Ford's 2015 F-150 mileage to top rivals' compact truck MPG

As we approach the launch of the all new aluminum 2015 Ford F-150, experts go on-record predicting the fuel economy numbers the new truck can achieve with the new 2.7-liter EcoBoost. The news is not good for the Tacoma and Frontier.

The 2015 Ford F-150 has not yet been given official fuel economy numbers by Ford. That being the case Torque News reached out to two truck experts to see what they think the best numbers the new full-sized truck will be able to achieve with the new 2.7-liter, 325 horsepower, EcoBoost engine. What they said surprised us. They are sure the new Ford full size truck will top the current offerings by Toyota and Nissan in their compact pickups.

Compact Trucks' Fuel Economy
We are not trying to pick on the Tacoma and Frontier. Rather, we are making the case that Ford has done something bold and is now about leap ahead in fuel economy. The 2014 Toyota Tacoma’s 4-clyinder engine is coincidentally a 2.7-liter engine. The Tacoma with an automatic transmission and its base 4-cylinder in two-wheel drive is rated at 19 MPG City and 24 MPG highway. Frontier’s 2.5 liter 4-cylinder 2WD auto gets just 17/23 MPG. Until recently those numbers did not stick out as bad. Going forward they will. In the past, one reason for opting for a smaller than full size pickup was cost of ownership. Ford’s leap forward in fuel economy will now make smaller trucks cost per mile advantage questionable. Particularly for those that use the trucks for business on leases, or who own under warranty only.

Experts Agree -the Ford F-150 V6 Turbo Will Top Competitor’s 4-Cylinders
Patrick Rall, managing editor of Torque News, says that the F-150 2WD with the V6 EcoBoost 2.7-liter engine will end up with a 27 MPG highway number or greater. He says the real question is whether the Ford EcoBoost gasoline engine will match the Ram’s diesel number of 28 MPG highway.

We also wanted an opinion outside of Torque News, so we reached out to Tim Esterdahl. Tim is an occasional guest writer at TN, but his work is more commonly found at pickuptrucks.com and eBay Motors Blog. Tim is often my go-to guy with truck related fact-checking. Tim guessed 26 MPG for the Ford F-150. He wanted to point out that regardless of the top numbers published; the bigger story is that the “real” trucks, 4WD models with longer beds, will also see big improvements in the coming year. In his words, “The big news is "weight loss" for the large crew cab models. When automakers state their highest fuel economy for a vehicle, it is based on the lightest version. In this case, it will be a High Fuel Efficiency (HFE) truck model which typically is a regular cab, short box with all the fuel saving devices possible.” Tim says we should look deeper at the big sellers and we are likely to see important improvements in the fuel economy of those models. Tim also brought up the stop-start technology Ford is bringing to trucks first. He thinks it will add 1 MPG in real world driving.

Will Colorado and Canyon Beat F-150’s Fuel Economy?
Another interesting truck to speculate about is the new Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon. Will these new smaller than full-size trucks beat the F-150 with the 3.6 liter V6, the Duramax diesel or the 4-cylinder base engine? What is your prediction?

Related Stories:
Ford Announces 2015 F150 2.7L EcoBoost V6 Power, Towing Numbers
New 2.7L EcoBoost V6 Will Make 2015 Ford F150 the Most Efficient Truck in USA
Why a 2016 Tacoma Diesel makes more sense than a Tacoma Hybrid

* All existing model fuel economy number according to fueleconomy.gov