Ford Powers Up New and Future Powertrains for F-Series Trucks

In the next year, Ford F-Series pickup trucks are set to receive three all-new engines — a 3.5-liter twin turbo gasoline direct-injected EcoBoost V-6, a 6.2-liter naturally aspirated V-8 and a 6.7-liter turbodiesel Power Stroke V-8. Barb Samardzich, Ford's vice president of powertrain engineering, says the new engines are going to be learning experiences for both Ford and its truck buyers.

First up, the new 6.2-liter single overhead cam V-8. It's expected in the first quarter of this year, starting in the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor and 2011 Ford F-Series Super Duty, with power ratings of 411 horsepower and 434 pounds-feet of torque , making it the most powerful eight-cylinder engine available in a light-duty pickup.

In the , the 6.2-liter V-8 will be the standard engine, but what's on the minds of many F-150 owners is whether the 6.2-liter V-8 will find its way into other models besides the go-fast prerunner-style Raptor.

"The 6.2-liter V-8 ends up being a very high premium application engine," Samardzich said. "Obviously, it's going to be in the F-150 lineup. We're not announcing anything [yet]. Certainly, it's there in the Raptor. It comes down to how do we feel customers would or wouldn't accept the 6.2-liter V-8 in other [F-150] variants. For now, it's exclusive to Raptor and in the Super Duty."

If it was offered beyond the Raptor, the 6.2-liter V-8 is expected to find broad appeal with frequent trailer towers that find the F-150's current 310-hp, 5.4-liter V-8 making 365 pounds-feet of torque underpowered.

While Ford debates the merits of the 6.2-liter V-8, the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 will arrive exclusively for the F-150 by the end of the year.

The dual overhead cam 3.5-liter V-6 is already available in Ford's front-wheel-drive crossovers, like the Ford Flex and Lincoln MKT, where its rated at 355 horsepower and 350 pounds-feet of torque. But it's torque limited in those applications because the transmission and driveline aren't setup to handle its full potential. The rear-wheel-drive F-150, however, is just about perfect. The F-150's 6R80 six-speed is optimized to handle lots of torque, and though Ford hasn't announced power figures for the EcoBoost V-6 yet, we expect it to be rated at in the neighborhood of 400 hp and 400 pounds-feet of torque.

But will truck buyers trust their light-duty towing needs to a downsized twin-turbo V-6?

"In the truck segment, we want to make sure truck buyers still have a choice," Samardzich said. "We want to make sure they still have V-8s, like they do today, and that the V-6 turbocharged represents an alternative choice that has comparable horsepower and torque."

it will take more than similar power figures to get F-150 owners to adopt the V-6. Ford promises the EcoBoost engine will offer a 20 percent improvement in fuel economy over a V-8, while keeping all of the towing and hauling capabilities of the current V-8 F-150 lineup.

Another part of the equation will be pricing for the new powertrains.

"When we go out and put the [engine] lineup together and do the pricing, it will be a real opportunity for customers to have a choice in what they want to purchase and for us. It will be a learning experience to see how receptive customers are to a downsized turbocharged engine versus a naturally aspirated V-8 in the same pickup," Samardzich said. "Buyers are certainly going to have what they need, that's for sure. We'll see if the fuel economy equation holds up for them like it has certainly held up for other customers."

Ford F-Series Super Duty buyers have a new powertrain cost factor to consider. Although invoice($6,503) and retail ($7,835) pricing hasn't changed from last year's prices in Ford's order book for the all-new 6.7-liter Power Stroke V-8, owners are going to have to periodically refill its new Diesel Exhaust Fluid tank. DEF is required to help the engine meet tough new EPA emissions standards.

Unlike recent news about $300-plus DEF service for a Mercedes-Benz GL-Class SUV, Samardzich said maintenance costs are at the top of Ford's mind.

"We are so in tune to cost of ownership issues for our customers," Samardzich said. "It's first and foremost on our minds. We are going to make sure that we try to minimize any costs associated [with the new diesel emissions]."

But what's Ford thinking about further out on the horizon for F-Series truck buyers? Samardzich wouldn't confirm word from our sources that Ford will offer its new 3.7-liter Ti-VCT V-6 in the F-150 as the base engine. It's new this year for the 2010 Mustang.

"That's an engine with a broad application — whether it's for a Mustang or something else," she said. "If you look at the engine families that we're coming out with, the 6.2s, the 3.5s, the 3.7s, all of them have a broad applicability in our portfolio lineup [of vehicles]. But we're not making any announcements yet."

Ford is also officially mum about the new 5.0-liter V-8 for the Mustang making its way to the F-150, though our sources and spy shots say otherwise.

Way down the line, Ford continues to work on cutting-edge technology for the far future, like the radical twin-fuel engine, codename "," that variably blends gasoline and ethanol on demand to realize diesel-like performance.

"That's something that's still in our research stage. I think it's very exciting,” Samardzich said. "I've seen the fuel consumption numbers and the torque that we're able to get out [it] when you really need that high torque — it's almost limitless torque with ethanol — and then, of course, just gasoline when you don't demand that torque. … We're absolutely continuing to develop it."