Not a fan of FI engines from ANY automaker for ANY application, especially trucks. Small displacement engines with their smaller internals are inherently more prone to failure than larger, more robust engines when worked hard. Over the last twelve years I've had one engine failure in my medium duty trucks, all which have large displacement, turbo-charged engines. All these engines are over seven litres. This engine may be perfectly fine in passenger car applications, but in truck duty it's asking for trouble. JMO. Ecoboost is a fraud and Ford knew this from its inception. Sure, it'll do everything Ford said it will. But Ford banked on the fact that this truck would appeal to those who never really used their trucks as TRUCKS.
Just like Hyundai keeps touting their 274hp with 34mpg? Just remember, as I've been saying for years, that a specific amount of horsepower, no matter WHAT the engine configuration, will exact a similar fuel penalty whenever you use that horsepower.
I know only ONE person who owns an ecoboost F150, and he is extremely disappointed as his 5.3 GM trade-in got better mileage. Wasn't as fast but excelled in every other aspect, according to him.
Personally, I'm a fan of MOST Ford engines as I've owned quite a few, and Ford knows how to build engines that are powerful and reliable. But I'm not sold on this whole Ecoboost nonsense. Not just Ford, but with ANY small displacement turbocharged engine. Where I take exception is that Ford insenuates that there is no downside as far as maintenance, operation, or useage penalties. Certain things you will never know until you own one and have access to the "OWNERS" manual, then your eyes explode. Trust me, I owned a couple of the supercharged 3.8s in the early nineties. Then again, I doubt most owners ever bother to read the owner's manual.
Then I look at how complicated their nicely done 5.0 engines are, I have to wonder again. They struggle to attain the power levels and simplicity that GM and Chrysler produce with compact pushrod engines, with no notable mpg or durability gains.
Last weekend my wife rented a Fusion ecoboost to haul around our weekend visitors and I gotta tell ya, for all the hype this car has received, I wasn't impressed. It wasn't a disaster as the car drove okay and rode fairly well, but the materials even had me fooled. After looking at it for two days in my driveway, I would NOT want to own it. The Ford apologists are going to call me names but I've bought BRAND new the following Ford products: '85 Cougar, '89 Cougar (supercharged), '91 Cougar 5.0HO, '93 Ranger supercab 4x4, '03 Superduty Powerstroke 4x4 F250. I even bought my mother a brand new 2003 Taurus. Additionally, I've owned various other Fords that were acquired used. So I have PERSONAL experience with Ford products and services and I'm not knocking them, just voicing an informed opinion.
