPG they got in the unloaded truck. Lousy.

I see nothing earth shattering or out of the ordinary here. The ecoboost is a great way for the occasional hauler to optimize fuel economy the bulk of the time, while still having a VERY capable truck.

Id personally only buy a diesel in a big truck. But if I were in this situation, Id need to be hauling big stuff more than 50% of the time to justify getting a big engine upgrade. We haul significant numbers of oil drums, filled to capacity at a 75% duty cycle over the mountains in the virgin islands without issues on 4.2L F150s.
 
I found the unloaded MPG to be one of the most impressive things about these engines (considering that some, if not most, use a truck as a truck about 10% of the time). I averaged over 22MPG in mixed driving and I feel certain this engine could go 24/26MPG and it would not require a great deal of effort on the drivers part.

Pulling a trailer of any size will certainly reduce the MPG and if it has a high wind load surface (such as a travel trailer or a "Wells Cargo" type trailer), then MPG will suffer greatly, even for a diesel.
 
Originally Posted By: 2010_FX4
I averaged over 22MPG in mixed driving and I feel certain this engine could go 24/26MPG and it would not require a great deal of effort on the drivers part.


How long did you drive one? 24-26 would be nice if doable, and open a whole new paradigm.
 
8mpg isn't that great, but there a few factors here.

-What they're towing and weight.

-How its driven(plenty of hills and averaging 65-70mph).

I honestly think a different driving habit and any other non-brick shaped trailer would have yielded better results.

Empty mpg is hard to argue, some are in the 20's. Not bad at all for a 5500 pound gasoline pickup.

I think Ford has a winner as long as it proves reliable.

I'd personally choose the 5.0, I just love the sound of a V8.
 
The eco boost is just marketing, bet they won't very popular especially after most that own them lose turbos and whatnot to neglect.....I expect it to be a failure
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: 2010_FX4
I averaged over 22MPG in mixed driving and I feel certain this engine could go 24/26MPG and it would not require a great deal of effort on the drivers part.


How long did you drive one? 24-26 would be nice if doable, and open a whole new paradigm.


Originally Posted By: Pickuptrucks.com
During a 300-mile stretch of highway — where we refueled just outside Vail, Colo., and headed east across the Rockies to Dillon, Colo., and then traveled back west to the Utah border — there were moments when the truck’s trip computer told us we were averaging over 25 mpg. We finished that segment averaging a manually calculated 23.2 mpg – the best fuel economy we can recall over such a long distance in a full-size gas pickup truck.

It’s important to point out that we didn’t “hypermile” either truck to boost efficiency. We drove them like we normally would, and for long stretches we kept the trucks at one speed using cruise control. We also filled up only with regular octane gasoline, which ranged from 85 RON to 87 RON.
 
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
Pickuptrucks.com ran two identical Ecoboost equipped F-150's on the same 2100 mile course at the same time. One was towing 9000 pounds, the other wasn't.

Care to guess which one got a disappointing 8 (eight) mpg on average?

http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2011/04/roa...v-6-part-1.html


How odd that I knew what the tone of this post was going to be before opening it. But you're not blatantly anti-Ford or anything, you know, thanks to those "2 Fords" that are supposedly in your garage.
smirk.gif
 
I wonder how many miles these trucks had on them? It usually takes between 5-10k for any engine to be completely broken in. The whole point of Ecoboost is to get better MPG while you are driving normally. Ive never driven a full size truck that averaged anymore than 16mpg during normal driving. I would say that the Ecoboost is doing exactly what it is designed to do.
 
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
Their test was a little silly, if you're going to only test 2 trucks, load them the same and make one of them a v8.


That's exactly what I was hoping to see when I clicked on this thread.
 
If I'm towing 9000 lbs across the Rockies, its gonna be in a Ram 2500 Cummins Turbo Diesel, whoooaaaah. I bet the CTD would get 12+ mpg pulling that load, 15 mpg might even be possible. I live in Colorado, so I know the deal around here.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: 2010_FX4
I averaged over 22MPG in mixed driving and I feel certain this engine could go 24/26MPG and it would not require a great deal of effort on the drivers part.


How long did you drive one? 24-26 would be nice if doable, and open a whole new paradigm.

A little over 200 miles; 4 days back and forth to work, but it was enough to tell how good it was in the MPG field (mind you this was a 4x2 and with no load and 3.55 gears). Here are my thoughts (at the bottom of the linked page):

Ecoboost Final Thoughts
 
Originally Posted By: Ben99GT
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: 2010_FX4
I averaged over 22MPG in mixed driving and I feel certain this engine could go 24/26MPG and it would not require a great deal of effort on the drivers part.


How long did you drive one? 24-26 would be nice if doable, and open a whole new paradigm.


Originally Posted By: Pickuptrucks.com
During a 300-mile stretch of highway — where we refueled just outside Vail, Colo., and headed east across the Rockies to Dillon, Colo., and then traveled back west to the Utah border — there were moments when the truck’s trip computer told us we were averaging over 25 mpg. We finished that segment averaging a manually calculated 23.2 mpg – the best fuel economy we can recall over such a long distance in a full-size gas pickup truck.

It’s important to point out that we didn’t “hypermile” either truck to boost efficiency. We drove them like we normally would, and for long stretches we kept the trucks at one speed using cruise control. We also filled up only with regular octane gasoline, which ranged from 85 RON to 87 RON.

Mine hit the 29-30 mark on the computer more often than not; I am sure these trucks could average 24+ all day long unloaded.
 
Originally Posted By: Cause4Alarm
The eco boost is just marketing, bet they won't very popular especially after most that own them lose turbos and whatnot to neglect.....I expect it to be a failure

Have you driven one of them? I have to disagree; they are more than just marketing, however, it is too soon to know how they will fare in the long term. If it lasts 1/2 as long as the modular engines it replaced Ford has a winner. The twin turbo power is smooth and steady...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

L
  • Locked
My Ford F-150 2.7 liter V6 Long Haul Mountain Towing Experience
2 3
Replies
43
Views
10K
HemiBenny
S
Quick review of my 2022 Ford Maverick
2 3
Replies
44
Views
11K
ctechbob
D
Any cars you regret buying? - My '14 CR-V experience
8 9 10
Replies
184
Views
30K
TimeFlies
J
PGO X-hot 150, G-MAX 200 scooter, GY6, 3000km OCI Q8 F1 vs 300v2 vs M1 v-twin
Replies
9
Views
4K
BigCahuna
OVERKILL
  • Locked
2019 F-150 XLT review (rental)
2
Replies
20
Views
4K
PWMDMD
Back
Top