F-150 Ecoboost towing

VernDiesel wrote:
Watch the Video what it shows in print from Ford is; "for Best vehicle and engine performance premium fuel of 91 octane or higher is recommended". According to an owner on another forum The 2016 owners manual states "premium fuel recommended for severe duty such as towing" Certainly it can tow with 87 but the EB ECU pretty well tuned knock sensors to adjust timing dynamically to avoid pre-detonation. At least in the earlier EBs they would rattle on tip in with 87 when towing in high ambient temps."

OP is looking to tow a TT to GC & Yellowstone ie over passes and is asking about towing and economy. I think the post was dead on point. I might not use premium for a daily commute but I would for those trips as Ford recommends. Neither me nor OP said anything about performance. But as TFLT says the Fords a rocket. Notice they didn't say anything about the ED like it's a slug etc. I can say my ED with 3.92 is no slouch. Not a race winner but with low end diesel grunt & 8 well spaced gears it will leave a stop light TT in tow quite respectively.

They are both good trucks. I am not telling him which to pick merely saying drive more than one mfg & that the ED certainty worth considering if fuel costs matter to OP. The last thing he asked about was longevity. I think the 3.5 EB overall is proving reliable certainly it's not the old 6.0/6.4 fiasco. ED has had some motor failures and time will tell but at very minimum it has a 100k warranty which compares favorably to Fords 60k and will matter to OP for the years trucks he is looking for. And yes my ED is an exception as I use it to transport new TTs from Mfgs to dealerships. At 340,000 miles I've had great luck with mine. Like OP I believe in pm. Mine has a tune to take control of EGR and for the turbo brake to control downhill speeds which it does and maybe why my original brakes went 293,000. Drive a few & find your fit.

I had one of the earlier EB's and towed in the hot south Texas heat many times and never once used or needed anything other than 87 octane. If I would have used 91 then it would have given me a bump in horsepower and torque like the manual states, but it was never needed since it had more than plenty enough power with 87 octane.

I also had a company EB that I drove to about 150k miles before moving to another position. That truck, nor the other 20 trucks in our fleet used a drop of 91 octane and they owed or hauled on a daily basis. Again, it is not needed, but if you want more power from the engine adding timing, then 91 octane is recommended.

I am not saying anything against the ED. I am just saying that 91 octane is not a requirement and that the EB is considerably more powerful than the ED. There is no way in the world that a 240hp/420lb-ft 8 speed truck is going to have better towing performance than a 375hp/470lb-ft 10 speed truck. It is just not going to happen. The EB has the power and the ED has the fuel economy. Which is more important might be different from one person to the next.