Ford Ecoboost experiences ??

[sodbuster88]

So what is underneath the marketing "ecoboost" branding? I assume its nothing more than a turbo charger?

Twin turbos, intercooler. Good question on the marketing...i presume the blue oval boys are trying to sell a fuel efficient medium duty truck to folks like us with our category of trailer and hauling numbers.

[tommy1005]

After having my Ecoboost for 9 months and putting 20,000 miles on it about 5-6,000 miles of those with a trailer behind it, I won't ever buy a truck with a different motor. I have had zero issues with it. Is the gas mileage as great as I hoped? It was before I decided to lift it a little and put bigger tires on it. I drove from my house to Dallas at 80-85 and average 18mpg, then towed an empty steel deck car hauler (2600 lbs) from Dallas to Amarillo at 75mph and averaged 14.5mpg, then put 5000 pounds of concrete on it and drove back to the Houston area and averaged 12.5mpg. With the lift and bigger tires from Houston to Austin at 75 I get around 14.5-15mpg.

My old truck was a 2008 with the 5.4 and a Roush supercharger on it. This truck is every bit as quick as that one was, especially now that I've put a tune in it. I really wanted a Raptor, but considering I tow 8000+ lbs on a regular basis I just couldn't justify giving up the capacity that the Ecoboost gave me. My truck is now essentially a Platinum Ecoboost Raptor without the wider fenders.

[Bimmerboyz]

There is a replacement for cubic inch displacement, it's called Forced Induction.

On another note, I have a 4 door long bed 02 F350 7.3 78k miles, with stock injectors and turbo. 10" lift and 38" tires. Pulling my O3 SAN I get 11-12 MPG. Not towing hwy 15mpg, CTY 13.5mpg. I was really hoping better numbers from you Ecoboost owners, as I plan to purchase a Navigator with the Ecoboost. Maybe I'll rethink that.

[Nautiquehunter]

Forced induction is a way to get the most out of a smaller engine . I think the key word is forced. When those turbos kick in they add a lot of load to the engine which in turn causes wear and stress. I question the long term reliability of working a smaller engine so hard . Especially since they don't get much better mileage than the V8s . Factor in the 3000 dollar upgrade and I don't think many will keep it long enough to break even with a V8. Also make sure you keep the oil clean with the best oil you can find those turbos don't do well with extended oil changes and cheap oil.

[surroundsound64]

Forced induction is a way to get the most out of a smaller engine . I think the key word is forced. When those turbos kick in they add a lot of load to the engine which in turn causes wear and stress. I question the long term reliability of working a smaller engine so hard . Especially since they don't get much better mileage than the V8s . Factor in the 3000 dollar upgrade and I don't think many will keep it long enough to break even with a V8. Also make sure you keep the oil clean with the best oil you can find those turbos don't do well with extended oil changes and cheap oil.

Forced induction takes volumetric efficiency that's in the 80% range at best and throws it past 100%. Nautiquehunter makes a great point. The upcharge makes it hard for me to justify. I'd probably just go with the 5.0. Less stuff to break in the long run. Any time you turbo something you have inherent complications... As good as this ecoboost sounds. I've been kicking around a new f150 for several months now. Coming from 2 3/4 ton diesels I HATE the way the 1/2 tons shift. They are geared for mileage... Not truck stuff. So far I'm back in the 3/4 ton diesel market again.

[Nauti-by-Nature]

I'm curious where the $3000 upgrade number came from for the eb. Mine was listed at a little over $1000 on the price sheet. I know for the 2011's it was less....right around $700. Are they charging more in different areas or am I missing something?

[tommy1005]

The real comparison should be to the 6.2, not the 5.0. 6.2 gives the same tow ratings with 5mpg less and costs an additional $2000. The 5.0 was not impressive driven back to back with the ecoboost. If you want slower, less hp, less torque, and 1500-3000 pounds less towing capacity go for the 5.0.

The beauty of the ecoboost is that it gives you the performance of the 6.2 with better mpg's.

[sodbuster88]

"Forced induction" ideology has been around for years and years. 30 years ago, automotive was forced by the last energy crunch to look at turbos to get the same performance out of a smaller engine with better fuel economy. Today, the ideology is making a resurgence for the very same reason...but today, we have the advantage of electronic engine management (detonation, timing, cooling, lubrication,..etc..) over yesteryear's carburated choke / vacuum systems. Failure modes in those days seemed to limited to downstream of the exhaust valve in the cylinder. We'll see how things go with today's turbo engines. I've got an ecoboost because it's my daily driver - 90% commute and 10% trailering. I don't work it hard, I don't race it...I just drive it and all's good so far. I like the overall fuel economy, the performance is good. Now, I've probably just jinxed myself....btw...there is a known moisture build-up issue in the intercooler that is causing the spit/sputter/miss issue. Seems to be directly related to driving in the rain. I have not seen this with mine, but know of another guy experiencing this. Ford is aware of this.

[Woody_tobius_jr]

Rain or on really humid days is when I really notice mine acting up.

[tommy1005]

I'm in Houston, the most humid place in the world and have not experienced it. Maybe it just areas where the computer is used to drier air and freaks out when humidity gets high?

[NoBoatYet]

Interesting thread. Seems the guys who actually own the Ecoboost love it and the guys who have a friend who knows a guy hate it. Never towed with it but we have that motor in two 2010 SHO's and have had no issues to date. One has 30k miles and the other may have 40k.

[MuskokaCanada]

I've now towed with my 2013 ecoboost and I gotta say you can't even tell the boat is back there. The fuel consumption while towing averages 15 litres per 100kms combined country and city driving. I'll get some real highway numbers next weekend if we head up north to Muskoka as planned. So far, absolutely love this truck. That said, I did get 200,000 kms of bumper to bumper warranty. All that "intercooled twin turbo, fully loaded yadda yadda" just screams expensive to fix IMHO.

[pe4me]

Supercharged / turbo charged engines are built with the higher stresses they demand in mind. Hopefully they stand the test of time and prove to be closer to the reliability of the diesel cousins rather than gasoline brothers.
Guys i know who pull their pulling trucks/race cars love em. Everyone I talked to spoke highly of them.
I will let time decide, for now, I would be hard pressed to get out of my duramax. Sure is an interesting truck, I have not driven or pulled with one but a 3/4 ton truck just seems more capable at loads over 5000lbs no matter the make/motor. Again, for what it is, it's pretty cool: decked out 1/2 ton, sports car acceleration, plus able to pull. Solid package IMHO.

[Nautiquehunter]

I just saw a TV commercial it stated the 2014 GMC with a 5.4 L gets better gas mileage than the ecoboost.

[SkiTower]

Ford Ecoboost experiences ??

I just saw a TV commercial it stated the 2014 GMC with a 5.4 L gets better gas mileage than the ecoboost.

yeah, but it's still made by Gov't Motors and we all know how good the gov't us at math.


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