Turbo Truck?

[PDenbigh]

I've been following Ford's new 3.5L Turbo 6 gas engine for the F-150 and find it really interesting. I am looking forward to test driving it and seeing what the mid-long term reviews of it are. If I were in the market for a new truck, I'd be an early adopter of this for sure.

Then again, I've always known and enjoyed turbo engines. The diesel turbos have been through hell and back too.

They did a "torture test" series which was pretty hard core - <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/experiencef150/">http://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/experiencef150/</a><!-- m -->

Yeah yeah, it's done by ford so it's biased, yada yada. Biased or not, I was still impressed.

What do you think? Would you drive a 365hp/420ftlb 22mpg turbo F150?

Peter

[Steve85]

I think it's great that Ford sued Ferrari over the use of "F150" as its name for the new F1 car...and won.

But yeah, sounds like a great engine.

[.RJ]

Would have rather seen a smaller turbodiesel, IMO.

[D_Eclipse9916]

23mpg rated by ford and 21mpg rated by ford for their V8.

So a difference of 9% in gas mileage on the highway. Not bad, stupid that their touting its 20% more efficient though (fine print reads LAST years v8, nice marketing but compare apples to apples).

Wonder the reliability of towing with a gas turbo 6. Turbo would always be spooling, and with the high EGTs of a gasonline engine, my question is reliability of the turbo and cooling system. Adding complexity on expensive parts such as cooling systems and turbasss for a 9% increase in fuel efficiency.

Doing some quick math here (I know im sorry), but at an avg of 15,000 miles a year, the ecoboost would go through 652 gallons, while the v8 714. A diffeence of 62 gallons. Extrapolate gas cost at about 3 bucks for regular, and you get $186 a year in saved gas cost. (and thats at maximum efficiency). If the ecoboost costs more than $200 a year more than a v8, your costing more going with your "ecoboost". In 10 years at 150,000 miles, youve saved $2000 in gas. And guess what? The engine is $750 more to a base price of the v8. So....your now at a net of $1250 advantage of ecoboost, without maintenance factored in for 10 years. If that turbo engine has ONE medium service more than the v8 its a negigible gain, and is actually negative because of time spent for that extra maintenance interval.


So I will reserve judgement until it shows in real world mpg and also real world maintenance. My experience of turbo cars and everyone's I know (gasoline only remember), is that they require more maintenance than an NA engine. Negating the small percentage of gas saved gain.

PS- Im glad they are starting to do exercises like this and bringing it to market, im just not thinking its a fiscal plus at this point.

[ScottyB]

i like that the twin turbo pulls down nice mileage when you're piddling around town and has a very nice, early, flat powercurve for towing - superior to the comparable 5.0 V8 package IMO. i would buy one if i was in the market, because it makes great sense to me.

that said, i wouldn't be surprised if it's thirstier under throttle/towing than the 5.0. less complex is usually better with trucks that are bound to get slapped around every day (although it stands to reason ford tested the hell out of it and disproved any real suspicions).

i'm curious to see how ridiculous the power gains will be through the aftermarket for this engine.

[Evan]

how about a turbo4 in a redone ranger that doesnt suck.

Id like to downsize to a midsize truck and there is nothing that doesnt suck from the domestic brands

[fiveoh2go]

Would have rather seen a smaller turbodiesel, IMO.

Why?

[xvxax]

1. Potential for higher mpgs than turbo gas motor
2. Potential to run forever
3. Potential for high resale value
4. Potential to smoke out pedestrians

[JustinG]

1. Potential for higher mpgs than turbo gas motor
2. Potential to run forever
3. Potential for high resale value
4. Potential to smoke out pedestrians

And it can probably tow just as much if not more than the V8 gas

[D_Eclipse9916]

1. Potential for higher mpgs than turbo gas motor
2. Potential to run forever
3. Potential for high resale value
4. Potential to smoke out pedestrians

+1 im still hoping for that 4.8 small diesel in a tahoe/Chevy 1500 series. GMC Denali with 4.8 diesel...If I could afford one id drop my current Denali for taht immediately (and please give the new Denali the same front as the pickups, the current Denalis face is ugly and I hate the ricer taillights from the factory).

[JustinG]

And a quick look at the ford website building a F150 Supercrew XLT with 5.5ft bed. The Ecoboost 6 is a $750 option over the 5.0 V8, with the added issues Turbos may add, so ill stick with the 5.0

[fiveoh2go]

Meh, Raptor with the 6.2 FTW. 434lb.-ft.of torque + 8,000lb tow rating = capability to go anywhere and tow just about anything you guys own.


MPG be damned. :mrgreen:

[TorinoCobra070]

Meh, Raptor with the 6.2 FTW. 434lb.-ft.of torque + 8,000lb tow rating = capability to go anywhere and tow just about anything you guys own.


MPG be damned. :mrgreen:

If money isn't a problem, I'm with this guy. Otherwise, ecoboost all the way. It is just too badass to say no to.

[.RJ]

1. Potential for higher mpgs than turbo gas motor
2. Potential to run forever
3. Potential for high resale value
4. Potential to smoke out pedestrians

+1 what he said.

I would have definitely paid a $4-5k premium to have a small diesel in my Ridgeline if it were available.

[WRXtranceformed]

Man there are several Raptors around here (I might have had a little Mexico backroads fun with one ) and they all make it move down there a lot.

[ViPER1313]

Wonder the reliability of towing with a gas turbo 6. Turbo would always be spooling, and with the high EGTs of a gasonline engine, my question is reliability of the turbo and cooling system. Adding complexity on expensive parts such as cooling systems and turbasss for a 9% increase in fuel efficiency.

Direct injection goes a really long ways towards solving the EGT issue. It's able to run really high compression on regular gas without blowing itself up. A cooling system is a cooling system :dunno: - just size it appropriately. Turbo lifespan, we will have to wait and see, although a well designed turbo lasts a really long time (think 14B.) Its the duds (mainly from BMW / VAG) that give turbo motors bad names.

SHO guys are getting some crazy good numbers out of these motors with nothing more than a tune (12 second 1/4s) and I only know of one failure caused by an early tune gone wrong.

[G.Irish]

how about a turbo4 in a redone ranger that doesnt suck.

Id like to downsize to a midsize truck and there is nothing that doesnt suck from the domestic brands

Yeah apparently Ford is redesigning the Ranger, but it just won't be for us =/ It's a shame because I think a lot of people would buy a kickass smaller truck.

[ScottyB]

too bad the Mahindra small diesel pickup turned out to suck so bad too...would have been a step in the right direction for small diesel trucks.

saw a white, no graphic Raptor 2 weeks ago. i can't believe how much Ford nailed that truck.

[BLINGMW]

Would have rather seen a smaller turbodiesel, IMO.

Like the Toyota Hilux (Tacoma) diesel that everyone but us has. :evileye:

[D_Eclipse9916]

Autoblog just heard that Chrysler maybe bringing the CRD Diesel into the Jeep Grand Cherokee. Okay, so the 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee not only looks better (looks actually badass, and 50x better than previous), and the new interiors are good as well. Now they bring a diesel version with 241 horsepower and 405lb/ft of torque? Mine mine mine mine... Yeah it might be a $40k Jeep, but honestly the interior is there, and so is the exterior and the latest Jeep Grand Cherokee got 24MPG on the highway with the diesel, so id imagine they would do even better this time around.

Itd be too small of a footprint for an enclosed trailer, but might be the perfect hauler for an open trailer.

Chrysler, thank you so much for actually putting out something during my existence that im actually really interested in. Anybody know really anything more about these CRD diesel engines? I know their manufacturered by mercedes which really is a GOOD diesel engine maker.