Honestly I think the old Vortec 6.0 is still a very capable engine even though it's a dinosaur. It's all cast iron and very reliable. I don't know if you watch TFL Truck but they pitted the new Chevy 2500 with the 6.0 Vortec against the Ram 2500 with the 6.4 Hemi up the Ike Gauntlet with a 9000 lb trailer and it the GM wasted the Ram by over 2 minutes. A major embarrassment for Ram.

 

Everyone is always so hard on ecoboost MPG, but I suspect if the silverado had a larger NA engine with enough power to meet the ecoboost speed, MPG would be the same.

 

The ecoboost motto should have been "v10 towing performance with the fuel economy of a v8", that would have better serviced their intentions.

With the 2.8 ecoboost, maybe they will get closer to the "v8 power for v6 fuel economy" originally intended.

 

It isn't that the EcoBoost isn't capable - it's just that V8's are better than V6's! Every American knows this!

In a way I can understand pushing the EcoBoost in the F-150, but the Super Duty? Nope! Not unless Ford wants to be the No.2 or 3 selling truck in America. If Ford were to prove the EcoBoost over the next ten years, then they might be able to offer a 5.0L V6 EcoBoost in the Super Duty - but then what's the point? Better mileage than a diesel? No way. Last longer? Doubtful. I just don't think the EcoBoost has a place in the Super Duty line - it's a different animal. Look at the Toyota T100 - good truck, capable, but NOT a 1 ton truck. Not by Amercan standards.

The F-150 is a good truck, a capable truck, but it's no Super Duty! Don't put the engine for a half ton truck in the Super Duty, it's a different buyer.

If I couldn't get a Ford V8 - I would buy a Ram with a big bad Hemi.

 

As a EcoBoost owner I can say that it is an excellent engine choice for these trucks. It hands down tows and hauls better than any V8 or V10 truck I've driven. I am looking forward to the day when Ford puts this engine in the F250. I might even buy one.

 

That should be obvious!

 

The most powerful 1/2 ton engine has been used as the lowest level 3/4 and 1 ton engines for years. Even before Superduties were seperate.

I heard loads of complaints online about how underpowered the 5.4 was in a Superduty, but there are still tons of them out there working hard. Why would a more powerful engine be a problem. They both were designed to last about the same amount of time and the 3.5 is more powerful.

If you are buying a truck just for an exhaust note then you shouldn't be buying a truck at all.

 

Cummins has been field testing a 2.8L high compression E85 engine for a couple years for MT45 Freightliner vans. Here's a report on it. It is turbocharged but none the less pretty impressive. http://cumminsengines.com/uploads/do...nal-report.pdf

 

I voted for a 5.0 Coyote with a turbo but if they go that route Ford needs to do some work on the whole ecoboost concept. I towed heavy with my F150 ecoboost and like a lot of others added an after market Wagner CAC. So a turbo Coyote would need a larger CAC at a minimum.
I am also not sure if the ecoboost can stand up to the heavy duty use that some Super Duties get.

On the other hand if they could give us 400hp and 650 ftlbs of torque it would be a lot cheaper option and way better towing truck (with the eco's low end torque) than the 5.4 or 6.2. My '15 F350 Powerstroke only gets about 15-20% better fuel economy than my 3.5 ecoboost did towing the same loads, so if the engine was $5-6k cheaper that would buy a lot of fuel to make up the difference

 

Just curious, but are you guys running regular or premium fuel in the ecoboost, specifically those who say the MPG sucks towing?

It was pointed out on another site that the ecoboost owners manual recommends premium for towing.
It was also noted that premium gained MPG, but cost more, so it was a wash for daily driving costs, but if it costs the same, why not just run the recommended fuel?

 

I put the cheapest gas in I can find. I use gas buddy and sort the stations by price. The lowest price stations wins. It doesn't matter if I'm towing or just commuting. I tried premium once (not towing) and my mileage was worse.

 

I believe it takes a few tanks for the computer to adjust backwards. If it detects regular gas, it burns richer quick, to avoid damage, but takes it's sweet time to relax the fuel requirement again.
Thats the way I understood it anyways.

And then one more thing to mess with you, a lot of guys see large differences between ethanol and non ethanol gas. After much trying and testing, all our stuff now runs ethanol free premium, because premium is all we can get thats ethanol free.
The ethanol regular was cheaper to fill but man some tanks just seemed to evaporate out the cap lol.Junk.

 

Ford has done a great job of marketing the ecoboost. I see the usefulness of the ecoboost has very narrow. That range of usefulness has been expanded without much merit.

1. Is the ecoboost saving any gas? No.

2. Does it tow more? Yes and the mileage is horrible.

3. If you tow heavy and often, is the engine going to last? No. Reliability is going to suffer.

Conclusion: If you want a heavy hauler, get a diesel. If you want to save gas, get a prius. If you think you are getting v8 power with v6 ecomony, go back to sleep where dreams are reality.

Just my opinion.

 

A lot has been said about more power, questionable reliability as well as comments about using smaller engines overseas with good results.

Everything overseas is smaller so smaller engines work. We build everything bigger here, take that into consideration.

Also think about what engine you want in your truck when you're towing at capacity on a long windy road with a downhill 7% grade, up and down through the hills. Right now I don't need to shell out the extra $8,000 for a diesel because my 6.2 does just fine.

We're not suggesting we buy these truck because we're trying to get good fuel economy? We buy them for what they do for us.

I propose that if Dodge had a truck in the same class for the same price that could tow 2000 lbs more but at the cost of 2MPG more people would buy that product regardless of the brand or the fuel economy.

I have a high performance BMW motorcycle and no one will convince me that it will last near as long with as a 110 air cooled twin, never mind the maintenance costs over time.

 

I was following you until you got to the motorcycle. As to the Dodge example, please clarify. There a bunch of trucks that will tow 2000 lbs more. If you are referring to the ecodiesel, I think that could be a great tower in the 1/2 ton. I also think the Ford Power stroke is better. It just depends on what people are trying to do.