F150 EcoBoost Road Trip / 1 Day 800 Miles Round Trip to Retreive a Yamaha

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I am really happy with my 2011 Ford F150 EcoBoost. A couple snapshots of real life mpg, 17.5 and up to 17.6 mpg. The mpg is acually about 5%  better than the computer reads because of the larger BFG tires that are on the truck (285/70/17 @ 33 inches tall). This engine makes it's max torque at 2500 rpm (420 ft pounds), so running at 70 mph is effortless along with it's 365 hp.

 This was the temp, 102, while I was loading the motorcycle in the back of the truck. I worked up a very good sweat needless to say. The ice cold Rock Star Energy drink in my cooler sure tasted great when I got on the road towards home. My truck also has the cooled leather seats...wow, nice feature on a day like this.

   A bit of damage on the left side of the Yamaha.

F150 EcoBoost

After 260 miles the past week-end on my F150 EB pulling the 28 foot Featherlite enclosed trailer, I ended up with about 9.2 MPG. That included around town about 45 miles and the rest driving 65 -74 MPH highway. The big factor was a head wind of about 20 -25 MPH for about 120 miles. This is a small sample of miles. I have done the same trip in my F150 EB without a trailer and the result was about 17.5 MPG.

I got back from my trip on Monday with my F150 EB, parked my truck and trailer. Jumped into an F350 with the 5.4 gas motor and did a 280 mile round trip pulling an open single car trailer with an F150 on it. 140 miles into a 20 -25 MPH headwind and 140 miles back with a tailwind, 8.8 MPG for the round trip @ 65-75 MPH. I sure missed the power of the EcoBoost, huge difference.

Observations:

The EcoBoost pulls hard from a start to 70 MPH. Did not lose any MPH on inclines even against the wind. Motor has very good torque and low end useable power, minimal downshifting. It has the power I was looking for in a gas motor.

Not much sway from wind gusts, holds it's lane. Good aftermarket tires make all the difference in the world with a trailer this big or any load. The first thing replaced on my new trucks is the tires. The longer 6.5 wheelbase helps also along with Max Tow.

Pulling a trailer into the wind with any truck will always suck the fuel.

The small 26 gallon tank is not good(I was told this is the only tank you can get with the EB unless you order a fleet of trucks, then you can order the 36 gallon)...go figure.

Can't mount a winch on the front because cooling is a factor.

The F150 is a great truck, was gonna buy an F350 with the 6.2 gas. I'm not disappointed in the F150 EB with my set-up. I'm getting 2-5 or 20-40% more MPG than any of my other pick-ups and it's got the best motor.

Ford F150 EcoBoost

I bought my Ford F150 EB in July. It is the Max Tow - Max Payload, with the 6.5 foot box, it has 3.73 gears. I had a set of 285/70/17 - E-Rated BFG All Terrains with aftermarket wheels installed the day I picked it up. I had a Bull Bar installed and I got creative with the license plate because you cannot block the air flow up front.

The dash MPG computer shows 14.4 since I bought the truck. My driving includes pulling my landscape trailer around town(1500 - 3500 pounds, about 10% of my driving), some fireroad driving locked into 4x4, stop and go city driving and several 300 - 400 mile trips. 2 of the 400 mile trips was pulling my landscape trailer with 3500 pound loads.

When I reset my trip MPG, I get about 14.5 - 16 MPG with everyday driving. On the trips with a mix of 60 - 80 MPH, I get 16 - 18.5 MPG.

I just turned 6000 miles on my new F150 EB. This motor rocks, it creates useable torque, and has plenty of giddy-up and go. It is also the best gas mileage I have got with a 4x4 pick-up.

A couple of my thoughts for what they are worth.

Upgrading the tires, a must if you are going to use the F150 like a truck. Get the Max Tow / Max Trailer. It is not an F350, but I wanted gas mileage and didn't want another diesel.

My previous personal trucks have included 3 different 1 Ton Super Duties, 1 - V10 and 2 - 6.0 diesels and an 06 3/4 ton Dodge with the gas Hemi. I also drive an 09 F350 4x4 gas 5.4 pulling a single car trailer for my job, about 8000 miles a month. That gets anywhere from 8 - 11.5 MPG depending on size of vehicle and wind.

This is the trailer I'm going to use the next 2 days. A 28 foot Featherlite. I will put on about 250 - 300 miles so I'll see how it does. I just drove it about 40 miles today and it was no effort for the truck. No sway and it just jumps up to 70 MPH. I'll be driving between 65 - 75 MPH.