Ford F150 Forum - Community of Ford Truck Fans - 2011 F150 4X4 XLT 3.7 SCAB

So the other day I did a long write-up on my new F150, hit spell check and it disappeared, so here goes round 2...

Prior to this truck I had a 2010 Tacoma TRD Off-road 4X4, and prior to that a 2009 Tacoma SR5. The 2010 was a piece of junk, 2 rusty bumpers, 3 rear ring and pinions, 3 trips to the dealer to fix the stubborn (20 minutes to engage) 4WD system, radio, wiper motor and blower motor issues. If you look on the Tacoma forums, the latest Taco is riddled with goofy issues, and Toyota is selling them on reputation fumes. The BEST tank average I got was 16.8 (us) mpg, and I kept track for 42000 miles. I subleased it to someone else and bought a Ford!

When I picked up the F150 the difference was like going from a bouncy, noisy, fragile caricature of a real truck to a brick solid luxury truck (NVH-wise…). I reset the mileage dream-o-meter, and headed out.

First off, I should mention I am impatient driver, and I have no time to baby a vehicle, but at the same time, I will not "abuse" it either. The 3.7 has ample power for just about any flat-land’r type driving situations, outside of towing. It needs to rev, but if you are willing to ignore that tachometer, then it is good to go. I had a couple 3 different 5.4, 4 speed rental F150’s in years past, and I absolutely could not tolerate the lack of throttle response, and the poor acceleration. The 3.7 is punchier, more responsive, and definitely quicker than any pre 6 speed 5.4 or 4.6. Under normal driving, it will rev to 3000-4000 rpm, if you are in a hurry, but it is quiet, and it moves. Casual driving it shifts between 2000 – 3000rpm.
DW and I headed out on a road trip to break it in so we could tow with it right away. The first tank of fuel we burnt went 678 miles, with a bad crosswind part of the time, travelling between 65-70 mph, mostly 70. The mileage readout showed 21.3mpg, and we got an actual 20.1mpg. So right off the dealer lot, fighting a bad crosswind, it was over 20% better than the smaller Tacoma, WOW. Near the end of the first tank of fuel, I did a number of 2-3 gear pulls to redline to properly break in the engine. Yup 7000 rpm is the shift point, and she screams.

Second tank of fuel was a partial tank, as we were doing a loop through Minnesota, and wanted to gas up before heading into Canada. Anyhow, some asshat pissed me off, so I blew past him and set the cruise at 80mph. Not good for mileage. That and some 75 mph for an equal distance gave us 18mpg. Again, the Taco would have prolly gotten 15mpg at best at that speed / situation.

What an awesome truck so far, very quiet, no vibration, (big change!), and nothing to irritate me while driving. I mention that because the Tacoma has so many minor flaws, and it was not a fun vehicle for long hauls. DW was smiling ear to ear the whole time, and could not believe how far superior the F150 is. Here’s the kicker, in Canada, a Tacoma TRD O.R. is $42000ish OTD, my F150 was $32 000.

So far I could not be happier! What an awesome rig. As long as you a not a wannabe diesel owner, who is rpm averse, and aren’t the type that requires a sledge to drive a nail, the 3.7 is great. I literally debated for the entire 2011 model year, whether I should get the 5.0, or the 3.7. I’m happy with the 3.7, but we shall see how that pans out when I tow our 10’ tall, 8’ wide, 3800# camper.