I want your opinions on the Ecoboost.....

[Desert Dan]

Keep the 4 Runner and get a truck to haul the big stuff.
Most of the off road ride issues with full size truck are "they need more weight in the back" and the have stiff sway bars.

 

[Kaisen]

Keep the 4 Runner and get a truck to haul the big stuff.
Most of the off road ride issues with full size truck are "they need more weight in the back" and the have stiff sway bars.

You must have missed the "my rear-facing car seats don't fit in the 4Runner" part of his posts....

 

[bloodyWEST]

sorry to drag you off the ecco boost again,

but you havn't mentioned the clean diesel ram 1500 (not proven, obviously) but dodge offers 3 sizes of 4 doors.
i believe the "middle" sized 4 door ram is bigger than your old CC and still not as bulky as a mega cab

im in the same predicament, my wife's xj doesn't fit 2 car seats well, neither does my extra cab ram. we are going to keep them both and get a dodge charger for her DD

 

[redthies]

There ya go Drummond, a nice Dodge 1500 with the new diesel and a 4" lift. Then you won't worry about ripping its guts out. Plus you'd still have a Dodge diesel truck. It's what all the cool kids have! :elkgrin:

This is my friend Regan's truck. It is on 37s, which is a bit much, but you get the idea. He is 6'4" and 320. It fits him just fine. And carries both his kids in car seats. It is actually his wife's dd. He has a '97 F350 like my old one.

 

[bluedog]

I have a 2012 FX4 super crew with the
Ecoboost. I came from an 05 Tundra. The truck is to fast for its own good and a blast to drive. I bet it stops better than my STI. I do agree the mileage given by Ford is generous but it is better than the Tundra.

PM me if you have any specific questions

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

 

[Rovertrader]

I realize you want Ecoboost specific info, but I opted for the 5.0 after driving both, and at the suggestion of a few here on Portal. I am glad I did- better entry price, very near same economy, no 'turbo/electronic controller' concerns. For mid $30's OTD, XLT 4x4 w/ rear locker and camera, tow mirrors, power pedals, etc- pretty decent truck. However, it became a 'truck' once the P rated tires were swapped out for E rated LT tires, front leveling kit, and rear airbags. I have towed 8k# a couple thousand miles through the mountains( east coast...) and have no regrets.
I had a 250 replaced by Ford back in '03 being one of the first with a 6.0, and chose not to go through all that again. However, I did gamble on an '11 250 with the 6.7, as I felt Ford could not afford to mess up another diesel, and it was amazing!! My needs have changed, and the 150 is adequate with the CC & 6.5' bed- I am a happy camper so to speak!
Hope this helps, and the family likes this setup as well- two kids 6&8, and plenty of room!! More rear seat room than a 250!!

 

[huntsonora]

Thanks for all of the responses! I will look at the 5.0 liter

Another reason I am looking at Ford is because I have a buddy that guides on the Arizona Strip and the Paunsaugaunt and he got three seasons out of an F-150 which is remarkable considering how many miles he puts on a vehicle out in those areas. He said it was the toughest truck he had owned.

That half ton dodge with the diesel is a damn good looking truck but I may move away from diesels for a while. I hate paying up to a dollar more for a vehicle that doesn't get any better mileage that the gas trucks.

 

[FordGuy1]

Here is my two cents with tons of real world use. I also run a Service and Parts Dept. at a fairly large Ford Dealership and drive these trucks all of the time. The 6.2l is a great motor, tons of power, no issues really other than some cold start rattle, and the fuel economy really sucks. 5.0l is very durable, gets a tad better fuel economy than the 6.2l, but is a dog and under powered. When towing you have to ring its neck all of the time which gets old. The Eco-Boost drives and feels like it has just as much power as the 6.2l, smokes the 5.0l and tows great. The fuel economy is way better than the 6.2 or the 5.0. Durability has been really good with very few problems. Ford has given a couple engines to the off road guys and they have not hurt one yet. One added benefit is the power of the Eco-Boost at high altitude rocks!

 

[oldblue]

I traded my 2011 4runner in on a 2013 Supercrew F150 with the 5.0 V8. 4runner was too small for a family. In the mountains with a full load the 5.0 is a bit sluggish but I still would take it over the Ecoboost from a reliability standpoint. The F150 also does surprisingly well off-road for its size. All I have done is add a full set of skids.

 

[bluedog]

Just did some highway driving and here is what I can tell you. My 2012 FX4 EcoBoost - Supercrew - short bed (with aftermarket wheels and tires a bit bigger that stock). On a flat road driving between 65 and 80mph I was able to average right @20mpg, that's just the highway mpg. What I have noticed about overall mpg is, if you take off the line like John Force the average be very low.

That said, I love this truck, the interior is great and the Sync system is really nice to have.

B

 

[huntsonora]

Just drove a 2014 GMC. Damn nice truck. I mean DAMN nice. I still like the way the Ecoboost drives though compared to the 5.3

 

[daly]

A buddy at work that has an 2011 ecoboost with 35,000km on it, he's had the intercoolers replaced three time, a valve job done, turbo replaced and it's gone back to the dealer for lack of power thursday. He's told them to keep it, he's trading it in on a used Dodge 2500 they have on the lot. His dad works for Ford, and my buddy has own many Fords over the years, this is the first Ford he has ever told anyone not to buy.

 

[Kaisen]

For the OP, or anyone else in high altitude and mountain grades, it comes down to boost. The rule of thumb is that a naturally aspirated motor loses 3% of its power for every 1000 feet in elevation, where a turbocharged engine can compensate for that change. When you test drive a GMC Sierra 5.3L in Denver, it's not making 355hp anymore, it's more like 300. At the Eisenhower tunnel, it's down over 100 horsepower. If I lived in the mountains, I'd own a force-fed truck.

 

[Wiley]

Ugh, nothing more annoying than coming into a thread specifically about ecoboost and reading about dodge, chevrolet, etc. Lets keep in mind lots of people will be viewing these threads, so if its specific to ecoboost lets try and keep it that way, there are plenty of other threads on which truck to buy.

I had been keeping my eye on the new developments with the Ford transit, deciding if I was interested in an ecoboost or the regular 3.7L engine, but thats delayed for at least a year so gave up, but have read up on it a bit. Everything I read indicates the newer ecoboosts have corrected the major problems from the past. It seems the biggest problem is the negative PR/word of mouth from those past problems. Ultimately I was leaning towards the 3.7L

 

[redthies]

Just drove a 2014 GMC. Damn UGLY truck. I mean DAMN UGLY. I still like the way the Ecoboost drives though compared to the 5.3

Fixed it for ya! :elkgrin: