New Ford Expedition with V6

There are lots of testimonials to how much the Ecoboost V6 can tow. No magic to it really, adding turbocharging to a small engine makes it perform (and burn fuel) like a bigger one. Yes, this V6 has considerably more horsepower and torque than your 5.3 V8. There's a lot more to the equation than number of cylinders, there are 6 cylinder trucks moving over 80,000 pounds every on the roads. ;)

The low end torque of the turbocharged V6 will make you wonder why you took so long to switch away from the Burb's 5.3L. You will be laughing at those Branson hills, and at the Rocky Mountains too.

rexlion wrote:
The low end torque of the turbocharged V6 will make you wonder why you took so long to switch away from the Burb's 5.3L. You will be laughing at those Branson hills, and at the Rocky Mountains too.

Don't think of number of Cylinders, or even displacement, the EcoBoost will surprise you with pulling power.

Then again you are comparing a 2004 5.3 to a late model Ford Ecoboost. Hardly a fair comparison considering that the 2007+ 5.3 had 315 hp, and the 2014+ 5.3 has 355 hp. The later being a bit more of an apples to apples compo.

That said the Ford Ecoboost V6 is proving to be a great engine and is certainly worth looking at.

Just remember or my assumption is that you are going to compare a
new Ford vs your 11-12 year old Sub

Nothing wrong with either, but I'm a GM fan over Ford and not blindly loyal

Unless you just want a Ford, then you'll find many saying 'go for it'...or if you
really wish to compare 2016's, then check out this site and assume Ford has
one likewise...couldn't find one at the Ford site

GM Competitive Comparison

Looks very close with a 1%-3% edge to Ford on their V6, but nothing major. Then
their MPG's goes to GM with a similar difference between them.

Surprised me that the Suburban is shorter than the Expedition, but also has more
headroom inside.

Direction injection leaves the Toyota behind, but they will have direct injection soon

So similar..boils down to which one you like best, get the better deal on, etc

rjstractor wrote:
There are lots of testimonials to how much the Ecoboost V6 can tow. No magic to it really, adding turbocharging to a small engine makes it perform (and burn fuel) like a bigger one. Yes, this V6 has considerably more horsepower and torque than your 5.3 V8. There's a lot more to the equation than number of cylinders, there are 6 cylinder trucks moving over 80,000 pounds every on the roads. ;)

When it comes to towing 80,000 lbs. plus, here's also gearing and liters, among other things. Don't most highway tractors have around 12 to 16 liters of displacement that is turbocharged ?

Lessmore wrote:
When it comes to towing 80,000 lbs. plus, here's also gearing and liters, among other things. Don't most highway tractors have around 12 to 16 liters of displacement that is turbocharged ?

Yes, there was a little sarcasm in that comment. Those motors are turbocharged and huge, but still only six cylinders.

Like others have said, all that low-rpm torque and HP is what makes the 3.5L V6 EcoBoost such a great tow engine.

That link BenK posted shows the EcoBoost 3.5L with 420 ft-lbs at 2500rpm and the Chevy 5.3L with 383 ft-lbs at 4100rpm. Quite a difference in rpms.

I dunno how Ford got the peak torque down so low with the 3.5L (think all the smaller Ecoboosts have peak torque at 3000 or higher rpms). But it does make the engine more diesel-like in behaviour.

Still, if you like higher-revving V8's then Chevy's 5.3L should also be fine.

And the 3.5L EcoBoost has been available in different forms since ... 2010?
So it's been around for a while. Not exactly new. It's been pulling my 8100# trailer with ease for 22K miles so far.

I towed 4k pounds for a 6k mile trip with mine. It was an impressive trip from a tow vehicle perspective. Through several passes in the rockies, and nothing was a challenge.

I now have a trailer at about 7k loaded. It does downshift a little. If you're after that "towing like it isn't there" experience, I would say the weight limit for that feeling is somewhere between 4k and 7k.

What I enjoy most, is being at low rpm while towing. I've towed with older and modern V8's and none gave the "relaxed" feeling of the EB.

brulaz wrote:
snip....

I dunno how Ford got the peak torque down so low with the 3.5L (think all the smaller Ecoboosts have peak torque at 3000 or higher rpms). But it does make the engine more diesel-like in behaviour.

Forced fed...meaning in this case turbo, but supercharged very similar
in how the 'small' displacement behaves

IIRC, Turtle said around 25PSI...meaning that 3.5L V6 has ~7L or more
amounts of air/fuel stuffed into it. Making it behave like a big block V8...as
it does have similar amounts of per cylinder air/fuel charge at ~25PSI
BEFORE the compression stroke

There are many, many issues us boy racers used to have to engineer
around to make it last and seems like Ford had addressed most of them.
I'm still not sold on it yet...telling for me is when rebuild history
rolls in.

The GM is NA (naturally aspired) and behaves like a traditional V8
but has cylinder deactivation for those times less HP is needed.

Both choices in direction (forced fed or not) will have different
torque/HP curves and with today's close ratio automatics...levels
that playing field.

Either will suffice and down to personal choice on badging, model, etc