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jato View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Topic: 3.5 Ecoboost
    Posted: 29 Nov 2019 at 3:45pm
For those of you who have the 3.5L Ecoboost, is mileage about the same as with other F-150 engines like the 5.0 or 5.4?  Highway driving, city driving, mountain driving, looking to upgrade our TV.  Thanks
God's pod
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'17 Ford F-150 4WD 3.5 Ecoboost
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GlueGuy View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Nov 2019 at 8:46pm
I've never had an F-150 with the 5.0 coyote, but by all accounts they get similar mileage to the 3.5EB. 
If you're doing unloaded freeway miles, the 3.5EB will be better. If you're towing at moderate speeds it seems like the 5.0 will edge out, but not by much. When we are doing freeway at 65 MPH (about the fastest you can go around here) we get 21-22 MPG with our 3.5EB.

The low-end torque on ours is pretty awesome, and I'm pretty sure the 5.0 can do similar, but it needs a lot more RPM to make it happen. The 3.5 is quiet and always ready to pull. if you do any mountain driving at all, the 3.5EB is the hands-down winner.
bp
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2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Nov 2019 at 9:08pm
Originally posted by GlueGuy

I've never had an F-150 with the 5.0 coyote, but by all accounts they get similar mileage to the 3.5EB. 
If you're doing unloaded freeway miles, the 3.5EB will be better. If you're towing at moderate speeds it seems like the 5.0 will edge out, but not by much. When we are doing freeway at 65 MPH (about the fastest you can go around here) we get 21-22 MPG with our 3.5EB.

The low-end torque on ours is pretty awesome, and I'm pretty sure the 5.0 can do similar, but it needs a lot more RPM to make it happen. The 3.5 is quiet and always ready to pull. if you do any mountain driving at all, the 3.5EB is the hands-down winner.
  X2 the 3.5 is great
Jo and Gary, 2010-174,2011 F150

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Andy View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 29 Nov 2019 at 10:25pm
I a 5.3 Silverado V8 that gets similar mileage.  Towing our 179 I get anywhere from 12-15 mpg depending of wind and grade. I have the original Hood River larger tires so that probably drags it down a bit. I use a WDH and sway bar and tow smoothly.  How does that MPG compare to the Ford's?

Thanks
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jato View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Nov 2019 at 3:48am
Our '11 F-150 has the 5.0L V-8 Coyote engine and on our last 30 day trip we covered 5500 miles.  Traveling from northern Michigan to Colorado via freeway and cruising around 65 we averaged 10.8 to 11 mpg.  The funny thing is once we got to Colorado we went with the 85 octane and saw mileage increase to 13.5 to 14.5 mpg and this was mainly mountain driving in Colorado and Utah.  On the way home outside of Colorado we went back to 87 octane and had similar results in mileage that we got on the way out.
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offgrid View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Nov 2019 at 7:01am
Originally posted by jato

Our '11 F-150 has the 5.0L V-8 Coyote engine and on our last 30 day trip we covered 5500 miles.  Traveling from northern Michigan to Colorado via freeway and cruising around 65 we averaged 10.8 to 11 mpg.  The funny thing is once we got to Colorado we went with the 85 octane and saw mileage increase to 13.5 to 14.5 mpg and this was mainly mountain driving in Colorado and Utah.  On the way home outside of Colorado we went back to 87 octane and had similar results in mileage that we got on the way out.

I'll throw out a theory as to what's up with this. 

85 octane gas shouldn't make an engine more efficient. It's cheaper and works Ok in some engines at higher altitudes because there is less predetonation (knock) with the thinner air. So my thought is that you were seeing better fuel economy not because of the fuel but because your rig saw less drag at the higher altitude. 

The same thing happens with airplanes. The sweet spot for cruise in a normally aspirated piston airplane is usually around 7000-10000 feet or so. That gives you the lowest fuel burn at the highest speed over the ground. Above that the engine and prop lose too much power and below that drag kills efficiency. 

So you would probably have gotten the same better fuel economy if you had been using 87 octane gas. That's my theory anyway. 
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JR View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Nov 2019 at 7:58am
Also the % of ethanol locally in the gasoline might have had something to do with it if in fact there was less ethanol in the gas out west.  That's what I blamed when my mileage increased around Tennessee and Kentucky on a trip to Florida from Michigan this passed fall.  I experienced this both on the way down and the return trip??? 
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 30 Nov 2019 at 8:41am
Originally posted by Andy

I a 5.3 Silverado V8 that gets similar mileage.  Towing our 179 I get anywhere from 12-15 mpg depending of wind and grade. I have the original Hood River larger tires so that probably drags it down a bit. I use a WDH and sway bar and tow smoothly.  How does that MPG compare to the Ford's?

Thanks
Also use a WDH with built-in anti-sway. We typically get an average of 14 MPG when we're towing. We almost always are doing some kind of mountains or hills.

bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Dec 2019 at 3:44pm
Originally posted by Andy

I a 5.3 Silverado V8 that gets similar mileage.  Towing our 179 I get anywhere from 12-15 mpg depending of wind and grade. I have the original Hood River larger tires so that probably drags it down a bit. I use a WDH and sway bar and tow smoothly.  How does that MPG compare to the Ford's?

Thanks
I don't know that there would be a big difference in mileage, at least not enough to brag about. 

One of the questions is the level of complexity. In my mind a V8 is a lot more complicated than a V6, or even a V6 with a turbocharger (or even 2 turbochargers). A V8 has 33% more moving (and reciprocating) parts than a V6. A turbo is really only a couple more moving parts, and they're not reciprocating. Turbochargers have been well proven now for more than a couple of decades, and 18-wheelers almost all use turbo'd diesel engines.

One of the things that I would be leery of with Chevy or GMC is the cylinder deactivation tech they use to conserve fuel. That's a significant level of complexity. Yes, I know that it is electronically controlled, but it's still electronically controlling parts of the valve train.
bp
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2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost
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mcarter View Drop Down
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Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 Dec 2019 at 6:44pm
I own a 2014 Silverado 5.3 with AFM, first year of that generation 5.3. It has over 60K and no problems thus far. GM made changes in the 2019 year. Many of the problems incurred with cylinder deactivation happened in the early years. Not to say a problem can't occur but that can happen with any motor. I wouldn't let it stop me from buying GM. I have noticed when towing the V4 mode is less enabled. When it is enabled I can't tell it is changing.
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