2015+ F-150’s... motor options?

This fall I’m thinking about trading in my daily (Toyota Sienna van) for a newer used crew cab F-150 so I can start towing to the track.  Track car is a 2200 lb. Miata, and most likely I would get an open trailer, but it is conceivable that in the future I would get a closed trailer.

I’ve researched a bunch on the F-150 forums, and as a general rule they are filled with fanboyz of whatever configuration they own who have no real mechanical knowledge or experience.  I wanted to see if anyone here had an informed opinion on the best motor/transmission combination.

Priorities:

- adequate towing capacity to future-proof this thing for my needs

- reliability

- daily driving gas mileage

Options:

- 2.7 Ecoboost.  Best mileage of the group and good power.  Lowest towing limit at 7,000 lbs.  Reliability still unknown?

- 3.5 Ecoboost.  ~2mpg worse mileage than the 2.7, excellent power.  Towing limit up to 13,000 when properly optioned.  Available 10 speed transmission.  Again, reliability unknown?

- 5.0 V8.  Tried and true.  Worst mileage of the lot.  Towing limit almost as high as the 3.5.  Rumors around the internet about oil consumption issues with the Coyote, need for replacement motors.

What say you GRM?

I purchased a 19 3.5 earlier this year. 7500 miles in and zero complaints so far. Love the truck. 

Before the ford I was always a Chevy person. Last truck was a 17 5.3, 13 duramax before that and a 05 duramax before that. 

Having towed with the diesel I found the 3.5 to be much better suited for towing than the 5.3. 

I don’t tow heavy enough anymore to justify the big diesels and the ford Ecoboost seems to fill the gap between 1500 V-8 and 2500 diesel quite well. 

Fuel mileage just for reference 

On the longevity of the 3.5L. I have a 2013 with 149K on it.

It drives like new and will get me 20 mpg and I have the older "steel" body truck and only a 6 speed trans.

Changing the oil regularly is key if your towing something most of the time.

The turbos work the oil hard and it will break down over time. That's when you can get oil in the intake track via the PVC system.

This leads to build up on the intake valves. A common problem with any DI engine,  but most so with a turbochagred one.

IMO, the 3.5 Ecoboost is every bit as tried and true as the Coyote 5.0. The 3.5 came out in 2010 in the SHO and MKS and 2011 in the F-150, and the 5.0 came out in 2011 in the F-150 and Mustang.

I've had 3 vehicles with the 3.5, a 2011 F-150, a 14 SHO, and our current 15 Expedition. Good power, excellent torque, and decent mileage if you stay out of the boost. The 10-speed probably helps quite a bit with the latter, all of my vehicles have had the 6-speed.

Personally, if I were buying a newer F-150, I'd be looking for the 3.5. You'll be towing a fairly light load, so the 2.7 would probably work, be a bit cheaper, and get better daily driver mileage.

That mileage really isn’t bad, considering my Sienna gets 19.2 mixed highway/city.

Thanks for the feedback.  I have to drop my kids off at summer camp today and head out for a work trip; I rented an F-150 for the trip.  It’s the Lariat package with the V8, only 2400 miles on it.

All good motors. I think the 3.5 wins for smiles. Ive driven all of them in rentals. Had the plain NA v6 in a crew cab 4x4 a week or so ago, no smiles there. 2.7 is good for honest usable power.

3.5 and 5.0 are too much fun.

We have a 3.5 turbo at work with around 180k miles. I still take it out of state on 5+ hour drives each way and drive it the way i want to drive it. Its still fast, plenty of boost and way more fun than a fleet truck should be. 

In reply to ShinnyGroove :

Play with the tow\haul modes on the shifter. Or if it has “sport” mode. Race truck mode. 

In reply to ShinnyGroove :

I’ve got a 2016 F150 4x4  5.0. Flex fuel. 

I pull heavy cars/ boats with mine. I averaged 18.3 mpg dragging a 4600 pound car on the very heavy UHaul trailer.  Plus a full pickup bed of spare parts. Across country, from San Diego to Minnesota.  That’s two major mountain ranges. I got as high as 13,000 feet. 

I stayed with traffic which pretty well seemed to travel 10+ mph over the speed limit. So the slowest I went was 70 and there were a number of states I crossed at 90 mph.  Daily driving I average 22.-something mpg. Using a combination of E85 & 87 octane.  

That Aluminum body is reported to save 800 pounds over the steel one.  Hence the good fuel mileage.  

Before the F150 I had always used Chevy/ GMC ( they are the same truck just different trim) my last Chevy pickup had gone 371,7xx miles and cost me less than$1000 in repairs, never let me down. But severe rust made me dispose of a otherwise usable truck.  

42,000 miles so far,  Zero  break downs or trouble. 

The EPA test cycle favors the turbo engines, such that in the real world the 5.0 gets the same fuel economy as the 3.5, with the 2.7 getting 2mpg more than the pair. 

In reply to ShinnyGroove : the slight discount you’ll get by buying used doesn’t work out over a long ownership.  

I paid under $20,000 including tax and license for my 1997 Chevy pickup.  ( 350, 4x4, whistles, bells etc )  owned it 20 years.   That means it cost me $1000 a year in depreciation.  

Buying a 5 year old or less truck  from a dealer I’m still paying 70%  of new  but getting no warrantee, no low cost financing( 0% for 72 months is not unusual) plus any neglected maintenance or hidden abuse  I’m stuck with  

Buy a new truck in January or February of the previous year the discount from list price is usually 20% +  in addition to the 0% interest rate.  

That can often be $10,000 or more off list price.  

When I sold trucks my commission on new would typically be $300   Selling used My commission often was $5000+ plus you can be assured the dealership made more than I did.  

I got my dad to test drive the 3.5 and 5.0 back to back in identical trucks and he chose the V6 on his own.  This is a man who would not be caught dead in any vehicle with a 4 or 6 cylinder.  He used to drive his 1 ton Chevy dually with the 8.1 gas motor 45 miles to work everyday just because he refused to drive a car.

We've pulled my Mustang on a 18ft steel trailer multiple times and it pulls like a dream.  Absolutely no complaints.  And on the highway with no load it gets 22-23mpg.  Fantastic truck.

Dont want to come off as a fan boy, this is my company truck but I’ve pulled a lot with it and haven’t babied it at all. 5.0 2018 4x4 four door. It pulls really well, it has sufficient brakes for everything I’ve towed although I’ve only just installed a factory brake controller which I look forward to using and it is huge inside. The mileage above includes the towing bits which it gets about 13mpg pulling my overgrown trailer and whatever euro piece I’ve got loaded. If you want to know anything particular just ask. It’s sticker price was $42k but I know the discounts are steep.

Edit: I added that it’s a 4x4 since I see some talk of fuel economy from 4x4, up here I’m glad to have it.

Lots of good feedback here, thanks everyone.  

I’ve just put over 300 miles on the V8 rental.  Running around the burbs in Atlanta a bit, then dropping my kid off at summer camp with lots of winding mountain roads, then all the way to Charlotte.  Got 21.3 mpg, more than 2 mpg better than my Sienna van with the V6 and probably 500 pounds less curb weight.  I was driving in “Normal” mode most of the time, and played around with Sport and Eco a bit.  It’s actually fun to drive in Sport mode.  The 10 speed transmission is a marvel.  I need to drive the 3.5L ecoboost to compare, but I could be really really happy with this truck.  Bravo Ford.

If I could get a great deal on a 2 year old one, I would do that but will probably buy new.  My father in law is now retired but was a Ford lifer, and can get me the A plan pricing.  I went into this thinking that I’d be happy witht the XLT trim, but wow that Lariat was nice.  The cooled seats are A+.  I’m amazed how quiet the cabin is, and how painlessly all the media/screen stuff works.

For MPG, the 3.5 turbo and the 5.0 aren't that far apart.  The 3.5 will do a little better un-loaded if you're not driving it hard.  Drive it hard or hook up a trailer and it burns just as much gas as the 5.0.  The 3.5 has a more truck-like powerband though, more like a diesel that learned to rev. 

3.5 or 5.0

the 3.5 has a wonderful wave of torque you can ride and it pulls hard. 

the 5.0 is simpler and has torque and power but the more linear powerband feels lacking compared to a 3.5.

I have a friend who works for a dealer which has a lemon 2.7 ecoboost f150 that has had problems since it arrived on the lot over 18 months ago and they've been unable to sell it.. and ford won't fix it until it's sold....and a friend mine in the soutwest had to lemon law a 2.7. 

I have 2 other friends with 2.7's with no issues.. 

but I highly recommend a 3.5 ecoboost truck, i have towed a steel open trailer with one and you know a trailer is back there.. but you're not being held back by the 3-4k lbs in any way.. you can still accelerate and drive normal.. I think i got 16mpg round trip hauling the STS car 1 way to DFW form Houston and no car on the trailer for the return trip. 

 

FWIW, I would not label the 5.0 as “tried and true” as it’s a contemporary of the 3.5. Just because it lacks a turbo or DI really does not make it that much better. 

Also, if you can swing for a later engine, both the 5.0 and the 3.5 are PFDI. Kind of deals with many of the popular worries. 

I test drove a '15 V8 back to back with a '13 3.5 EB and bought the EB. The boosted engine just had a better torque profile and feels like the better truck motor. The 5.0 is great but it feels better in a lighter package where you can wind it up more. 

They are all good options. I've driven and reviewed the 2.7 EcoBoost and 3.5 EcoBoost on my blog. Cliffs' Notes is that the 2.7 is very adequate and the 3.5 is hilariously fast, even with my enclosed trailer hooked up. 

I personally have a 2018 5.0L Lariat 502A and am working with the BBB Auto Line program to get it bought back. Ford added Direct Injection for 2018 and the cam timing phaser doodads rattle when the oil is cold, to the point of sounding like timing chain slap. Ford initially said "some do it" and issued a TSB that didn't work, then threw their hands up and said "welp they all do it I guess" since they have no new parts for the trucks right now to make them shut up. I'm not here paying Mercedes money for a truck that sounds broken every morning so I want them to take it back.

The 10-speed automatic is pretty good (also new for 2018, previous years were 6R80 6-speed, which is a ZF design adapted for Ford and also pretty good) but gets busy in the city.  All the panoramic sunroofs rattle and it's hit or miss if Ford can fix them (mine is currently a miss). Adaptive cruise and blind spot monitoring work with a trailer up to 33' long which is pretty pimp. 

If I did it again, I'd get a 15-17 3.5 EcoBoost with whatever options looked good at the time. Or a 14+ Ram 1500.

If you're not dead set on a half ton with a bunch of bells and whistles, you can get a 3/4 ton gas truck for under $40k that will tow more than all of them.

Nothing new from what has already been said, but I figure it never hurts to have too much information.

2018 3.5 Supercrew 4wd, 3.55 gears; Just under 10k on the truck and lifetime average (calulated) is right at 19mpg.  The truck sees freeway commute miles during the week (most days not much better than city stop and go), and then typically runs around town on the weekends.  We just got back from a camping trip over the 4th. Sacramento to Sequoia/Kings Canyon NP, averaged 20.5 for the whole trip. Lots of elevation change going through those two parks, so I was really impressed when I filled up.

The 3.5 w/ the 10sp is a nice combo, and keeps that motor right in the fat part of the torque curve when you need it.  Its super mellow cruising, but makes me laugh and get a big E36 M3 eating grin any time I put my foot into it.  Having power that didn't drop off at altitude was a revelation!

I have an 18 2.7tt SCREW with the 10spd.     Pulls a 3500lb camper like it's not even back there.

Put it in sport mode, mash the throttle and it spins through multiple gears on dry pavement.

3.55 Gears, 4wd as well.     Mixed mode driving is 19-20ish.

Another vote here for the 2.7, but you can't go wrong with any engine. I get the EPA ratings out of mine - around 20mpg city, 25-26mpg highway. I get 16 or so towing my Miata from upstate SC to VIR, Road Atlanta or AMP. I've never wanted for power, and it completely destroyed my buddy's 5.3 truck at the drag strip. The 10 speed is okay - they had to replace the valve-body on mine (warranty replacement) because one of the solenoids was sticking. I wouldn't program it the way they did but c'est la vie. The 2018+ trucks have port in addition to direct injection which is supposed to help with the carbon build up (and an extra 25 ft-lbs on the 2.7). 

More importantly, buy it new and look at Akins Ford since you're in the Atlanta area. Mine stickered for $47k (2wd super screw, xlt, 2.7, 302a sport package, 36gal tank, tow package) but I walked out of Akins Ford for $33.5k all-in plus a free spray-in bedliner and 6yr/100k powertrain warranty. $3k of that discount was from a mailer, but Akins still had the best pricing of any dealer within 150 miles of me and none of that hidden fee bullcrap so many dealers do. If you've never been, that dealer is basically Disneyland for Ford and Ram customers.

Im not a Ford guy but I do like the 5.0 and 3.5s and just recommended a 2.7 to a friend.

I have a co-worker who is a Ford Homer and he hates the 3.5. he just traded it in. It was reliable, and got great gas mielage, but he hated the powerband for pulling, which was mainly what it was used for. I think he expected it to make power right off idle, he said he got tired of having to spool the turbos to get moving. Said it had the power, just had to work for it. This is not the common opinion I've heard, but a friend had one for a very short period and said the same thing but he only pulled with it twice.

What I'm getting at is people's opinions vary, and best thing would be to drive all of them an dpick what you like.

My money for a truck that's gonna do truck things, is a 5.0. If it's gonna be my cowboy Cadillac maybe a 2.7 or 3.5.

In reply to Opti :

If the guy didn't like waiting for the turbos to spool (which doesn't take long), he must be used to huge, low revving old V8s.  A 5.0 or most other modern truck gas engines likely wouldn't make him happy either because you have to rev them to get all of the power.