The local Ford dealer was running a promotion, where if you test drive a car they would donate $20 to the high school, and in this instance the athletic boosters.

Now before anyone bereft s me as a traitor to the general, to which I have been loyal for over twenty years, I was impressed to say the least.

They had a couple vehicles to choose from, and being the truck guy, I choose the F 150, with a 3.5l twin turbo V6 gas. All I can say is that the general has their work cut out for them. And if their is any time that the 4.5 Duramax needed to come out of the testing phase and onto the showroom floor, it is now.

Now, is it a proven engine, like the 5.3, no. But from from what I experienced it seemed like a solid, contending half-ton platform.

Competition does force others to improve, too.
Did you trade for a Ford, yet?

How was that Ford for power with the turbo? I have heard they are very powerful for what they are. The torque is listed to be higher that the 6.2 V-8.

And if their is any time that the 4.5 Duramax needed to come out of the testing phase and onto the showroom floor, it is now.

Uhhhhhhhhhhhh......NO! If anything, it put the final nail in the coffin of the 4.5L Duramax. Who is gonna pay an extra $8-10k, to get a little more power(maybe) and a little more fuel eff.(maybe)?????

Well, competition is good for business, just not good enough for me to go into debt again.

And, albeit I understand that right now folks would balk at the premium, this truck stickered at $41k. It was a 4x4, XLT, CC, with cloth seats, and sync I think. Mine was listed for $43k, and it's an SLT. The one advantage that the 4.5 might have, and actually up the ante in this segment, could be the fuel mileage advantage. If, and I mean if the mpg would better the ford by say 10 mpg, and comparable performance numbers, then I will remain optimistic.

IIRC, the CC and 4x4 options to the XLT was around $9000.

How was that Ford for power with the turbo? I have heard they are very powerful for what they are. The torque is listed to be higher that the 6.2 V-8.

It took me by surprise. I can see where this engine will be applied to a lot more of their line-up.

think the 4.5 injection system was moved to LML. check out gm 3.6 and compare to ford 3.5. both engines are setup with direct injection and Variable Valve Timing, from my reading gm and ford are working on new blend fuel(gasoline, ethanol, bio and regular diesel) ford and gm have unmachined direct injection bosses on v8 cylinder heads ready to go. they can modify regular engine and with vvt and turbos gain the efficiency of diesel.

With all the emissions that they are putting on diesels I would not be surprised if we end up with a smallish big block in the heavy duty trucks with direct injection and turbos. It would make the gassers a lot more expensive but it could almost make the diesel obsolete.