Those of you that own them, drive them at work, or have friends that own them, what are your thoughts on the Ecoboost 2.7L Turbo in an F150 4x4 for general purpose use? Which rear end pairs best with motor; 3.55 or 3.73?

Thanks,
Expat

I don 't own one, but I always get the April Auto issue of Consumer Reports and they rated the Ford F-150 with the 2.7 turbo as their #1 half ton pickup. I kind of scoffed at the tiny 2.7 V6 in a full size truck when I first heard about them but their 2.7 V6 test truck ran a 6.8 second zero to 60 time just .1 second slower than the 6.7 second V8 Tundra truck. They got 19 mpg overall with their 2.7 test truck, 2 to 4 mpg better than any of the other half tons. With a 10 speed transmission, I'm not sure a person would need a lower axle ratio than the 3:55's unless they planned on a lot of heavy towing and given that they might want the 3.5 V6 or a 3/4 ton.

Edmunds has had two F150s with the 2.7 turbo in their long term fleet (once from when the engine was first introduced, another in 2018 that is still in the fleet: https://www.edmunds.com/ford/f-150/2018/long-term-road-test/introduction.html). The consensus was that they love the engine but it doesn't get anywhere near the EPA rated MPGs. But they loved the power...

Edmunds as usual has it wrong my friend and I both bought a 2019 F-150 STX his with a 2.7 and he's getting on average 22 mpg . My 5L is averaging 18 MPG with 21.5 on the highway.

I'm glad to hear this...I've always wondered whether the Edmunds testers are doing it wrong, especially since they get worse MPG with a 2.7 turbo than I get in my old 5.4 v8.

Just for fun, I looked the 2.7, the 3.5 and the 5.0 up on fuelly.com

2.7 avg mpg: 18.3
3.5 avg mpg: 16.5
5.0 avg mpg: 16.3

As always, your mileage may vary..... but for .2mpg's, I think I'll forgo the complexities of the twin turbos....

Ever notice how many trucks get 17 mpg? I think Toyota patented it and everyone else is playing catch up.

TFL truck on YouTube did a special with all of the Ford F-150 engines pulling a camper. The 2.7 flew, when they put a tune on it, it dropped the drive shaft.

If we are talking Tundra, Toyota is now playing catch-up. Just about all full size trucks get better MPGs than the 5.7 Toyota motor in a Tundra.

Back in 2016 I test drove several F-150 with 3.5 Eco boosts one with 3.55 gears and another with 3.73. They are fast and have enormous torque when the are turbos spooled up, my problem with that was that it was hard to control a smooth application of adding torque as needed. Mid range torque is easier applied with the 5 L V8 and the same gear ratios with the 6 spd autos. I ended up buying one with a 5L V-8 and 3.73 ratio .power is not a problem or the smooth use of it. My 4wd F-150 super cab long box will run around town at 14-15 in the WINTER. Rest of the year I get 16.5 to 19 mpg on the highway with some in town driving. The new 2019's of course have the new 10 spd auto, I don't agree that because of that, the gear ratio no longer matters. More you work a tranny the more likely you will have problems with it. At highway speeds I want the engine rpm right at just above the start of the torque curve so you have mid range power without beating your transmission all the time. Personal preference to the max. My work truck is a 2013 F-150 with the 3.55's and a 5L V-8 so I got a pretty good experience to make my decision on my own. My older brother swears by his 2011 F-150 3.5 Ecoboost and now has 150,000 trouble free miles on it. I wanted to be able to pull my boats or a 24-26" travel trailer and that colored my choice also. Good luck with your choice. MB

Thanks, this is helpful. I'm in and out of the market for a new truck right now, the offerings tend to leave me cold. I was wondering about this.

I know a guy at work has a TuRD we filled up in Westbrook and drove to Moosehead Lake then re-fueled to go to Foley pond he burned 2.5 more gallons than I did with the coyote motor.

Ran into a guy at Cabela's the other nite who bought a 2018 F-150 reg cab 4wd with 8' box and the 2.7 with 3.73 gears, it has the 10 spd trany. What caught my attn. was the ARE topper he had on it as I been contemplating doing that myself. We talked for a while, he told me with 5000 miles on it he had been getting 19+ highway and when he pulls his 18' walleye boat it runs 14-15 mpg. The guy was a pro Walleye tournament guy and I find those guys well worth listening to. MB

I've been driving a 2016 F150 4x4 with the 3.5 EcoBoost engine for almost 3 years. I pull a 28' 5th wheel during the travel months and have never lacked for power. My mpg averages over 18.5 running with or without the a/c and when I'm pulling my 5th wheel, my mileage drops to around 11.

Sig, how much does your 5th wheel weigh loaded?

Currently driving a 2018 F150 SuperCab with the 3.5 EcoBoost. Have never reset the mpg calculator and with just a little over 16,000 miles on the odometer it is averaging 19.6 combined city and hwy since new. Leer cap and occasionally do some light towing with a 10 ft. trailer. It’s equipped with 3.31 gears.

I have one and drive the piss out of it. I'm not easy on it that's for sure. It'll blow the doors off anything 5.4L...Just sayin.

I'm trying hard not to like it. But I can't. It seems to be a good motor. My overall mileage is 19.1 mixed driving. With summer gas and 72 mph I'm at 23mpg. Best I've ever had for mileage in a truck. I do hate the baby box, but that's not the motors fault.

Is that the 2.7 ecoboost or 3.5 ecoboost?

If I didn't plan on towing over 6000ish lbs I'd seriously consider the 2.7. I think it can be equipped to tow somewhere around 7500.

There isn't enough difference in fuel mileage between the 3.5 EB and 5.0 V8 to worry about. If anything the V8 does a little better, especially when towing. On paper the 3.5 will tow heavier loads, but most 1/2 ton trucks run out of usable payload at about the same trailer weight. Properly equipped the 3.5 can tow 12,000 lbs, but tongue weight starts to limit things to about 7000 regardless of the engine with 1/2 ton trucks. Ford does offer a heavy duty payload package that adds 800 lbs of payload, but those trucks are unicorns. If you can find one, or order one, there is some overlap with some 3/4 ton trucks.

With that in mind the 5.0 V8 made more sense for me (mine is a 2014). The 2.7 EB wasn't available at the time. But if buying a new one today I'd seriously consider it. It is the fastest of the 3 engines, gets at least 2-3 mpg better fuel mileage, costs less, and will still tow more than most people will pull with a 1/2 ton truck.

I have a 3.5 in my 15 Expedition XL. Combined city/hwy from purchase with 19k on it is 17.9 mpg. I've had trips with summer gas and long stretches on cruise that hit 24mpg, but am pretty much at 18 mpg city/hwy with little given up to any V8 I've ever owned in the power provided at the pedal. Haven't done any towing, but would suspect like others a precipitous loss of mpg. For the size and weight of the Expedition, the 3.5 is quite sporty without giving much up to any of the Tacomas or 4Runners I've owned in the past. In my opinion, it's much peppier that either of the Toyotas on thier best days.

I have the 2.7 in a 2017 Explorer. Nice engine for that, but wouldn't want one in a pickup. My 2017 F-150 super cab 4WD has the 5.0, and I'm getting 18mpg. A nephew has the 3.5 in his farm truck, and he pulls a gooseneck trailer all the time, and is very happy with the engine.

A Ford salesman told me back when I was looking for a truck, that they called the F-150's with the 2.7, "city trucks," as they didn't think the engine was enough for someone that actually used a pickup for hauling and towing heavy loads.

There wasn’t a 2.7 available in the Explorer.

Good point. However, if you look up the specs for the Ford heavy-half, it's nothing but tires, wheels, rear end ratio and extra springs. Plus you can only get them in the bottom grades, and not the crew cab.

A guy could "build" himself a "heavy half" for just a few bucks by starting with a 3.73 rear end, substitute heavier rated wheels and tires, and add airbags. You'd have additional payload capacity when needed, and the economy of the half ton instead of the 3/4 when not needed.

You're right, my bad. My Explorer has the 2.3 Ecoboost. I was thinking 2.7.

I've pulled some heavily loaded gooseneck trailers, cattle, tobacco, cross ties, hay,with F-150's, F-250's, F-350's, both gas and diesel engines. The problem with the F-150's, at least those I've used, is not the power of the engine, but the weight of the truck, the way it's geared, and the transmission. We have a 2003 F-350 4X4, 6.0 diesel, that we use to pull heavily loaded trailers with. I'll never go back to using an F-150 to pull a 24 foot cattle trailer full of cattle.

I have not put a gooseneck ball in my current truck, a 2017 F-150, even though I'd really prefer to pull my horse trailer, a 3 horse slant, with it instead of the F-350. I know that somewhere along the way, I'd be tempted to use it for pulling a bigger trailer, and I don't want to do that. The fact that a truck will pull a certain load, is not a valid reason to use it. I've seen too many people take a standard half ton pickup, with no towing package, standard tires, and use it to pull a heavily loaded trailer, then gripe about how it didn't perform like they expected It to.

I help my nephews out on the farm from time to time. We often take loads of tobacco off to market on 25 foot gooseneck trailers. One of them has an F-150, 3.5 Ecoboost, the other 2 have F-250 diesels. I'll always choose the F-250. Yes, the half ton will pull the trailer, but performance wise, it's not even close when compared to the 3/4 ton pickup.

Went down to Denver from Rapid City ,SD over last weekend in a friends F-150 2018 has the 10 spd and 2.7 Ecoboost at 80 mph the rpm was only 1900 or so. Thinking it had the 3.31 gear ratio. We had the wind going down and were making 21.5-23 mpg pretty impressive in my book . On the way back with the around town miles in Denver and pushing a wind ,still driving pretty hard the truck ran 17.4 mpg from north of Cheyenne after the traffic thinned out we covered 100 miles in 75 minutes. Passing power was I thought incredible ,at 70 he'd pull out to pass and we'd be doing 90+ time we got around them. Some stretches of highway it's safe but still illegal to do that, I don't tell someone else how to drive and before you need to make a negative comment keep in mind that we were passed far more than we passed. It was educational for sure. Truck was the 4 dr crew cab with the 5.5' box and damned smooth. Nice really nice. MB