Ecoboost vs. V8 - Can you explain?
I'm nowhere near being a gearhead, and I can't seem to wrap my mind around how the Ecoboost outperforms the V8 in towing. I understand the fuel economy issue, but how is it that the V6 can actually h...
Forum Discussion
As I stated before, I got to drive two 3.5L Ecoboost F150s putting over 100k on each. My personal truck was an F150HD crew cab 4x4 with 3.73 rear gears. My work truck was a F150 super cab 4x2 with 3.15 rear gears which replaced an F150 5.0L super cab 4x2 with 3.55 gears.
My personal Ecoboost truck got better fuel mileage towing and unloaded then the 5.0L work truck I had. The work truck Ecoboost got much better fuel mileage unloaded, but about the same when towing probably due to the engine having to compensate for the very tall for a truck 3.15 gears.
However, these were two different animals when towing. I had to tow a 20ft enclosed trailer with both on a routine basis to deliver bulk parts to an oilfield customer I had back then that was about an hour and a half away. The work truck 5.0L with 3.55 was gutless down low and would down shift to 3rd or 4th at the sight of a hill when down. I have had my foot to the floor on a few occasions.
The work truck EB with 3.15's would power up slight hills in 6th, and would drop down to 5th on the steeper ones. It was very rare that it would drop to 4th, but I never had my foot to the floor unless I was passing which there was always plenty left over if needed.
My experience is that while the EB does use more fuel when towing, it is not much different than any other V8 I have driven. The one main advantage versus a V8 is when unloaded. With the amount of low end that the EB, you can do the same job(or more) with tall gears in the EB that would require shorter gears in the V8. My work truck EB with a 3.15 ratio could have easily done the same that a 5.0L with a 3.73 rear gear could have done.
My personal Ecoboost truck got better fuel mileage towing and unloaded then the 5.0L work truck I had. The work truck Ecoboost got much better fuel mileage unloaded, but about the same when towing probably due to the engine having to compensate for the very tall for a truck 3.15 gears.
However, these were two different animals when towing. I had to tow a 20ft enclosed trailer with both on a routine basis to deliver bulk parts to an oilfield customer I had back then that was about an hour and a half away. The work truck 5.0L with 3.55 was gutless down low and would down shift to 3rd or 4th at the sight of a hill when down. I have had my foot to the floor on a few occasions.
The work truck EB with 3.15's would power up slight hills in 6th, and would drop down to 5th on the steeper ones. It was very rare that it would drop to 4th, but I never had my foot to the floor unless I was passing which there was always plenty left over if needed.
My experience is that while the EB does use more fuel when towing, it is not much different than any other V8 I have driven. The one main advantage versus a V8 is when unloaded. With the amount of low end that the EB, you can do the same job(or more) with tall gears in the EB that would require shorter gears in the V8. My work truck EB with a 3.15 ratio could have easily done the same that a 5.0L with a 3.73 rear gear could have done.
