2011 Ford F150 5.0

I've had my 2011 for 1000 miles now so I figured it was time to give my thoughts.

The motor:

The 5.0 is a huge upgrade from the 5.4 of old. Horsepower jumps to 360 from 310 and the torque to 380 from 365. The difference is very noticable from behind the wheel its so responsive and fluid through the gears. I'm getting an average of 17.3 MPG via the computer and during a two day span where I did nothing but drive to and from work I got 20.5 again via the computer which I know a lot of you don't trust but the trip computer shows gallons used, miles, run time and average fuel economy so it should be darn close. I'll have to check the gallons used against my fill ups. The tow rating on the 5.0 is 10,000 which is a bit of mystery to me seeing as the 5.4 was rated higher but had lower numbers both in HP and TQ. My guess is Ford wanted the higher numbers for the 6.2 and Ecoboost while keeping those trucks out of the numbers the Superdutys are rated for. All in all I'm super impressed with this motor and am very excited about it.

The Tranny:

Love how smooth it is, it seems to pair perfectly with the 5.0. This shifts are on point and it just feels like your power is always there. The big change is that you can throw it in manual mode and shift it yourself if you wish as well as deselect gears while still in Drive. While in Drive you simply hit the - on the gear shift and in the productivity center the gears show up and you can knock any gears you dont want turn it into a 4 speed or 5 speed if you want and its still and automatic. I actually used this on a trip to Whistler going a little hot into a snowy corner, i just knocked out a few gears real quick and the truck down shifted. So these are two different options.

Running Gears:

I have the 3:55 which is fine by me as I want the better numbers regarding fuel economy. I haven't towed with it yet but based on what I have experienced in my day to day driving I expect it will be better than my previous trucks. The great option in these now is that they have an Electronic locking differential. While in 4x4 mode you just pull out the knob and the rearend locks in. This was previously only available on the FX4 and the Raptor but know is available in all 4x4 models.

Steering;

The new EPS (electronic power steering) is awesome its improves effediency and fuel economy by 4% while making driving noticable better and easier. It tunes itself based on speed which is nothing new to cars but it is to trucks. I'm really loving this feature.

Interior:

The interior is largely unchanged but they have upgraded the leather both in look and feel. The one thing I do not like is the wood grain they used its too light and looks cheesy. i've gron more use to it but still don't care for it. The headliner is gray now which looks real nice and lightens up the cab agaist the black trim.

The navigation is largely unchanged (still and 8" screen) but they did add HD to the Radio which is really cool. If you don't know in HD mode your favorite stations often times have a few different song options going, this is becaue other stations of a like genre attactch themselves to them. The quality is noticably better. Our navigations screen is unparalleled anywhere in the auto industry.

Productivity screen:

This is the biggest change in the interior, this thing is sweet! Its a 4.2" screen in the center of the instrument cluster that has a multitude of functions. I'll mention a few but there are just to many to talk about. Trip mode is cool as I mentioned earlier it lays out run time, fuel used, average economy and of course miles traveled. Fuel economy made has two options instant which shows your average since last reset against your current, this is a bar graph. It also shows your DTE. The other screen shows average over the last 5, 10 30 minutes against your total average. Truck apps is cool it has Off Road display that shows pitch angle, wheel direction, bank angle and shows the drive line in action. Trailer mode is cool too, it will go through a pre trailering check list for you but the real cool thing is you can assign it trailers set their gains and it'll calculate the miles on that trailer for you too. This is all controled from the steering wheel with an iPod like control. There are more things it does but I just don't want to list them all here.

So far super impressed with the new features on the truck and look forward to seeing how it tows in the not to distant future. I'll have this one until July when hopefully I'll get an Ecoboost. I hope this all made sense but if not just ask questions.

Hate:

I just got a 2011 Limited with the 6.2 about ten days ago. I now have around 1500 miles on it, and the new motor is awesome! tons of power. According to the lie-o-meter it is getting an average of 14.3 MPG which is great considering my driving style and amount of idle time recently with the cold. 411 HP with tons of torque will prolly not equal great mileage though.
I was a die hard GM guy until five years ago, now I am definitely a Ford man. I hoper GM catches up as they are WAY behind IMHO.

And where are the pics??

Nice write up! Do the F150's have the trans like the Super Duty's where it will downshift for you in tow mode when on a grade? I thought I had read somewhere that they were putting that in.

Originally Posted by summerobsession

Hate:

I just got a 2011 Limited with the 6.2 about ten days ago. I now have around 1500 miles on it, and the new motor is awesome! tons of power. According to the lie-o-meter it is getting an average of 14.3 MPG which is great considering my driving style and amount of idle time recently with the cold. 411 HP with tons of torque will prolly not equal great mileage though.
I was a die hard GM guy until five years ago, now I am definitely a Ford man. I hoper GM catches up as they are WAY behind IMHO.

How is GM behind? My Denali XL has 6.2L with 403hp and 417 ft-lb. They have had this motor since 2007. It is a flex fuel motor with cylinder deactivation. And my wifes Denali XL easily gets the 14.3 mpg you are claiming. How is that behind?

Almost forgot, her Denali also has the downshift feature while towing. I'm not hear to bash Fords. I love Fords. I just hate when people bash GM with misinformation.

ixfe: Easy there, bud! I was replying to the F-150 post and therefore meant that GM was behind in their trucks. I should have been more specific. My wife also has a 2010 Denali with the 6.2 and it is an awesome vehicle. That said, she has told me she would trade me vehicles ANY time as my truck drives and rides so much nicer than hers. Having driven both, I would agree with her.
I have not driven a new Expedition or Lincoln Navigator, but until they put the 6.2 in those, then Ford absolutely cannot compete in that category.

John, the Limited is a beyond a nice truck (I just sold one yesterday to some people in their mid 70's ) I really don't think it gets any nicer than these. To those that don't know what this truck is its a limited edition only in white sand tri coat with paint matched 22's and grills. Two tone interior with limited specific badging and applique. I figure if I drove a 6.2 I'd get 14-14.5 but I wanted better economy, bad ass motor though.

Timmy, Do you mean on a down grade? Yes it does hold speed when decending a hill using the tranny. One simply taps the breaks at the speed they are comfortable with and the truck holds it.

DBC, I could take some pictures but it looks like any of my other trucks. If you do an image search of Ford productivity screen you can see some pics of that.

Nice review man! I have been avoiding the local dealership cause I know I'll fall in love with the new trucks.

Hate: I agree, I traded my 2010 Platinum for the Limited and have not looked back; it's a sweet ride. I thought the 22's might ride a bit harsh, but they don't. Very impressive machine.
So, when is Lincoln going to put the 6.2 in the Navigator or Expedition? Might have to test drive on when they do.

Originally Posted by summerobsession

ixfe: Easy there, bud! I was replying to the F-150 post and therefore meant that GM was behind in their trucks. I should have been more specific. My wife also has a 2010 Denali with the 6.2 and it is an awesome vehicle. That said, she has told me she would trade me vehicles ANY time as my truck drives and rides so much nicer than hers. Having driven both, I would agree with her.
I have not driven a new Expedition or Lincoln Navigator, but until they put the 6.2 in those, then Ford absolutely cannot compete in that category.

Good clarification, John. Your first post made it sound like the existence of this new Ford 6.2L motor is what has put GM behind. In my mind Ford has just now arriving to the party!

As a former F-150 owner, I'm anxious to drive some of these new truck motors.

Manual mode comes in huge when towing!

So, when is Lincoln going to put the 6.2 in the Navigator or Expedition?

I haven't heard but my guess is that rather than use the 6.2 we will be offering them with the Ecoboost, possibly both. These days getting CAFE numbers up is huge so putting the more effecient motors in is important.

What is CAFE?

I drove the 5.0 F-150 2 days ago. It was a monster. Big smile when she down shifted.

I ended up buying a 2011 GMC 5.3 6 speed, mainly because GMC has HUGE incentives right now. But I wish I had the new ford 5.0 motor.

I'm interested in the F-150 as my 07 GMC with the 5.3 is in the shop again. This time for new piston rings. It was "fixed" last time in the shop for the same issue and even after communicating my concerns to multiple people at the dealership and GM about the repair I was told "tech says this is the correct repair". Guess I was right and they were wrong. They tried to put a band-aid on an arteial bleed and it didn't fix a known issue. While it seems they might be doing the right thing this time I can't see buying another GM product just because of how they handled the warranty.

Got the F150 Ecoboost engine, and it is UNREAL. The first thing we did was hitch my buddies X45 on it and drove up I-80 to Park City. You hit some very steep grades there 7%. At the bottom of the mountain I put the cruise control on and set it at 75MPH. Never did the cruise control kick off while pulling up the hill. The truck automatically shifted down twice, but the rpm's never got above 3500RPM. Truly I thought that it would have to be turning at 5000 plus in order to pull that hill. 8.2 MPG pulling the boat up the hill! Averaging 19.2 in mixed driving.

Originally Posted by desotodave

Got the F150 Ecoboost engine, and it is UNREAL. The first thing we did was hitch my buddies X45 on it and drove up I-80 to Park City. You hit some very steep grades there 7%. At the bottom of the mountain I put the cruise control on and set it at 75MPH. Never did the cruise control kick off while pulling up the hill. The truck automatically shifted down twice, but the rpm's never got above 3500RPM. Truly I thought that it would have to be turning at 5000 plus in order to pull that hill. 8.2 MPG pulling the boat up the hill! Averaging 19.2 in mixed driving.

You towed an X-45 with a V-6? You realize the tow capacity of that engine is 5,600 lbs, right?

Hate... I think I might go test drive the 5.0 today.

DBC - what are you talking about?!?!? The tow capacity of the Eco Boost is anywhere from 8,000 lbs to 11,300:
http://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/specifications/towing/

I'm sure he was kidding.

My bad!

Thats great news David, sounds like it did exactly as advertised.

DBC, let us know what you think relative to your 6.2. Its obviously a pretty big difference but it would be interesting to hear. Were you looking at the standard V6 numbers not the Ecoboost?

Originally Posted by timmyb

DBC - what are you talking about?!?!? The tow capacity of the Eco Boost is anywhere from 8,000 lbs to 11,300:
http://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/specifications/towing/

I'm an idiot... I was totally looking at the wrong V-6 engine stats (non-EcoBoost). My apologies.

I did not get over to the Ford store today, but I intend to. I'm driving a BMW 335i now, but jonesing to get back into a truck. Am I insane to have two tow vehicles when gas is approaching $4/gallon? Maybe so.

I just keep looking at this picture repeating to myself, "I must have. I must have. I must have."

Man that is a good lookin truck! I almost put those wheels on my truck but they look far better in pictures than they do in person IMO.

What wheels are those in that pic, got to get me some!!

KMC XD Addict:
http://kmcwheels.com/wheels/?wheelid...upid=36&page=3

The silver face ones are like painted/powdercoated on top of the black and the rivet things are just glued on or something. Guy down the street from me has the all black ones on his Titan and he is missing a few of the rivet things and they look like crap. In pictures and from 20' away, they look so bad azz!

Not trying to put anyone down if that is your truck because that truck looks awesome and they are still cool wheels. I was just disappointed with the quality of the wheels after seeing them in person because they looked so perfect in pictures.

Yeah they look sick in that pic, but I will pass with the glued on rivets and all.
I will look for a wheel that looks like those but different manufacturer.

I recently purchased a 2011 F-150 Platinum and have been absolutely pleased with this vehicle. This was a big decision for me as I have always been a car guy, but my wife was tired of me taking the SUV in the summertime. I sold my beloved 2010 Infiniti G-37S Coupe and went to the F-150 - thought I was really going to regret the decision, but I could not be happier. I also own and tow with a 2010 Infiniti QX56 - point being my perspective and comparison is against luxury brand vehicles. I am very particular on fit and finish / electronics - hard to compete with a luxury Japanese brand, but the F-150 Platinum Series has my 2010 QX beat hands down. Granted the Platinum is the premium F-150, they do a nice job and I could not agree more with the woodgrain comment (it's pretty cheesy). The Platinum has the black high gloss fit and finish - if you're going to spend $40K+ on a truck - what's another $5-7K amongst friends; step up to the platinum!

The real test was when I went to pick up my boat. My QX has rear air bag suspension and I pretty skeptical of towing with the 5.0 Liter, but the F-150 in my opinion tows better than the QX which has a 5.6L. Love the engine assisted braking and the fact the truck did not look one bit like it was towing a 6,000 pound boat/trailer (e.g. it wasn't sagging in the rear.) I now have about 1300 miles and still enjoy getting in the car nearly 2 months after purchase. I have never been a Ford guy, but they have come along way over the last couple of years. When I finally decided on the Ford, I had looked at the Toyota/Chevy/GMC brands - it came down to financing. I lease all my cars and it was hard to compete with a 57% residual and good money factory - you can't touch that even with 0% for 72 months.

Originally Posted by ixfe

You towed an X-45 with a V-6? You realize the tow capacity of that engine is 5,600 lbs, right?

Hate... I think I might go test drive the 5.0 today.

DBC,

Sorry been away for a while. I really was talking about the Ecoboost 3.5 liter V6. It is an amazing engine, my old 5.4 liter does not even come close to it. My truck is rated to tow 11,300 Lbs with the rear-end that I have and the tow package. Check out this link for some torture tests and head to head competition with Chevy and Dodge's V8 engines. http://www.ford.com/trucks/f150/experiencef150/

I am just a real nut when in comes to technology like this. So far loving it!

Good point Josh, The lease on these trucks right now is pretty rediculous. I just did one on Saturday with a customer on a fully loaded FX4 which was a $46,500 rig and he's paying a little over $500 per month with nothing down.

I got my 2011 raptor in january. I owned 7 different chevy trucks before this. This truck is amazing . My mileage has been around 13.5 to 14. I have not towed my boat yet, but i am sure it will do fine. The stereo is not as good as the bose, the seat heaters suck, and the headlights on bright are not that great. Other than that i love the truck. Chevy will really have to hit one out of the park, for me to go back

Originally Posted by ixfe

Hate... I think I might go test drive the 5.0 today.

Well... it took me a few weeks, but I finally made it over to drive the F150 5.0. It blew me away. Very strong engine... effortless, solid, smooth, refined. Now I really want one!

Glad to hear you liked it.

Hate,

would like some insight from you on why you chose to go with the 5.0 versus the Ecoboost. When I was buying, I personally could see no advantage to the 5.0. Yeah, it ran great, but the economy was not there, and I got a higher tow rating with the Ecoboost.

Simply because it wasn't release at the time and seeing as I'm fortunate enough to get a new every six months I knew I'd be able to get another one then. To be honest I'm not sure which motor I prefer at this point. Ill get an Eccoboost next go round and compare the two.

3500 miles on the Limited with the 6.2 now and still loving it! Mileage has been around 14 to 17 which is more than I expected (This is on the lie-o-meter not calculated, haven't done that yet. probably won't to be honest, not that big of a deal to me.

Hate, do you suppose the navigator/expedition will get the eco-boost? That would also be cool.

I picked up a 2011 Ecboost-got 1000 miles on it and had a first tow last week. It tows great! Compared to my 2001 5.4l anyway.

John, yes I'm sure it will go into the Expedition in fact it may be the only one offered at some point but we'll see.

Dave, thats great to hear.

I test drove the 5.0L and Ecoboost back-to-back on Monday. I never thought I'd say this, but...

Ecoboost FTW. And it wasn't even close, imho. The powerband is neverending. The torque comes on fast... something like 90% of it is available at 1,500 RPM. And it nevery really goes away. It feels weird that such a big, heavy truck could accelerate so quickly with so little noise.

This graph is all you need to know... Ecoboost beats them all easily until you get to 4,500 RPM. Ask yourself... What RPM does my automatic transmission usually keep me in? The answer is at or less than 2,000 RPM. Knowing that, now which engine do you want??

Here is one more... this time compared to the competition.

Yeah, my ecoboost hauls a$$ regardless towing or not, of course with boat in tow I am slowed down a bit, but it is real nice to stand on it and blow away someone on the freeway when they are working on my nerves.

Just curious where the f150 5.0 fits in the graph, or how it would have fared against the competition in the ecoboost tourture test. Hate, I believe Ford has special financing on the f150's right now (ending 4/4/11), I was wondering if you may know when they will be running that offer again? I am not in the market for a new truck now, but maybe inthe next 6 months or so. Obiviously, I would like to buy during that time.

Yes we are offering incentiveized finance rates right now alongside $2k in rebates. As to when that may come around again? I don't know they keep us in the dark just as much as you guys thus detering us from saying "just wait a week and the rebats are going up a grand." I'm sure during the summer months the rebates will be good with the price of fuel going up.

Thanks Hate, I didn't think they would let you know that, but is was worth a shot. It seems to me that during September car companies offer good incentives. With this economy, I guess any month is justification for a sale. Any thoughts on the performance of the 5.0 compared to the competition?

Originally Posted by rdiestler

Just curious where the f150 5.0 fits in the graph, or how it would have fared against the competition in the ecoboost tourture test. Hate, I believe Ford has special financing on the f150's right now (ending 4/4/11), I was wondering if you may know when they will be running that offer again? I am not in the market for a new truck now, but maybe inthe next 6 months or so. Obiviously, I would like to buy during that time.

The 5.0 is the blue line in the graph at the top. See how it's not match for the green line??

Thanks for posting those graphs! The poor 5.3 in the Chevy is getting killed!

I see know, I wasn't even looking a the first graph. It seems that the f150 5.0 might be somewhere in between the Chevy 5.3 and the Dodge 5.7? Thanks.

I don't know how the 5.0 stacks up against the competition but as a daily driver its bad ass, very fun and fast. I still won't know how it tows for a littel while but I suspect it'll be better than the 5.4 which I thought did just fine. For an extra $750 though just go with the Eccoboost.

There's a reason that the 5.0 isn't on that 2nd graph, it's torque curve doesn't fare well at all against the competition in terms of low end torque and it would look bad in that graph. It doesn't match up well until the 3,000 rpm range and then it starts to take off, not exactly ideal for towing but would need to see the horsepower too for a fair comparison. The EcoBoost though is absolutely beautiful!