TESTED 2015 Ford F-150 2.7L EcoBoost Fuel Economy
When Ford announced the 2.7L EcoBoost for the 2015 F-150, they touted its ability to run the Baja 1000. They touted the towing, the horsepower, and the performance. They also touted the fuel economy. According to Ford, the 2.7L EcoBoost is the most efficient gasoline engine available in a full-size, half-ton pickup truck.
Readings from different outlets are all over the map. Some are way higher than expected while many fall in lower than expected. To settle the argument, at least for us, once and for all, we decided to do our own little fuel economy experiment.
Pictured above is the route we took, and here’s a link to the original Google Map of the route so you can see it yourself. It’s a hilly part of northern Ohio, and the ambient air temperature is between 59 and 63 degrees. The route was driven both ways. We attempted to get the best economy number possible without causing a hazard to driving.
During the test, we kept RPMs below 2,000 consistently, and below 1,500 whenever possible. The 2.7L’s start / stop system also was working on the in town portion of our route. Between 10% and 15% of the route would be considered city driving. The rest would be considered highway.
Manual verification came within 1 mpg of the on-board computer. We are showing you the on-board computer data for one very specific reason. A normal customer is going to look at, and trust, the computer when determining their fuel economy. They will praise or bash Ford based on that number. So while it may not be as accurate as the manual verification, it is the number most consumers will go by.
The truck tested was a 2015 F-150 with a 145″ wheelbase and the Super Cab. The truck is equipped with the 2.7L EcoBoost and the 6-speed automatic transmission. The axle ratio is 3.55 on this truck. The windows were closed and the fan speed was set to 3 on the air conditioning (though the AC itself was off). The tank was completely full of fuel during the start of the run.
As you can see from the above image, taken of the trip computer, that for the 57 mile run, we saw exactly 24.0 miles to the gallon.
During the trip, the highway portion of the drive sat in the mid 23 mpg range. Only when getting back into town did the number shoot back up to 24.
According to FuelEconomy.gov, the government’s database of EPA fuel economy ratings, the truck we drove should see 18 mpg in the city, 23 mpg on the highway, or 20 mpg combined. During our run, we beat the highway by 1 mpg.
It should be noted that driving for fuel economy is really difficult. You can’t use cruise control, and you have to think way ahead. You need to lightly accelerate down hills so you have enough momentum to not use the throttle to go up the next hill. Nobody drives like this.
So what should you expect from driving normally? Here’s our results from a week behind the wheel with mixed driving, including 70+ highway cruising, back road jaunts, and city driving.
As you can see, our week behind the wheel netted us a 20.8 mpg overall fuel economy rating. Considering the combined EPA rating for the truck is 20 miles-per-gallon, this falls right into where we’d expect to be on this truck.
Stand by later this week for our full review of the 2015 Ford F-150. Until then, let us know what you think in the forums!
