Interview with Ford Chief Engineer: Chris Brewer
Ford
Trucks users interview the chief engineer for the Ford Super Duty, Chris
Brewer, about the forthcoming 2011 Super Duty!
[Comment
From GrayGray: ]
How long is this engine
supposed to last without the need of any major repair?
Chris
Brewer:
We test our diesel
engine to 250,000 miles for durability to ensure the major engine components
will meet our most severe customers’ expectations; in addition, we are
providing 6 early manufacturing build units to 4 severe use lead customers
which we chronicle in webisodes over the next several
months.
[Comment
From Mike LevineMike Levine: ]
Hello Chris. Thanks for
participating in this chat! Any word on official horsepower
and torque figures for both the 6.2-liter V-8 gas and 6.7-liter V-8 diesel
engines? 🙂
Chris
Brewer:
Hi, Mike, as you know we
will be annoucing HP, torque and fuel economy closer
to when vehicle goes on sale next spring–however, the numbers are all better
vs. the 2010 MY Super Duty.
[Comment
From DonDon: ]
When will this truck go
on sale?
Chris
Brewer:
Spring
2010.
[Comment
From kevinkevin: ]
what do you think this truck will cost
Chris
Brewer:
Pricing will be
competitive with Dodge and GM; however, pricing won’t be finalized until early
next year.
[Comment
From Neil CostelloNeil Costello: ]
What is the future of
the Triton V10 with the upcoming 6.2L V8 gas engine, as well as the new 6.7L Powerstroke? This is considering the Ambulance Packages
will now offer the V10 for 2010. Will the V10 be ended once the new 6.7L diesel
is offered in E-Series?
Chris
Brewer:
The Triton V10 lives on
in Super Duty for our F450 and F550 chassis cab customers. The 6.2L gas engine will be available on
all pickups and F350 chassis cab configurations.
[Comment
From joejoe: ]
i sell fords is ford going to make a
big push for this release like they did for the 2010 taurus
Chris
Brewer:
Absolutely! This is a very important vehicle launch for
us because our customers count on our product to get their job done every day.
[Comment
From Adrian Harris Adrian Harris: ]
Given the issues with
earlier PSD designs (particularly the 6.0l) that caused buyers to move to
competitive brands, what additional testing/design work has been put in place
for the 6.7 engine that was not done previously?
Chris
Brewer:
We have tested the new
engine extensively in a variety of ways–analytically in computer aided design
and engineering, in component lab testing, as full engine system testing and
finally in full vehicle testing–including temperature extremes and very high
duty load requirements–using all the lessons learned from our prior diesel
experience on Super Duty as well from Ford of Europe. We are extremely confident in how the
product will perform in the real world.
[Comment
From John Brown John Brown: ]
Will we ever see a
manual transmission in a Super Duty again?
[Comment
From Jwf Jwf: ]
I’m not as worried about
the new engines as much as I am the new automatic. If Ford can’t design and warantee it to last 200,000 mi without major overhauls I
would prefer a manual trans option. Why eliminate the
choice of options for 2011?
Chris
Brewer:
Never
say never, John–however,
only 1 to 2 % of our customers buy manuals today. We are offering a new 6 speed auto trans that will offer substantially better fuel economy than
the 5 speed auto it replaces as well the manual 6 speed. The new 6 speed also offers Select Shift
capability to allow you to hold a given gear similar conceptually to a manual trans.
[Comment
From Derrek Derrek: ]
I would consider myself
as a loyal ford owner. Owning a business that buys 5-10 diesel super dutys per year I am really interested in the new 6.7,
however with the cost of fuel getting higher and higher and the fuel economy on
the 6.4s dismal, I am considering the switching to gas V-8s. So
a couple of questions. What should a guy expected for fuel economy out
of this new diesel? What are you guys offering for a gas engine that can tow
effectively?
Chris
Brewer:
Thanks for your
business, Derrek! The new diesel engine will offer substantially better fuel economy than
the prior 6.4L–we will announce the fuel economy closer to when the truck goes
on sale. The new 6.2L is also more fuel
efficient than the 5.4L it replaces while offering greater towing capability. We think we will be able to offer you a
couple of great solutions for your business needs with the two new engines.
[Comment
From Steve Price Steve Price: ]
About how often will the
DEF need to be refilled, and will the motor be disabled when the fluid runs
out?
Chris
Brewer:
The DEF will need to be
replenished at same interval as an oil change–somewhere between 7500 and 10000
miles depending on your driving pattern. There are a series of warning messages that the vehicle will provide as
you get closer to empty in the DEF tank over the last 1000 miles.
[Comment
From bob bob: ]
I think I saw somewhere
that the new engine will have an exhaust brake. What type of brake will that
be?
Chris
Brewer:
Great question, Bob! We will
offer an integrated exhaust brake with our tow-haul feature, providing a
seamless trailer towing experience when you need it!
[Comment
From Dutch Dutch: ]
Hello; How confident are you regarding the 6R140 heavy-duty TorqShift six-speed automatic transmission? What were the
testing protocols? Was this rushed due to the economic depression?
Chris
Brewer:
Extremely confident,
Dutch! The 6R140 TorqShift
was purposefully designed for the new diesel engine, including significant
upgrades for the increased torque and horsepower out of the new diesel–in
fact, we also test the new transmission to 250,000 mile durability to ensure we
have a very durable solution for our diesel customer. We are going to deep dive this topic in
December at a media forum at our trans engineering
center.
[Comment
From joe joe: ]
why doesn’t ford just re release the
7.3liter
[Comment
From Brian Sanders Brian Sanders: ]
is there a possiblity
in future that the industructable 7.3 liter will be
brought back but with safe emissions same concept and design but different
industry building it FORD insted of INTERNATIONAL.
Chris
Brewer:
With the 6.7L, Ford is
designing, developing and manufacturing the Power Stroke engine for the first
time. The engine has been specifically targetted to meet the 2010 emissions standards plus of
course deliver outstanding HP, torque, fuel economy and most importantly
reliability. The 7.3 was an outstanding
motor but no longer appropriate for the regulatory environment we all need to
live in couple with our customers’ requests for more power and better fuel
economy.
[Comment
From Adrian Harris Adrian Harris: ]
Chris, what do you think
the future of the full size truck market holds? With ever pressing
environmental concerns (I think its a small feat of
genius you have a diesel engine that passes emissions) coupled with a reduced
level of income amongst blue collar workers and small business owners – do you
foresee that the Superduty is still going to maintain
the sales numbers it has had in the past?
Chris
Brewer:
Our truck is first and
foremost a tool for our customers–our truck is used to help build the
infrastructure of our country as well as customers in Mexico, Canada, South
America, and rest of the world. We have
a 60% share of the commercial truck business in the US and expect as the
economy recovers our business will improve along with the full size truck
market as a whole.
[Comment
From Kris N Kris N: ]
I noticed the new Super
Duty has quite a large and low hanging air dam for increasing fuel mileage.
Does this compromise approach angles and off-road capability?
Chris
Brewer:
Kris, you sound like an
engineer! The air dam has been
lengthened for improved highway fuel economy but still meets our standards for
approach angles; however, it is removable for severe offroad
use should the customer need to do so.
[Comment
From Scott in MD Scott in MD: ]
I submitted a idea to ford about the regen
issues with the current 6.4 that I have. There is no driver option to control
the regen process. Why not include a button to self
clean? Or a warning that you need to clean in XX miles.
Current system may want you to clean when you just stop at home.
Chris
Brewer:
Thanks for the
suggestion, Scott. We will take a look
at offering a driver option for regen so long as it
still meets the appropriate emissions requirements.
[Comment
From Tojoski Tojoski: ]
Will the 6.7L Be built in the USA?
Chris
Brewer:
The vehicle is being built
in Louisville, KY which is my home away from home right now. The 6.7L will come from Mexico. The transmission will be built in
Sharonville, OH.
[Comment
From CK CK: ]
Will the 6.7L do away
with the "in-cylinder dosing" method of fuel delivery for the DPF
regeneration cycle?
Chris
Brewer:
No–we still need to
burn "rich" fuel during a regen cycle for
the cleaning of the DPF.
[Comment
From kevin kevin: ]
How many engines did you
melt down, blow up or otherwise destroy while you were testing and tweeking the 6.7?
Chris
Brewer:
A lot! We have been working on the new engine for
several years now and torture testing it until we are absolutely convinced it
meets our 250,000 mile durability requirement.
[Comment
From Mitch Malecha Mitch Malecha: ]
I have been encouraging
Ford to offer a real center console shifter on the SD for years on
blueovalnews.com forums. Why is this not included in the 2011 version?
Chris
Brewer:
Good question,
Mitch–our customers really want maximum function–the new console really
serves as an office on wheels with 42 liters of storage, 6 cupholders,
and standard 150W inverter for your laptop or other plugin
devices. The floor mounted shifter
would really take away from all of that.
[Comment
From Kris N Kris N: ]
Yep, I recently finished
up my engineering degree at Georgia Tech, have any
openings for die-hard Ford truck guys? As a longtime Ford PowerStroke
owner, I’ve always taken pride in the fact that our engines were originally
designed for medium duty commercial trucks. Is the new 6.7L going to be an
option in the medium duty F-650 etc.. ?
Chris
Brewer:
Kris, thanks for being a die-hard Ford
trucker! The new engine has been tested
as a dyno engine for our 350/450/550 chassis
cabs–rest assured, we are eager to use the new engine in as many places as
possible.
[Comment
From Scott Enix Scott Enix: ]
The youtube vid showing the full pull
the other week. We
saw some breif smoke or water out the tail pipe. Was
this truck equiped with the DPF and DEF?
Chris
Brewer:
Equipped
with both DPF and DEF. Not sure where the water/smoke came
from–from what I could see, it wasn’t us.
[Comment
From Brian Sanders Brian Sanders: ]
with the new injection system which
everyone knows is supposed to be great, will it be able to provide enough fuel
for say a compound turbo or even a bigger single without increasing the fuel
pump
Chris
Brewer:
Hard to say, Brian; the
new fuel system has been targetted specifically for
our 6.7L engine and the new single sequential turbo–which gives us the best of
both worlds in terms of minimal turbo lag with the initial spoolup
and then maximum power as you step into the accelerator.
[Comment
From Steve Price Steve Price: ]
Since the 6.7 is
approved for the use of B20 as opposed to B5 with the 6.0 and 6.4, are the
service intervals for fuel system components the same?
Chris
Brewer:
Yes and no; if you run
B20 exclusively we recommend 5000 mile oil change intervals. We do have an oil quality algorithm that monitors
the oil quality and helps guide the customer on the appropriate oil change
interval–which with normal diesel can range between 7500 and 10,000 miles.
[Comment
From Lee Richard Lee Richard: ]
will the front end be lower than back like
all superduty and why?
Chris
Brewer:
Yes–the rear end
unloaded always rides higher than the front as you might expect. As the rear end is loaded up with payload or
trailer tongue weight, the rear end will come down to the front end ride
height.
[Comment
From kevin kevin: ]
what have you been getting for fuel mpg
[Comment
From Daniel Plain Daniel Plain: ]
With the introduction of
the new Power stroke diesel motor what kind of fuel economy could we expect.
[Comment
From Gray Gray: ]
If that MPG question cannot
be answered, then is there a percentage number that can be released? Although I
assume the new 6 speed will help significantly with better MPG.
Chris
Brewer:
No question, that fuel
economy has been top of mind for our customers and here inside Ford Motor
Company. We are still testing to
finalize where our numbers are going to come out but the data so far suggests
this will be the most fuel efficient heavy duty diesel on the market today and
better than what we expect to see from our competitors next year. Stay tuned!
[Comment
From Scott Enix Scott Enix: ]
All I can say is I am
ready to trade up from my 6.4!
Chris
Brewer:
Thanks for your
business, Scott! We will be happy to
sell you a new 6.7L next spring and beyond!
[Comment
From Nolan S. Nolan S.: ]
Kinda Off topic but maybe some insight to
how you think… What is your favorite year of the Superduty?
Chris
Brewer:
Tough question,
Nolan! It is hard to pick which child
is your favorite–we have been the market leader as long as the Super Duty has
been in existence and of course overall full size pickup leader for the last 32
years. The new 2011 MY builds on our
great heritage and continues the Built Ford Tough tradition!
[Comment
From Kris N Kris N: ]
Thank you for your time
in answering our questions, and listening to what we have to say.
Chris
Brewer:
It’s a pleasure to be
able to converse directly with so many interested Super Duty customers–thanks
so much for your inquiries into what’s coming out next year and how we can
continue to improve the product to meet your needs!
