Is Ecoboost Really More Economical Than V-6?

[pauldz]

Hi,

My wife is a really slow driver, she couldn't care less about power, but she loves the look of the Mustang convertible. She is interested in the EcoBoost since it has better gas mileage than the V-6 but I'm not sure it saves any money. It seems that to get the rated EcoBoost gas mileage it is necessary to use Premium Unleaded gas. Here in south Florida, regular unleaded is around $2.25 and premium unleaded is $2.85, so even if the EcoBoost gets you an additional 2mpg it doesn't save money. Or if you use regular unleaded with an EcoBoost and get the same mileage as a V-6, why pay thousands more for EcoBoost?

Am I missing something?

Thanks,
Paul

 

[skyline247]

I believe the base Ecoboost is only about $1k more than the V6. The thousands more in cost is probably due to additional options. According to the EPA ratings on the Ford website, the Ecoboost is rated 22/31 while the V6 is 17/28. Depending on where you are in South Florida, you are probably encountering traffic everywhere you go. Therefore, you are probably going to be seeing something closer to the city ratings on either car. Using simplified calculations (feel free to check my math as I'm doing this on my phone) and assuming the cost of gas you mentioned and mainly city mpg, the Ecoboost would save you about $3 for every 1000 miles compared to the V6. If you assume mainly highway mpg, the Ecoboost will cost about $12 more than the V6 for every 1000 miles. I would say the cost of gas is probably going to be a wash in most cases unless you are doing lots of highway driving. If your wife drives so slow she never hits boost, she may eke out a little more mpg from the Ecoboost. I suggest going to a Ford dealership and test driving both models to see which engine makes the both of you happier and go from there. I think the options available to the V6 are limited compared to the Ecoboost and GT so that's another consideration. If you were interested in power, I would say the Ecoboost has more potential right out of the box than the V6 based on what shops have been doing with them.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[Still Bill]

Darn good question if you ask me. I opted for the V6 to get a Mustang. I do run Premium, and if I drive it easy to and from work I regularly average 25.7 miles to the gallon. AND it sounds way better.

 

[pauldz]

OK, thanks for the replies.

 

[echo7]

Not a lot of data on the 2015 3.7 V6, but the 2014 with a 3.7 V6 is as stated:

Based on data from 48 vehicles, 2,739 fuel-ups and 739,888 miles of driving, the 2014 Ford Mustang gets a combined Avg MPG of 23.81 with a 0.20 MPG margin of error.

http://www.fuelly.com/car/ford/mustang/2014?engineconfig_id=104&bodytype_id=&submodel_id=



The 2015 EcoBoost is as stated:

Based on data from 38 vehicles, 1,090 fuel-ups and 316,070 miles of driving, the 2015 Ford Mustang gets a combined Avg MPG of 23.36 with a 0.31 MPG margin of error.

http://www.fuelly.com/car/ford/mustang/2015?engineconfig_id=34&bodytype_id=&submodel_id=

 

[Stan McKinney]

I get 34 mpg on the road with my ecoboost and regular gas. The car also offers more options than you can get on the V6