Ecoboost Test Drive Impressions

[VinceL]

Hello all,

My wife and I took a 2012 Ecoboost Ex for a test drive yesterday while our friend was picking up his 2012 Edge Sport (sweet ride). She was driving, as it would be her car.

I was trying to gauge how hard the motor was having to work, so I asked how much pedal she was using to motivate us. The salesman was pretty funny, and told her to 'drive it like she stole it'. At the next stop sign she jammed the accelerator and it laid a surprisingly loud and long scratch, pulling away nicely. Then the power faded. It moved the vehicle, but with no sense of urgency whatsoever. Was it sufficient, sure. Was it in anyway fun to drive, not at all (keeping in mind that this is a larger CUV/SUV). The engine also was pretty buzzy when pushed.

Granted, we are coming from a very zippy Forester XT (turbo 2.5), but it was a disappointment nonetheless. We were hoping for a bit more. Next time, we will test drive the V6 to check it out, but I can say this for now, unless the V6 is slower than the ecoboost, we will eat it in mileage and go for the power. If we had any confidence at all that the ecoboost would actually meet its EPA estimates (not that many Ex's come close that I have seen), we might reconsider, as we both put a decent number of miles on our cars with the daily commute.

Happy driving.

 

[charliez]

I'm very happy with my 2011 V6 actually. Initially I was disappointed with no engine options available (I wanted a larger displacement or a V8).

I didn't want a turbo, but a supercharger would be nice though I still wouldn't want any. Reason being, chargers have a bad history of overheating and breaking due to heat fatigue at some point. Replacing it then is expensive as mine is a keeper.

Driving wise, even with the turbo you shouldn't be off to a squealing tires start when the Traction Stability Control is set to ON. It will keep the tires from spinning. Doing so transfers all power on the road, so you move faster from a standing start.

With my regular v6, I can floor my pedal and "launch" the car whenever I want to and quickly pass a truck/car/semi. If I want faster gear switches I go to manual to use the best power bands at each gear, then put it back to auto.

The only thing I miss from my X5 is the "sport" mode with preset aggressive gear switches.

 

[94Eddie]

I find it interesting how so many things are cyclical and turbo chargers are one of those things. They seem to be used for a while and then when they prove to be not as dependable as advertised they fade away. I am sad to see the V-8 leave the option list for the Explorer. Especially when Ford has the 5.0L engine they use in the Mustangs and trucks. I also don't think the people that buy these turbo engines are thinking about resale value years, and 100k+ miles, down the road. I wouldn't buy one with 100k miles because the turbos won't last as long as a well built engine and the repair cost will be steep. There are too many compromises in the new Explorer, IMO, and I might get a 2010 in a few years but that is where Explorer ownership will end for me.

I think Ford should have gone the supercharged V-6 route as it would deliver the power/torque curve of a decent sized V-8 and the durability of a Roots blower. Running a 4,500 lb. vehicle with a 2.0L four cylinder engine is just asking too much of it, IMO, with or without a turbo. Especially considering the marginal mileage gains over the 3.5L engine.

 

[RSNovi]

I cant speak for the turbos on the Ecoboost, but I think turbos in general have proved their reliability time and time again. Almost all diesel engines are turbocharged and they often go for hundreds of thousands of miles. Every heavy truck on the road with a diesel has a turbo.

 

[joecrna]

Ah yes, in heavy duty over-the-road trucks. Not even similar to the ones used in automobiles except by name. The real world gas mileage will be the same, making HP requires the same amount of gasoline. The only benefit would be under stady-state, low load cruise. Such as in EPA test conditions, seldom seen on a real road.

Only reason we are seeing so many now, government required MPG increases. Of coarse it will be a boon to the manufacturers too. The only way for them to pass the EPA requirements (done under tightly controlled conditions and easy for a manufacturer to game, remember GM's skip shift manual trans in the Vet, air pumps and the like) without killing performance in the real world. A gas turbo will live beyond the manufacturers warranty period but by about 100k to 120k miles seals and bearings start to go. Think Nissan 300Z Turbo, various Mopar/Mitsu products from the 80's, and even prestige imports. Ever see an old Volvo or Saab turbo without oil smoke spewing from the exhaust.

Think you won't keep it that long. AAA's most recent poll indicates that the average new car buyer is now planning on keeping their car 8 years. US average yearly driven milage now excedes 15,000 miles per year. Even if you bail at the 6 year mark don't expect much resale once the average buyer relizes the hugh repair bills just around the corner. Of course that won't happen for about another 10 years. I wonder the same thing about all the hugh mommy mobile SUV's now equiped with 20" tires. They seem to replace them with the cheapest crap available but probaly never realize that all tires aren't created the same. They just see them as big black round doughnuts.

Just for the heck of it, I tried to get a BMW dealer (they are heavily invested in switching to turbos) to put their money where their mouth was. I would buy a fully optioned 5 series. In addition, I agreed to buy the Platinum extended warranty to 100k miles and the 100k mile prepaid service agreement. This would gaurentee them substatial additoinal profit, that the vehicle would have all factory recommended service performed at their facility and 100,000 miles of warranty to work out any bugs or have any defects in materials discovered. All I asked in return was a contract with the dealership that specified that if the turbos mal###ntioned in any way, burnt seals, exhaust or oil leaks (internal or external), decreased boost do to wear, failed rotors, bearings or impelers; they would completly rebuild the twin turbo system using all new BMW parts at no cost to me through 150,000 miles.

Guess what, not a single taker. Tried 4 dealers in the LA area and one in the central valley. Still they were all convinced that the turbos were built much better now. Better materials. Better fit and finish. They don't have any of those old problems now. I however, was not convinced. I bought a V8.

 

[alexk]

While I dont own one, Ive driven the ecoboost explorer a lot though. I think for what it is the power is enough to get you where your going. Its an Explorer, not a mustang, it doesnt need to be fast. My most recent Explorer Ecoboost customer is averaging 23 mpg in around town driving after a week of ownership. Pretty good if you ask me. I have a V6 AWD Edge now, but when I get my new one next year Im contemplating the ecoboost motor in my next Edge.

 

[VinceL]

While I dont own one, Ive driven the ecoboost explorer a lot though. I think for what it is the power is enough to get you where your going. Its an Explorer, not a mustang, it doesnt need to be fast. My most recent Explorer Ecoboost customer is averaging 23 mpg in around town driving after a week of ownership. Pretty good if you ask me. I have a V6 AWD Edge now, but when I get my new one next year Im contemplating the ecoboost motor in my next Edge.

I will agree you that for what it is, it is sufficient. My disappointment comes from hoping it would be a little spunkier, we weren't expecting it to be fast. And like I said, if it could actually achieve its EPA mileage, it would still be worth considering. That way, she could have the family hauler eco cruiser, and I could get something with a bit of zip.

Too bad I can't rent one for a month and get an idea of how it performs mileage wise. My Legacy is giving me great mileage, 28-29 on average, for an almost rush hour commute. It was only rated for 27 on the highway using the new EPA rules. I would hope that the ecoboost could give me a similar pleasant surprise (exceeding its rating that is, not necessarily getting 29mpg).

 

[beach]

Ecoboost was pointless in the Explorer, it's just "adequate" if your driving alone, pile in a couple friends and god forbid any luggage and the truck is slow as molasses. And in real world driving so far, barely any better mileage to be seen over the 6 since you'll be on the pedal quite a bit with a load keeping the turbo spinning drinking more fuel. One of the guys at our dealer has had a demo for a bit, and said in same city/highway mix driving only avg 1 mpg better over the demo 6 he had.

Plus the 6 is quite a bit faster and responsive. Just don't think the Ecoboost was well suited the Ex.... in lighter vehicles like the Edge, it's a great combo and cracking about 7 flat to 60 vs 9-9.5 for the Explorer which is just ridiculously slow for a vehicle today that cost as much as it does.

Ford should have stuck the ecboost 6 in, since in real world driving the mileage in the Flex is about the same as reported mileage of the Ex with the 6... just with a hell of a lot more effotless power.

Or if Ford really wanted to make a statement, they should have adapted one of their sweet, smaller diesel engines from overseas for U.S. use... they would have smashed everyone in mpg in it's class and you'd have that nice diesel torque band.

 

[maerlim]

I just want to know, who are you people racing in your Explorers that you care about how fast it comes off the line? Some of us just need to drive to work in the morning and haul the kids around. I'm just kind of getting tired of people driving the Ecoboost like a madman and complaining about the fuel efficiency of it, or people complaining about how slow it is. Please stop trying to make the Ecoboost into something it isn't, and was never meant to be.

If you want speed, buy the V6. If you want fuel efficiency, buy the Ecoboost.

 

[Joe Dirt]

Well said.

 

[beach]

I just want to know, who are you people racing in your Explorers that you care about how fast it comes off the line? Some of us just need to drive to work in the morning and haul the kids around. I'm just kind of getting tired of people driving the Ecoboost like a madman and complaining about the fuel efficiency of it, or people complaining about how slow it is. Please stop trying to make the Ecoboost into something it isn't, and was never meant to be.

If you want speed, buy the V6. If you want fuel efficiency, buy the Ecoboost.

It's not that, it's just the why give up the power for barely any gain in mileage in "real world" driving, since our guy at the dealer said in mix city/hwy he's only seeing 1 mpg better avg over the V6 (hand calc'd not off the computer so many follow). When I test drove it with 4 of us on board inc the GM, the truck was pitifully slow with that added weight, you had to almost floor it to try to merge to highway speed safely and passing power was mehhh. If your driving it by yourself, it's adequate (reminds me of a 1st gen truck with the ohv V6), but sorry... load people in and any extra stuff like luggage and have fun with that. Needless to say after that test drive my sister (who wants a new truck) said forget about the Ecoboost version, now it's down to the V6 Ex or she really wants the V8 Jeep but making her hold off since I said they may be putting an new 8 speed in.

Nothing wrong with the engine, it's just not well matched to the Explorers weight and most people do carry more passengers in an suv and that added weight takes a big toll. In the lighter vehicles like the Edge, though I didn't drive it, people so far are very impressed by the Ecoboost as there's no loss in performance vs the V6 version and the mpg gains shows better since it's a lighter vehicle... same people testing the Ecoboost Explorer came away disappointed. So it's not the engine, just not a good combo with the larger weight.

 

[JohnnyO]

Just for the heck of it, I tried to get a BMW dealer (they are heavily invested in switching to turbos) to put their money where their mouth was. I would buy a fully optioned 5 series. In addition, I agreed to buy the Platinum extended warranty to 100k miles and the 100k mile prepaid service agreement. This would gaurentee them substatial additoinal profit, that the vehicle would have all factory recommended service performed at their facility and 100,000 miles of warranty to work out any bugs or have any defects in materials discovered. All I asked in return was a contract with the dealership that specified that if the turbos mal###ntioned in any way, burnt seals, exhaust or oil leaks (internal or external), decreased boost do to wear, failed rotors, bearings or impelers; they would completly rebuild the twin turbo system using all new BMW parts at no cost to me through 150,000 miles.

Guess what, not a single taker. Tried 4 dealers in the LA area and one in the central valley. Still they were all convinced that the turbos were built much better now. Better materials. Better fit and finish. They don't have any of those old problems now. I however, was not convinced. I bought a V8.

Because warranty repairs aren't the dealers' money. You were asking them to risk their own money.
My dad got a new 740iL in 2000. Worst POS he ever owned. He traded it on a new Cadillac in 2004 in Florida because he was literally afraid to drive the Beemer back to Pennsylvania. Lesson learned was that BMW's are great cars as long as they are on warranty.
I bought my Trac when the lease was up because they aren't making them any more. The bank *cough* strongly suggested *cough* that I buy at least a powertrain warranty. Apparently between the recession and cars being more expensive to fix, they've seen a rash of repos due to people not having the money for pricey repairs, so they just quit paying on the vehicle and let the bank take it.

 

[rocket 5979]

Ah yes, in heavy duty over-the-road trucks. Not even similar to the ones used in automobiles except by name. The real world gas mileage will be the same, making HP requires the same amount of gasoline. The only benefit would be under stady-state, low load cruise. Such as in EPA test conditions, seldom seen on a real road.

I am not planning on getting too deep in this Ecoboost vs N/A bigger displacement engine discussion because I am just too disappointed from an overall stance on the new gen of Explorers. But I do want to discuss one thing that stood out to me.

Turbochargers are designed the same way with similar materials and practices between many gasoline and diesel vehicles. Besides the sizing of things there isn't a large difference that would cause the turbo's on the gas engine to fail any sooner. You also do gain gas mileage with turbos in the real world. Just to illustrate an example, I have a Pontiac G8 GT that comes stock with a 6.0 V8. I was able to achieve about 26mpg highway and 16mpg city with it while stock. I added twin turbos to it and my gas mileage increased to 31mpg highway and 17mpg city driving on average. I also made about 250hp more than stock as well. So I not only increased my gas mileage significantly but also obtained more hp as well. I can assure you that my tests were not conducted under "EPA test conditions, seldom seen on a real road" but were performed while taking care to ensure accurate data was gathered. Forced induction, especially turbos, does in fact achieve better gas mileage at a given HP level in 95% of cases. The reason for this is because the air fuel mixture burns more thorough due to the higher dynamic compression achieved and you also are usually using a smaller displacement engine with a turbocharger that doesn't have nearly as much parasitic loss. All of this means more hp with the same amount of fuel.

 

[calb]

I added twin turbos to it and my gas mileage increased to 31mpg highway and 17mpg city driving on average. I also made about 250hp more than stock as well. So I not only increased my gas mileage significantly but also obtained more hp as well.

I've seen a lot of comments from people wishing Ford would have an Ecoboost in the V6.

What are the impediments to putting a turbo on the current Explorer to create a DIY ecoboost? I've been wondering what it would actually take, and you seemed to be a person who would know.

 

[rocket 5979]

I've seen a lot of comments from people wishing Ford would have an Ecoboost in the V6.

What are the impediments to putting a turbo on the current Explorer to create a DIY ecoboost? I've been wondering what it would actually take, and you seemed to be a person who would know.

I have been out of the country allot the last few years and admittedly didn't know much about the new Gen's until recent. But once I got back and seen what Ford did to the Explorer I was honestly so disappointed in the direction they took that I will probably never bother learning anything about them. Gutless performance, front wheel drive, and not even close to being a real SUV anymore turned me off to them. I don't mean any offense to any of you owners in here but that is just how I feel. Hopefully there is someone else out there who has experience with doing custom forced induction and is interested in exploring the possibilities with the new Explorers.

 

[94Eddie]

I have been out of the country allot the last few years and admittedly didn't know much about the new Gen's until recent. But once I got back and seen what Ford did to the Explorer I was honestly so disappointed in the direction they took that I will probably never bother learning anything about them. Gutless performance, front wheel drive, and not even close to being a real SUV anymore turned me off to them. I don't mean any offense to any of you owners in here but that is just how I feel. Hopefully there is someone else out there who has experience with doing custom forced induction and is interested in exploring the possibilities with the new Explorers.

This pretty much sums up my feelings on the new Explorer too. They castrated the vehicle and it is no longer a capable off-road vehicle, IMO. Without some decent off-road capability then I might as well consider the multitude of other placebo SUVs on the market. It will be interesting to see how the Explorer in its current state wears on the public after a few years. I think the turbo versions will prove to be a PITA and 3-4 years from now they will start to fail and be very expensive to repair. Turbos operate in a very harsh environment and they rely on very hot exhaust gas to power them. This heat will take a toll on anything over time and history has shown that turbos in production gas engine vehicles are good for around 100k-120k miles. They are much less durable than the engines to which they are attached. Look for the turbos in all of Ford's line-up, including the gasoline engine trucks, to disappear in a few years as they are not going to be lasting the life of the vehicle and this will cause a backlash to Ford at some point, IMO.

When it comes to longevity in a gasoline engine, one that is N/A, amply powered is the most economical for anyone looking to keep a vehicle for the long haul. A multi-thousand dollar turbo repair on an Explorer's EcoBoost engine will more than cover the additional fuel costs compared to the V-6 engine option.

 

[EX-SV]

Question for owners of the Ecoboost4 Explorer, how's the smoothness and refinement?

 

[VinceL]

Question for owners of the Ecoboost4 Explorer, how's the smoothness and refinement?

I'm not an owner, but during the test drive:

The idle and normal cruising were smooth as silk, the engine was quiet too. When pushed, it was rougher and noisier than I expected it to be.

So depending on how aggressively you drive, I would expect it to be pleasant most of the time.

As for the people who have responded that some have the wrong expectations of this motor, isn't Ford's whole idea behind the ecoboost being the power of a V6 or V8 with the mileage of a I4 or V6? It just didn't live up to the marketing hype in my test drive. That is where my comments derive from. If it had hybrid stamped on the side, I would have been more forgiving, but of course would expect better mpg also.

I too am inclined to say that this engine is poorly matched to the vehicle. Is it sufficient, yes. But driving in Houston traffic can be a challenge sometimes and a little extra power can be reassuring.

To each his own

Happy driving.

 

[EX-SV]

^ Thanks VinceL for your observations via the test drive.

 

[beach]

I'm not an owner, but during the test drive:

The idle and normal cruising were smooth as silk, the engine was quiet too. When pushed, it was rougher and noisier than I expected it to be.

So depending on how aggressively you drive, I would expect it to be pleasant most of the time.

As for the people who have responded that some have the wrong expectations of this motor, isn't Ford's whole idea behind the ecoboost being the power of a V6 or V8 with the mileage of a I4 or V6? It just didn't live up to the marketing hype in my test drive. That is where my comments derive from. If it had hybrid stamped on the side, I would have been more forgiving, but of course would expect better mpg also.

I too am inclined to say that this engine is poorly matched to the vehicle. Is it sufficient, yes. But driving in Houston traffic can be a challenge sometimes and a little extra power can be reassuring.

To each his own

Happy driving.

Thanks, exactly what I was saying. Nothing wrong with the engine, it's just not matched well to the Explorers weight, nevermind once you load a few people up etc. It doesn't have the power of a V6 (it's not even close to the acceleration or passing power of the V6 Explorer which in itself is not fast). So basically you don't have the power of a V6, with barely any better mileage in real world driving, I mean our GM is only avg 1 mpg in the Ecoboost vs the V6 for city/hwy mileage.

I mean when there were 4 of us in the Ecboost Ex... forget about merging decently with traffic or keeping up with the flow of city traffic without digging deep into the throttle (eating up fuel mileage since the turbos are constantly on boosting). 4 people in a V6 Explorer, no problem merging quickly or passing on the highway, or keeping up with city traffic.

I mean in reviews so far, nobody has had anything good to say about the Ecoboost Ex and some mentioned how there wasn't much difference in mileage in real time driving, but loved the lighter Ecoboost Edge which happens to maintain performance against the V6 version while getting noticeably better mileage.

My sister is the one who was shopping and is not a powerhouse chick or anything, and even she was like this is way to slow (when we tested the Eco Explorer). It'll be fine for the people who poke around and hold up traffic while accelerating like a turtle, you know the type