Coastline

Just hypothetically speaking, what do you think they would have done if there had been a problem with the motor? Stop the commercial? No, swap it out and keep going.

gillysmi

13 had acceleration stumbling issue and fuel delivery issues, horrible mpgs etc. I liked the truck just got tired of trying to leave stop signs wondering if the truck was going to go when I hit the accelerator. the 15 is not having any of these issues and my mpg are much better 2-3+ than the 13.


I trade every couple years problems or not. my 11 was a 5.0, 13 EB, 15 EB with a 15 duramax in between ( price to good not to buy).


the duramax was an incredible motor but the truck was just to much for what I needed to traded to my platinum.

jleason03

Alright I read the first 6 pages on here and finally skipped to the end. Let me tell you my personal experience.

In 2011 I bought a 3.5ecoboost FX4. Absolutely loved the truck/engine. When I first heard "ecoboost" I never wanted to touch the truck. Then I stumbled upon the statistics online and was blown away after much research. I preached to everyone how it blew the 5.0 out of the water in literally every category (towing, hp, tq, payload, mpg). I loved the truck, sold it after 15,000 miles in one year due to buying a house and didn't want 2 large payments.

I next heard about the 2.7 eco in 2015 when I was looking for another truck to tow our travel trailer. Never wanted that tiny engine, did a lot of research, and decided that it was a cheaper alternative with great towing (over 8000 lbs how i had it equipped) capability. It was also extremely quick due to the lighter truck and that low end power. Loved the speed, hated that I settled on a 2wd extended cab. I traded this in after 7 months and 8000 miles due to wanting more space (crew cab) and 4wd for when I get back up north and will need it more.

So a few weeks ago, I bought a Screw FX4 5.0. I love the v8 sound, which is my first v8 truck, but miss the lower end get up and go from the ecoboosts. I have 3.55 gears on my '15 5.0 which can't compare to the launch I got from my 2011 3.5 eco with 3.73 gears. I don't have my travel trailer anymore, just a jetski, but I've bought all 3 trucks with the tow package. I LOVED all 3 engines when I owned them. I absolutely love my current truck and am going to keep it for as long as I can. I plan to repair and keep it as long as it doesn't become a lemon. I put larger tires on my 5.0 and it definitely seems more sluggish in town on the gas, and I'm sure the eco's would handle them better, or if I had gotten 3.73 gears they would have also. Either way, still perfectly happy and no regrets on any engines I got. Only regret was when I bought my 15 2.7 eco, and that was ONLY due to the cab and drivetrain configurations, nothing to do with the motor.

I think you will be ecstatic with any of the engines as long as its not the base engine. All perform great, and seem to have few issues considering how many thousands of them are on the road. This forum would be overwhelmed with members and posts if everyone out there had problems, but a vast majority don't post about "I've never had any problems with my engine" threads lol. All are proven, and all have been torture tested like hell. I personally justified to myself that the 5.0 should be able to take the stress better over years and years than the 3.5eco, it was cheaper, and I love the 5.0 grumble. I wouldn't lose a wink of sleep had I chosen the 3.5 eco, but this was the engine that they had in the truck with every thing else I wanted sitting on the dealer's lot.

EO2143

I drove both a week ago. The 3.5EB definitely had more low end. I only test drove both around the block and it was very noticeable. Both were crew cab FX4's with 3.55's. I can honestly say that I would have gotten the 3.5EB if the dealer had one, but they sold the one I was going to buy a few hours prior to my arrival. I insisted on driving a 3.5EB with 3.55's just to see if I should wait. Long short of it, the dealer made a deal I couldn't refuse and walked out with a 5.0. I can also honestly say I am happy with my purchase due to the fact I plan on adding a winch and guard combo up front and don't want to have to deal with the issue of it blocking the front end intake. This is my second 5.0 (previously had a 2013 with 3.73s). I love the motor. Its strong and reliable. I too also worried about the turbo reliability. I know that anything can happen but still.

Honestly drive them both, apples to apples. It's not only the best way to chose, but the ONLY way. You will see that the 3.5EB has more "get up and go," but the 5.0 isn't that far behind. I think the 5.0 feels more "solid" just not as racy as the 3.5EB.

I also considered the fact that I will be adding larger tires eventually. I felt that the turbo on the 3.5EB would have to be utilized more to pull the weight of the tires, thus, negating the "better fuel mileage" aspect of that motor. Also adding extra stress on the motor and it's components possibly.

W Coyne

@jleason03 and @E02143 I have owned three F150's with the 5.0 and the first one i had which was a 2011 fx4 with 3.73's got the best mileage and pulled the best of the two old body styles I had with 2013 having 3.55's. My 15 with the 5.0 had 3.55 gears and my 16 has the EB with 3.55 and so far my mileage was about 1mpg better with the 5.0 than I am getting with the EB. The EB is quicker though when I get in the throttle but normal driving I can't tell the difference. I miss the sound of the 5.0 even in stock form and I would never consider aftermarket exhaust on the EB

Mike Up

I had a post here previously.

"I test drove both truck configured very similar.

I will say previously I didn't like the Ecoboost. It had a lot of lag and not very responsive.

With the new 2016, those concerns are gone as it felt great. But so did the 5.0L. The Ecoboost 3.5L sure had more low rpm power going at 60 mph, but the 5.0L power is great as well just needs more rpms.

At take offs and lower gears, the 5.0L was just as good or better. I actually kept barking the tires with the 5.0L where that didn't happen with the Ecoboost.

I will say, be leary about gas in the truck. The Ecoboost had recently been filled up where the 5.0L trucks were on empty with the factory gas. The factory gas was likely old as I had them fill up and the truck gained some real power. After driving it for about 50 miles, it is a real power house and very close to the power of the Ecoboost, if not a toss up going from 60 mph to 70 mph under moderate throttle.

I've known my service manager for at least 7 years and he was glad I bought the 5.0L. The reason is he's still seeing issues with the intercooler condensation on the 2015s. I talked to him with surprise as I thought it was taken care of since no one here seems to have that problem anymore. But he just had the issue recently on one of his customers.

I do have to say I wouldn't worry about that problem as it's isolated. I just feel better staying with a n/a, none turbo engine. Did the same with the wifes Explorer. It's got the 3.5L where we could had bought it with 2.0L Ecoboost."

The above was in the another post as I stated.

I really would go with either engine. The 5.0L in the 2016 is much more powerful than the 5.0L in my previous 2012. Same configuration, CC, 5.5' bed, 3.73 locker, etc.

I personally feel more comfortable with the 5.0L. It's a powerhouse and has great low end torque for towing, but the Ecoboost does have more low end power. The 5.0L has 20 more horsepower though, so it's a bit more powerful.

Mike Up

I will say that I don't think you can compare these new trucks to the last generation.

My 5.0 feels stronger everywhere in the rpm spectrum than the three 3.5l ecoboost trucks I test drove before or the previous 5.0l truck. The Ecoboosts were all the same configuration but with 3.55 axle.

The new 3.5l ecoboost feels much more responsive, less lagging, and more powerful.

The new 5.0 feels more powerful off the line than the new 3.5l ecoboost but once your up to speed, and you kick down to 4th under throttle, the new 3.5l ecoboost feels stronger in the lower rpms.

Didn't really take either truck past 5000 rpm. Even then at no higher than 5000, it was just for about a second since they had such low miles. BUT you have to test them like you'll drive them a year from now. So the 5.0 could had really felt stronger at that point.

The 5.0 had so much power, I really don't feel a need for any more, at any rpm.

Capstone

I'm a land broker and have a 2011 3.5 EB. I run my truck off-road 3-4 days a week and I don't hold back. I have 155,000 miles on my truck and have had no major issues with the turbos. The dealership always jumps to that as a cause for anything that comes up engine wise, telling me to replace turbos, but the first time it was two dead plugs I'd gotten water on crossing creeks and next time my radiator just needed flushing. Both times less than a $250 fix. Whenever they want me to spend over $500, I go get a second opinion. Typically, they're wrong... That's why they only get basic maintenance work from me.

Spamfritter

Before I get into this, I'd like to say that I've always been a V8 ***** and have always preferred V8s over other options. The 3.5L EB was the first engine I've had that was either not a ****ty base V6 or the highest end V8 offered in a vehicle.



The fake engine noise is stupid, but in a way I understand why Ford chose to do that. You can however have the dealer disable that feature.


Some people have a hard time with math in this thread:


5.0L - 385 hp @ 5750 rpm
3.5L EB - 365 hp @ 5000 rpm
5.0L - 387 lbs.-ft. @ 3850 rpm
3.5L EB - 420 lbs.-ft. @ 2500 rpm


Difference: 20 HP, 33 TQ


When we talk about tuning a 3.5L EB and gaining more power, we are talking about a $500 tune that can add up to 90HP / 90TQ or 70HP / 70TQ. The difference a tune makes on a turbo engine is huge. You won't get half that power increase out of tuning a 5.0L engine. You talk about adding a supercharger to the 5.0L engine, but what you don't seem to grasp is the price difference. Something like an ATI Procharger for the 5.0L engine will run around $6,000 or more. After that you have to get it professionally tuned if you want to get the most out of it.


And since you brought it up, you can replace the turbos on the F150 for around $2,200 and practically double the amount of boost. Drop another grand on an intercooler upgrade and for half the price of the supercharger kit you'll still make a ton of power for half as much. So you can bring up supercharging if you want, but the bang for your buck lies with the ECOBoost engine. Stock, and even modified the comparison isn't there unless you have a nearly unlimited budget. If you really go all out, you can ultimately make more power out of the Coyote due to the increased displacement, but you will have to drop serious cash to do it.



Indeeed. The ECOBoost engine makes it's power at a lower RPM range.


Nope.


5.0L - 385 hp @ 5750 rpm
3.5L EB - 365 hp @ 5000 rpm
5.0L - 387 lbs.-ft. @ 3850 rpm
3.5L EB - 420 lbs.-ft. @ 2500 rpm


Difference: 20 HP, 33 TQ


I do agree with you though, the gains from simple tuning favor the ECOBoost. I don't know how many people on this forum actually tune their trucks at all above factory specs, but I'll wager that more ECOBoost owners do it than 5.0L owners do simply because of the ease of doing so, and the cost / performance ratio favoring the ECOBoost.


I think anyone serious about towing above all else should go with the 3.5L ECOBoost engine. The facts are there. It doesn't suffer from power loss at altitude the way the 5.0L engine does. It makes more power and torque at lower RPM ranges than the 5.0L does. It also does this while getting better gas mileage, even though achieving the EPA estimates is difficult at best. I think if your going to have issues with the engine, it will be during the warranty period. That's what it's for. There are also plenty of cases where ECOBoost engines have been documented accumulating serious mileage and still running strong. Knowing all this, I wasn't concerned about the engine despite never having had a turbo vehicle before.


If you aren't concerned with towing or you are willing to take a slight hit on towing performance, it's a matter of personal preference. What's important to you? While the sound of the 5.0L engine is great, I opted for the 3.5L EB because the stock performance was better and I knew that I could throw a tune on it and pick up substantially more power than I could out of the 5.0L for the same money. I had to give up the sound of the 5.0L to do that, but ultimately I decided that the sound just wasn't that important to me compared to what the 3.5L EB brought to the table.


I don't think there are too many wrong answers here. When I bought my truck, I drove trucks with the 3.5L EB engine, the 2.7L EB engine and 5.0L engine on the same day. Ultimately I liked the performance of the ECOBoost engine and felt that was the way to go.


First and foremost, you can compare the current truck to the last generation engine wise. These engines aren't "new" aside from the 2.7L ECOBoost. The 3.5L engine and 5.0L engines are carried over from the previous generation. There are some slight differences in implementation, but the improved performance these trucks have over the last generation stems from the difference in weight primarily.


The butt dyno isn't an accurate assessment of power. Also, environmental variables come into play as well as manufacturing variances in the trucks themselves. Having said that, the facts don't really back up your assertion. The 3.5L EB pretty much out performs the 5.0L trucks in virtually every way. More power at lower RPM ranges means more power off the line as those RPM ranges are reached more quickly. There is some lag present on the turbos, but that lag doesn't necessarily equate to worse acceleration or performance. You perceive the lag, so it may "feel" that way. But feelings and performance data do not always correlate.


0-60 times and 1/4 mile times seem to favor the ECOBoost.


If a dealership shows a lack of competence I don't let them do anything to my truck, simple or not.

EricB

Ya know, all four motors in the F-150 are excellent. They really are. After some drives I've had today, I would spend my money on the 5.0 just because I like the way it drives compared to the EcoBoosts.

They're all great motors, really. I just like the 5.0 best. Followed by the 2.7.