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It was recently announced that the refreshed 2015 Lincoln Navigator would come with a retuned version of the twin turbocharged 3.5L EcoBoost V6 with 380 horsepower and 460lb-ft of torque – numbers which quickly led me to believe that the 2015 Ford F150 with that same EcoBoost V6 would see the same bump in power from the 365hp and 420lb-ft of torque offered for the 2014 F150. That added power would almost certainly give the 2015 F150 a huge advantage in towing, hauling and some power metrics so it seemed like a done deal.

Well, now that Ford has announced the power numbers for the 2015 F150 pickup, I am shocked to see that the 3.5L EcoBoost V6 still packs “only” 365hp and 420lb-ft of torque. On the other hand, the 5.0L V8 that played second fiddle to the EcoBoost V6 in the F150 over the past few years has received a big jump in power that makes it one of the most capable engines in the half ton truck segment.

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The Premium 2015 Ford F150 Engines
We found out the numbers on the new 3.5L base model V6 and the new 2.7L EcoBoost for the 2015 Ford F150 a few weeks back, but there was no mention of the premium 3.5L EcoBoost and 5.0L V8. With the demise of the 6.2L V8 and the rapid growth in the popularity of the EcoBoost V6 engines, I had expected that the Motor Company would beef up the twin turbo 3.5L V6 to match (if not exceed) the output of the same engine in the new Lincoln SUV. After all, the F150 V6 engines are pummeling the V8s in terms of sales so it would only make sense to see Ford beef up the ultra-popular twin turbo V6. The current 3.5L EcoBoost in the 2014 is very impressive – bumping up the output to 380hp and 460lb-ft of torque would undoubtedly make the lighter 2015 F150 a beast. However, the company has opted to stick with the same 365hp and 420lb-ft of torque from the current EcoBoost V6. Fortunately, the 2015 F150 with the 3.5L EcoBoost still boasts the highest towing capacity in the segment with a new number of 12,200lbs.

2015 Ford F150 Galleries:
A closer look at the trimlines of the 2015 Ford F150
The 2015 Ford F150 at the 2014 NAIAS

Instead of beefing up the EcoBoost, Ford engineers focused their attention on the 5.0L V8 for the 2015 F150 and the result is quite impressive. Where the current (2014 and earlier) F150 with the 5.0L v8 offers just 350hp and 380lb-ft of torque, the 2015 5.0L V8 packs 385 horsepower and 387lb-ft of torque. This extra power comes from a new intake manifold design, a new camshaft setup and new exhaust manifolds, which also allows the 2015 F150 equipped with the 5.0L V8 to boast the highest payload capacity in the half ton truck segment by a massive margin. The 5.0L won’t tow quite as much as the 3.5L EcoBoost, but the new V8 will haul the weight of a Corvette ZR1 in the bed. The 5.0L is also capable of towing 11,100lbs.

In the 2014 Ford F150, the EcoBoost V6 was better in every way and that played a big part in the V6 engines outselling the V8 engines. Even though the 6.2L V8 is gone, the revised 5.0L V8 could help level out the take rate of the larger engines thanks to the newfound advantage in horsepower and payload.

The Entry Level Engines
For those who haven’t read anything about the new engines for the 2015 Ford F150, the base model engine is a naturally aspirated 3.5L V6 delivering 283 horsepower and 255lb-ft of torque while the first step up is a new twin turbocharged 2.7L EcoBoost with 325 horsepower and 375lb-ft of torque. The base model engine offers a maximum towing capacity of 7,600lbs, which is higher than any other entry level V6 in the segment and the new 2.7L EcoBoost V6 will tow 8,500lbs.

The 2015 Ford F150 will begin hitting dealerships around the country later this year with varying availability of these four engines across the five trimlines. Expect to see a great many new F150s at the dealership with either the 2.7 or 3.5L EcoBoost engine and fewer with the 5.0L V8. I would expect that the base model 3.5L V6 will be the hardest to find based on the ordering trends of most dealerships.