[Cliff R]

Very impressive results for the Ford Ecoboost 3.5 for sure Tom. Nice to have results from someone who was there vs opinions and second hand info for sure.

I'm curious how many head bolts it uses per cylinder. The Pontiac uses 10 per head only which doesn't provide the clamping force for the head gaskets as other V-8 designs using 17 bolts.

WAY back when I dabbled with boost got my ars handed to me with both the 302 Ford and Buick V-6 when we tried to put a lot of boost on them (4 bolts per cylinder). Of course the tune is the key to success but every single time we were off just a tad we either breached a head gasket or put a piston or two in the oil pan! We ALWAYS hoped for a breached head gasket vs the latter issue. I'm going clear back to the later 1980's when those vehicles were popular (Buick GN's and Mustang GT's). We actually put the 302 powered later 1980's Mustang deep into the 9's over 150mph. Of course we only got to make ONE run per outing as they tossed us out on our ear for not having all the correct safety equipment in place. The owner didn't care as the car was built for street racing when pretty big money was on the line, and spanked some pretty strong running set-ups with it, giving us more funds to exploit the turbo set-up. Anyhow, getting more off topic but had a lot of fun back in those days.

I have three friends who have the V-6 Eco-Boost in later model Fords. Two are 1/2 ton trucks and one in a full size SUV, Excursion maybe? They are all logging excellent fuel economy and one of them tows loads you've pretty much reserve for the big diesel rigs.

The only negative I'll put up here is that both the F-150 owners have experienced ECM related issues and have had their trucks in the shop several times for the techs to deal with. They eventually sorted it all out, and one of my friends still raves about that truck and it's efficiency, towing capabilities, etc when we start drinking Bourbon and telling lies at get-togethers.......LOL......Cliff