The truck failed during an unusual test that involved towing trailers from 0-60 times.
The Fast Lane Truck brought together a trio silver Ford F-150 4×4 pickups to evaluate performance on the dragstrip. Each truck will tow a trailer weighing 8,600 pounds during its quarter-mile trip.
To give happy campers an idea about the performance of merging with traffic on the highway, the goal is to measure the truck with its trailer attached from 0-60 times. It’s a bad way to begin your vacation.
A further twist to the test was that each engine was first tested in its stock form and then tested again using a Flash Tune from 5 star Tuning to maximize towing performance.
The naturally-aspirated Coyote 5.0 liter V8 is first. The truck can accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 17.79 seconds. Although it is not easy to add horsepower to an normally-aspirated engine using a tune, 5 Star Tuning was able to find additional 55 horsepower and 50 pounds of torque. This results in a time of 15.88 seconds to complete the 0-60 run. This is almost two seconds less!
The EcoBoost V6 2.7-liter engine is next. Amazingly, the boosted EcoBoost V6 manages to surpass the Coyote’s V8 in this test. It can reach 60 mph in only 15.54 seconds using the stock tune. 5 Star Tuning managed to increase the horsepower of turbocharged engines by a little more than 70 horsepower. They also added 90 lb/ft torque to the wheels using a tune that was 93 octane.
Remember that the tune was designed to tow and not perform at its best. It should be able to produce good torque with peak torque available early in the powerband. The F-150’s driveline was unable to handle the added power and weight of the trailer. Both the U-joints and driveshaft failed.
The last truck tested is the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 equipped with a Banks Power cold intake. The F-150 tow truck can travel 60 miles an hour with the EcoBoost V6 in stock form. This takes 16.97 seconds. This is quite impressive, especially when compared to the Coyote-powered truck.
The 5 Star Tuning tune increases the power output by nearly 100 horses and 165 lb/ft. These are amazing numbers but you must remember that they come later in the powerband at just below 6,000 RPM.
The truck does not break and can reach 60 mph in 13.84 seconds. We were surprised by how much the turbocharged engines did in this test, compared to the Coyote’s V8. If we were to tune our drivetrain, we’d be cautious about causing damage.