Everything You Need to Know About Your EcoBoost F-150

• 325 HP & 375 TQ
• 18 mpg city / 23 mpg highway / 20 mpg combined
• 2,250 lbs Payload Rating / 8,500 lbs Towing Capacity
• Direct Fuel Injection
• Dual Over Head Camshafts
• Engine block is cast from the same material as the 6.7L Power Stroke Diesel
• 6 qts of 5w30 (with the oil filter) oil capacity

• 365 HP & 420 TQ (Raptor's 3.5L - 450 HP & 510 TQ)
• 17 mpg city/ 23 mpg highway / 20 mpg combined
• 3,180 lbs Payload Rating / 13,200 lbs towing capacity
• Direct Fuel Injection
• Dual Over Head Camshafts 
• Maintains 90% peak torque from 1,700 RPM to 5,000 RPM
• 6 qts of 5w30 (with the oil filter) oil capacity

The main selling point of the EcoBoost F-150 is it's a solid alternative to the V8 coyote sourced engine. The 2.7L and 3.5L EcoBoost engines are able to produce similar power and torque to a V8 while consuming less fuel.

Thanks to a twin scroll turbocharger and direct fuel injection, EcoBoost F-150s are able to overcome the disadvantages of naturally aspirated, small displacement, 6-cylinder engines and create equal output to naturally aspirated V8 engines. Considering how you can get an EcoBoost F-150 cheaper than a V8 F-150, it’s no surprise they are becoming as popular as they are.

3.5L V6 EcoBoost Engine

• 2.7L EcoBoost max towing capacity: 9,000 lbs
• 2.7L EcoBoost max payload rating: 2,470 lbs
• 3.5L EcoBoost max towing capacity: 13,200 lbs
• 3.5L EcoBoost max payload rating: 3,230 lbs

The 2.7L and 3.5L EcoBoost F-150 are able to haul their share and then some thanks to their turbocharged torque output. The EcoBoost F-150’s payload rating (which is how much it can carry on/in the truck) and towing capacity (how much the F-150 can tow through the trailer hitch) is enough to put the competition's entire engine lineup to shame.

The 2.7L EcoBoost F-150 has a payload rating of 2,250 pounds and a towing capacity of 8,500 pounds. The 3.5L EcoBoost F-150 has a payload rating of 3,180 pounds and a towing capacity of 13,200 pounds. To put that into perspective, the V8 5.0L F-150 has a payload capacity of 3,300 pounds and a towing capacity of 11,100 pounds.

• Cold Air Intake And Tuner
• EcoBoost Throttle Body
• Custom EcoBoost Tune
• EcoBoost Downpipe
• Bigger EcoBoost Turbocharger
• F-150 Gears

Both the 2.7L and 3.5L version of the EcoBoost F-150 offer a good bit of power and acceleration out of the factory, however they both can benefit from some simple mods that will improve overall performance. Upgrading your EcoBoost F-150’s cold air intake and pairing it with a custom tune will allow it to take in more air, which will help the turbocharger work harder, produce more power, and also improve throttle response as well as fuel economy.

Swapping out the throttle body will add some power while also enhancing throttle response. Replacing your EcoBoost F-150’s downpipe with a less restrictive aftermarket one will allowing the twin-scroll turbocharger to work more efficiently and give you a healthy bump in horsepower and torque, while also changing the exhaust note considerably. An off-road downpipe will not have a catalytic converter and will not pass emissions testing, however it will add more power than a catted downpipe and sound much louder as well.

The easiest way to add power to your EcoBoost F-150 is by swapping out the turbocharger for a larger unit. A bigger turbocharger will make much more power than the stock one, however you may incur or increase turbo lag and will test the limits of the EcoBoost engine block.

Changing out the rear gears will improve acceleration while not adding any horsepower. This is because swapping out the rear gears for a steeper gear will allow you to access more power earlier in the RPM band. Steeper gears do sacrifice your top end speed to pull this off however, but if you're looking for a pick-me-up, a set of gears will do the job.

The 2.7L EcoBoost F-150 is rated at 18 mpg city and 23 mpg highway driving. Independent testing from various outlets have found it got around 16 mpg average in real world testing conditions. The 3.5L EcoBoost F-150 is rated at 17 mpg city and 23 mpg highway driving.

One way you can improve the fuel economy of your EcoBoost F-150 is by adding a custom tune. A custom tune is uploaded via a handheld flash tuner and can change multiple parameters in your F-150’s computer, reprograming it to perform better than stock.

Twin-scroll turbochargers have two input lines from the exhaust manifold that lead to the turbine that suck in the exhaust gases. Having two input lines avoids the issue single-scroll turbos have where the firing sequence of the cylinders causes the pulsing of the exhaust gases to delay the build-up of boost, or in other terms turbo-lag. Twin-scroll turbochargers can spool up much quicker than conventional turbochargers and will give crisp and quick throttle response backed up by significant low-end torque.

Replacing the stock twin-scroll turbocharger with an aftermarket turbocharger will allow your EcoBoost F-150 to make more power, but it may reduce fuel economy and the longevity of your engine depending upon how much boost you run. While there is no official word how much power an EcoBoost engine can hold, some forum users have reported the 2.7L EcoBoost giving out about 430 HP and the 3.5L giving out about 500 HP. 

If you do replace the stock EcoBoost turbo with an aftermarket one, you will also need to upgrade some other things on your F-150 such as the fuel injectors, intake, spark plugs, intercooler, throttle body, downpipe, and tune to get the most out of it. The turbo system is mainly comprised of the turbocharger, intercooler, hot side and cold side piping, and the downpipe.

The EcoBoost F-150 functions mechanically just like any other turbocharged application and needs to use an intercooler to get the most out of its turbo. The F-150 EcoBoost intercooler takes the hot air produced from the turbocharger and cools it down before feeding it back into the engine.

Upgrading the intercooler on your EcoBoost F-150 will free up some horsepower as well as make your turbocharger perform stronger. Swapping out the intercooler on your F-150 for an aftermarket one is a necessary step when upgrading the turbocharger.

Direct injection F-150 engines shoot fuel directly into the cylinder/combustion chamber instead of shooting it above the chamber and above the valves (which is port fuel injection). Adding fuel directly into the combustion chamber allows for more power since the fuel burn is more efficient. The overall process is very efficient in terms of power creation and fuel economy when compared to port fuel injection.

The EcoBoost F-150 is built Ford tough, is very well put together, and fairly low maintenance. The only real issue with the EcoBoost F-150 is with the direct injection in the engine. Direct fuel injection can cause excess carbon to build up on the valves which can harm engine performance.

Although it is not a widespread problem, Ford has revised the design of their 2.7L and 3.5L EcoBoost engine for 2018 going forward to include a high pressure direct, low pressure port hybrid fuel injection system. This hybrid fuel injection system is designed to keep the valves clean and not allow excess carbon to build up.

The EcoBoost F-150 has three main parts to the exhaust system:

• The Downpipe
• The Y-pipe
• The Cat-Back

The downpipe scavenges the exhaust gases out of the engine/turbocharger and feeds them to the y-pipe that merges both exhaust pipes into one, sending it down through the cat-back and out the muffler. The factory downpipe can be replaced on your F-150 for one that either has catalytic converters or an off-road, uncatted version. Replacing the downpipe no matter what will provide you with performance benefits, but an off-road downpipe will give you larger increases in power and throttle response. 

The stock y-pipe on your EcoBoost F-150 can be a choke point in your exhaust system as it merges the two exhaust banks worth of gases into one pipe and feeds it through the rest of the exhaust system. A larger y-pipe will make your F-150 louder and also add a small 5-12 HP bump.

The cat-back on your EcoBoost F-150 really helps to define the entire sound of it. An aftermarket EcoBoost cat-back system will free up anywhere from 5-15 HP and give you a deeper exhaust note that will be noticeably louder.

A popular modification amongst all F-150s including EcoBoost models is adding a lift kit or a leveling kit. Adding a leveling kit to your F-150 will give you a small bump in ride height (anywhere from 1”-2.5”) while also removing the factory rake, giving your truck a level appearance. Leveling kits are an easy way to add ground clearance to your F-150 and will also allow you to fit a 35” tire. 

For many enthusiasts, adding a leveling kit isn’t enough, especially for those who want to take their F-150 off-road or have a considerable amount of ground clearance. Adding a lift kit to your F-150 can add anywhere from 1” to 6” of ride height to your truck allowing you to fit much larger tires and climb over much taller barriers. When adding a lift kit, you may want to also consider upgrading your driveshaft as well to accommodate for altered drivetrain geometry.

You can add a set of 35” tires to your EcoBoost F-150 by adding any one of the following mods:

• F-150 Lift Kit
• F-150 Leveling Kit
• F-150 Fender Flares

Adding 35” tires to your EcoBoost F-150 will:

• Increase ground clearance
• Create a larger contact patch with the ground (great for off-roading)
• Have a larger sidewall 
• Last longer than the same tire in a smaller size 
• Add a more aggressive look

35” F-150 tires are more than just an aggressive visual upgrade. A set of 35” tires on your EcoBoost F-150 will give you greater off-road capabilities than stock and enhance daily driving as well with the increased contact patch.