Test drove new 3.5l TT Ford

[Diamondpilot]

No smog test here. I know a guy with a Jeep and a small CAT diesel in it. Know of a few trucks also running around with old 12V Cummins engines in them.

Chris

 

[EddieWalker]

Im suprised and disapointed at the milage too. I have a 98 F250 4x4 with the 4.6 V8 and auto transmission and I get 14 to 15 mpg on it. I almost always drive around town, to it's stop and go for me every day.

I'm at 166,000 miles on it without any issues, and I'm struggling with what to buy to replace it. I know it's a matter of time until I HAVE to buy something new, and I like Ford a lot, but don't see any improvement in the engines over what they had ten years ago.

Sucks to have a car payment and not even get better milage.

Why did the stop making the 300 six cylinder? I agree with the others that it was a fantastic engine and just about impossible to destroy. Easy to work on and plenty of power.

Eddie

 

[deerefan]

Im suprised and disapointed at the milage too. I have a 98 F250 4x4 with the 4.6 V8 and auto transmission and I get 14 to 15 mpg on it. I almost always drive around town, to it's stop and go for me every day.

I'm at 166,000 miles on it without any issues, and I'm struggling with what to buy to replace it. I know it's a matter of time until I HAVE to buy something new, and I like Ford a lot, but don't see any improvement in the engines over what they had ten years ago.

Sucks to have a car payment and not even get better milage.

Why did the stop making the 300 six cylinder? I agree with the others that it was a fantastic engine and just about impossible to destroy. Easy to work on and plenty of power.

Eddie

Exactly. Same as the GM 350, why not just improve the platform? Why go with all new engines? I'm not a big fan of overhead cams either, pain to work on.

 

[TheGoose]

I think you would since the 3.5 is much more efficient than the 5.0. Iwould think that unloaded you should see a consistent 3+ mpg difference and loaded it should be at least 1-2. Don't sound like much but we're talking about trucks that get 14-17 unloaded and 9-13 loaded, depending on load.

Right now when I tow my boat I'm getting 9-11 mpg....I would think that with that TT I could boost that up to 11-14 mpg.

I'll wait and see for the real world numbers..I'm hoping that the mileage has been low-balled on the hwy for that Ford and that with perhaps slightly higher (lower 3's) the mileage will much much better. I don't need to tow 10,000 lbs...I would rather be rated to tow 7K and get 25 MPG.

 

[TheGoose]

Yes, it takes a certain amount of horsepower to pull that load....but what if you could make the same horsepower using an engine that is much smaller and uses much less fuel?

There is no law that says an engine has to use X amount of Fuel to make X amount of horsepower....there are still TONS of things automakers can do to improve mileage. There is a limit to the amount of power any engine can make due to the law of physics....but there is so much energy being wasted it's unbelievable. Most of the power leaves the truck as heat exhaust....in our power plants we re-capture that heat and convert it to power....


Split rear-ends (2.77 for hwy, 4.10 for pulling/powr)....decrease weight...decrease displacement....add things that increase efficiency like direct injection, turbo's, aerodynamics...the list is endless.

I would like to see a compromise....I think at least one automaker should offer a full size truck that is slightly smaller and lighter than today's giants, like the previous version of the Tundra. Put in a small 4ish liter V8 rated for about 200-250 HP or a 3ish liter V6 with turbos. Heck put a turbo on the V8. Rate it for 6,000 lbs towing, 25 mpg.

6,000 lbs would cover 99% of the half-ton users out there....I would take a bet that a majority of truck users have never even towed 1 trailer with their truck, excluding TBN posters. Look around PL...most don't even have a hitch and are owned by suburbanites to haul light materials in.

Ah, but everybody wants clean air! Besides, the government has established CAFE requirements to handle the fuel mileage situation. :laughing: I still see where the government is going to paint itself into a corner between the EPA and CAFE. I don't think the public has totally accepted your last sentence.



That seems to be an issue that people don't understand.

 

[tcartwri]

I think you would since the 3.5 is much more efficient than the 5.0. Iwould think that unloaded you should see a consistent 3+ mpg difference and loaded it should be at least 1-2.

Natural Resources Canada has measured the Ford F150 3.5 at 26.1 mpg. A Sierra with a 5.3 and 6 speed auto is rated at 24.7 mpg.

That test is done at an average speed of 48 mph. At a more reasonable 65 mph where most people drive at, I predict those numbers will be dead even, and just over 21 mpg.

That Ford was built to ace these fuel economy tests. 3.15 gears, two overdrives.... It must be idling at those test speeds.

 

[turbo36]

Natural Resources Canada has measured the Ford F150 3.5 at 26.1 mpg. A Sierra with a 5.3 and 6 speed auto is rated at 24.7 mpg.

That test is done at an average speed of 48 mph. At a more reasonable 65 mph where most people drive at, I predict those numbers will be dead even, and just over 21 mpg.

That Ford was built to ace these fuel economy tests. 3.15 gears, two overdrives.... It must be idling at those test speeds.

Can you post a link that shows the data? I can't finfd anything.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Who drives at 48mph? While getting that fuel economy at them speeds is nice the real world says it just will not work.

Chris

 

[tcartwri]

Can you post a link that shows the data? I can't finfd anything.

NRCAN Fuel Consumption Ratings

You'll have to convert L/100km to get mpg. The mpg figures they give you are in Imperial gallons, not US gallons.

 

[turbo36]

NRCAN Fuel Consumption Ratings

You'll have to convert L/100km to get mpg. The mpg figures they give you are in Imperial gallons, not US gallons.

What I was looking for was the axle ratio info. I know that Chevy has a high milage 5.3 package just for the EPA tests but I wasn't aware that Ford did the same with the echoboost