Friday, August 19, 2011

Living Large--A Review

For the past couple of weeks, I've had the opportunity to test drive a Ford F-150 EcoBoost.  Basically it's your regular standard 1/2 ton but instead of an 8 cylinder engine it's got a turbo-boosted 6 cylinder engine.  I honestly couldn't tell you if there's much of a difference between that and the 8 cylinder engine as my Kia Magentis is a 4-cylinder sedan.  For an informed review go here

It had been a while since I'd driven a big truck.  The last time I'd been in a Ford truck was in my tree planting days.  We had the V-10 Triton F-350's back then because we needed that power for all the off-roading with full loads required in the bush.  The EcoBoost I've been driving for the past week or so is a far cry from the utility vehicle we drove tree planting.  Fully leather heated/cooled seats with dual passenger air-conditioning; satellite radio, GPS, 6-directions to adjust your seat, adjustable steering wheel.  My biggest complaint is that in the truck I have, it doesn't look like the volume control/tuning device works from the steering wheel, so I actually have to adjust manually.  Woe is me.

The main difference I noticed between the F-150 EcoBoost and my Kia is the gas mileage.  Although the gas mileage is probably better than other similar 1/2 tons, it's still lower than what you would get out of a sedan.  But, if you need a bigger vehicle, then a sedan isn't going to cut it.

Later this week, I'll be taking my daughter on a roadtrip to the dump in the truck...she's been dying to go for a ride.  I'll let you know how easy it is to put in the child seats in the back...although, with the thought that appears to have gone into this vehicle, I don't expect too many issues with that.

All in all, the past couple of weeks have been fun.

I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on a couple of issues: 
  1. Do you drive a truck? 
  2. Would you ever drive a truck?  Why or why not?
Lastly, I got the opportunity to drive this vehicle in exchange for a review here.  What are your thoughts on social media (blogs) being used as a marketing tool?  Although, I have free reign to write what I want--in the end, I do use my platform to talk about a vehicle I otherwise would not have had the opportunity to drive.  Is there an opportunity to do this (review vehicles) and still maintain the integrity of the blog--discussing/debating the larger questions?

This blog is now up for discussion

3 comments:

  1. Follow up on the trip to the dump: I couldn't figure out how to take the rear headrests off, so I just didn't use the rear clip for the child seat. Of course as soon as my wife got in the truck she looked in the instruction manual and located the directions to remove the headrest...so, the moral of the story is always have your wife install the child seat! Daughter loved the truck...especially the extra space between her and her brother!

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  2. The wife and I just traded in our Ford Escape for a Silverado 1500. We went for a truck because we have a 3 hour drive on unpaved roads to get to our hometown. The gas mileage is about 66% of the efficiency of the escape, but the radeoff is that we are able to haul a whole lot more groceries and supplies in the truck and so the cost can be recovered a bit that way. We love our truck and feel a lot safer driving it on poor roads than we did with the escape. I am not sure if I would own one if I lived in more urban setting though, unless there was a particular need for it.

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  3. Thanks for your comment Floyd. On your 3 hour treks are you taken back in time to our daily drives to the block? Next time go with the F-350 and put the big 8ft box with a tarp on the back--then you'll have enough room for all your gear as well as groceries...or would the nightmares be too much?

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