F-150 Ecco Boost

Wondermutt

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Jan 6, 2012
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I had my POS Dodge work truck go into sickbay again. While it spent its two weeks there, I was issued a Ford truck with the Ecco boost. At first, I thought, well this is great. I get to drive a granola mobile thinking it was a Prius type drive train. Was I wrong.

I spend most of my time going to mountain tops. The ones that are behind locked gates for the most part. They are normally not maintained like forest svc. roads. I was real apprehensive especially since it had highway type tires.

First test: Doing some night work above Deer Lake. This is a mountain top where the Dodge 2500 needs to be put into 4x4 high. With an empty bed, the Ford made it all the way to the top in 2 wheel drive. Nice start. Through out the course of the night, I made about 6 trips up and down the mountain. No issues. On my way home, I was looking for a gas station that was open. I was kinda concerned as I had already put about 150 miles on this tankful, and the odometer had just hit 280 and it was still above 1/2 tank. I just chocked it up to the granola drivetrain.

On the drivetrain... I had heard what sounded like a vaccum leak all night. never paid any mind as this was a rental car and it was going to get treated accordingly :twisted:

I pulled onto HWY395 and mashed the throttle hoping not to become road slime. To my suprise, when I mashed the throttle at around 15 MPH, the truck put down two black marks on the highway and this thing got to 65 fast, like mustang fast. I was in love once I realized I had me a hot one. I still did not trust the gas gauge. I hit just under 400 miles when I filled it up. With the calculator, it got 19 MPG. I was amazed as the diesel usually gets around 10 -12 traversing the same terrain. And I drove this rig 10X harder than the work truck.

I have a co-worker that has an F-150 (personal rig) and he gave me the low down on the granola gear. It is actually a twin turbo charged v6., not some hybrid like I thought.

Anyhow, after two weeks of flogging, I mean scraping rocks, steep uphill and back down, and over 2k of highway miles, all types of terrain that E. Washington and N. Idaho has to offer, it never gave any gruff. Honestly, I liked it. No complaints.

The interior, especially the back seat is real nice. We fit three guys geared up all over or close to 200 pounds with one guy being 6'3", had no issues fitting back there. Its the biggest back seat I have seen since a mac daddy caddy.

If your in the market for a half ton truck, you might want to give this truck a look.

WM
 
The F150 is a fine truck, that's for certain. Great review of honest driving.
 
Really good review. If I were in the market for a 1/2 ton truck, the Ford Eco-Boost would be near the top of the list. Good to see the F150 still doing well.
 
I have a 2011. Now have 30,000 miles on it. I average around 19 mpg on a mix of county roads and highways. The best I got was 22 mpg on the highway running about 70-72 MPH. It is pretty quick. Close to 20,000 of the miles were towing a trailer with 2 quads. Been several times to Maine, West Virginia and last year Colorado. It handles the mountains with ease, even with a trailer. With my trailer loaded with the quads, I average about 14.5 mpg. With the computer setup, you can watch your current mileage which can become a game in trying to get the best you can. You can also see how much the speed, wind and the hills effect the mileage. I have not had any issues with it and been pretty happy with it so far. I think it’s good for light to med towing. If you are going to tow the bigger stuff, the 250’s and up will be better.
 
Got a friend who has one as a work truck as well. He likes it just fine. Probably dosent put it through what you do, but lots of driving on the highway. He claims 22MPG when he drives for mileage. (whatever that means :) ) Correct me if Im wrong but the twin turbo isnt a new concept. Over the road trucks have been using them for years. I drove a 84 Newyorker (K-car) with a turbo for 190,000 before the tranny gave out. Turbo never gave me any trouble. Everything else...just not the turbo. Gutsiest K- car on the road. Glad you like. CL
 
We at SUNRISE FORD SALES here in the South Cariboo area of British Columbia are very Proud of our new F150 Fords with the Ecoboost engine ! A GREAT truck ! :grin:

Cheers :) RJ
 
Something to consider when its time for a new truck. My GMC 2500HD only has 65k miles on it so it will be a couple years out. Pretty sure I will go Ford this time, they didn't take the bail out.

JD338
 
JD338":30pzj4xx said:
Something to consider when its time for a new truck. My GMC 2500HD only has 65k miles on it so it will be a couple years out. Pretty sure I will go Ford this time, they didn't take the bail out.

JD338

Bingo! And they make good truck also :mrgreen:
 
JD338":1jo1e2ji said:
Something to consider when its time for a new truck. My GMC 2500HD only has 65k miles on it so it will be a couple years out. Pretty sure I will go Ford this time, they didn't take the bail out.

JD338
I've only owned one Ford and it was a F150 4X4. It was a 1992 I think can't quite remember, the only thing that impressed me was the transfer case was excelent but as soon as the warranty ran out it started to nickle dime me to death. The torque converter would slip, the front auto lock hubs would lock in by themselves I could go on and on. I really liked that truck untill the warranty ran out.
Now I only buy GMC, I put 150,000 on my last one and have over 80,000 on this one. I traded the one with 150,000 because I got tired of it.
I'm not bashing Ford just relating my experiences with the one I owned, they could be better now but it's hard to get the bad taste out of my mouth from the one I owned left. :)
 
I have the 2011 supercrew 4x4 and I really like the truck. It gets about 19.5 mpg after 14k miles. It really soaks up the bumpy, desert roads out here in Arizona. The engine has a lot of power. The cab is roomy, I can fit both of my german shepard's kennels in the back. Perfect truck for a road trip. Now if only they made a diesel F150....
 
Ecoboost 3.5 lt Engine that puts out 365 Hp and 420 lbs :shock: of Torque at only 2500 rpm ! Thats a tower for ya ! :grin:

Cheers RJ
 
cloverleaf":1pjsyxq0 said:
Correct me if Im wrong but the twin turbo isn't a new concept. CL

Nope, its been around for a while. Its just the first time I have driven one in a production vehicle. I am not a big fan of the F-150's as that is all we had growing up on the farm and yours truly got to do all of the repairs on them. So I guess I am jaded, but this thing might just change my mind if I had that kind of money and was in the market for a half ton.

Don't get me wrong its still a pickup, and having driven fast cars, (I had a few cars I used to race in some Drag radial classes and Fastest Street Car Series), but the power especially in a V6 told me that technology is making leaps and bounds and giving us things that were once thought to be impossible.

...but my POS Dodge as I call it still gets me up and down the mountain, so I have to give it some credit as well :grin:
 
My F-250 Powerstroke went into the shop for a little work, and I got a loaner Eco-Boost. I too was very impressed! If I didn't need to pack fuel, air compressors, and a pile of tools, I would be an Eco-boost nut. The only bad thing that I have heard is when you are towing, the MPG drops to like 6. You can climb anything, you want, pulling as much as you want, but the MPG goes is very low. If your not towing, boom, back up to 17-19 range.
 
My last F150 was a pre-Ecoboost.

It sounds like Ford finally got it "right" after I switched to Toyota. Oh well, maybe in ten more years or so I'll give Ford another try. I tend to keep vehicles for a long time to ensure I get my money's worth out of them.
 
I'm not disappointed with my Toyota SR5, but I'm equally assured that I would have been pleased to buy another F150.
 
buckfever":1rgfjfem said:
I'd heard the same thing great gas mileage until you hook on to a trailer.

And which truck gets BETTER gas milage when you hook on to a trailer ? :shock: :?: LOL

Cheers :) RJ
 
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