Those with Ecoboost and / or Flex - need opinions

[BuickMike]

So I sold my wife's Trailblazer SS. We loved it, but the 12mpg putting my son to school and back and around town was getting old. We were going to look for a '06 - '09 Subaru Outback XT, but a '10 Ford Flex AWD caught my wife's attention today. She drove it and really liked it. It has 76k miles on it, all hwy, so it is in our price range. I don't necessarily see major problems with these, but I'm curious if we will get horrible gas mileage still with her just driving in stop and go traffic for only 5 miles at a time. I really want 18 or better in that scenario. 14-15 won't cut it for me.

So, please let me know your impressions of owning Ecoboost vehicles. Any reliability issues, real world fuel economy, etc.

Thanks!

 

[TurboDave]

Here's a link to the most active Ford Flex board available:

http://www.fordflex.net/forums/index.php

Lot's of help there. I don't own a flex, but rather the Flex's "big sister", a Lincoln MKT ecoboost. Now, will you get 18 or better in stop and go on a short 5 mile commute?? I wouldn't expect quite that much, maybe 16-17. Depends on your driving style.
The biggest problem ecoboost owners have is they're just too much fun with all that power at hand, and the accelerator gets used a LOT!. Right now my overall average for this year is 20.8mpg. I can squeeze out 23 on a flat highway run, and I don't have much city type stop and go driving here. Mustly urban driving here.

You'll love the room, the ride, the power, etc. BUT check out the fordflex.net sight, there's great bunch over there!!

PS, there's a lot of guys dragracing their ecoboost flex's with little more than a tune, and running high 12's, and a tune with meth gets them in the mid 12's.

 

[BuickMike]

Thanks Dave. I did post over there as well. I'm just trying to get as much feedback as possible today. We are out of town and will head home tomorrow afternoon.

 

[S10xGN]

Speaking of EcoBoost, there's a complete dropout from an'11 F-150 (with 5 miles on it!) on E-Bay for $6995. Wish I was flush right now, that would really move out in my '63 Rambler American!

 

[russgoodman]

I bought my wife an Ecoboost Flex in March. It's a 2011 Limited. I love the thing and so does she. We are getting about 17 combined on ours. The few times we've taken it out on the highway it gets about 22 mpg going 80. Keep your foot in it all the time and I'm sure you wont get below 15 mpg. Back seat has LOTS of room, more room than my crew cab Denali. It is really fun to drive, much like a Turbo Buick without the worries of something breaking. Only problem I have had is a recall on the radiator fans (had no problems so they just retuned it) and the vista roof cracked for no reason (Ford fixed it 100% under warranty). The D pillars will crack on them too, so look those over. Brakes dragging and braking issues are a common problem for the earlier models. If you and her like the way it looks, I would highly recommend it. And +1 on Dave's fordflexnet forum recommendation, I'm over there too and there's lots of good info. Good luck!

 

[kurt24]

Had a Flex when they first came out. Loved all the room in it and towed my dragbike and trailer with no problem. they didn't have the ecoboost out then. I do have a f150 now with ecoboost now. When this lease is over I am going back to the Flex AWD with ecoboost. much better gas mileage than the f150

 

[groumoutis]

We have a 2012 Flex but not with the ecoboost motor. My wife traded in our 2011 Regal turbo for the Flex and I am still not happy with the trade. I loved the Buick. It was fun to drive and got really good gas mileage. However we had our daughter on the way and needed something bigger than the Regal. She wanted a Honda Mini van so we settled on the flex since it wasn't a mini van! Our flex has a 3.5L and does real well on gas considering the size of the vehicle. We get about 27-28 mpg on the highway 55mph and the interstate it drops down to around 23mpg. I am not a big fan of the flex but it is a nice car/SUV. I would have liked to had the ecoboost but that was more money. The electrician I work with bought the F-150 with the ecoboost and he loves it. That is quite a feat since he is a Subaru fanatic. When I first met him he said he would never own an American car. He also has a STI and he drives the F-150 more than the STI. So with all that said I think the Flex with the ecoboost would be a great vehicle. It is very roomy and the ecoboost would make it fun to drive. Without the ecoboost= no fun. Just my 2 cents.

 

[kurt24]

We have a 2012 Flex but not with the ecoboost motor. My wife traded in our 2011 Regal turbo for the Flex and I am still not happy with the trade. I loved the Buick. It was fun to drive and got really good gas mileage. However we had our daughter on the way and needed something bigger than the Regal. She wanted a Honda Mini van so we settled on the flex since it wasn't a mini van! Our flex has a 3.5L and does real well on gas considering the size of the vehicle. We get about 27-28 mpg on the highway 55mph and the interstate it drops down to around 23mpg. I am not a big fan of the flex but it is a nice car/SUV. I would have liked to had the ecoboost but that was more money. The electrician I work with bought the F-150 with the ecoboost and he loves it. That is quite a feat since he is a Subaru fanatic. When I first met him he said he would never own an American car. He also has a STI and he drives the F-150 more than the STI. So with all that said I think the Flex with the ecoboost would be a great vehicle. It is very roomy and the ecoboost would make it fun to drive. Without the ecoboost= no fun. Just my 2 cents.

can you do me a favor and ask the guy at work what he is getting for gas mileage? My truck was one of the first shipped from dearborn and it is a rich pig. I have asked the dealer to look at it a half dozen times and they won't. just keep saying there is no computer update. if it wasnt a lease I would of had Livernois performance put a programmer on it and made it right

 

[groumoutis]

I think he is getting 25 on the highway not interstate. He averages around 19.

 

[kurt24]

WOW I am getting 12.5 -15 city and I baby it maybe 17 on highway at best If I pull out and get on it a little it just pours black sout out It looks like a diesel other than that I love the truck


sorry to hijack your thread Mike

 

[BuickMike]

Well, we ended up buying it. The dealer let me put it on a lift and go through it with a fine tooth comb. The mechanics were letting me borrow tools and flashlights. Very cool. I got a great deal too! We drove it home from Flagstaff to Phoenix and averaged 24mpg. Not bad considering my Titan got 17 on the same route while following my wife in the Flex.

 

[kurt24]

Very cool they let you put it up on the lift to go through it

 

[NASSTY]

can you do me a favor and ask the guy at work what he is getting for gas mileage? My truck was one of the first shipped from dearborn and it is a rich pig. I have asked the dealer to look at it a half dozen times and they won't. just keep saying there is no computer update. if it wasnt a lease I would of had Livernois performance put a programmer on it and made it right

I have a Livernois catless downpipe and tune on my '11 EB F150 along with 34.5" mud terrains. When I behave I avg. 15.5 MPGs with 50/50 highway/city driving.

 

[BuickMike]

So far we are still on the first tank. over 300 miles and averaging 21mpg since I reset it at fillup. It was higher, but tonight I was hammering it hard while logging. I already had misfire issues. Today I found out that the plugs were gapped way to big on it. I threw in a new set with the recommended gap and it made a world of difference. No more misfires, but now I see what the problem is. I get a random source of knock on occasion that pulls timing back for a second or 2. Happens once every 4 or 5 WOT blasts. There was what I feel is too much oil in the lines from the turbos and I think enough gets ingested at once to cause the random detonation. I think it is all coming from the crankcase vent tube that runs straight to the intake (pre turbo) with no filter whatsoever. Both the random misfires and oil in the IC pipes are common with these. I will put a catch can on the vent tube, clean out the pipes, and see if that fixes it. Stupid Fords LOL

Other than that gremlin we LOVE this thing!

 

[TurboDave]

I haven't investigated that vent tube on my Lincoln yet. I wonder if they can be disconnected and a filter added like what we do on our Buicks??

 

[kurt24]

Check out Livernois Performance website. They have stuff for the ecoboost cars and trucks. Alky kit really wakes them up. Youtube has vids of running 12's.

 

[BuickMike]

I haven't investigated that vent tube on my Lincoln yet. I wonder if they can be disconnected and a filter added like what we do on our Buicks??

Alot of guys just plug the inlet tube and put a breather on the valve cover like we do. I personally don't like that because I think that the lack of crankcase evac is what causes our rear main / valve cover leaks. If you take that vent tube off, you can just run some rubber line off both ends and put a catch can in the middle. That's what I'm going to do.

 

[BuickMike]

No alky for me. Just a tune and maybe a drop in filter. I logged the Flex and see that the factory tune on these things is very "old school" IMO. 12psi, 20 degrees of timing, and AFR starts out at 11.7:1 and richens up to 10.7:1. I say pull the WOT timing back, level out AFR at 11.3:1, and add whatever boost can be added. I'm curious to see what the pro tuners do. I still need to get this thing running rock solid stock before I get it tuned.

 

[TurboDave]

That's pretty typical for a stock tune. Remember, these engines (as they are delivered stock) are designed to be able to run on 87 octane!! So with the 10:1 compression ratio the boost and timing has to be kept at somewhat safe "dummy proof" levels. Once a tune is added, then of course the higher octanes are a mandate.

 

[russgoodman]

Glad you like it, hope you get the gremlin sorted out. I try to steal my wife's every chance I get