2017 Raptor QandA

[Sage]

The 6.2L is old tech and is robust and Im sure itll be good for a bunch of miles. Turbo motors in everyday vehicles is nothing new, diesel and gas. For an example look at subaru, they are known for their reliability and have had turbos in them for a long time. The subaru boxer motor is actually a pretty bad motor design but they keep on going. There countless subies on the road with stock turbos going 160k+ miles with zero issues. There are plenty of other manufacturers doing the same.

I think Ford can build a reliable turbo motor and have it last just as long as the old tech in the 6.2L motors. The new motor going in the Raptor is a more robust and built ecoboost so I think they know what they are doing.

Could it have problems? Of coarse. Only time will tell and hopefully Ford knows what they are doing and releases a great high hp and high tq ecoboost for the Raptor.

I don't disagree there's many turbos out there on everyday cars and diesels and they have run well. What they have not done is taken a small engine and really pushed some HP out of it with high boost. Some of the high end cars are doing it but they don't get driven that many miles. When have you seen a Lambo ad saying 150,000 miles?? I'm thinking this might be a premium fuel only engine. It will really need a strong frame (block) to hold in that much power which leads back to weight.

The real advantage I can see is engine size (physical dem). On the other hand, the turbos might use that extra space??

 

[ARH1956]

AWD is far superior to standard 4x4 in MOST situations. All? No. The truck will still have the good ol' 4x4 low but a better, smarter, AWD system for everyday driving on crappy roads. Regular 4x4 systems are 'dumb' compared to new AWD systems.

Actually AWD is superior to standard DRIVERS in most situations. I'm fine with AWD algorithms and hardware added on as long as the true 4WD components and choices remain available. I've been offloading for more years than most of this forum has been alive and have used AWD, 4WD, and Hybrid AWD/FWD systems. I'm not anti-high tech, but if forced to choose only one I'd take a 4WD that gives me control every time.

 

[ARH1956]

The 6.2L is old tech and is robust and Im sure itll be good for a bunch of miles. Turbo motors in everyday vehicles is nothing new, diesel and gas. For an example look at subaru, they are known for their reliability and have had turbos in them for a long time. The subaru boxer motor is actually a pretty bad motor design but they keep on going. There countless subies on the road with stock turbos going 160k+ miles with zero issues. There are plenty of other manufacturers doing the same.

I think Ford can build a reliable turbo motor and have it last just as long as the old tech in the 6.2L motors. The new motor going in the Raptor is a more robust and built ecoboost so I think they know what they are doing.

Could it have problems? Of coarse. Only time will tell and hopefully Ford knows what they are doing and releases a great high hp and high tq ecoboost for the Raptor.

You do realize the "old tech" Boss 6.2L was a fresh platform design and first produced in 2010, right?

 

[skyscraper]

It's the tech aspect of the 6.2 that is a bit dated, like 2v sohc and it's not direct injection.

 

[ARH1956]

The subaru boxer motor is actually a pretty bad motor design but they keep on going.

The horizontally opposed "Boxer" engines in Subarus, BMW bikes and Porsches are excellent motors. Most with zero issues for easily 100K+. The Ferraris with boxers did well also. What makes you say the boxer is a bad motor design?

 

[Reptar]

Great article.

I'm not questioning the fact that an eco can produce the HP and TQ. My question is how long will it hold up before you spend major bucks fixing??

My background with turbos is farm equipment. Many Cats used for farming in this area had turbos added. Yes, they jumped the HP and made them much better. They don't last as long.

Now I know that Ford, or whoever, designed this engine to use the turbo and I'm sure the engine materials were also picked to handle the abuse of getting major HP out of a **** ant engine. How long will they last??

Now I'm an old fart.. my hot rod days were many years ago. Engines in those days blew blue smoke some where beyond 60,000 miles. New engines today are doing 160,000 without blowing blue. Better materials, better machining, tighter fit, better oil and many other factors. Have we made another jump in engine life??

I'm pretty sure my "old technology" 6.2 will get 160,000++ miles without a problem (no turbo, no super charger). I'm not sure at all that the 450 HP small egine will. My experience tells me more extreme power equals shorter life.

Search on youtube for the f150 ecoboost torture test that Ford did back in 2010/2011 on the original 3.5 ecoboost engine that went into the trucks. I guarantee you a lot of your longevity/reliability concerns will be lessened. They flogged the living crap out of it without a hiccup. There's like 5 videos to the series so make sure you catch all of them. Very well worth the watch.

Actually AWD is superior to standard DRIVERS in most situations. I'm fine with AWD algorithms and hardware added on as long as the true 4WD components and choices remain available. I've been offloading for more years than most of this forum has been alive and have used AWD, 4WD, and Hybrid AWD/FWD systems. I'm not anti-high tech, but if forced to choose only one I'd take a 4WD that gives me control every time.

I agree with that part. I do love the AWD and Snow mode in our Explorer that the Raptor doesn't have, but I do like how the Raptor lets me control a lot more with 4x4 on, rear locker on, tc off, advance track off, etc. All the explorer lets me do is turn tc off and that's it. Can't select which drive, can't fully take tc off, etc.

You do realize the "old tech" Boss 6.2L was a fresh platform design and first produced in 2010, right?

just because they started building it in 2010 doesn't mean it was high tech or innovative for it's time. They started building the 5.0 coyote motors and 3.5 ecoboost motors right around then too. Aluminum blocks, DOHCs, direct injection, EPAS, ecoboost, tivct, etc. Much more advanced than a bigger bore version of a 2v 5.4 lol

 

[Jordan@Apollo-Optics]

I had the same question. I would guess a epas system

Unless there are major improvements in EPAS, I hope to god it doesn't have it. I haven't driven one EPAS vehicle where I actually felt like I was in control or could feel the road/terrain under me. Maybe I just haven't driven the right EPAS equipped vehicles, but not one has felt like it has a "soul" like HPAS systems have.

 

[Huck]

My vw epas is awesome. It's speed sensitive and actually shuts off over 35mph. It's assist is pro-rated below that

The EB was designed with epas, and given the issues with the current. I bet it will have epas

 

[Reptar]

my first time driving with EPAS I hated it. Felt disconnected and like I wasn't getting a true feedback. After a short amount of time though, I quickly grew to love it. In tight slow speed turning, it made the wheel nice and light when it doesn't need to be overly heavy like hpas, at high speeds, it improved stability and didn't have as much "float" or "buffer" as hpas. That was in the f150 though.

In my wife's 2011 5.0, the first stang with EPAS, slow speeds it was great, but driving down the highway it sucked in the default mode. It would drift all over the place if the roads were grooved. But if I put it into sport mode, which firmed the steering up a touch, it was night and day difference on the highway and tracked so much nicer.

So my point is this, it all comes down to the tuning of the EPAS. Don't automatically be against it just if you've had one bad experience with it or didn't prefer it. A tune adjustment of it makes a world of difference.

 

[WyoStorm]

Thought I'd post this here. Granted this is the current 3.5l eco (and it's for a Taurus SHO) and not the one we'll be getting in the 2017 Raptor but it shows what they had to go through to crank up the 365hp eco to 600hp. Hope this isn't posted in half a dozen other areas already lol!

EcoBoost Build: 600 Horsepower EcoBoost 3.5 Street Build