Ford F150 is going Powerstroke Diesel

Bionic Man wrote:
I still think this truck will be successful. Maybe a little less so since the 4x4 MPG of a 25 isn't as good as I expected it would.

Thought this post was interesting--a 1/2-ton 4x4 truck with an aluminum body and a 3.0L turbodiesel V-6 getting 25 MPG. The 6.7L Cummins in my all-steel, 3/4-ton 4x4 Ram got a calculated 23.4 MPG on a 1,000-mile all-Interstate highway trip from Denver to Chicago (not towing!). Not much difference considering my truck weighs a ton more and the engine is more than twice as large.

And, in 8 pages of responses, I didn't see one comment about the fact that all the current diesel pickups are turbocharged--from Chevy Colorado 4-cylinder diesels to Ford V-8 diesels. I live in Colorado and any non-turbo engine loses about 3% of its power for every 1,000-ft. of elevation increase. That means that a Ford or Chevy gas V-8 or Ram Hemi is going to lose 1/3 of its power going over an 11,000-ft. pass in the Rockies.

Now imagine towing your trailer with an engine that has only 2/3 of its current horsepower up the on-ramp of the Interstate nearest your home. Would you feel under-powered while trying to get up to cruising speed? Then you know how I feel when I am towing my 5th wheel up the east side of Wolf Creek Pass behind someone towing their 5th wheel with a 3/4-ton gas V-8.

Only the Ford Ecoboost, of all the gas truck engines on the road, has a turbo. Therefore, it is the only gas engine that will perform at anywhere near its rated power when towing on the mountain highways of Colorado.

Oh, one other diesel advantage--it's quiet at highway speeds. A quiet diesel? Impossible, you say! What RPM does your tach show when you are towing your trailer at 60 MPH on a level Interstate? Mine shows 1,400 RPM.