The vehicle will receive a 3.7 liter V6 and 5.0 liter V8 when it enters the market next year, with the units being borrowed from the 2011 Mustang. The third engine on the F-150 will be a 3.5 liter V6 unit using Ecoboost turbocharging and direct injection to offer a high level of efficiency. All three units will come mated to a six speed automatic transmission.
Various sources have told autoweek that the 3.7 liter V6 will be the entry level unit on the pickup. The engine, which is the first V6 engine to be found under the F-150’s hood since the 2008 model year, will offer superior power compared to the outgoing 4.6 liter V8 that uses two valves per cylinder.
The new V6 uses an aluminum construction and offers 305 hp and 280 lb-ft, while returning an estimated 31 mph on the highway (Mustang figures), while the soon-to-be-replaced 4.6 liter V8 in the F-150 produces 248 hp and a maximum torque of 280 lb-ft, while offering a highway fuel consumption of 19 mpg.
The EcoBoost engine will have a special status once installed in the F-150, as it will be the first unit to use this technology that is found on a rear wheel drive Ford truck. The engine is targeting customers who usually choose V8 powerplants.
"The EcoBoost is a V6 and smaller displacement so there is going to be some work that we need to do as marketers to get people into the EcoBoost,” Mark Grueber, Ford's F-150 marketing manager, was quoted as saying by the aforementioned source.
At the top of the F-150 range we will find the Raptor model, which comes with a 411hp and 434 lb-ft (a tweaked version of the unit found on the Super Duty model).
Our say: It seems that there is a replacement for displacement. It’s called “downsizing”.
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