Platinum Peasant
Well-known member
- First Name
- Mike
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2020
- Threads
- 79
- Messages
- 902
- Reaction score
- 953
- Location
- West Sacramento
- Vehicles
- 2021 Ford F150 Platinum 3.0 Powerstroke
- Occupation
- Neonatal Respiratory Therapist
The price point was a huge mistake by Ford for sure. And only offering it in lariat or platinum initially sealed its fate a bit too. Ford just threw it in the lineup to match Ram and Chevy but stopped there. Chevy is killing it with the Duramax in their SUV lineup. I thought maybe the expedition would get a 3.0 option to compete but I guess not now.The problem with this engine is not the engine. The engine is fabulous, among the best in the lineup from a smoothness and refinement perspective. A little gutless in stock form but they come alive with some programming. The issue is the way it was marketed (or lack thereof) and the price point. I've tried to buy one since it came out and it never made sense to get it over a gas job.
If they'd have slotted it somewhere between the 2.7L and 3.5L from a price point perspective they'd have done a lot better with it, which is why GM is selling the sh*t out of their 3.0 Duramax. It's priced exactly the same as the flagship 6.2L engine so it gives customers a really strong value proposition of big power from the 6.2 or big MPG from the Duramax. Ford has their flagship 3.5 which puts down big power, gets decent mpg on paper and can tow alot, and then beyond that way over in la-la land there's the diesel which is another $3,000-7,000 over the flagship engine depending on configuration, so 98% of customers can't find the value in it. Hell, Mercedes used to slot in their diesels as the base engines in some configurations when they used to sell diesel in North America. When VW sold diesel cars in North America the TDI engine was an upgrade over the base engine, but priced the same as the larger gas pots in the lineup. The value proposition with that was, again, "do you want big power, or do you want big MPG?"
The problem is that that proposition contradicts Ford's own marketing plan of Ecoboost, which is supposed to be both worlds. We all know the Ecoboost engines are capable of good MPG in ideal scenarios, but as soon as you hook up so much as a feather behind it it will get half or 1/3 the mileage it is capable of getting unloaded. That also goes for the Powerboost, where the spread between unloaded and loaded MPG is even larger. TFL truck got 29mpg unloaded and I believe 9mpg with a trailer when they tested it. A 20mpg spread is asinine, but it goes to show that you simply cannot make a GTDI engine easier on fuel with a load, hybrid or not.
In Canada this engine is $7000 to upgrade to over the 2.7L on a Lariat, and $5000 over the 3.5. There is absolutely no value in it for the average customer who drives average miles. For a guy like me this engine would've been absolutely perfect. I put on higher than average mileage a year, and I'm a weekend warrior with a camper, but not enough to ever be able to get that initial investment out of it in fuel savings. So either way I'm either paying up for the diesel engine or the horrendous fuel economy towing with the Ecoboost, so I'd rather have reserves of power in the hills and take the fuel bill up the arse.
I'd make the power sacrifice for MPG if I had the choice between power and MPG for the same money. Ecoboost is always one of the two, but never both.
Long live the 6.7!
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