My thought process in deciding that I wanted a V10 in my next truck went something like this. I decided my F150 just wasn't enough truck to do the towing and hauling I was doing, so I was going to get a Super Duty. The 5.4 V8 just wasn't enough engine in the heavier truck I wanted, so I guess I'm going to have to get a diesel because that V10 must be a real GAS HOG.

Then I discovered this V10 site and have been avidly reading and asking questions in recent weeks. I really appreciate the thoughtful and friendly information this site has provided. Buying a truck, for me, is a big deal. I can't afford to make a mistake because I am going to live with my decision a long time. I feel confident that what I want in a truck and how I am going to use it will be satisfied by a V10.

It seems to me, maybe because it is always compared to the mpg of a diesel, that the V10 receives a bad rap as an inefficient engine. When, in fact, it is a very efficient engine. Look what it is asked to do. It moves a very heavy truck down the road with both power and acceleration at the ready. It is building a reputation of both durability and reliability at a very reasonable cost of only $600 more than the standard 5.4 V8.

To me, a GAS HOG is a truck that for the amount of fuel it consumes doesn't match the competition in performance. This ain't the V10. The engines I am somewhat familiar with ( Ford's 460, 351, and 302 and Dodge's 360, V10, and the Hemi) I don't believe get as much out of a gallon of gas as the Ford V10. So, relatively speaking, this V10 is an efficient engine. Now I admit I'm not a GM fan and know little about their engines. I have noted that some GM folks really tout the 8.1 V8 as the ultimate gas towing engine. Maybe some of you more knowledgeable about GM engines could chime in here.

 

The 8.1L truley is a "gas hog" My V10 regulary gets 2-3mpg better than my brother-Inlaws 8.1L in comparable trucks, He has figured his average mileage running to town and back (hes a rancher) is about 10mpg, now remember thats Highway driving emty. The worst I've ever gotten emty was driving 80mph into a 40mph head wind, I still got a little over 11 mpg and the very next day I did the exact same trip (400 miles) the difference being I wasn't in a hurry so I drove 65-70mph and I had a 10-15mph tail wind, I managed to get 15.6mpg. I may never see that mileage again but it shows the truck is capable of doing it. Also the 05 V10 is a superior towing engine compared to the 8.1L. my 03 V10 is comparable to my Brother inlaws 8.1 but his does seem to pull slightly better. I personaly feel that the reason for this is his 5 Speed alison vs my 4 speed 4R100 and not the engines. I think the V10 is far a head of the compatition at the moment and with the addition of the new Torque shift you'll have an awsome machine. Good luck on your new truck.

 

good luck with your truck man. i'm amazed with my v10 250 4x4 sc. it just runs and runs. i don't have any miles on it to say yet only 1k but its strong and the way diesel fuel is going in price . i'm happy fred and the gang have been correct about that motor i am also esp. after smoking a hemi ram

 

Rengaw, I have driven the following pickups over the last 30 years : A 1975 F250-390......gas hog, 1980 F250-351...........dog and gas hog 1981 F250 4X4- 400...........good truck and decent mileage 1988 F250 4x4-460.........super gas hog but capable tow vehicle 1995 250 4x4-7.3 PSD........good power and good mileage
2000 F350 4X4-7.3 PSD.........a little more power than 95 and a little harder on fuel but still decent on fuel. 2004 F350 4x4 6.0 PSD............lemon motor hard on fuel
2005 F350 4x4 V10............ terrific power and decent on fuel if you keep your foot out of it.

As you can see I have driven full size pickups most of my life so when I average 12.5 MPG on a 7400 pound truck I am satisfied. You would be hard pressed to find a subject that is more exagerated than gas mileage and believe me the diesel crowd does this better than most. Oh I have talked to many Cummins owners that get
22 MPG pulling a 10000 Pound 5th wheel. yeah right!!! in his freakin dreams. I have read reports on these things and having towed with diesels myself for 10 years they drop in mileage when towing as do gassers. as far as the big block Chev it is a strong motor that can use oil when being worked as well as a lot more fuel than the Triton V10. I would love to see a shootout between the two. Same size 5th wheel and same ratio rear end. The trouble is most magazines do not want to risk losing a Company for advertising so most of these shootouts are wishy-washy with trucks of different rear end ratios and then the article finishes off with '' If this were like that and that was like this......yada, yada,yada." only bad thing about the big block Chev is it only comes in a GM or Chev truck. Compared to a Ford these are girlie- boy vehicles not really made for work. Take care, Wrenchtraveller.

 

When you factor the 415 cubic inch motor against the significantly increased size of these trucks vs. the much smaller 460cubic inch powered trucks you can start to get a better pictur of the EFFECIENCY.

My mid 80s 460 ford 2 door LB 4x4 truck only weighd 5800 lbs soaking wet and never ever got 10mpg most of the time with a big lance camper she was under 6mpg!

This 05 weighs in at 7800 to 8100 depending on crap in the truck... I haul twin Harleys in the bed (1200lbs) and a 24 foot tag trailer and the entire combined weight is right at 22,850. The 3 valve V10 and torqueshift are getting me over 9mpg average in this configuration. When running her empty and very fast I get 11.4mpg.

Naw they are not ineffecient they are flat out phenominal in the power produced for the weight they will haul and the mileage they will yield!

PS we had a 8.1L Allsion as part of the deal when me and partners bought out a small company. We got rid of that pig within 3 months. 10mpg empty, ate oil, running hot shot loads down to Houston and back it barley got 8mpg. And just so evey body knows I am true Blue Oval... we replaced it with a 6.0L PSD SuperDuty.

ON weekends, when we get hosed by a driver not available, one or more of us "partners" has to make some of the runs... So occasionally I get to run the PSD, or a 2 Valve V10 and thus have a good basis for comparison between all of Fords current powertrains. I personnaly think the 2005 3 valve V10 is a superior motor.

Time will tell on reliability and you folks will know fisrt here because there a few of us 3valve V10 owners now and it appears none of us babys the machine.. If any thing is gonna break one of us will manage to find out what and why.

BTW while out in Arizona I had a few hours to kill so I took the lond bedded beasty on to Fort Huachuca on some very bad mountain trails I know and worked the dog doo out of the 4x4 hi and lo range... only serious complaint is the ContiTrac AT tires are not ment for this abuse... they SUCK on hard rock trails!

Other wise the truck climbs like a dream... but because I was empty she beat the snot out of me. There was one steep wet narrow climbing turn that I had to throw rocks and mudd for about 300yards... very intense and very glad wife was NOT along.

She don't like it when I decide I don't want to backup back down a trail... I got no heart burn with taking a run and bouncing my butt up and over a 45degree steep section of trail!

 

Please remember, the V10 is a modern engine. Designed in the last 10 years or so. It has 10% less parts inside and thus less friction. That GM big block was the famous Chevy mystery motor ( 427) at the 1963 Daytona 500. It never finished the race or any race longer than 300 miles that year and it is pretty old today. My v10 delivers around 10 MPG in my motorhome ( 14000 GVW) on a regular basis and I doubt you can go wrong with that. Also, does not use a drop of oil between changes ( 3000 M).

 

i made a run today with my 05 v10 sc with my 1961 harley dead stock dresser in the back along with my hot rod 89 sportie for a show and this monster did not have any idea what was in the bed. this 05 v10 is unreal with loads. still got 11 mpg for the round trip

 

Upper 15's are possible, highway, empty. With a cap. Fredvon4 raises a good point. Pre '99 the trucks were definitely much lighter. The fact that the V10 pushes as much as another 1K lbs, and still gets better mileage than any 460, is not only a testament to the engine's efficiency, but also the round nose

The V10 from '00 to '04 is quite a piece, the '05 is just icing on the cake. I just hope now that the V10 is receiving such praise that they don't get rid of it.

I love my '01, but I'm definitely trying to decide between a new V10 and a Mustang when the current lease is up. I planned on buying the '01 (might still, $9K buyout vs what I turn around and sell it for). Now I don't know... either way, it'll be a 3-valve!

 

You guys make a great point about the Super Duty trucks today being alot heavier than what we drove in years gone by. It wasn't that long ago, pre-'90s, that most all the pickups were regular cabs with 8' beds, not alot of 4X4s, and not many bells and whistles on those rigs. Man, look at what we are driving today......crew cabs, 4X4s, caps, long beds, auto trans, air, and extras galore. Put some big tires on these lifted trucks and they are huge. I drive around a '99 F350 CC LB with a 5.4 V8 where I work. It is fine until you want to haul some weight up a hill, then I want a V10 or something with more guts. Now this same 5.4 in a lighter truck would be fine.

Don't these new '05s weigh more than the '99 thru '04s? They have larger brakes, thicker steel rails, an extra gear in the tranny, and larger wheels. And since I'm on the subject of weight, how many more pounds do you figure the V10 weighs over the 5.4? I would guess not that much.

 

krewat

I love the new mustang but would have to have the big boy and once I checked with my insurance company that Idea went away.. (my driving record ain't spotless) (oh yea.. they don't know how freaquing fast these trucks are so my premimums are ok)

I too hope they dont screw with this recipe... If you choose the 3 valve V10 I promise you it is much better than your 01. Like you, I loved my 01 in fact odds are good that if I had not assinated her I would still have the prettiest Platinum truck in Central Texas.

 

V10 weighs 600 pounds , I am guessing 5.4 can't be much less than 500 pounds.
I figure Ford has added about 300 pounds to my model in 05 which is SRW CC LB 4X4
The GVW went from 9900 to 11200. This is a 1300 pound increase so minus the extra 300 pounds it took to beef the truck up , we still see a payload increase of 1000 pounds. This is a pretty good jump in a 1 ton truck and it is going to be so nice to be legal with my slide in camper on my truck. Ford finally got it right having different GVWs for different motors because the motor weight is on the front axle. My truck in a PSD gets an 11500 GVW but since the diesel weighs 400 pounds more than the V10, I still come out with a 100 pound heavier payload. I have a 5600 pound front axle and a 7000 pound rear axle so that is 12600 pounds . This gives me a 1400 pound overload safety margin. Pretty impressive numbers when you compare them to the competition, poor chioce of words, there is no competition in SRW pickups. Chev and Dodge are still 9900 GVW but you have to read the door panel of a Dodge 1 ton to see that. The brochure only gives you dually specs. GM is more honest. They are bragging about the 9900 SRW GVW because a couple of years ago 9400 was the best you could do in a SRW GM pickup. Then there is the built in brake controller that only Ford has. Well the spin masters at Dodge and Chevvy have a challenge now, Wrench.

 

My '03 weighs 6600/6900 lbs unloaded with a passenger or tow and I get between 11 to 12 mpg for mixed driving 50/50 town & highway. For interstate trips at 65 or 70 mpg I easily get a little over 14 but have on few occasions hit 15 when I really babied it and kept the rpm under 2000, but that's definitely not the norm for my truck.

Towing always brings me down to 9 or 10 mpg.

The worst I have ever got for 1 tank of gas was 7mpg! That was during the winter when I ran it in 4wd alot. Otherwise I am pleased and have never complained about it-it's good mileage for a 7000lb vehicle.

I have a 3.73 axle and really don't drive it like a maniac. There's a guy on another forum with a '99 2wd reg cab V10 & 3.73s and he claims he gets consistant 15 mpg on the highway doing 55/60 on his work commute and I can believe that. I believe he was averaging around 13 to 14mpg for city driving.

The extra weight of the ext/crew cab and the drag and extra weight from the 4x4 components really can drive the mileage down.

 

I look at the V10 this way. I just towed my large overweight toy hauler to the desert. The drive is about 100 miles one way. The trip is all mountains. I get almost 6 mpg towing. My 460 powered trucks, 89' and 95' would get about the same MPG. But, I was easily topping the hills at 55 to 60 MPH and the old trucks would slow down to 35 or 40. I will use extra fuel all day long just so I can set the cruise and actually cruise the the camp spots and not have to get there feeling like I had to drive hard all day. My old trucks would get 9 mpg empty or with a bed full of goodies. The new V10 with 3,000 miles is now up to 11.5. I don't expect to get good milage with this truck but I don't live in the flat lands either. I have never experienced the fuel milage that other people post. My super powerfull, good on fuel, never break down, never see the dealer 6L only got 15 mpg with my driving location and habits. I have enjoyed every ford truck I have ever owned. When I had my 460 powered trucks, at the time, they were good trucks and the diesel offerings could not match the performance towing and general ease of use. I bought this truck to tow my family and gear safely to various camping areas and to use as my daily driver. The V10 powered superduty does this task nicely. Could other trucks with other power plants do it, Sure. But this is the truck that I wanted, so this is the truck that I drive. Other peoples results may vary. The V10 is just a great addition to the truck that has the best crew cab, its stout and strong and will last through the punishment I insist on putting it through.
mike

 

I read on rv.net that in 2007, GM will drop the 8.1 to go with a V10! Dodge has dropped their V10 altogether. It's a matter of boosting the bottom line for the auto makers...V10 = V8 + 2 cylinders...fewer parts to stock, etc. and in the mean time, they came up with a more efficient, powerful engine that has been greatly upgraded over the 460. Emissions are better too!

Jim

 

I'm a new owner of a 2005 F250 V10, and though I must say previous F250's I've owned have gotten better mileage, they were different engines with less capabilities. Even though I'm going through more gas, I marvel at the sound and power this engine has. I guess knowing I'm putting out more for gas than I previously did just makes me enjoy each and every mile I put on this vehicle that much more.