Ford V-6 beats v-8's in towing competition

[slowzuki]

Thats exactly what I've seen reported for mpg in the Ford V-6. It can tow a lot more though.

The torque and hp do matter to some degree, mainly for posturing and sales. If you tow in big cities and have to merge on busy highways the high hp might be really important. Doesn't mean a thing to me, I grew up driving old small engine stuff, and suzuki samurais. Everything is fast compared to them.

What I want is a full-size 4 door truck (preferably 4x4) that gets ~25 MPG on the hwy and about 20 in the city that can tow about 6,000 lbs. The rest is BS.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Very disappointed in the fuel mileage reported for these engines. 2x4 = 22 mpg, 4x4 = 21 mpg. Not much better than the std. V-8's.

I think the whole thing is super silly. Once you get past 300 HP and a comparable amount of torque what difference does it make? Most people are going to be using them for light to moderate towing, around 5-6K at best. Sure, you can tow 10K but how many will be doing that on a constant basis?

What I want is a full-size 4 door truck (preferably 4x4) that gets ~25 MPG on the hwy and about 20 in the city that can tow about 6,000 lbs. The rest is BS.

I for one would love to have its 11,300# towing capacity in a 1/2 ton. I find my 9,500# a little limiting from time to time in my 08 Titan since we pull trailers for a living. I would get rid of my 04 F-250 diesel for a 1/2 ton that could pull that weight, but like you I am disappointed in the fuel economy. I had read early on during one of the test a magazine reporter got 26mpg in a 4x4 Crew Cab. That would have sold them a Million trucks this year if they could have gotten to that point.

Chris

 

[ham]

As I have posted on other blogs. The key here is flexability of use. The EPA is notoriously bad on turbo engines as they do not give a hoot to drive them in a way to take advantage of their abilities. The new EPA numbers in my mind are a bit low. I do not remember in any recent time that an automobile magazine EXCEEDED the EPA ratings by over a MPG. I think what they have done here is a major advance for those of us that will use it in a multitude of ways and want reliability. Personally I think most of these "I am dissappointed..." statements are from individuals who just trash talking.

My '89 302 got 12 mpg period. It couldn't pull a radish out of the ground. It had two tanks that if full could almost get me to the outskirts of town.
460s of that era got 6-8 if towing or working hard.

My '03 2500 Hemi pulls anything all day and gets 13.5 mpg highway. Empty it gets 13.5-15mpg highway.

No matter how you slice it this will be a major improvement for me. But I sure wish I could get a 36 gallon tank....are you listening yet FORD?

 

[Ford850]

As I have posted on other blogs. The key here is flexability of use. The EPA is notoriously bad on turbo engines as they do not give a hoot to drive them in a way to take advantage of their abilities. The new EPA numbers in my mind are a bit low. I do not remember in any recent time that an automobile magazine EXCEEDED the EPA ratings by over a MPG. I think what they have done here is a major advance for those of us that will use it in a multitude of ways and want reliability. Personally I think most of these "I am dissappointed..." statements are from individuals who just trash talking.

My '89 302 got 12 mpg period. It couldn't pull a radish out of the ground. It had two tanks that if full could almost get me to the outskirts of town.
460s of that era got 6-8 if towing or working hard.

My '03 2500 Hemi pulls anything all day and gets 13.5 mpg highway. Empty it gets 13.5-15mpg highway.

No matter how you slice it this will be a major improvement for me. But I sure wish I could get a 36 gallon tank....are you listening yet FORD?

They are listening, and are now saying you'll be able to get the 36 gallon tank in the SCrews, 4x4 I think.

 

[bdeboer]

I'm not a big fan of this, its very centric on power related tests for climbing hills. I live in a flatish area and could care less about hill starts and acceleration. I do care about safe handling and braking of course.

If all the manufacturers adopt, even bigger, heavier, less fuel efficient vehicles will be required to tow the same loads, just so owners in the west can fly up their big grades.

Hopefully our local enforcement will continue to only enforce axle ratings as they normally do.

I hear what you are saying, but at least with a standard in place you should know that your new 50K truck should pull the load that is advertised.

 

[Oleozz]

Last week a friend ordered the new King Ranch Ford with the V6 turbo. Delivery won't be available until mid April. He is trading in his Titan that has only 4,000 miles on it. He was displeased with his gas milage on the Titan. I rode in the Titan quite often and it had every option known to man and thought it was a great truck. The new King Ford has heated and cooled front seats and heated rear seats. It also has a sliding power rear window. He has the funds and for him the big attraction was something that would pull his fifth wheel trailer and still get decent milage.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Last week a friend ordered the new King Ranch Ford with the V6 turbo. Delivery won't be available until mid April. He is trading in his Titan that has only 4,000 miles on it. He was displeased with his gas milage on the Titan. I rode in the Titan quite often and it had every option known to man and thought it was a great truck. The new King Ford has heated and cooled front seats and heated rear seats. It also has a sliding power rear window. He has the funds and for him the big attraction was something that would pull his fifth wheel trailer and still get decent milage.

The MPG has been the sore spot of my 08 Titan also. 14.5 average and thats all it will do at 75 mph also. Just around town its about 13 mpg.

The nice thing with it though is it will still do 12 mpg while pulling my 7,500# boat. In comparison my 07 F-150 I traded on the Titan got 15.5 mpg around town, 17 on the highway, but pulling the same boat it got 8 mpg.

Its a towing beast though. Best gas truck I have owned including 3/4 tons. I will probably be in line this summer for a new F-150 also with the 3.5L.

Chris

 

[slowzuki]

I can't think of anyone I know that a) heeds the factory tow limits. b) is disappointed with the towing capacity of their late model 1/2 ton truck.

They've all got so much power, and at least in our climate, you never see guys at the side of the road boiling coolant like in the 80's.

The weakest point in all the users and abusers is still the automatic transmissions, but even those have come an amazing ways since the 80's. The only people I know with transmission problems now are Dodges, even the Chev guys are getting good life even when overloaded and snow plowing.

I hear what you are saying, but at least with a standard in place you should know that your new 50K truck should pull the load that is advertised.

 

[TheGoose]

Look, don't get me wrong. I love the fact that the truck can tow 10,000+ lbs. But in my mind the single most important aspect of the truck (twin turbo v-6) should be the fuel mileage.

I would bet that the vast majority of people would rather have a truck that can pull somewhere around 6-8K lbs comfortably and then get excellent mileage on the hwy, which to me means about 25 mpg or better. I'm talking 60-70 mph driving too.

I think the EPA has changed their ratings test and are far more accurate than they were just a few years ago so I'm betting that most people will be getting what the sticker says.

If Ford would wise up and put in a gear splitter where you could change the final drive that would probably do the trick but would add at least $1-2K on to the sticker.

I would definitely look hard at a truck that would get 25+ mpg even if it meant I had to pony up 2-3K more at purchase. I feel that gas prices will soon be just south of $4/gallon by summer again and there are lots of people just like me. My truck will sit, I will drive my Honda unless I need to haul something and I will keep my '03 Silverado until somebody comes out with a real efficient truck.

I for one would love to have its 11,300# towing capacity in a 1/2 ton. I find my 9,500# a little limiting from time to time in my 08 Titan since we pull trailers for a living. I would get rid of my 04 F-250 diesel for a 1/2 ton that could pull that weight, but like you I am disappointed in the fuel economy. I had read early on during one of the test a magazine reporter got 26mpg in a 4x4 Crew Cab. That would have sold them a Million trucks this year if they could have gotten to that point.

Chris

 

[slowzuki]

They don't need a gear splitter, its got a 6 speed auto in it. Look at all the people whining about the chev 1/2 tons with the low first so they don't need deep rear ends, they are just attached to the idea of have 4.11's from back in the days of 2.8 to 1 first gears.