Ecoboost Mileage

[suke]

I think it's all in driving habits cause I'm with @suke , I have a 2019 max tow and average 21mpg and towing 12-14. Only difference is I stay 65-70 mph towing and I live in Tennessee with lots of hills. @65mph will get 14 easily and at 70mph will be closer to 12mpg. If you use a lot of throttle your going to burn gas like crazy. Take it nice and easy, truck has tons of power, so there's not a huge need for heavy throttle.

Yup! I've come from very low HP cars and my wrangler. All of which no matter how hard you jam on the gas 0-60 is measured by a calendar. So, with this EB I drive like I drove those. So quite grandpa-ish I suppose. I rarely to never hammer down on the gas. We have decent hills, but nothing crazy.

 

[adrianp89]

I just don't get it. They went to 4/6 cylinder turbos be more efficient but get the same mileage as a v-8.

 

[Skierdad]

I just don't get it. They went to 4/6 cylinder turbos be more efficient but get the same mileage as a v-8.

No replacement for displacement still applies as far as I am concerned when it comes to towing.

And technically they are more efficient. My buddy (who is more like a brother) has 2019 F150 and I have a 2019 Tundra. He averages better mileage than me and we drive pretty much the same way. Not pulling anything, he will always beat me. Once he hooks up the Ranger 621 and I hook up my AR195, we get the same mileage and sometimes he will actually pull worse.

Another friend got the ecodiesel Ram. Great mileage until he hooks up to the 19 foot Lund fiberglass. Then he pulls 10 m/gal.

 

[adrianp89]

No replacement for displacement still applies as far as I am concerned when it comes to towing.

And technically they are more efficient. My buddy (who is more like a brother) has 2019 F150 and I have a 2019 Tundra. He averages better mileage than me and we drive pretty much the same way. Not pulling anything, he will always beat me. Once he hooks up the Ranger 621 and I hook up my AR195, we get the same mileage and sometimes he will actually pull worse.

Another friend got the ecodiesel Ram. Great mileage until he hooks up to the 19 foot Lund fiberglass. Then he pulls 10 m/gal.

EcoDiesel towing... that is disappointing. Though they get 30+ without a trailer. I didn't know they were that bad, my neighbor has a 2500 Chevy Diesel and he gets the same gas mileage no matter if he is towing or not.

The numbers I see from the EcoBoost is almost identical to what I get in the Hemi.

 

[suke]

I just don't get it. They went to 4/6 cylinder turbos be more efficient but get the same mileage as a v-8.

V8 doesn't have 470 ft lbs of torque at 2400 rpms, either.

 

[SCP1]

I just don't get it. They went to 4/6 cylinder turbos be more efficient but get the same mileage as a v-8.

The key is when not towing and driving normal I always got better mileage with my ECOBOOST vs the 5.0. Which overall is a majority of the miles I drive. Plus all the torque is at lower RPMs so a much quieter drive climbing hills when towing. GM’s 3.0 diesel is very appealing (I have seen lots of reports of high mileage when towing) it will be interesting to see how these hold up once they have some miles on them.

 

[BlkGS]

V8 doesn't have 470 ft lbs of torque at 2400 rpms, either.

The boosties only have that under full throttle. I dunno about you guys, but even though I still live my life a quarter mile at a time, it's not usually at full throttle. It's like... A quarter throttle. That's my gripe about all the new boosted stuff, it's either in boost and sucking gas and ripping, or it's slow af. Which you know what, I'm fine with slow af in a lot of cases, lol. Like a diesel suburban, lol.

We are slowly getting closer to replacing our Rogue. Diesel Tahoe is really high up on the list, though when I did the math, with diesel prices being so much higher than gas, the 5.3 actually has the same cost per mile. That was based off NC rates though, and diesel is very expensive there. I guess I should check FL prices too.

 

[jjmparsons]

Just stumbled across this thread!!!! I can tell you for certain I was not prepared for the MPG drop when we picked up our boat in Louisiana. I swore there is no way that 9-12 MPG on the way back here was a realistic number. Still thought I was dreaming when we had to stop for the third time to get gas. I honestly have no idea how true travel boaters can stomach the gas for trips to new water fronts alone. We would very much like to take the boat to Hot Springs Arkansas but man I just cant get past the cost of the gas to take the boat out there.

 

[suke]

The boosties only have that under full throttle. I dunno about you guys, but even though I still live my life a quarter mile at a time, it's not usually at full throttle. It's like... A quarter throttle.

That doesn't make sense. 2400-2500 rpms are reached with barely any throttle. Peak torque is at 2400 RPMs. You have to wring out a non boosted motor to reach peak torque and HP. That's not the same with boosted motors.

 

[BlkGS]

That doesn't make sense. 2400-2500 rpms are reached with barely any throttle. Peak torque is at 2400 RPMs. You have to wring out a non boosted motor to reach peak torque and HP. That's not the same with boosted motors.

You're forgetting throttle position. If you have the throttle open say, 20%, you're flow far less air through the engine, so while it may spin at 2400rpm, it's not making full torque because it's not I guesting as much air and fuel. In an NA motor, that's not a huge deal, but in a boosted motor, you're now also not pushing as much exhaust which means you're not making as much boost which means you're getting even less air.

You're also listening to reviewers too much. NA motors may not be designed to make peak torque as low as modern tubo motors are, but they make gobs of torque down low. The 6.2L makes peak torque (460ish) at like 4100rpm, but it also makes over 350 lb ft off idle. Even the little 5.3 has like 300 lb ft of torque off idle, to its peak of 380 torque

And for me, since it's making that torque based off displacement vs forced induction, around town the drive is better. The torque is there instantly, even at partial throttle. Maybe not full torque, but enough.

 

[Lawman25]

I have a 2013 F-150 FX4 SuperCrew with the 5.5ft bed. I get 18 city, 23.5 hwy. With my 230 hooked up I generally get 15.5 to 16.2 going around 67, which I've found is my most comfortable towing speed, and it's terrain dependent. I'm obligated to mention my wife's cousin owns HP tuners. Most of the tuners out there like Superchips, Diablo........etc use his software. He's done a lot of modifications to my truck which is why I haven't traded it in yet. It's currently putting out 554hp. Touch of a couple buttons I can have it performance, economy, or towing modes. Before he did all the work to it I got around 12 towing.

 

[fasterdaddy]

Anyone tow with a 3.5 ecoboost? I’m towing a 252s with a 2020 Expedition and the mileage sucks. 7-9 mpg average. Is this normal for the ecoboost?

I have a 2021 Expedition and have only towed a little bit with it - but was in 11-12 MPG with my camper and my boat. Both are around 2500 lbs.

 

[OB WI]

I have a 2018 F-150 FX4 SCREW 2.7 eco and get 10-12 depending on the wind w/ just over 500lbs of tongue weight. Still trying to get that lowered to around 420 or so and hope for a bit better mileage. When i picked up my AR250 tongue weight was over 600lbs and was getting 8-9 mpg. Typical towing speed is 73. Next truck will have the 3.5 for the added capacity. Would like to have a F250 but running out of garage space and the wife is still hesitant to learn towing on the F150 let alone something bigger. But with low inventory everywhere ill have to wait it out for a bit.

 

[dzeppos]

Same here with 2020 expedition max towing 242. 8-9 mpg if at 70mph-73mph. 10–11 mpg at 65. Lots of hills going up and down i-15. Also convinced that the boat cover creates a lot of wind resistance - probably better to tow without boat cover.

 

[2kwik4u]

Also convinced that the boat cover creates a lot of wind resistance - probably better to tow without boat cover.

I don't have empirical data to back it up, but I would bet money they other way around. Enclosed bodies are almost always more aerodynamic than open bodies.

Same premise behind putting flat hubcaps and flat panels between the tires on the side of semi-truck. Keep the flow of air from shedding vortices over sharp edges. Frontal area, and angle of attack are the two governing dimensions in the determination of the drag coefficient that is found in the drag force equation. It's only in long/thin vessels (such as trains or shipping vessels) where you need to also account for fluid friction along the surface.

Not trying to sound preachy. I'm an engineer and nerd out pretty hard on this kind of stuff

 

[dzeppos]

you might be right. I just feel that it feels a bit more like a 'sail' back there when going against headwinds but I'm no engineer. I do know and agree fuel economy gets serious worse in a non-lineal fashion once you exceed 55mph/60pmh while towing.

 

[anmut]

No replacement for displacement still applies as far as I am concerned when it comes to towing.

And technically they are more efficient. My buddy (who is more like a brother) has 2019 F150 and I have a 2019 Tundra. He averages better mileage than me and we drive pretty much the same way. Not pulling anything, he will always beat me. Once he hooks up the Ranger 621 and I hook up my AR195, we get the same mileage and sometimes he will actually pull worse.

Another friend got the ecodiesel Ram. Great mileage until he hooks up to the 19 foot Lund fiberglass. Then he pulls 10 m/gal.

This is true, and the telling difference between HP (needed to get to a speed) and TQ (needed to maintain said speed while pulling). Turbos help attainment of speed and are quite fuel efficient when properly matched to the body weight of what they're designed to be pushing, but add more weight, and the ratio takes a nose dive. High TQ motors that are NA will cost more in gas consumption to get to speed but cost less in gas to maintain speed with additional weight.

 

[Julian]

my neighbor has a 2500 Chevy Diesel and he gets the same gas mileage no matter if he is towing or not.

No way he gets the same mileage.....physics doesn't work that way!

I do miss my Audi diesel! Went from 15mpg towing to 10mpg when I switched to 3L supercharged gasser.

 

[2kwik4u]

No way he gets the same mileage.....physics doesn't work that way!

Physics only works that way if it's grossly inefficient when unloaded, and decently efficient when loaded. Uncle had a '98 Dodge 2500 with a manual transmission and something like 4.55 rear gears. That thing got 13mpg ALL the time. Beat it like a stolen mule; 13mpg. Drive like a grandma on Sunday; 13mpg. Tow a 5th wheel with a Case tractor on it; 13mpg. It was pretty decent when loaded, and wildly underworked when empty, but because of the ridiculous rear gears it had to rev so much when it was unloaded that it still got terrible MPG.

I do miss my Audi diesel! Went from 15mpg towing to 10mpg when I switched to 3L supercharged gasser.

I'm getting ready to do a 10hr tow with that same 3L gasser. Really curious to see how it does for hours on end with the boat behind it.

 

[adrianp89]

No way he gets the same mileage.....physics doesn't work that way!

I do miss my Audi diesel! Went from 15mpg towing to 10mpg when I switched to 3L supercharged gasser.

I tend to think that way but he is far from the first person I have heard that from in a 2500 diesel.