Eventually someone will get one of these trucks with the 3.7. I'm thinking about trading in my Edge and getting back into an F150. I think that the 3.7 would be enough for the config I'm looking at, regular cab short bed 4X4, and I think that I can get about the same fuel economy the an F150/3.7 as I do with the Edge/3.5.

Just curious if anyone has an F150 with the 3.7 and what they think about it.

Thanks!

 

Wittom,
Although I don't have a 2011 with the 3.7, I do have a 2010 - in just the configuration you're talking about - with the old 4.6 liter 3 valve motor. The horsepower is identical (300), but the 3.7 has a little less torque. I think you'll like it though. I generaly get 16-17 MPG in regular driving and can see 20 MPG on the road with mine. I would fully expect the 3.7 to equal or slightly better those figures. Oh, and I don't find myself wanting for more power either.

 

I test drove a 3.7L reg cab 2wd STX immediately after driving a '10 4.6L 2V reg cab STX. The 3.7L was peppier above 3K rpm's and shifted smooth but I didn't like the exhaust note one bit; it reminded me of a cannister style vacuum cleaner. It definitely pulls hard in the upper rpm's.

My son has a '11 V6 Mustang and loves the 3.7L engine but he's mentioned the injector's are quite noisy at idle and on the throttle. He's also mentioned getting a best of 35 mpg on the highway at 70 mph.

 

If Ford would offer a manual trans with the 3.7 I just might buy a new truck. Most people here are ignoring it simply because they are V-6 haters.

 

^^^ Repost - x 1000

I'm no V6 hater, but, 2-stroked, I don't think you can really compare the 4.6 3V to the 3.7 - two very different torque curves despite similar HP peak numbers.

BTW - are theae ALL using the same 6-speed auto ratios? I would think there would be some benefit tailoring the ratios to the specific prime mover...

A nice (relatively light) reg cab/SB with a 5.0L + stick would be a riot ...

OP - I don't think you'd be dissapointed...


MGD

 

Thanks for the input!

I know that a 5.0 would be much more fun, but I don't think that I could squeeze as many MPG out of it.

Having driven a vehicle with a 3.5 V6 for a few years, I'm of a belief that V6's have come a long way. I've has a couple fast F150's but I've got to tell you the Edge moves out pretty damn good for a grocery go getter. The 3.5 is very similar to the 3.7. They are both higher revving engines with more hp than tq. I think that the 6 speed helps to work with the power that these engines produce.

There are a couple 2010 F150's in the config that I want that have the 4.6 24 valve engines. I like torque as much as any guy does, but my truck would be empty 95% of the time. I don't really need the tq. I don't think that I can squeeze the mpg's out of the 4.6 either, because I would tend to use that low end tq too often.

The V6 sound may be a turn off, but I've been driving a V6 for a few years now. I generally only drive my personal vehicle on the weekends for the most part (drive a company E250 during the work week) so when I do drive it I like to relax by cranking my tunes. I don't hear the engine so much.

As far as a manual transmission, some might remember I had the '98 with the 4.6/5 speed. I bolted a Magnacharger into it. It was a blast but that M5OD didn't help put the power to the ground. The M5OD was like rowing a boat compared to a car. Even after the Hurst shifter. If they could make a close ratio manual I'd be interested but if they made something that was like rowing a boat I'd still opt for the 6 speed auto. My wife has a 2010 Mazda 3 hatch with a 6 speed manual. I like to drive that when I get a chance.

 

MGD, I'm gonna keep reposting till it actually happens - get used to it!

Wittom, the 3.7 Mustang has a VERY nice 6 speed manual - I think that would be very suitable for the F-150. However, I'm not holding my breath.

 

Take a look at this test of the V-6 trucks. There are 10 pages to the story, and it is interseting to see the power of the new V-6's.
http://special-reports.pickuptrucks....roduction.html

 

I'm going to check out a silver STX Wednesday. Nice looking truck. I've never bought a 4X4 new. Big bucks for a pretty basic truck. I guess I'm going to find out how the 3.7 does in a 5000lb. truck.

 

Subscribing/watching...

The 3.7 has been "in the wild" for a while now (as long as any '11 motor), I wish some of the new owners would step up and talk about them like the 5.0 guys are. The 2 dealers I've talked to say the 3.7's are selling nice, so there should be some owners out there... Hopefully some will post up some real world MPG #'s.

I test drove a 2wd Screw XLT, 5.5bed. If you let the motor rev it moves pretty good. It's not as quick as our 4.0l 4Runner, but it did scoot. Also - it is a bit loud accelerating, and downright ricey above 6k (shifts at 7k ) At cruising speed it is mostly quiet, though.

I am still on the fence, 2wd or 4wd. If I go 2wd, it will be Screw 3.7 XLT with the "custom" package. ( I wish the SXT came Screw'ed) If I go 4x4 it will be Ecoboost - but only becasue I can't get a 3.7 with the Screw 4x4.

 

Most people who frequent forums are enthusiasts and won't even consider base engines. Most people who buy the 3.7 are not going to be on forums, they don't really care, their trucks are just tools.

I'm one of the exceptions to the rule - I like my old 4.2 a LOT.

 

Hmmm. I always thought that there were quite a few V6 folks here. I guess is can seem that way when you've been coming to this site for ten years.

Yeah, I know that there aren't going to be a lot of V6 buyers coming here, though it seems as though Ford is using the 3.7 in a lot of different configurations.

I've had a supercharged 4.6. I've had the factory supercharged 5.4. I'm getting a little older and hopefully a little wiser. I've learned that it's pretty tough to have a truck that I can take to the drag strip and do well, that will also take me to our hiking destinations here in New England, during the winter. I've come to the conclusion that if I want to go fast, I'm going to have to get something that just goes fast. My plan is to build a turbo 4 Ranger in the coming years to feed my need for speed.

I'm in the Edge now because I was driving an '06 Expedition when gas hit 4 bucks a gallon. I need to get better than 20mpg on our hiking trips, otherwise we'll have to take my wifes small car (overloaded w/camping gear, rack up the miles on her daily driver) or cut the trips out, which I don't see as an option. The introduction of the 3.7 in the F150 may allow me to have enough of the things I need, a long with some decent power, which I would want.

Honestly, I thought that I'd be looking at Rangers. They are low on power and get poor fuel economy. If I knew that Ford was going to do something with their small truck, I might wait.

 

What you COULD do is see what kind of real world gas mileage the 3.7 and the 3.5 EB is getting. The EB may be the best of both worlds.

If you have driven a 3.7 and are happy with the performance, there's no reason not to buy one. I was skeptical too - I drove my 4.2 before I bought it. The only thing I'm not totally happy with is the gas mileage.

 

I drove the 3.7 F150 tonight. I learned something very important. It's a lesson about my impression of the Ecoboost that I drove last month as well. The 6-speed auto in these trucks is way, way different than the one in my Edge. The Edge is pretty heavy, just about 500lbs lighter than the F150 I drove tonight. It feels much pepier though. It's all about ratios. I guess I was expecting that these trucks, with more powerful engines like the 3.7 and the Ecoboost, would feel somewhat like my Edge. I was way off.

These trucks require more throttle travel to get the engine to respond. I drove the Ecoboost and it felt slow to me. I never had the chance to give the thing enough throttle to reap the rewards of twin turbocharging. I drove the 3.7 tonight and it felt really similar to the Ecoboost that I drove last month. It wasn't untill I tested the highway merge that I realized that the truck did have some get up and go, but you had to kick it in tha *** to get it moving. The Edge is just more fluid. It's a totally different vehicle though.

I liked the truck. It looks cool and has the options that I want. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to get it. I'm going to take it for a day later this week so that I can put a few more miles on it to make sure that that V6 is going to be enough for my tastes.

This isn't the actual truck but this is what it looks like.

 

I can relate exactly to what you are saying. My brother's 2wd Escape has the V6, and it is pretty fast. Very responsive throttle, excellent get up and go. Get back in my truck and have to give it a lot more throttle to go but once the V8 gets up and going it goes nicely. Two totally different vehicles though.

That single cab looks great! I think I like the single cab configuration better than anything else on the 09+ rigs.