Ford has been on an F-150 offensive as of recent. It’s consistently been updated alongside the aging Ram 1500 and Chevrolet Silverado 1500, and this time, its engines out-muscle the competition from Chevrolet.
Ford revealed official horsepower and torque ratings for its 3.3-liter V6, 2.7-liter EcoBoost V6, 5.0-liter V8 and the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 engines. Each produces more power than a comparable engine offered in the Chevrolet Silverado, according to Ford Authority.
The 3.3L V6 makes 290 horsepower; the Silverado’s 4.3L V6 makes 285 hp. The 2.7L EcoBoost V6 pushes 325 hp, handily outdoing the 4.3L V6 offered in the Silverado. Though, the Silverado’s 5.3-liter V8 engine does manage 355 hp.
Ford outdoes it again with the 5.0L V8, which now makes 395 hp, however. Only the optional (and expensive) 6.2-liter V8 engine outdoes the F-150 with 420 hp on tap.
So, where does this leave GM and Chevrolet? Well, thankfully, a new generation of full-size trucks is just around the corner. Chevrolet has seen Silverado sales continue to slide over the past year and the truck could seriously use a shot in the arm. Ford has made its move, but Chevrolet is primed to strike back.
Comments
When ford just gotta be so “extra”
The GM 4.3 V6 will probably have more torque than the Ford 3.3 V6
Yeah, 265 in the 3.3 vs 305 in the 4.3
The 4.3 for a base v6 is a gem and far better than the Ford and Ram offering. Hopefully next gen see’s a 8 speed or 10 speed auto with it.
The 5.0 is a step up from the 5.3, hopefully they update the 5.3. I will say the 6.2 is still a big leap over the 5.0 at 420/460 vs 395/400.
GM really, really needs to stop being so greedy with rear end gear ratio’s. I just saw Ford is still offering 3.73’s with the 10 speed. That’s a lot of gear and gear is what makes the trucks fun to drive, especially if you like to upsize the tires.
Yeah to bad ford has to use twin turbo to get that power I’ll stick with my 5.3 gmc that gets 22 miles a gallon anyday
HAS to use or CHOOSES to use…? big difference.
I like BOTH Chevy, & Ford, products!!! I presently own a Chevrolet!!! I have owned Ford products in the past. I especially enjoyed the 2,…new when bought, Ford Mustang, V8’s,…and a new, when purchased, Lincoln Continental! If I had to buy a new truck, now,…it would probably be the 2018 Ford F150,…with the V8 – engine!
Currently does have more torque. 308tq on the 4.3, and may still be a cheaper engine. 6.2 is only an exspensive motor cause you have to buy the ltz package and upgrade transmissions as well. 6.2 is still king by a long shot! Until last year the 6.2 had more power than the super dummy trucks that come from Ford
GM continue to be a wayward competitor by not updating it’s powertrains during the mid-cycle refresh on none of its vehicles.
GM had promised to update these engines at the launch of these trucks for their mid-cycle refresh, but as usual GM was just not up to it as their are accustomed to doing with all their products.
To GM, you need to become more proactive by updating the powertrains on all of your mainstream vehicles during their model lifecycle.
Get close and one can see through the cracks!
All that work with cams, valves and turbos and that’s the results?
The 3.3 V6 is a not more powerful than the 4.3. It’s classic Ford to always try to one up the numbers which I’m sure you put on a dyno you could see the difference after the 15-20% loss to the wheel.
On the other note I hope GM does out do the 5.0 with the new bread and butter 5.3 in the up coming Silverado and Sierra assuming that they will offer that. Hopefully they invested in newer and more powerful powertrains for the next-gen trucks. I love the LT1 but my biggest complaint as others is availability and that’s what hurting GM in my opinion. I wouldn’t play 50,000 for a truck just get a 6.2. Now if they offer it as an option for all trucks and come standard for higher models that would be a different story..
Just for maths sake. I believe the 4.3 chevy is a sohc, so it could be cheaper regardless of a whole extra litter over the Ford3.3. Now the real deal. Chevy at 305tq and ford at 260tq. Ford beats the 4.3 at approx 5600 rpm, but the 4.3’s torque would mean that the chevy block V6 would give better power up till about 4000-4500 rpm. Meaning that until you pass that point, the chevy is clearly more powerful. Who hear tows at 5000rpm? I would like to hear rom them. Heck, when I race my friends I’m only above 5000 for a second, so the 4.3 might out race the more powerful 3.3 as it would dominate when the trucks downshift to 3500-4000 rpm and then leval out at 4500-5000 just before getting ready to upshift.
@Jake:
The 4.3 liter V6 is basically a 5.7 liter (the trusty 350ci) V8 with two cylinders removed. Cam in block pushrod two valve engine. Very low investment engine that GM should put in the Colorado/Canyon, at least in the ZR2.
Anyone else like the idea of a ZR2/4.3?
I know, 6.2 first choice for me as well while dreaming!
Prior to 2014, the 4.3L was just what you said, a 350 with 2 cylinders removed. However, the 4.3L used in the Silverado starting in 2014 is completely different and is of the same design as a 5.3L or 6.2L, in other words, direct injected, VVT, etc. It is cam in block and 2 valves per cylinder, but shares nothing in design with the old 4.3. It is 100% new as of 2014, and of LT design. Just hoping to clarify, and it is, in fact, a great little base engine, making torque like a pushrod motor does, as opposed to the soft bottom end of the overhead cam engines.
It really does baffle me that GM can not update suspension or engines even when the full-size trucks make them the most profit. It seems like the biggest engineering pushes are for the cars while the trucks languish. The 5.3L is a great engine, but needs a better tranny/more hp/better throttle response for it to appeal in this marketplace. PS-need more options than 3.08 and 3.42 axle ratios on all trims. These aren’t all used for just driving the highway.
Did you notice that ford builds engines totally different then GM so that they can’t be compared apples for apples!
We had two rentals and got to compare Chevy’s 5.3 and Ford’s 3.5 EB back to back in very similar vehicle types. The first was a 2017 GMC Yukon SLT 4X4 with the basic 5.3 and 3.08 rear gears. The second vehicle was a 2016 Expedition with the 3.5 EB and 3.31 rear gears. Both were tied to 6 speed automatics of course. We both expected to be blown away by the Ford with all the ballyhoo regarding the monster torque laden 3.5 engine and it even had better 3.31 rear gears. Well the Yukon not only was quicker off the line it also clocked better 0-60 times, sounded better doing it and returned better overall mileage on the same exact trip we took in the Ford. The 3.5 EB got 15.2 overall combined MPG. The Yukon came in at 16.7 doing the same driving at the same speeds on the same route!
The Expedition 4X4 weighs in at 5789.
The 3.5 EB makes 365 HP@5000 RPMs and has 420@2500 torque
The Ford uses a 3.31 rear axle with a 3.73 optional
The GMC Yukon SLT 4X4 weighs in at 5379.
The 5.3 V8 makes 355 HP@5600 RPMs and 383 torque@4100 RPMs
The Chevy has a std 3.08 rear axle with a 3.42 optional
It’s interesting to note that despite having more HP and torque and better gear the 3.5 mill failed to counteract the 410 LB weight difference. Note that both SUV’s were close to 20K miles on the clock which makes me wonder if Chevy is underrating the 5.3 or Ford is overrating the 3.5EB. Or is the EB engine one of several EB motors that doesn’t put out all of it’s power all the time? Does it really need higher octane to put out the advertised ratings? The difference in mileage was understandable. With lower gears and less weight and cylinder shutdown the GMC was easier to get better mileage from and we saw up to 22.1 MPG on the open road going 72 MPH! The Ford’s best was 19.1.
ford is dumping money into the Eco boost advertising. its their gig. the 5.3 is probably the best truck engine in the market for “fitting its niche” fords problem is that they have played their cards, and they cant easily back down now. if they go back to naturally aspirated engines it will be saying, “oh chevy was right all along!” ford will more than likely move to the diesels and hybrids, (even though 3 years ago their chief engine engineer said that they believed it was best to stick to gas as their principal motors) than give chevy that benefit. the final gear ratio has little to do with acceleration with cross brand comparison. Mind that they work with the actual transmission up front to produce the drive ratio, so comparing the 3.08 to 3.31 will do little until we understand what the gears themselves offer as ratios. I imagine the extra beef in the 3.31 would be nice with towing though. definitely Chevy is underrating its 5.3’s thanks for the imput.
The 5.3 is easily the worst offering in the market place. Easily blown into the weeds by both the 5.0 and the Hemi.
In fact, the EcoTec3 5.3 was handily outperformed by the old 5.0 without DI, much less the ’18 5.0.
The 5.3s are flat dogs.
Glad to hear that you like the 5.3 chevy engine. I certainly wouldn’t own another. Barely got 200k on it before it ended in the scrap yard. I had a 99 5.4 ford with 433k yes. I repeat. 433k miles and original engine and transmission and it ran good when sold. Currently havenrolled a 2016 f150 2.7 eccoboost. Great truck. 2011 5.0 coyote sold. That 5.0 kills that 5.3 in every aspect. Sorry. I will not own another Gmail product untill they change a few things
well, if you actually want to go into details, the 2007-2009 5.3 suffered from valve issues related to cylinder deactivation. and it wasn’t every truck. At around 200K oil would leak around the valves causing it to burn rapidly. if caught and taken care of, the engine will go a million miles. The 2009-2011 5.0 fords had the same issue to the 10th degree needing to be rebuilt around 150K dont just look at resale value for used f150s for silvarados in these areas. The f50 almost always goes 5K less because of motor issues. 5.3 is king!
That’s a hilarious comment. Have you seen the sales numbers for 2016, 2017? I don’t think they’d go back and change a thing! Three years ago, Ford had a supply problem, and there was some concern that going aluminum may have been a marketing error, or that Ecoboost may have been a marketing error, because no one knew for sure back then how much of the sales slump was due to the supply issue and how much was a perception issue; not even Ford execs, but evidently about 900,000 consumers don’t agree with you this year.
The 2.7 liter Ecoboost, as an example of success, is not just the gas-powered mpg champ in the full size market; it’s their sales leading engine; it’s got class leading torque; it beats all the compact trucks compared in mpg with their base 4 cylinder engines, save GM’s 2.5; and with respect to the latter, it’s a tie! That includes Honda Ridgeline. Only two truck engines beat it in EPA estimated mpg. It’s the two diesels.
There is no 6.2L V8 inside any F-150 anymore. The last 6.2L V8 was in the 2014 Raptor with 411 hp and not 420 as stated. 2017 Raptor has a High-Output EcoBoost 3.5L V6 with 450 hp and 510 lb.-ft. torque. The only 6.2L V8 is in the F250 with 385 hp not 420 again. Do some research people!
The author is wrong headed in part of his comparison…
Disclaimer; I own a very basic 2015 2WD, Std Cab F150XL with the 2.7 EB that I got new for only $27.3K before taxes and tags, and am averaging 24 mpg with 3.31 gears and am very happy with everything about it; the low end torque, the refinement, etc., and considering I got it cheaper than one can buy a new Camry, it was a pretty good value as well.
Ford has 4 engines, and five counting the high-output for the Raptor and six when the diesel comes in the Spring for F150, but in the original article, the author wants to compare the 6.2 V8 that hardly anyone can obtain, to Ford’s 5.0 V8, which can be had in all versions of Ford’s F150 and is not Ford’s top-billed engine.
Proper comparisons follow:
4.3 V6 Vortec – 3.3 V6 Ti-VCT – Advantage GM Barely
No matter what Ford wants to say, the GM choice here is better even if it is in need of an update and could be even better. The lighter weight of the F150 and the better rated mpg versus the 4.3 may make it a worthy argument on Ford’s side for a base engine where performance doesn’t matter all that much anyway, but the new 3.3 doesn’t reach peak hp until 6500, up 300 RPM from 2017, and it does not reach peak torque until 4,000, down a little from 2017, and like it was stated above, the torque is lower on the new Ford vs GM; hp is all that much different between the two, and although I’ve not driven either, looking at the numbers, I’m thinking the 4.3 would be a more pleasurable experience to drive as a matter of refinement due to the better lower and mid range numbers on the 4.3. But on the other hand, this is a close competition, because the mpg of the new F150 with the new 3.3 and the six speed transmission starts at 19/25/22 city/highway/combined, respectively, and its curb weight starts at or about 4059 pounds. For a person or fleet customer needing a do-it-all, run around truck, this should be a good choice. The only gas-powered truck that beats this power train in mpg is another F150. The 2.7TT, which starts at 20/26/22
5.3 vs. 5.0 – Advantage GM
Again, Ford wants to talk about peak horsepower and peak torque, but while Ford was able to raise hp by 10 at the same RPM (5750) versus the 2017 model, the increased peak torque looks like a step backwards to me. From 2015-2017, the 5.0 produced 387 ft-lbs @ 3850 RPM, which is pretty respectable considering that all other brands have more displacement save Toyota’s smaller one; but the reworked 5.0, which gains 13 peak ft-lbs up to 400, now peaks at 4500 RPM. This means there is not a V8 in the segment like it. It seems way to racy to me, but I guess will have to wait for the actual torque curves to make a final determination. But looking at these peak numbers alone, I’m thinking… This is good for a Mustang or a Camaro, but not sure what they were thinking with making their V8 for a hard-working pickup more rev happy. GM has a price advantage here as well. Ford raised the premium for the more racy, reworked V8 to just under $2K, whereas the 5.3 is a mere $1,300 or so.
6.2 vs 3.5 EB – Advantage Ford
People like different characters of engine types, so I’ll not put in my own bias towards flat performance versus linear performance. Big V8s have great linear power and torque, a huge following, and a bunch of fans, and the 6.2 is a good example of one, and it’s still the horsepower king of the entire segment. The 3.5 Ecoboost has a great deal of character too, but it’s more of a diesel-like character mixed in with some racy spark-ignition character that this all-aluminum twin turbo, dual injection engine provides. It’s got peak horsepower at 375, but comes on full at only 5,000 RPM, lower than other brands top gas engines, and it’s got a whopping 470 ft-lb torque at only 3500 RPM. People claim that it really pulls; they brag as much about it’s performance and capability as do the few people who actually get to drive a 6.2 V8-powered GM product; and that’s the problem with the 6.2. It’s too limited, so it really doesn’t count. To contrast GM’s big V8 with Ford’s top-billed engine, if I want a work truck with the 3.5 EB, I can opt for a base F150 std cab, 2WD and check only the box for a long bed from a base work truck, and I get it for under $32K. The cheapest 6.2 I can build on GMC or Chevy website is around $47K, and that’s why Ford wins this one by a long shot. Availability and starting price give the bigger Ecoboost a huge edge over GM’s 6.2. So the only way GM wins this one is for the customer that is shopping for a $47K+ truck and hates turbo-charged engines.
2.7 EB vs. NOTHING – Advantage Ford
Of course I’m biased on this one, but if the 3.5 has sort of a diesel character mixture to it, the 2.7 is even more so diesel like without the diesel price or the complexity of the exhaust treatment system. This engine by Ford has better performance than anyone’s base engine; and it has better gas mileage than anyone’s base engine; and it’s less than 1 grand to get it.
The 2018 changes make it even more so like a diesel with respect to fuel economy; material build; and peak torque. Unlike the newer version of Ford’s 3.5 Ecoboost, which now peaks torque @ 470 but at a higher RPM, now at 3500; with respect to the 2.7TT, Ford went the other direction. The 2.7 not only sees peak torque raised 25 up to 400, but also at 250 lower on the tachometer, now peaking down low at 2750. Too boot, through the addition of the 10-speed tranny and dual fuel injection and some other engine tweaks, Ford was able to do all of this to improve performance of this power train and still raise the city rating by one. A turbo-charged gas engine isn’t for everyone in the pickup world, and the 2.7 isn’t the best choice for those needing the most utility, but for all the rest of us, the 2.7 Ecoboost and it’s graphite composite made block is one great engine choice for a pickup truck; and really, it’s only completion is the Ram 3.0 Ecodiesel, which comes with a diesel price and modern diesel reliability.
Correction: I keep forgetting that Nissan doesn’t have a base engine in a 1/2-ton; only “an engine”. So technically, Ford’s 2.7 Ecoboost doesn’t beat Nissan’s “engine” for performance. It does, however, beat Tundra’s base, even though it’s a V8: 310 vs 325 hp; and 327 vs 400 peak ft-lb torque
Ford makes odd ball engines so their engines can’t be directly compared apples for apples! They do this for a reason, cuz Ford can’t compete head to head
Yeah; they’re really struggling! You must be right!