FWD Ecoboost Owners -- pros/cons so far?

[gator_dub]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to reach out to all of the current FWD Ecoboost owners and get their thoughts on ownership including pros/cons.
How is it around town? MPG? Hauling? Towing? etc..
I have a FWD Ecoboost scheduled for production in August.
I ordered it as a backup in case my Hybrid didn't schedule(and it hasn't...surprise surprise).
I live in Florida, rarely go "off road"(except maybe hard packed sand at the beach), and want optimal MPGs.
I thought about AWD with 4k tow but I have a larger vehicle with a 7k lbs tow capacity and didn't feel like it was worth the extra money.
I'll mainly be using the bed to haul things and possibly tow my old VW with a towbar (less than 2k lbs.)
How is it going for all of the FWD owners?

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[PapaRico]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to reach out to all of the current FWD Ecoboost owners and get their thoughts on ownership including pros/cons.
How is it around town? MPG? Hauling? Towing? etc..
I have a FWD Ecoboost scheduled for production in August.
I ordered it as a backup in case my Hybrid didn't schedule(and it hasn't...surprise surprise).
I live in Florida, rarely go "off road"(except maybe hard packed sand at the beach), and want optimal MPGs.
I thought about AWD with 4k tow but I have a larger vehicle with a 7k lbs tow capacity and didn't feel like it was worth the extra money.
I'll mainly be using the bed to haul things and possibly tow my old VW with a towbar (less than 2k lbs.)
How is it going for all of the FWD owners?

My 22 , ECO Lariat, is a daily driver with mix of highway/city driving. At almost 20k miles is holding steady at combined 30 MPG.

I have done a few short, 300 mile, road trips and getting about 35 MPG on highway if I stay at around 75 mph. It drops to 33 MPG with cruise set on 80 mph. For road trips I have used 91 octane fuel but use 87 for daily commuting.

Love the under seat storage for my emergency gear( jumper cables, a few tools, flares etc)

I haven't run a full tank of just city miles but do see a drop, as expected, for city miles. It appears city MPG is in the 25-26 MPG range.

I don't tow but do occasionally use the bed. Put a (per bill of lading) 990 lb skid of batteries in the bed and it squatted a couple of inches but still handled well. Was only a 30 mile trip to jobsite but didn't see any appreciable drop in MPG or engine performance. With the bed extender I was easily able to haul a quarter cord of firewood several times during the winter. Had a little ice this winter and it handled as well as can be expected on ice.

It's mostly pros for me so far. Great mileage, nice acceleration and comfortable on the road trips. Passes with ease. Really like the acceleration getting on highway. Have a lot of fun showing the Mustangs and Chargers on highway that my little Maverick has some spunk and will run with them.

My only con has nothing to do with the truck itself. Not overly fond of the having to make two trips to dealership for the side airbag recall.

 

[Equator Guy]

Given that you are living in Florida I would say FWD is a no brainer. I also have an FWD EB on order for production in August (originally a Hybrid but switched to EB) and live in coastal Maine. My reasoning: I want cheap, reliable (fingers crossed) wheels and couldn't see paying $2300 for AWD. Planning on getting studded snows for it, which is as good or better than AWD in most situations. If weather is that bad I will stay home. Much less to go wrong with with FWD: No PDU, RDU, drive shaft etc., less computing going on with the electronics. Slightly better mileage as well.

 

[gator_dub]

My 22 , ECO Lariat, is a daily driver with mix of highway/city driving. At almost 20k miles is holding steady at combined 30 MPG.

I have done a few short, 300 mile, road trips and getting about 35 MPG on highway if I stay at around 75 mph. It drops to 33 MPG with cruise set on 80 mph. For road trips I have used 91 octane fuel but use 87 for daily commuting.

Love the under seat storage for my emergency gear( jumper cables, a few tools, flares etc)

I haven't run a full tank of just city miles but do see a drop, as expected, for city miles. It appears city MPG is in the 25-26 MPG range.

I don't tow but do occasionally use the bed. Put a (per bill of lading) 990 lb skid of batteries in the bed and it squatted a couple of inches but still handled well. Was only a 30 mile trip to jobsite but didn't see any appreciable drop in MPG or engine performance. With the bed extender I was easily able to haul a quarter cord of firewood several times during the winter. Had a little ice this winter and it handled as well as can be expected on ice.

It's mostly pros for me so far. Great mileage, nice acceleration and comfortable on the road trips. Passes with ease. Really like the acceleration getting on highway. Have a lot of fun showing the Mustangs and Chargers on highway that my little Maverick has some spunk and will run with them.

My only con has nothing to do with the truck itself. Not overly fond of the having to make two trips to dealership for the side airbag recall.

That's awesome!
Thanks for the response, it sounds like you are getting great MPGs and the pickup has been more than capable as a daily.

 

[gator_dub]

Given that you are living in Florida I would say FWD is a no brainer. I also have an FWD EB on order for production in August (originally a Hybrid but switched to EB) and live in coastal Maine. My reasoning: I want cheap, reliable (fingers crossed) wheels and couldn't see paying $2300 for AWD. Planning on getting studded snows for it, which is as good or better than AWD in most situations. If weather is that bad I will stay home. Much less to go wrong with with FWD: No PDU, RDU, drive shaft etc., less computing going on with the electronics. Slightly better mileage as well.

Yep, those are my thoughts also.
Don't need AWD, one less thing that can break.
IMO FWD is good enough for most applications.
In Florida, if I was going to tow a boat and have to back into a boat ramp then I would probaby want AWD.

 

[catinthebathtub]

very happy after over 1 1/2 years and 17K miles.
i have hardly left the city limits in it, i have towed a utility trailer, almost every weekend it gets a bike carrier with 2 bikes (hitch mount) and my teenage grandson used it in a porsche club HPDE event.
before the track weekend MPG indicated 30.6 and its been slow to recover but is now showing 28.6 and slowly climbing back up.

 

[Goldie]

Hey everyone,

I wanted to reach out to all of the current FWD Ecoboost owners and get their thoughts on ownership including pros/cons.
How is it around town? MPG? Hauling? Towing? etc..
I have a FWD Ecoboost scheduled for production in August.
I ordered it as a backup in case my Hybrid didn't schedule(and it hasn't...surprise surprise).
I live in Florida, rarely go "off road"(except maybe hard packed sand at the beach), and want optimal MPGs.
I thought about AWD with 4k tow but I have a larger vehicle with a 7k lbs tow capacity and didn't feel like it was worth the extra money.
I'll mainly be using the bed to haul things and possibly tow my old VW with a towbar (less than 2k lbs.)
How is it going for all of the FWD owners?

On recent trip to Wisconsin from Pennsylvania I got 32 to 34 miles per gallon (
and I bought the aftermarket tow hitch. I like it better as it bolts to the frame and around town. I get around 30 so I enjoy it.

 

[Hillbilly]

Loving mine. That truck will haul ass!!

 

[rlhdweman]

I can't think of any cons, the AWD may ride a bit smoother, so I've heard. Nearly 10,000 miles combined mpg is just over 30, FWD did great this winter, better than my Taurus did in snow. Passing & acceleration power is amazing, quicker than any V8 I have had.

 

[OleFordGuy]

Loving mine. Not a single issue, not even a squeak or rattle zero recalls but mine is awd and 4k tow so not really what your seeking. Zero regrets

 

[BlueSnake77]

I can't think of any cons, the AWD may ride a bit smoother, so I've heard. Nearly 10,000 miles combined mpg is just over 30, FWD did great this winter, better than my Taurus did in snow. Passing & acceleration power is amazing, quicker than any V8 I have had.

The AWD gets the independent rear suspension vs. the twist beam on the FWD. As far as mpg, the FWD will probably get maybe 1 mpg better or so. The extra weight of the drive shaft, rear differential and rear axles are really the only differences between the AWD and FWD as far as power to weight ratio. the FWD = 3563 lbs vs AWD = 3731 lbs for a difference of 168 lbs. From a stop the AWD will be quicker as the FWD has problems putting the power to the ground (wheel slippage) under hard acceleration. From a rolling run side by side, the FWD should be a tick quicker than the AWD due to the lighter weight. I have no problem getting 32 mpg hwy with my AWD.

 

[MaveLick]

Let's talk about mpg here from the same 735 mile round trip with roughly 3000' elevation change between two destinations with mostly highway speeds (mostly 75 mph speed limit).

Mav Hybrid 27-28 mpg with insufficient passing power and it was on a scary side of not going to be able to pass.

Mav Ecoboost FWD 28-29 mpg and fun to drive.

Edge 2.0 Ecoboost AWD 27-28 mpg with slightly slower than Mav Ecoboost.

Around town mpg will be a totally different story.

Mav hybrid 33-39 mpg depending on how slow I drive the truck. I have no idea how people can get 42 mpg, 45 mpg, or 60 mpg.

Mav Ecoboost about 21-24 mpg. It is a range because of variable conditions (traffic, speeds, routes)

Edge 2.0 Ecoboost AWD 21-23 mpg.

Overall these are good cars with an exception of hybrid passing power.

 

[Hillbilly]

No cons, all pros
Like both. ( got two )

 

[Montana]

Let me ask this... since the Maverick is FWD until it detects slippage, what reason is there to not get an AWD version unless you simply cannot order it or it's not available? It's not a full time AWD vehicle. Can you turn it off? No. But it doesn't use AWD until it needs to. Subaru's are AWD all the time. The Maverick has a part time share in this job.

*Edit
Don't take it personal FWD owners.

 

[MaveLick]

Let me ask this... since the Maverick is FWD until it detects slippage, what reason is there to not get an AWD version unless you simply cannot order it or it's not available? It's not a full time AWD vehicle. Can you turn it off? No. But it doesn't use AWD until it needs to. Subaru's are AWD all the time. The Maverick has a part time share in this job.

I do not have an AWD Mav but I have an AWD Edge. I assume that the powertrains are similar. AWD on Edge also kicks in when the car needs power. Edge AWD is about 500 lbs heavier than Mav FWD Eco, so 1 mpg loss is probably part of the extra weight. Edge seems to have better aerodynamic so it should helps with mpg and that is why the mpg loss is only one mile.

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