Any experiences with 2011 Ford F150 V6 Ecoboost???

[gharms]

Indeed no 2012 Ford Ranger here, but yes in 180 other countries. And of course two Diesel engines are offered, along with one Gasoline engine. But yet again not here in the US, brrrr... See the link:

http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2011/09...rd-ranger.html

:'(

[escape artist]

Hi: All... I could have had any Ford truck I wanted on my buddies APlan but several things kept me back. The F150 is too BIG for my liking, the Ranger was soon to be an Orphan, and lastly Ford shuttered our local plant doing 2500 guys n gals out of employment. Ford has done some very strange things lately...but they seemed to have weatherd the '08 downturn better than most. Everything they do do is purely for profit as they have to pay back the Ford Family but not the Gubermint.
I'm still enamoured with our combo and looking forward to starting another season of escaping!!! Alf
escape artist N.S. of Lake Erie

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by gharms

Indeed no 2012 Ford Ranger here, but yes in 180 other countries. And of course two Diesel engines are offered, along with one Gasoline engine. But yet again not here in the US, brrrr... See the link:

http://news.pickuptrucks.com/2011/09...rd-ranger.html

:'(

Lots of small trucks that we get in North America have diesel options in Europe and Australia. But, these engines don't get offered here, even though they have lots of pluses like more torque and the fact they last longer. Nissan has for years had a great little 2.2 liter diesel that is raved about, but not available here.

Much of this comes from the fact that most markets in NA have mostly lived by 'bigger is better'. For some who need it, bigger is better, but the majority of people with full-sized pickups rarely ever make full use of them. This attitude is slowly changing, and maybe someday we will see these options of better engines.

Ford fears all the 2012 Ranger will do, is to take sales away from it's already top selling F-150. Kinda sucks.

[hippo]

The British can get a Ford Ranger four door truck with a diesel engine but not here in NA. I read the Ranger was restyled and will not be sold in NA. Ford was thinking of making a cheap version of the F150 to fill the gap. Tow ratings will change next year for all truck makers. Now Toyota two years ago adopted the new regulations SAE standard J2807, so their tow rating are less than the other makers. Trailer Life came out with the 2012 guide to towing. Everyone should get a copy and read it.

[Yukon Escape]

I used to tow with a Dodge Dakota V8, I traded that one (nothing to do with towing) in for a Dodge Ram1500, (Laramie Longhorn) 5.7 engine.
This engine shuts down 4 cylinders when the going is easy, this feature gives you about the equivalent of a 6 cylinder engine.

From previous posts you may have noted I spend very little time on pavement. I would guess I get about 15 mpg.

One thing there are no more hills in the mountains with a 390 hp engine

Doug

[TurtleBax]

Hi Gord,

I don't have any realworld experience currently, but hope to by early summer.

If you read RV.Net in the Travel Trailer Forum, there is a couple called "Skip & Char" that tow with 2011 F150 Ecoboost. They seemed rather pleased with it. You could post your question there. I'm sure you would get some responses to your question.

Best Regards,

TurtleBax

[shanngord]

Thanks TB,

IF my wife and I decide to replace the pick-up truck, the F150 Ecoboost will top the list.
IF we decide to replace the car with something that could occasionally tow, the RAV4 is at the top of that list.

The question remains with Ford's new technology: How will it perform when its 5 or 10 years old. Dual turbo, direct injection,

I'd go out and buy one today if I could talk to a few people that have 100,000 miles on that motor and still love it.

cheers, (7 more weeks 'till spring)

G

[J Mac]

An interested buyer could most likely still get a Ford Ranger. New or used, they haven't all sold. The fact that they're discontinuing the manufacture of Rangers doesn't mean that parts will be hard to get. Ford will still make parts to service the existing.

[hippo]

The Ford Ranger was built for 16 years so parts will be around for years.

[shanngord]

Thanks all!

Bought a 2012 F150 Ecoboost yesterday. Time will tell if I made the correct decision.

G

[TurtleBax]

Hey Gord,

Woo Hooo!!!!

Congrats on the new EcoBoost. I will be very interested to hear the stats and updates as you travel and tow.

We haven't pulled the trigger on one yet, as I have been debating the small SUV vice the Truck.

I'm thinking the truck, as then I have no worries about the tow capacity or torque.

Again, Congratulations.

Best Regards,

TurtleBax

[shanngord]

Just got back from a quick weekend tow.

Averaged 13.5 mpg (Imp) over 200 miles of combined highway and logging roads.

As there is only 400 miles on the odometer now, I'm really hoping that the fuel economy improves after a suitable break-in period (5000 miles ).

We will head to Vancouver next month - its down hill the whole way there.

G

[dbailey]

Gord and Shannon,

Any update?

I'm considering an F-150 in my near future, and am wondering how it performs in the real world...

Thanks,

Doug

[TurboFlex]

I tow a 4000 lb trailer (not an Escape) with a Ford Flex with EcoBoost - very pleased with the performance. The F150 EB engine has the same horsepower but more torque (different transmission) than my Flex. I pull my trailer from Calgary through the mountains into BC regularly and it has no lack of power, but does suffer in the mileage area. I don't go over 100 Kph usually 90 - 95 Kph (which is the speed on most BC roads other than the four lane hwy) and get about 20 ltr/100km (11 - 12 US mpg). The F150 may do a bit better due to it's different transmission. I think part of my problem with fuel mileage is the frontal area or my trailer (8' wide X 10' high) and the drag - the Escape has a smaller frontal area and would not present the wind resistance that mine does. I have 80,000 km on my EB engine and have not had any problems with the engine.

TurboFlex

[shanngord]

I have just under 12,000 km (7000 miles?) on the 2012 F150 ecoboost. Apparently, the fuel economy improves over the initial 16 - 25 thousand km. I didn't believe it would happen 'cuz who ever heard of a gas motor doubling gas mileage over such a huge break in period.

On my last highway trip (sans Escape unfortunately) I averaged 26 mpg (Imp). I have not had the Escape on a long road trip since the California trip early in the summer. I won't be posting fuel economy until spring 2013.

cheers all,

G

[Gr8Escape]

It is likely so that many have been waiting for a smaller diesel to appear on the scene. The word is that the Dodge (Ram) 1500 is scheduled to go in production with the optional 3.0 Eco diesel as early as September '13. This is the same engine which is now available in the new Jeep Grand Cherokee. I have been following reports and news items on this and it looks like this will be a suberb option for towing my 19' Escape. My current TV is a Tacoma V6 4.0 l and the near absence of torque at lower rpm (as compared with the 3.0 V6 diesel I used to have) is to say the least, disappointing. So I will have bide my time for the last quarter of this year and hopefully get back to around 400 footpounds of torque at 2000 rpm. Gotta love the torque! Real world fuel estimates are around 26 mpg without tow, with towing the 19' I expect around 18-19 mpg average (based on my previous experiences). According Gale Bank's Diesel Engineering, this diesel engine is engineered to last.

Just hoping that Chrysler Corporation will price it at a level that does not scare the public out of the showrooms!

Gr8Escape

[Chapitre]

We have an escape 17, we travelled approx. 3800 Kim's & back to Nova Scotia this past spring towing with a 6cylinder RAV4 Sport with the tow pkg., we have a WD HITCH as well.
My experience was : this set up would be more or less ok if you we're not going fairly far. Our trip took 41/2 days, lots of various roads - freeway, secondary etc . We ran into lots of wind as well. We also were on prolonged inclines. In my opinion the vehicle was fine on relatively flat, even some big hills were fine, but the prolonged incline, rough spring roads, wind all became factors that seemed to be hard on the vehicle, and on the "comfort" of towing.There were just two of us, with not a ton of stuff in the vehicle, the trailer weighed 3180 lbs loaded, we were pretty close to the GCWeight. If I was camping - even 6 hours or so from home, no problem, but the extensive travel, coupled with worrying and calculating weight on the hitch (350 max) gets a bit tiring. I know there are people who do it and are fine with it, but I don't think it,s for everybody. I got between 13 and 15 mph( imperial). When I got home I decided I didn't want to do the trip again with the RAV, and traded it for a Chev Siverado 5.3 which most people towing the type of trailers get 16 or 17 mpg, I get 21 without the trailer on the highway,. So the milage while towing will be close to the same, as the RAV and I probably won't know it's there, coupled with worrying about how to take extra's such as tables, etc.which is more or less what I got with the RAV- Some of this depends on the individual, but the RAV on long distances with any extra people or stuff in the tow vehicle is a challenge.