Thoughts on 2012 F150 w/eco boost

[Sportfury]

Well my end of the 2011 year and early Christmas gift was a nice dent just behind the double cab door on my '07 Tundra after I tried driving over a lowered Honda in a parking lot (in my defense I made it over the hood before the truck stopped and I realized what the sound was.)

Anyways I recently got the truck fixed and the rental place had a 2012 F150 with Eco Boost. I thought that I would give you guys my impression of the truck versus my 2007 Toyota Tundra.

The interior was nice. In comparison to the Tundra the cab felt smaller making the truck seem smaller. The seats were nice and comfortable, but after my hour drive my left leg was tingling. Not sure why, but the seat didn't have all the electric adjustments that my Tundra has, so not sure if I could have adjusted this out.

The ride was carlike to say the least. I felt like I was riding in big car. Of course my Tundra has a small lift and 35" tires in load range E. The Tundra has no problems with corners. You put it into a corner and it follows it with little movement from the truck. The F150 scared me the first time that I went into a hard corner to the left. The truck felt like it wanted to push way to the side and go out of the lane. It did this more than once and made me quite cautious taking a corner.

The engine was not what I thought Ford claimed. The Eco Boost is a very small V6 with Turbo and  to me it performed that way. The gas mileage was not that great. I drove it for four days from Graham to Renton and only averaged 15 mpg. I stepped on it a time or two to test the turbo and it was very lackluster. I have no idea how you would tow with this engine. My Tundra has the 5.7l with 381 horse motor and I get 15 mpg doing the same driving. When I need to get somewhere I have more than enough power to do it.

Overall I love my Tundra and would not give it up. If I was going to consider another truck I guess I would have to give a F150 a try with similar engine option and maybe the FX4 package. This certainly will not be soon though.

[Thenewguy]

15 mpg? this seems strange as I get about 17 on my 06 f150 with more HPS then your toyota =-p

[Bofire]

  I think Turbos reduce life time
Carl

[Sportfury]

15 mpg? this seems strange as I get about 17 on my 06 f150 with more HPS then your toyota =-p

If you are meaning the Tundra, yes, I get 15 consistently, but get more (18) driving freeways. Of course this is with a lift and running 35's. Before the lift I consistently got 17 and 20.

[FC]

I think Turbos reduce life time
Carl

If forged pistons and a correct lowered compression ratio is used then no, turbos don't reduce engine life. If some jackwad throws a turbo on their otherwise stock engine they are probably going to be intimately acquainted with piston replacement procedures very quickly.

[fish vacuum]

I didn't even know a lift and 35's were necessary to drive from Graham to Renton.

[Thenewguy]

15 mpg? this seems strange as I get about 17 on my 06 f150 with more HPS then your toyota =-p

If you are meaning the Tundra, yes, I get 15 consistently, but get more (18) driving freeways. Of course this is with a lift and running 35's. Before the lift I consistently got 17 and 20.

I meant  you only report 15mpg with the ford eccoboost unless I read that wrong

[MDGrand]

I will have to counter your experience with my own...

First..I am shocked you get 15 MPG with the Tundra. Everyone I know that has the Tundra with the 350 gets 11-13 MPG max.. especially with 35s on it. My 150 seen here gets 20 MPG with 35s on it. I smoke every Tundra, Chevy, Dodge on the road and I keep up with Chipped deisels pretty well. Before this I had a completely customized HD Diesel and thought I would never go back to anything besides an HD Truck from on of the major 3. I was wrong as soon as I drove this truck and watched the Torture Test. For all those interested... check this out: http://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/experiencef150/?searchid=57330306|2041121586|17079693708

I find the Ecoboost to be a HUGE leap in engineering and technology. 365 HP and 420 Lb feet of Torque out of a dinky 3.5 litre is spectacular. As compared to a big heavy 300 cube V8, the power to weight ratio of this truck and engine is superior. This sucker puts down 420 lb feet of torque at 2000 RPM.. that is a really fast torque curve only previously matched by deisels. Typically, a V8 needs to get up in RPMs to reach max torque.. making this a great off the line truck and a powerhouse for towing. I have also been amazed at how quiet it is.. I can barely hear the engine or outside noise.

As far as towing...I have towed a 7K boat with ease up and down Snoqualmie Pass.. in large part to the immediate and flat high torque. I will say I totally agree with your handeling comparision! I will admit, is car like.. its that smooth and to me an awesome bonus. BUT, when I have taken this sucker off road it peforms solid. 

So... I will have to offer as a new Ecoboost owner that I think your experience is very atypical. I am NOT discounting it! But.. perhaps its just that you drove a rental car.. Having worked at Dollar rent a car once in my life for about 3 years.. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that rental cars are abused.

[high country]

I would love to see one of these eco's at a dyno event. I just can't buy it. My experience with gas turbos (toyota supra) was that it made good power but I could drop into single digits for mileage.....course I was rolling at 170 too.

[elkinrutdrivemenuts]

I would say the interiors are nicer in the new fords, but I'll take the tundra any day. The Eco boost is an impressive engine and you get good gas milage, when you don't use the turbo. It has a bit more ft lbs of torque than the tundra, but I don't think ford offers a 4.30 gear ratio to really utilize all that torque like the tundra. I believe they offer 3.73 which is geared more for higher gas milage, which is fine for driving around town, but if you want a truck that performs and you use it for more than cruising around town, nothing compares to a tundra. 

[high country]

If the Ford is throwing down big torque at 2k it should be able to pull taller gears.

[Curly]

MDGrand, nice truck!  What gear ratio does your truck have?  And have you checked your mileage while towing your boat? 

[MDGrand]

Curly...

I have a 3.73 rearend with the electronic locker option. You can special order a 4.10 if you want. I would have to disagree with elkinrutdrivemenuts... a 3.55 is considered more of a highway and better gas mileage type of rearend.. a 3.73 is a bit of middle ground between a true taller gear like a 4.3 or 4.10 and a 3.55. I think a 3.73 is ideal as MOST of the time I am not towing. Regardless.. I would take a chain test against a Tundra. A Tundra has to get up to 3600 RPM to get its max Torque to the ground.. by then, the EcoBoost has already achieved 420 at 2500 RPM as well as hit max HP sooner as well.

I am totally biased... but I think Ford hit it out of the park with this truck and engine combo.. the day of having a big block V8 in a half ton is going to become a thing of the past. Not to mention that Toyota really is LAST in the game of MPG... I think their goal is to offer something in the middle ground of a HD and a half ton with the Tundra. The $ seems to be right in the middle ground anyway.

[Curly]

FYI - I found this thread on a Ecoboost forum:  http://fordf150ecoboostforum.com/index.php?/topic/187-fuel-economy/

And  this one:  http://fordf150ecoboostforum.com/index.php?/topic/298-better-towing-economy/

Some of those guys are getting pretty low MPG numbers while towing........ (But I should add that the towing mpg's are probably not worse than what you'd get from a big V8 either).

[Curly]

Curly...

I have a 3.73 rearend with the electronic locker option. You can special order a 4.10 if you want. I would have to disagree with elkinrutdrivemenuts... a 3.55 is considered more of a highway and better gas mileage type of rearend.. a 3.73 is a bit of middle ground between a true taller gear like a 4.3 or 4.10 and a 3.55. I think a 3.73 is ideal as MOST of the time I am not towing. Regardless.. I would take a chain test against a Tundra. A Tundra has to get up to 3600 RPM to get its max Torque to the ground.. by then, the EcoBoost has already achieved 420 at 2500 RPM as well as hit max HP sooner as well.

I am totally biased... but I think Ford hit it out of the park with this truck and engine combo.. the day of having a big block V8 in a half ton is going to become a thing of the past. Not to mention that Toyota really is LAST in the game of MPG... I think their goal is to offer something in the middle ground of a HD and a half ton with the Tundra. The $ seems to be right in the middle ground anyway.

Yeah, I agree.  The ecoboost looks to be the best engine for the 1/2 Ton trucks.  I read somewhere that Ford is working on a V8 Ecoboost, will be interesting to see the numbers on that.