DEARBORN, Mich., Nov. 8, 2010 – The best way to understand the power and performance of the new 2011 Ford F-150 with the much-anticipated 3.5-liter EcoBoost™ engine is to experience it firsthand.
That's why Ford is taking the new EcoBoost-powered F-150 directly to customers' doorsteps for individual test drives in a nationwide tour of 60 cities months before the truck is available for sale.
"The F-150 with EcoBoost offers the best combination of capability, power and efficiency in the segment, and to prove that, we want to give as many customers as possible the opportunity to drive it before it's even available at their local Ford dealership," said Marc Lapine, F-150 Consumer Marketing manager.
The one-on-one test drives will be held throughout the country from mid-November through end of January. Ford will go to a customer's home, workplace or a convenient community location for the test drive.
The website is being updated throughout the week with new locations added daily. Customers can check the site and register for a drive at www.drivef150ecoboost.com. In addition to the individual test drives, Ford dealerships in some markets are hosting truck celebrations and test drives.
When the tour stops in Memphis, Tenn., Carlito Bernil will be one of the first to drive. He just gave his 2000 Ford Harley Davidson™ F-150 to his son and is in the market for a new truck.
"I'm kind of a tech guy, so I like to keep up with how the engines are progressing with the technology that's available," he said. "The new F-150 with EcoBoost caught my interest because it's supposed to have the power of a V8 with the fuel efficiency of a smaller engine. And it's not going to hit the streets until spring, so I think it's pretty neat that I'm going to have a chance to drive it now."
David Jemiolo, who tows a 27-foot camper for recreation, will take a test drive when the tour stops at his home in Niagara Falls, New York, later this month.
"I'm really excited to drive the new F-150 with the new EcoBoost engine," he said. "I understand it has electric power steering. I'm eager to see how that feels and how the truck handles overall."
For every test drive conducted, Ford will donate $10 to the customer's choice of two charities: the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation or Future Farmers of America.
"We have alliances with these organizations, and this provides us with another way to help contribute to these worthy causes," said Lapine. "Plus, it provides an additional incentive for customers to schedule a test drive."
Seeing is believing
An additional customer-drive campaign that wraps up next week offered thousands of customers this fall drives in the truck as part of the Built Ford Tough Round-up 2 program. The program traveled to seven cities and reaction to the truck has been overwhelmingly positive. Check it out for yourself at http://www.youtube.com/v/2_ih0MxSof4 or http://www.youtube.com/v/CV0znHFA26k&NR=1.
"I didn't expect it to have that kind of power," said one consumer. Another one said, "Now that I've driven the EcoBoost – you get the gas mileage and the power – we're actually considering it. My wife and I came away suitably impressed."
In a separate, but related, EcoBoost truck marketing campaign, Ford is presenting a series of online documentaries called "Torture Test" to prove out the new truck engine.
The series begins with a randomly selected engine from the Cleveland Engine Plant going through a variety of extreme laboratory and on-road tests. Among the tests the EcoBoost-powered truck performs: hauling tons of timber in the Northwest, towing an 11,000 lb. trailer at top speeds at the Homestead-Miami Speedway and competing head-to-head with competitive trucks towing 9,000 lbs. on steep grades at Davis Dam, Nevada.
The "Torture Test" series ends with the engine being pulled from the F-150 and installed in an off-road racing truck to compete in the Baja 1000 on Nov. 18. The episodes can be viewed as they are completed at www.fordvehicles.com/trucks.
2011 Ford F-150 with EcoBoost offers customers best of all worlds
Ford's first truck application of its award-winning EcoBoost engine has been specially tuned and calibrated for the F-150. It employs turbocharging and direct fuel injection to produce power seen in larger, naturally aspirated engines with the fuel economy seen in smaller engines; current EcoBoost engines deliver fuel economy gains of up to 20 percent compared with larger engines with similar power.
"While turbocharging and direct injection have been used on diesels in the truck segment for years, this is the first time those technologies are being applied to a gas truck engine," said Lapine. "We are certain truck customers will be impressed with the F-150 EcoBoost's specs – 420 lb.-ft. torque, 365 horsepower, up to 11,300 pounds of trailer tow capacity and up to 3,060 lbs. of payload capacity – however we know that there is no substitute for getting behind the wheel and experiencing it firsthand."
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