Hey Jeff, I Test Drove an Ecoboost
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Mach 1 Member
Joined: December 11, 2014
Posts: 837
Likes: 11
Hey Jeff, I Test Drove an Ecoboost
We went to a gun show earlier today and on the way home I decided to swing by the Ford dealer and test out the ecoboost just to see what I thought about it. I have to say I was actually pretty impressed. It was a yellow, premium with the performance package.
What I didn't realize about the ecoboost is that if you don't get the premium package you can't change the engine performance parameters or "mode". In the base package you just get the normal setting while the premium package offers the sport mode as well as two other modes. With the normal mode on the car felt about like my V6. In the sport mode, however, it was noticeably quicker and pulled hard at the low end. I was pretty impressed how quickly the turbo engaged even at low speeds and low rpm.
It really grabbed hard and pulled hard all the way to about the 5K range. It felt like more than 310 hp to be honest. It feels more like about 340 or 350 in sport mode. Just my butt dyno but that's how it felt by comparison to my car.
I made sure to put it hard into a couple of curves to see how the IRS really stacked up. The rear end does stay pretty planted in the corners. Under normal driving conditions I couldn't tell any difference. It was only under hard cornering that you could feel the difference.
All in all I was very impressed. It's a great car with great performance especially in light of the fact that I was averaging mid 20's mpg. The interior is well done. I wouldn't go so far as to say head and shoulders above the 2010 - 2014 cars, but I would say a moderate improvement. The toggle switch look was nice and the backup camera was a nice touch.
One thing I did notice was that I personally didn't hear any engine noise played over the stereo during the test drive. I even mentioned this to the salesman and he acted as though he never heard of such a feature. If there was engine noise over the speakers I couldn't hear it. All I heard was the exhaust note out the back. It sounded like a conventional 4 cylinder with a mild throaty exhaust on it.
What I didn't realize about the ecoboost is that if you don't get the premium package you can't change the engine performance parameters or "mode". In the base package you just get the normal setting while the premium package offers the sport mode as well as two other modes. With the normal mode on the car felt about like my V6. In the sport mode, however, it was noticeably quicker and pulled hard at the low end. I was pretty impressed how quickly the turbo engaged even at low speeds and low rpm.
It really grabbed hard and pulled hard all the way to about the 5K range. It felt like more than 310 hp to be honest. It feels more like about 340 or 350 in sport mode. Just my butt dyno but that's how it felt by comparison to my car.
I made sure to put it hard into a couple of curves to see how the IRS really stacked up. The rear end does stay pretty planted in the corners. Under normal driving conditions I couldn't tell any difference. It was only under hard cornering that you could feel the difference.
All in all I was very impressed. It's a great car with great performance especially in light of the fact that I was averaging mid 20's mpg. The interior is well done. I wouldn't go so far as to say head and shoulders above the 2010 - 2014 cars, but I would say a moderate improvement. The toggle switch look was nice and the backup camera was a nice touch.
One thing I did notice was that I personally didn't hear any engine noise played over the stereo during the test drive. I even mentioned this to the salesman and he acted as though he never heard of such a feature. If there was engine noise over the speakers I couldn't hear it. All I heard was the exhaust note out the back. It sounded like a conventional 4 cylinder with a mild throaty exhaust on it.
Tasca Super Boss 429 Member
Joined: February 2, 2004
Posts: 3,621
Likes: 5
From: Dallas, TX
I'm waiting to get a tune, but we'll see what they do. I actually don't drive much during the week, because I am either WFH or traveling. Because of that, MPG isn't much of a concern (I probably last filled up 2 weeks ago).
With that said, I was pleasantly pleased with the EB and know the market for performance will grow as the year goes on. I've never had a Turbo (only V8s) and decided what it could do. It'll be nice to see what it can actually do with little done to it.
What's nice is for around town the TQ is noticeable, and most of the tunes are increasing that pretty quickly. I also wouldn't have bought the EB without the Performance Pack. A note, the Sport+ on the MT changes throttle response, but that's about it (well and steering feel is tighter, but you can change that separately).
With that said, if I'd bought a GT with /PP I probably wouldn't have changed anything except to throw a Borla catback on (when available) and just been happy. My next will be a V8 again as soon as this is paid off in a few years, but probably not a GT.
(Note: I drove a V6 '15 for 5 days while mine was having the AC compressor replaced with less than 50 miles on the ODO. It was nice, but there was a definite difference down low).
With that said, I was pleasantly pleased with the EB and know the market for performance will grow as the year goes on. I've never had a Turbo (only V8s) and decided what it could do. It'll be nice to see what it can actually do with little done to it.
What's nice is for around town the TQ is noticeable, and most of the tunes are increasing that pretty quickly. I also wouldn't have bought the EB without the Performance Pack. A note, the Sport+ on the MT changes throttle response, but that's about it (well and steering feel is tighter, but you can change that separately).
With that said, if I'd bought a GT with /PP I probably wouldn't have changed anything except to throw a Borla catback on (when available) and just been happy. My next will be a V8 again as soon as this is paid off in a few years, but probably not a GT.
(Note: I drove a V6 '15 for 5 days while mine was having the AC compressor replaced with less than 50 miles on the ODO. It was nice, but there was a definite difference down low).
NOT CURRENTLY ACTIVE ON THIS SITE! DO NOT USE PM FEATURE!
Joined: October 25, 2010
Posts: 5,279
Likes: 16
From: Dearborn, MI
We went to a gun show earlier today and on the way home I decided to swing by the Ford dealer and test out the ecoboost just to see what I thought about it. I have to say I was actually pretty impressed. It was a yellow, premium with the performance package.
What I didn't realize about the ecoboost is that if you don't get the premium package you can't change the engine performance parameters or "mode". In the base package you just get the normal setting while the premium package offers the sport mode as well as two other modes. With the normal mode on the car felt about like my V6. In the sport mode, however, it was noticeably quicker and pulled hard at the low end. I was pretty impressed how quickly the turbo engaged even at low speeds and low rpm.
It really grabbed hard and pulled hard all the way to about the 5K range. It felt like more than 310 hp to be honest. It feels more like about 340 or 350 in sport mode. Just my butt dyno but that's how it felt by comparison to my car.
I made sure to put it hard into a couple of curves to see how the IRS really stacked up. The rear end does stay pretty planted in the corners. Under normal driving conditions I couldn't tell any difference. It was only under hard cornering that you could feel the difference.
All in all I was very impressed. It's a great car with great performance especially in light of the fact that I was averaging mid 20's mpg. The interior is well done. I wouldn't go so far as to say head and shoulders above the 2010 - 2014 cars, but I would say a moderate improvement. The toggle switch look was nice and the backup camera was a nice touch.
One thing I did notice was that I personally didn't hear any engine noise played over the stereo during the test drive. I even mentioned this to the salesman and he acted as though he never heard of such a feature. If there was engine noise over the speakers I couldn't hear it. All I heard was the exhaust note out the back. It sounded like a conventional 4 cylinder with a mild throaty exhaust on it.
What I didn't realize about the ecoboost is that if you don't get the premium package you can't change the engine performance parameters or "mode". In the base package you just get the normal setting while the premium package offers the sport mode as well as two other modes. With the normal mode on the car felt about like my V6. In the sport mode, however, it was noticeably quicker and pulled hard at the low end. I was pretty impressed how quickly the turbo engaged even at low speeds and low rpm.
It really grabbed hard and pulled hard all the way to about the 5K range. It felt like more than 310 hp to be honest. It feels more like about 340 or 350 in sport mode. Just my butt dyno but that's how it felt by comparison to my car.
I made sure to put it hard into a couple of curves to see how the IRS really stacked up. The rear end does stay pretty planted in the corners. Under normal driving conditions I couldn't tell any difference. It was only under hard cornering that you could feel the difference.
All in all I was very impressed. It's a great car with great performance especially in light of the fact that I was averaging mid 20's mpg. The interior is well done. I wouldn't go so far as to say head and shoulders above the 2010 - 2014 cars, but I would say a moderate improvement. The toggle switch look was nice and the backup camera was a nice touch.
One thing I did notice was that I personally didn't hear any engine noise played over the stereo during the test drive. I even mentioned this to the salesman and he acted as though he never heard of such a feature. If there was engine noise over the speakers I couldn't hear it. All I heard was the exhaust note out the back. It sounded like a conventional 4 cylinder with a mild throaty exhaust on it.
Deysha
