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| Photo from autoblog.comhttp://www.autoblog.com/2011/12/26/ford-f-150-ecoboost-hits-100-000-sales/ |
Hello reader(s),
Well I moved back home because I graduated from college today. I was
not actually excited to go to the ceremony and in fact really though it was
going to suck. But once it got going I actually had a great time and spent some
good time with some good friends. It really was pretty great.
Anyway that's not the point of this post but instead the cause. My
parents rented a truck to move all my stuff home because my landlord
conveniently wanted us out by midnight.
It was a new Ford F-150 truck with their new EcoBoost V6 engine. Ours
was a crew cab with a short bed on it. My dad drove it home so I only got like
five minutes in the driver's seat once we finally unloaded everything. Anyway
here is my review…
I am incredibly interested in the recent trend of automotive producers
putting smaller displacement engines in cars to save gas. I have said time and
time again that, while certainly not bad, hybrids seem to me to be reinventing
the wheel. Cars have been getting good gas mileage with another formula for a
long time. That formula is simply small low powered engines, which consume less
fuel. For instance one of VW's main selling points of early VW beetles was 50
mpg. Also Honda Civics proved since the beginning of their existence that good
gas mileage can be had from well-engineered small displacement motors. The
downside was that the cars were, and still are, snails.
Small displacement engines in big American trucks seem like a
potential insult to clientele. Cummins diesels have proven the inline six can
be a mountain mover. But a V6 in a F-150? Honestly I thought that most truck
buyers won't even think about going for it. But
AutoBlog reported back in December 2011 that the F-150 EcoBoost accounts
for 40 percent of Fords truck sales and that the company already sold 100,000
trucks.
The EcoBoost F-150 is no slouch. Ford says the
engine produces up to 420 pound feet of torque between 1700 to 5000 rpm. From
a stop a petal-to-the-floor acceleration will set one back in the seat. First
the engine starts to growl then the twin turbos let out an audible whistle and
the truck lunges forward. You will not
have any trouble keeping up with traffic or passing people in this truck.
With that said the engine makes the truck much less smooth at low
RPMs. When cruising below 45 MPH the
automatic transmission hunts and gets a bit jerky as the engine kicks in an out
of boost. The powerband is drastically
different from traditional V8 trucks which have power immediately from idle. That is not to say that the truck won't accelerate
but there is definitely noticeable turbo lag.
After driving it I can also say that trucks have certainly come a long
way. I drove an early 1990's Chevy 1500 on a regular basis for a job. The
suspension launches off of speed bumps because it is sprung for heavy weight. The
brakes slam the truck to a stop if applied just a bit too hard. The steering is
heavy.
The new F-150 on the other hand has steering so smooth it's easy to
swing the nose around too far by accident.
The suspension is supple and not overly firm. The brakes...well they are still super strong
and they should be.
My biggest issue with the Ford is one typical of many auto
reviewers. The fit and finish of the
interior is unimpressive. The crew cab is huge and has well used space. The seats
are pretty firm though they do sort-of hug the driver. The dash has nice simple
gauges. The center console though is bland and controlls seem unnatural. It has
some faux stainless finish on the center of the dash that seems out of place in
the car. The knobs for the air and radio controls all look like climate control
knobs. They feel cheap and it's hard to tell what you are turning up. Also why
do so many car manufacturers make pockets in the dash that nothing fits in? The
F-150 has two that are too shallow for a phone, there’s no stop for coins and
you can't get your hand in there if you actually manage to fit something in it.
Overall I think it is an interesting truck that would make a great
truck for those who need the bed but do a lot of highway cruising. I think that
it probably would be a great vehicle for a foreman who travels to job sites all
over a city or country. It’s a truck for a person who drives on the highway to
work every day and needs to haul fire wood on the weekends. You can't beat 19-21 average mpg, a cab big
enough to fit six people and a bed to haul junk. I think it is definitely worth
a test drive if you are looking for a new truck.
I'll be back later this week with a few shots from the Ault Park Concour's D'Elegance.
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