I only have the V-8 which takes regular. The local Costco in San Juan Capistrano has unleaded for $3.25 and super for $3.59 for super. It doesn't have diesel so I'd have to go to Chevron where it's $3.99 a gallon. From $3.25 to $3.99, that's a 20% difference for me. Oil is rising again and diesel, seeing how it contains more oil than unleaded, will start costing quite a bit more than diesel.

If the diesel motor in the F-150 can get 44 mpg with the 36 gallon tank... that would be great. Diesel motors have gotten much more reliable lately, but I like the power in petrol motors. i know diesels have more torque but that doesn't equate to road performance. There's a good reason why the Dodge Challenger and Chevrolet Corvette don't have diesel motors.

In England, I had the VW Passat TDi with the 115-hp diesel motor. The fuel tank was a little over 60 litres or about 16 gallons. I was able to wring 65 mpg out of the motor with various hypermiling techniques, 1,000 miles on a single tank and I could drive back and forth to Scotland from London. I was really disappointed I could not get a diesel Passat in California. Lately, with strict emission controls, diesels don't get much better mileage than petrol motors. Like the BlueTec from the Benz.. 24 for petrol and 28 for diesel. Then there's the matter of finding fuel stations that have diesel around here. The higher maintenance cost. I also don't drive much, perhaps 4,000 miles a year.

I'm still curious about that engine though... reliability, maintenance, many factors to consider here. And is it really 44 mpg? Hard to believe. Maybe driving at 25 mph at the highest possible gear.

 

I'm hoping these engines are in production F-150's before the lease is up on my new 2018. I love the 3.5L and the 10 speed, but that kind of jump in gas mileage is too big to ignore.

 

It came one day before.

Reveal

Sounds good

44 mpg and 479 lb/ft. 270 hp

 

Correct me if I'm wrong but all these links and videos are the engine maker, NOT FORD. They are using a Ford to test, but Ford isn't part of this as far as I can tell.

 

I would rather leave it open. Achates claims that at least one OEM was tooling up for producing these engines already two years ago. I think it isn´t a bad guess that Ford is behind this lines as Achates did chose a F-150 to install in.

OEM is tooling up

 

The fact that Aramco is involved lends a lot of credibility to the concept IMHO.

I also don’t see it as coincidence that it’s under the hood of a Ford truck, when Achates has been mentioning OEM collaboration for years.

Under the hood it seems to remind me of my 6.7L PSD more than I like; it looks like a very complex design. Not that the latest-gen EcoBoosts aren’t, so will see how this turns out in a production model.

 

-----------------------------------------…………………..

 

In that link it mentions Fairbanks Morse as working with and "...using Achates technology to update it's opposed-piston engines......"

It also mentions Cummins in a "deal to develop engines..." for military stuff.

NOWHERE is Ford or anyone else mentioned as being on board. The F150 (and a Chevy somewhere in the mix) are test mules, not pre-production or "scheduled to appear" models.

This engine is NOT GOING TO BE IN SHOWROOMS SOON, at least not in a Ford:

Again, from that link:

"Four major automakers, in response to questions from WardsAuto, say they are intrigued by the Achates technology but not working on opposed-piston engines or with the company."

 

Fairbanks Morse has been at this for a while:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairba..._diesel_engine

This mentions Achates:

https://www.fairbanksmorse.com/blog/...airbanks-morse

This may be coming, but not in next year's F150.