2021 PowerBoost and Towing... Terrible MPG while towing

[joejamesatou]

I have not manipulated the vehicle while towing and wanted to get a baseline established With the powerboost

last weekend we towed our Mastercraft surf boat three hours north on Michigan‘s I 75 as well as various other roads.

55 mph equals 11.5 miles per gallon
70 dropped it down to nine
75 dropped it down to 7 1/2 to 8.

boat weighs 6800 pounds with a full gas tank.

I did monitor the turbo, I stayed in tow mode, I did not change gears manually.

for conversation sake I get 24 to 26 miles per gallon driving around town in eco mode

In the future I will likely shift down and try to stay out of turbo. since we usually surf locally it’s not a dealbreaker, we only tow up north one to three times a year.

The f 150 handled towing with no problem at all, I didn’t expect great mileage and would have purchased another engine if that was my priority.

I'll just say that is a classy looking combination!

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[Whoosh]

I have not manipulated the vehicle while towing and wanted to get a baseline established With the powerboost

last weekend we towed our Mastercraft surf boat three hours north on Michigan‘s I 75 as well as various other roads.

55 mph equals 11.5 miles per gallon
70 dropped it down to nine
75 dropped it down to 7 1/2 to 8.

boat weighs 6800 pounds with a full gas tank.

I did monitor the turbo, I stayed in tow mode, I did not change gears manually.

for conversation sake I get 24 to 26 miles per gallon driving around town in eco mode

In the future I will likely shift down and try to stay out of turbo. since we usually surf locally it’s not a dealbreaker, we only tow up north one to three times a year.

The f 150 handled towing with no problem at all, I didn’t expect great mileage and would have purchased another engine if that was my priority.

Good looking rig!

 

[Whoosh]

I had this epiphany. I paid basically $60k for my truck. $20k for my camper. Probably $5k outfitting it all the way I like...

If I pay an extra $40 for a 200 mile round trip I really don't care. I would rather have the 570 lb-ft towing and use the fuel. I'll make it up in the city driving later lol.

I've owned sport compacts, sedans, import and domestic. Been a member to so many forums. NONE talk about fuel economy more than pickup truck forums! I don't get why truck owners always discuss fuel economy. You bought the least fuel efficient vehicle! Who cares?!

you mean "My vespa scooter gets far better gas mileage than the $75k, 5000lb brick that carries 30 gallons of fuel (@ about 8lbs per gallon) this is total BS, Ford tricked me and I'm gonna whine!"
It seems that some people simply need something to carp about!

 

[CJ912]

That’s too bad because that really is one hell of a beautiful truck!
And I’m not partial to “red” but I’ll bet that thing is stunning in person.
I would think that you’d have no problem getting your money back if you could find one with a more desirable power plant.
That’s a BIG “if” these days though...

It also occurs to me that with that drastic a difference in fuel mileage, what stress you must be putting on that engine while towing.

I’ve been shocked by the mileage some people are getting from the 5.0

No replacement for displacement!

It’s no problem. The engine never felt stressed, and I’ll experiment next trip and see what I can learn.

Like I mentioned, I only tow the boat that far one to three times a year. The lake I typically go to is only 2 miles from the house and I drive posted speeds of 45 mph the whole way there.

If I were towing frequently I would have gone diesel.

Powerboost is fantastic in eco for business driving and day to day, the performance is ridiculous in sport mode If you want that thrill every now and then, and I can tow with no problem. This is almost like having three vehicles in one and I’m happy with my purchase.

throw in a z pin, 2650 in rebates in a time that beggars can’t be choosers, and a killer trade in during a crazy market... I reset my odometer with a ‘$32k Discount‘. ?? This vehicle will only cost me 1k a year for 6 years if I sell at that point, (pending further economic chaos )

That means I can enjoy a 24 mpg daily driver around town, that can tow a boat occasionally, move mountain bikes, dirt bikes, and nail 14 second quarter miles with a twist of a dial. Not much to complain about with all that in mind ?

 

[xtraman122]

No replacement for displacement!

It’s no problem. The engine never felt stressed, and I’ll experiment next trip and see what I can learn.

Like I mentioned, I only tow the boat that far one to three times a year. The lake I typically go to is only 2 miles from the house and I drive posted speeds of 45 mph the whole way there.

If I were towing frequently I would have gone diesel.

Powerboost is fantastic in eco for business driving and day to day, the performance is ridiculous in sport mode If you want that thrill every now and then, and I can tow with no problem. This is almost like having three vehicles in one and I’m happy with my purchase.

throw in a z pin, 2650 in rebates in a time that beggars can’t be choosers, and a killer trade in during a crazy market... I reset my odometer with a ‘$32k Discount‘. ?? This vehicle will only cost me 1k a year for 6 years if I sell at that point, (pending further economic chaos )

That means I can enjoy a 24 mpg daily driver around town, that can tow a boat occasionally, move mountain bikes, dirt bikes, and nail 14 second quarter miles with a twist of a dial. Not much to complain about with all that in mind ?

Sport mode is an absolute blast with the PowerBoost. Puts a smile on my face every time I use it haha.

 

[Whoosh]

I'd like so see more results using higher octane fuel.
I'll be pulling a travel trailer so this is interesting.
I suspect it would also be helpful to mount a camper top on the bed, particularly one of those that is higher toward the rear.
A fifth wheel trailer would probably be more aerodynamic also, although most are taller. Can you do fifth wheel on a F150 PB?

My question is, does octane rating have any real affect unless your vehicle is tuned to optimize it? yes, if your vehicle is mapped for higher octane (Benz, Audi, Lexus etc' putting in 87 gets the motor knocking like a popcorn popper but the engine is looking for the higher octane) I mean you hear trained/certified mechanics say that though a dirty air filter is less than optimum the computer is reading what comes out by way of the knock and oxygen sensors etc...it's the reason that our vehicles will function just as well in New Orleans as they well in the grand Teton's on the same day...I often wondered this before I started buying the EB motors; with my tritons I could burn ethanol which was cheaper, had higher octane but made fewer BTU's so the fuel mileage was absolutely abysmal and therefor not cheaper! (I'm a plumber not a chemist so I may have totally contradicted myself with these two thoughts) It's a question I'm putting forth, I haven't towed with this one yet but like others have stated, when I'm pulling a brick on wheels behind my brick on wheels I don't think it is unreasonable to expect mileage to suffer.

 

[ryanryan]

It seems like my fuel economy is affected by the gas octane far more when I'm towing than regular driving. While towing a 6000lbs trailer at 65 mph with 87 octane I get less than 7 mpg but with 91 octane I get 10+ mpg. I suspect when the turbos are being used a lot then octane matters more.
When I'm not towing I almost wonder if I get worse gas mileage with a higher octane fuel. But I'm pretty new to all this so would love to hear from others.

 

[uavmx]

It's not

I had this epiphany. I paid basically $60k for my truck. $20k for my camper. Probably $5k outfitting it all the way I like...

If I pay an extra $40 for a 200 mile round trip I really don't care. I would rather have the 570 lb-ft towing and use the fuel. I'll make it up in the city driving later lol.

I've owned sport compacts, sedans, import and domestic. Been a member to so many forums. NONE talk about fuel economy more than pickup truck forums! I don't get why truck owners always discuss fuel economy. You bought the least fuel efficient vehicle! Who cares?!

It's not about the money, it's about the annoyance of having to stop every 150-200 miles. I missed a stop and had another 60 miles to go before the next and rolled in the the miles remaining at like 5. This was on a 180 mile total distance trip that I couldn't make non stop. If the wind was a little worse I would have run out.

Maybe there's something to the octane while towing. Agree it's not needed daily driving, but towing could help. I tried locking out gears but in my short tests I didn't notice much of a difference

 

[Sentinel1201]

It's not

It's not about the money, it's about the annoyance of having to stop every 150-200 miles. I missed a stop and had another 60 miles to go before the next and rolled in the the miles remaining at like 5. This was on a 180 mile total distance trip that I couldn't make non stop. If the wind was a little worse I would have run out.

Maybe there's something to the octane while towing. Agree it's not needed daily driving, but towing could help. I tried locking out gears but in my short tests I didn't notice much of a difference

Powerboost has a 30 gallon tank. If you are running out of fuel in 150 miles, you are getting 5 mpg. Unless you are towing a really really big trailer, you will get way better than 5 mpg, closer to 10.

 

[chrisp993]

Data point, towing an enclosed car trailer ~ 7,500lbs @ 70mph with 91 octane = 10mpg +/- depending on headwind, tailwind etc. Fuel economy plummets above 70mph ...

 

[Sentinel1201]

OK I towed my 7x14 enclosed trailer loaded with two bikes, gear, tools, house battery, fridge, microwave etc. about 550 miles this weekend with my 21 PB and here are my observations:

1. The 21 PB tows more effortlessly than my 17 Raptor did.
2. Now having a hardwired sensor for pro trailer backup assist is awesome. The old sticker method was a pain, with the car frequently losing track of the sticker and having to take measurements for each trailer's setup.
3. In tow haul mode, while the gas motor never shuts off and you don't get pure electric miles, the electric motor still kicks on very regularly while going uphill and from a standing start.
4. In tow haul mode, the car itself locks out 10th gear BTW.
5. The tip above about manually locking out 8-9-10 gears and letting it spin at 2600 is legit. Cruising at 72 mph, I got 12 mpg which is a full 2 mpg better than I would get if I didn't lock out the tall gears. And this is with KO2 285x65x20 tires and the front airdam removed. If I was running the stock setup, I would expect even better.
6. I was keeping a close eye on tranny temps and they stayed within the usual operating range (~200-220) so I don't see a downside to locking out higher gears while towing.
7. Just for kicks, I tried towing in eco mode instead of tow/haul and I got worse mpg. I imagine tow/haul must use the electric more than eco? Strange that eco gets poorer mpg than tow/haul.

 

[uavmx]

Powerboost has a 30 gallon tank. If you are running out of fuel in 150 miles, you are getting 5 mpg. Unless you are towing a really really big trailer, you will get way better than 5 mpg, closer to 10.

Correct, I got 6mpg on that leg (I wasn't quite full from picking my trailer up 25 mins away and bringing it home). I did the same trip a couple weeks later and got maybe 8mpg. Trailer is an Imagine 2400bh with an empty weight Of 5725 lbs....not massive. Very disappointed in mileage

 

[MaximusW]

I have not manipulated the vehicle while towing and wanted to get a baseline established With the powerboost

last weekend we towed our Mastercraft surf boat three hours north on Michigan‘s I 75 as well as various other roads.

55 mph equals 11.5 miles per gallon
70 dropped it down to nine
75 dropped it down to 7 1/2 to 8.

boat weighs 6800 pounds with a full gas tank.

I did monitor the turbo, I stayed in tow mode, I did not change gears manually.

for conversation sake I get 24 to 26 miles per gallon driving around town in eco mode

In the future I will likely shift down and try to stay out of turbo. since we usually surf locally it’s not a dealbreaker, we only tow up north one to three times a year.

The f 150 handled towing with no problem at all, I didn’t expect great mileage and would have purchased another engine if that was my priority.

Beautiful combo!

 

[ryanryan]

Correct, I got 6mpg on that leg (I wasn't quite full from picking my trailer up 25 mins away and bringing it home). I did the same trip a couple weeks later and got maybe 8mpg. Trailer is an Imagine 2400bh with an empty weight Of 5725 lbs....not massive. Very disappointed in mileage

I'm also towing an Imagine 2400bh. I got 11 mpg today driving over 200 miles at 5,000-8,000 feet altitude. Top speed was 65 mph. I'm also getting better fuel efficiency as I break in the truck, currently at almost 6,000 miles.

 

[TBondu]

Pulled my ~4k pound camper trailer approximately 300 miles round trip this weekend. Got about the same mpg as my 2017 3.5EB - 10-11mpg. But I was able to use my camper's a/c at the campsite which was really nice. If the mpg goes up as my mileage does (I'm at ~1400 miles currently) I'll be perfectly happy.

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