What has been hard to get used to? What did you drive before?

 

I bought one Last December, so no experience towing a load in high temps (I think that is what you are asking, not if the motor experiences overheating during towing??). I have been towing both my boats with it and think it does really great. The fuel mileage both towing and unloaded have not been as great as I hoped, but I have added different tires, level kit and front bumper replacement.

 

me too, I'm getting 15.3 unloaded and sometimes as bad as 13... although from austin to san antonio going 65 the whole way it was 20.0 which isn't too bad!

as far as pulling large travel trailers, i'm not sure about it over heating either, but for the cost of a new truck if you're gonna be towing a large travel trailer a lot, should've just got a diesel in a 3/4 ton frame.

 

I love my diesel but have been looking at getting the ecoboost. The torture testing videos are awesome to say the least.

Ecoboost motor

Torture1

Torture2

Torture3

Torture4

Torture5

Torture6

 

Be careful watching all those sales pitches. My Pops bought right into all that propaganda 7 months later he went and traded his ecoturd in on a real truck. I have a few posts here about his experience. To everyone that has one I hope it is the best truck you have ever owned.

 

Has anyone used a programmer like Bullydog on their EcoBoost?
Or received the Firmware upgrade for the Ford Touch?

 

like nitro, i have replaced my bumper with a full replacement but it only weights something like 170lbs so i doubt that did much for it, the tires though, i went up one size to a 285/65/18 bfg all terrain and i think that's where my mileage is suffering.

heartthrob makes an ecoboost exhaust that i'd like to get. it's supposed to open things up and give it even better performance. and it doesn't sounds like that cheap v6 exhaust from what youtube shows.

 

like nitro, i have replaced my bumper with a full replacement but it only weights something like 170lbs so i doubt that did much for it, the tires though, i went up one size to a 285/65/18 bfg all terrain and i think that's where my mileage is suffering.

heartthrob makes an ecoboost exhaust that i'd like to get. it's supposed to open things up and give it even better performance. and it doesn't sounds like that cheap v6 exhaust from what youtube shows.

I have a f-150 v6 and I did the duel exhaust with flowmasters. I gotta tell you I have seen better milage and more power also that nice rumble sounds great going down the road.

 

Too many people worry about the intercooler IMO. There are tons of cars with wider intercoolers lower to the ground and you dont hear them talk about it nearly as much ie Mitsubishi I bought mine in late october. I towed the 18ft cc the other day 30 miles from pearland to liverpool and avg 15. I drove to BR a week ago and got 24.2 from Pearland parkway and bwy 8 to the tx state line (2hrs) it dropped after that bc I sat in traffic for 2 hrs trying to cross the lake Charles bridge >:/

 

I have a 2011 F150 Supercrew 4x4 with Ecoboost and love it. This past Labor Day weekend towed 18ft carhauler trailer with 3 full dressed Harley's and a Chopper, with 4 guys and all gear, including coolers full of food to TN/NC line..Averaged 11.8 to 13 mpg at 65-70 mph through torential rain fall, the Smokey Mountains, etc. No issues whatsoever...

 

By the looks of those pics that truck looks real comfortable with that load. Good luck Making that same trip multiple times.

 

You can't replace diesel power with a 6 banger,no matter how many turbos you put on it. For everyday driving and light towing I'm sure its ok. But everyone wanting to pull their houses with it is going to be disappointed.

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Folks, they aren't trying to replace a diesel.

Ford has bridged the gap of having lower RPM diesel grunt for towing and economy of a V-6 gas. Keeping that in mind I think they have done an outstanding job... Look at the specs, the power curves and ratings you can see they really have sort of achieved the best of both worlds.

 

That's the problem. Everyone seems to think it will pull like a 3/4 ton. It's still a 1/2 ton truck. It will pull 1/2 ton loads better, ESP those at the top range.

If your on the cusp of needing a 3/4 ton this will probably do ya. If you need a 3/4 ton this ain't going to do it, and shouldn't be expected


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I had an F150 with the 5.4 before the Ecoboost truck. Ecoboost has more power and better fuel mileage and better towing capability. With that said, if you're pulling a heavy trailer almost every day, then you'll never beat a diesel. But for me, the occasional towing person, the excessive costs of the diesel engine, plus additional costs of the fuel were too high..

 

Good Friend in CO runs an ECO all day long in the mountains...

Here is a good friend of mines ECO.

Runs it all year 'round in the mountains, says it keeps up with the Diesels no problem.

Him, wife, kid, gear, ATV on bed and trailer.

 

Here is a good friend of mines ECO.

Runs it all year 'round in the mountains, says it keeps up with the Diesels no problem.

Him, wife, kid, gear, ATV on bed and trailer.

I'm sure your friend likes his Ecoboost and all, but to come on here and say it can keep up with Diesels in the mountains is stretching the truth alot, maybe and old 6.5 GM turbodiesel but not the bad boys they make today. I'm glad it's him towing all that up and down the mountains.

 

If I was in the market for a half ton truck I would def give the ecoboost a hard look , along with the Tundra. Lets face it, most guys with diesels don't need them, they just want them. Most half tons will pull your 22-24 bayboat with no problems. Nothing is going to get great fuel economy pulling those loads but it sure would be nice to get 18-20mpg in a truck when not pulling. I have a 05 Tundra (14-15mpg solo) and have pulled a 23ft bayboat with no problems. And yes I could feel it back there and can also feel it back there on my friend's 3/4 ton dodge diesel.

 

Went through truck shopping last fall, went to buy an Ecoboost after watching all the youtube torture test marketing videos. Wife and I test drove the Ecoboost then the Tundra on the same day. Bought a Tundra and never looked back. Couldn't get the Ecoboost's (FX4-3.55gear) mileage to go over 14mpg in mixed driving (we drove over 70+ miles), other than the Turbo whistle I wasn't impressed. Now that F250 diesel is a machine, just couldn't get over the price!

 

If you were getting 14 MPG in a eco boost then what are you getting around 9 - 11 MPG in a tundra. That's some hard driving even my wife was getting 16.8 and thought she had a lead foot. I average 18 MPG and 16 when towing.

 

Oh, as far as the Tundra goes, I'm getting 18mpg Highway (72mph), 13.7mpg in town- with 285 tires and 4.30gears in rear end. The cab is a little roomier than the Ford, but I did like the Ford sync system.

 

From some of the numbers thrown around in the first page of the thread, I don't feel too bad about selecting the 5.0 and 3.73 gears. After putting almost 49K on the truck since February last year, over 25K towing, I've seen an average of about 18-19 mph hwy and usually around 12-13 towing.

The truck is a 2011 4x4, auto, 6.5 bed crewcab. Only issues thus far were a stock Goodyear giving it up on some Mississippi state highway and the slip yoke on the rear driveshaft needing some warranty attention. Other than that, the truck has been flawless.

The Ecoboosts were just arriving at the dealership when I purchased this one, and I couldn't justify the $4K difference the dealer was trying to get for the new powertrain. Plus, with all that additional power, I was worried about drivetrain issues longterm.

Anyhow, if you currently own a 5.4, I think you would be more than pleased with the current 5.0.

 

New Ford Ecoboost Owner

After reading a lot of these posts, I went back to my notes and put together a chart of my interval MPG and my cumulative MPG.
I own a 2012 F-150 with the Ecoboost and Offroad package, so I have the 3.73 rear end ratio. It is the KR crew cab with short bed. I installed a toneau cover on it at 1200 miles. I have towed my boat with it, but only for 150 miles, so towing should not bring down the overall MPG much.
About two thirds of this driving is city driving in Houston and the other third Houston to Austin trips. Not aggressive driving. 74 MPH average highway speed.
This is my fifth new Ford truck in the last 15 years. Both 250 and 150's. My last was an Expedition with the 5.4L engine. All gas engines.
My observations on this truck and engine combination, which may not match yours.
This engine has the most off the line power of any of the others I ran. Subjective on my part, I never timed them.
This engine axle ratio tow's the best of any of the others, including two previous F-250's. More low end power. Easier to highway speeds.
This truck rides WAY better than any 3/4 ton, any brand. I don't care about all your mods, you are still running 10 ply tires. Or supposed to be............
I can step on the gas on this truck at 70 MPH and I am at 80 MPH quick enough to make an intelligent pass.
I did not buy the truck for towing, I would have gone for a diesel 1 ton. I bought it as my everyday work/pleasure truck, with occasional towing.
I don't hear the turbos AT ALL, so maybe I need to get my hearing checked. My wife doesn't hear them either and she just had her hearing checked.
I added the tonneau at 1200 miles, I did not see any difference in MPG at all, so maybe I need to sue them about their claim of 10% better mileage. I bought the cover to carry stuff out of the weather and out of sight, not for increased mileage.
CONCERNS about this engine.
Yes, I am concerned about the longevity of this engine. Only time will tell.
I plan to use synthetic oil in it. Better for the engine and way better for the turbo lubrication. Way better at high temperatures.
Yes I am concerned how this engine will do this summer at 110 degrees pulling the boat. I'll follow up with that later.
I am concerned about the turbo air cooler at the bottom of the bumper. I plan to put a 1/4" galvanized (painted black) screen over the opening, so I don't catch rocks with the cooler.
If I had to do it over, I would buy the 3.55 rear axle ratio and not the 3.73. At the time I ordered the truck they did not offer the electronic locker in the 3.55. Now they do.
I would still order the Ecoboost engine.

Below is a graph with the interval miles per gallon for every fill up in RED and the overall cumulative MPG for the first 3000 miles in BLACK. These are actual miles, divided by actual gallons used. NO figures from the dash. Which by the way, if you reset it at every fill up is pretty darn close. But you have to reset it.
The early fluctuations on the RED line are because I did not fill the tank to the same levels. The truck has the "no cap" filler that took a little getting used to filling to the same spot. Yes, I do top off, probably shouldn't. I believe if 10 gallons are good, 10.2 are better.

Overall 15.2 MPG. Yes, I was hoping for better, but I got a lot more power and towing capacity than I expected. See the 3.55 comment above.
If you are going to brag how much better mileage your truck gets, show me your chart.

Bottom line, it is still a work in progress, let's see what happens this summer. I'll repost then, if you are interested.

 

Here's the chart that goes with the post

Took some doing to convert.

 

Cr.......

On the left vertical axis. Bottom line is "0" MPG, it goes up by 2 MPG. 2, 4, 6, etc.
On the horizontal axis. All the way to the left is "0" miles, all the way to the right "3,000" miles.
Red is the MPG at every fill up.
Black is the cumulative MPG.

Right now after 3000 miles driven, my cumulative MPG is 15.2.
All inclusive.

 

Great post Fishng, very informative.

 

MPG's at 5000 miles

Here's a graph of the actual MPG, per tank and cumulative for my Ford F-150 at 5,000 miles.
On the left axis is MPG. The Red line is the MPG for that tank. The Black line is the Overall, cumulative mileage to date for all tank refills.
These are actual miles from the odometer divided by the actual gallons at the pump.
The dip in the red line (11 MPG) was pulling the boat, I filled right before and right after. My boat weights about 4,500 lbs.
Just as a reminder: 2012 F-150 King Ranch, Ecoboost, Supercrew, short bed, tonneau cover, Offroad 4x4, with 3.73 rear axle (same as FX-4). I carry about 200 lbs. of tools and equipment in the bed all the time. So you could say there is me and another fat boy in the truck at all times.

I think you can tell I am averaging 15 MPG, in a combination of city and highway driving.

 

yup, no matter what i do my cumulative MPG always goes back to 15.2-15.3 mpg no matter what. i drive highway and city 60-70 miles a day.

13k miles on the truck.

 

Anyone have any more info or stats thinking about pulling the trigger on a FX4

 

Looks to be all over the paper here. Our family hates them. I am sure you can get a good deal from someone who is disappointed with theirs and moving back into a diesel. If you have good connections at a dealer or salesman have them keep an eye out for this and pull you a quick in n out. Good luck if you do pull the trigger.

 

I'm still liking mine don't expect 22mpg combined but I was getting 19.5 mpg at 72 mph today on the way in too work. It does change quit a bit I average 17 combined. I got 12.7 towing my 24 foot Blue Wave pure bay 90 miles a few weeks ago. Boat had half a tank of fuel.

 

those are great numbers kenner. what gear ratio are you running?

 

those are great numbers kenner. what gear ratio are you running?

3.55

 

After 5,000 miles on my EB, I have concluded that it is very sensitive to driving style. I'm getting around 15.5 miles per gallon (mostly city driving), but I can get better with a more conservative driving style. For comparison, I was always around 13 miles per gallon in my 2004 w/the 5.4. Towing our boat (8,500 lbs loaded), I averaged 7.9 last weekend which is right in-line with what I got with the 5.4. This is with 3.55 gears.

 

After 5,000 miles on my EB, I have concluded that it is very sensitive to driving style. I'm getting around 15.5 miles per gallon (mostly city driving), but I can get better with a more conservative driving style. For comparison, I was always around 13 miles per gallon in my 2004 w/the 5.4. Towing our boat (8,500 lbs loaded), I averaged 7.9 last weekend which is right in-line with what I got with the 5.4. This is with 3.55 gears.

7.9, yikes what kind of boat are you towing?