2017 F-350 DRW 0-60 testing
TFLtruck.com Looks like they achieved 8.02 seconds at a mile above sea level. More videos to follow for the other brands. I can't wait to see if the Chevy is similar considering how close they ar...
Forum Discussion
I saw that article too, but let's get realistic. They are spending $40M on that truck and the gains they are showing are impressive, but two things are blatantly missing from any article I could find on it. 1. the actual weight they are using when achieving those MPG and 2. the speed at which they are driving. I found 1 article showing the truck had a weight of 65,000 lbs, but they have may have been the "max" weight due to lightened frame they were using. Regardless, it's not clear and I've been in gov't R&D programs long enough to see many creative stories woven to tell the story you want the audience see and hear.
Also, you have 3 big manufacturers that are vying for your dollars. If GM, Ford and Fiat/Chrysler/Ram could find a huge breakthrough in fuel efficiency, they would have done it by now. The reality is that physics is hard, no impossible, to overcome. Like the 52 mpg CAFE standard Obummer mandated, it's totally and entirely unrealistic unless you like the idea of driving around in a small tin can that cannot carry my family of 5 AND two sacks of groceries.
Case in point, I now live in Belgium and drive a 1.7L Ford S-max diesel. On a freeway trip at 75 mph, the best I can do is 42 mpg. It's sleek, small, cramped and I pray I've never in an accident with it, but that's my bomb around transportation until we return back to the states. Given the choice between an F-350 and this S-max, never in a million years would I buy the small car. My families safety, convenience, comfort, not to mention the overall usefulness of the F-350 for a multitude of tasks, makes the choice a no-brainer. The F-350 is easily twice the frontal area and probably 3 times the weight and gets about half the mileage of the small car. No surprise there.
If you want better mileage in a full sized truck, then go get an eco diesel or the upcoming F-150. I'm sure it will be a nice truck, but it's not going to safely tow 20,000 lbs and you'll be disappointed pulling mountain passes with a large trailer in tow. Life is a series of compromises, but I don't think we'll be seeing a 25 mpg Superduty that has the same capabilities as today's truck any time soon. Unless of course you lower it, take out the 4wd, make it look like an F-15 drop tank, add a third overdrive gear, and put some really useless high efficiency tires on it. Perhaps then you'll break the mid-20's, but then you are back to the "compromises" thing again.
Adam
Also, you have 3 big manufacturers that are vying for your dollars. If GM, Ford and Fiat/Chrysler/Ram could find a huge breakthrough in fuel efficiency, they would have done it by now. The reality is that physics is hard, no impossible, to overcome. Like the 52 mpg CAFE standard Obummer mandated, it's totally and entirely unrealistic unless you like the idea of driving around in a small tin can that cannot carry my family of 5 AND two sacks of groceries.
Case in point, I now live in Belgium and drive a 1.7L Ford S-max diesel. On a freeway trip at 75 mph, the best I can do is 42 mpg. It's sleek, small, cramped and I pray I've never in an accident with it, but that's my bomb around transportation until we return back to the states. Given the choice between an F-350 and this S-max, never in a million years would I buy the small car. My families safety, convenience, comfort, not to mention the overall usefulness of the F-350 for a multitude of tasks, makes the choice a no-brainer. The F-350 is easily twice the frontal area and probably 3 times the weight and gets about half the mileage of the small car. No surprise there.
If you want better mileage in a full sized truck, then go get an eco diesel or the upcoming F-150. I'm sure it will be a nice truck, but it's not going to safely tow 20,000 lbs and you'll be disappointed pulling mountain passes with a large trailer in tow. Life is a series of compromises, but I don't think we'll be seeing a 25 mpg Superduty that has the same capabilities as today's truck any time soon. Unless of course you lower it, take out the 4wd, make it look like an F-15 drop tank, add a third overdrive gear, and put some really useless high efficiency tires on it. Perhaps then you'll break the mid-20's, but then you are back to the "compromises" thing again.
Adam
