A 2011 Ford F-150 EcoBoost prepares for the upcoming Baja 1000 desert endurance race.
Mention the word, “pickup,” and a lumbering, gas-guzzling behemoth might come to mind. But with the launch of its 2011 F-150, Ford is out to change that image.
From a sheet metal standpoint, not much changes, but there are some significant new features and, most important of all, a completely new range of engines. At launch, Ford will roll out a new 3.7-liter V6 replacing the old 4.0-liter V6, a 5.0-liter V8 replacing the former 5.4-liter V8, and a 6.2-liter V8 borrowed from the F-250 Heavy Duty for some specialty models.
Later in the model year, for the first time in an American pickup truck, Ford will offer a 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged direct-injection EcoBoost V6 engine, a design borrowed from the all-wheel drive Ford Flex, Taurus SHO, and Lincoln MKT.
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With the addition of the 3.7-liter V6, Ford shows just how good you can get mileage on a full-size pickup, which hits 23 mpg on the highway. (Click Here for more.) But with the EcoBoost, Ford is out to prove that you can deliver both mileage and performance in the same package.
For pickup truck duty, the 3.5 EcoBoost V6 has been turned around 90 degrees and completely redesigned in order to drive the rear wheels. It is rated at 365 horsepower and a massive 420 foot-pounds of torque, the same horsepower as a Taurus SHO but with far more torque for truck workloads. In the F-150, it will cost $1750 over the base 3.7-liter V6.
The 3.5-liter EcoBoost is one of four engines, three all-new, offered in the 2011 Ford F-150 line.
Since the EcoBoost engine won’t be available for a few months yet there’s no EPA rating available, but Ford is hoping for a very big mileage number to advertise, along with the horsepower and torque. It’s designed to run on regular fuel.
The truck version of the 3.5 EcoBoost engine shares almost nothing with the front-drive version, with a new block, new camshafts with twin independent variable cam timing on both intake and exhaust cams, smaller Borg-Warner turbochargers replacing the larger Honeywell turbos, a Nippondenso direct-injection fuel system instead of the Bosch system, new cylinder heads with tumble ports, new cast iron exhaust manifolds in place of stainless steel headers for added durability, a new cam chain drive, new oil pan, new water pump, larger intercooler and intake manifold.
In essence, a whole new engine with the same name and horsepower rating as the front-drive engine but little else in common.
A trio of Ford 3.5-liter EcoBoost truck engines being prepared for torture testing.
TheDetroitBureau.com was privileged to drive an early prototype version of the 3.5-liter EcoBoost engine in a red F-150 pickup truck at Ford’s Dearborn Proving Grounds, late last year, and we were very impressed with its acceleration. We drove the production version in the suburbs of Ft. Worth, Texas, very recently, and found it even better in its final form.
During the media program, Ford pitted all of its new trucks and engines in a short-distance drag-race event against its direct competitors on the grounds of Texas Motor Speedway, and the star of the show was the EcoBoost V6, competing successfully in sprints against the Ram 5.7-liter Hemi V8, the 5.3-liter Chevrolet V8 and the 5.7-liter V8 in the Toyota Tundra.
The low-end torque and the flat torque curve of the smaller V6 vanquished the larger engines consistently (the engine delivers 90 percent of peak torque, or 378 foot-pounds, from 1700 rpm up to 5000 rpm, with the 420 foot-pound peak at 2500 rpm).
On the highways and back roads around Texas Motor Speedway, the F-150 with EcoBoost power was ready to go in every gear, settled, smooth and quiet in sixth gear overdrive, but it kicked down instantly for passing, and towed a huge trailer without even breathing heavily (it’s rated to tow a humungous 11,300 pounds, the same towing rating as the giant 6.2-liter V8 engine).
The new EcoBoost promises to deliver significant mileage improvements even while matching the towing power of the F-Series' 6.2-liter V-8.
Away from the stoplights, it moved like a Pro Stock Mustang torque monster. The engine, coupled to the Ford 6-speed automatic transmission with standard SelectShift and tow/haul mode, is as flexible as a Russian lady gymnast.
While the 3.5-liter EcoBoost will not be made standard in any of the new F-150 series, Ford will offer the turbo-boosted engine as an option in 22 different models, starting next February.
That will cover a wide gamut of the 2011 Ford F-150 models, ranging from the XL 4X2 regular cab up to a monster 157-inch wheelbase F-150 Platinum SuperCrew 4X4.
(Jim McCraw looks at the entire 2011 Ford F-Series line-up. Click Here for more.)
The $1750 premium is likely to give some potential buyers pause, especially those who have to work that extra cost into a business plan, so Ford will have to deliver the mileage numbers that justify an EcoBoost over a conventional V8. But from the pure performance and feel of the new twin-turbo engine, Ford has definitely pulled off a winner.