V8 or V6 Twin Turbo pickup?

I have a 2012 F150 with the 3.5 EB engine.  It now has about 160K.  Has had no real issues since new.  Gets 18- 20 when not towing and about 10 average towing, regular fuel.  Everywhere we go has at least one mountain pass to concur.  As far as maintenance goes I have had to replace the plugs twice.  It will not go the 100K.  60K on originals and 75k on second set.  Have been happy with the power and ride of this truck.  Always use synthetic oil, especially with the turbos, 10K between changes.  Intercooler was replaced early on under warranty.  Truth be known it likely just needed plugs.  Anyway that is what I know. 

Originally posted by lostagain No, turbos are not for everyone.  Reporting one's experience does not mean that it is one is advocating that everyone must have a turbo any more than advocating that you like a traditionally aspirated engine means that everyone must use the engine of your choice.  This is going around in circles.

Well we can certainly agree that we are going around in circles.

Potatos, potahtos. I for one am not advocating for either engine. I simply stated a personal preference.

If I was going to advocate for an engine it would be electric. That's ready for many uses but not for long distance trailer towing, so I won't do that on this forum.

All that old engine tech had very poor reliability by today's standards. If your implication is that an engine has to have a turbocharger or two to be "modern", I don't accept that at all. As I've pointed out before the most efficient ICE vehicles on the road are normally aspirated. They utilize other technology to achieve their objectives. All ICE technology is a dead end now for that matter.

EPA f150 fuel economy

Coyote 5.0 and EB3.5 have essentially the same fuel economy and annual fuel cost. Driving style is much more significant. As you point out.

If you want to save significant fuel and still want the range get a hybrid. If you really want to save fuel, get an EV and quit long distance towing. If you love your turbo then keep what you have and enjoy, just accept that that's not for everyone.

But the 3.5EB has not been more reliable than the 5.0 Coyote, to compare the two roughly equivalent Ford alternatives. Other brands might offer higher reliability.

As recently as the prior generation, 3.5EB's have had timing chain and intake valve issues. The Coyote hasn't had any particular standout reliability issues.

Then there is the potential for more problems as the engines reach a couple hundred thousand miles or more. Some folks don't keep their vehicles that long so it's unimportant to them, others do. Cost of replacing just the turbos is well north of $2k.

Neither engine is going to be a significant standout towing a light trailer like an rpod. Also according to the EPA the fuel economy of the two engines is essentially identical, so you would never get back the cost difference. If I was in the market of an ICE truck (I'm not) I'd stick with the a normally aspirated option. That's my opinion. It's not a disparagement of what others choose. Y'all enjoy your forced induction engines.

Originally posted by offgrid An EV supplied by solar is about as green as you can get. The EPBT (energy payback time) of PV is around a year now. We can all agree I think that historically boosted gasoline engines have had reliability issues, in aviation for example where your life depends on your engine working they have a poor reputation. So as far as statistical data that turbocharged gasoline engines are now as reliable as normally aspirated ones, I say the burden of proof lies on the proponent of the historically less reliable technology. If you are claiming that your Ecoboost reliability is now equivalent, please provide evidence of that.