Is there a major performance/reliability/gas milage difference between the I6 and the V8?

Which do you guys recommend?

Thanks a lot!

 

If you want performance go with a v8, the I6 is a dog, it has much less horsepower than the v8, but it does have more torque, if you live in a hilly area or do a lot of towing go with the I6. If you ever want to get into performance mods you want a V8.

Gas milage is similar between the two, i do hear some complaints on I6 milage but properly maintained they do ok.

If you want reliability the I6 is what you want, they run forever and hardly ever breakdown. It's not uncommon to see the I6's run for over 300,000 miles without a big loss of power or funny noises.

-Jon

 

Or get a 351. More performance than a 302, more towing capability than a 300, more fuel consumption than you would have thought possible.

 

After asking some friends I was stunned to find out that even people who love imports will hold the Ford I6 in high reguard. Because gas milage is a plus and reliability is a HUGE plus for me the I6 is looking pretty good, and anything that has more power than the Ranger will be a very welcome change for me.

I would love to hear more experiences about these engines too.

Thanks!!

 

I would choose the I-6 before a 5.0...but I would take a 5.8 any day.
But I love my 4.9L to much to take out the engine...plus I have no problem beating a lot of 5.0's as long as they aren't heavily modded out. Lately I've been running with 16mpg

 

A friend of mine has the I6 and he runs the heck out of it and it has 100,000 miles, zero problems. These engines have a great rep for durability.

They are torquey down low but run out of breath when you start to rev, so they are not fast. But the truck is still a lot of fun to drive. The engine seems to have an attitude - it won't quit pulling. It's a workhorse. I would definitely recommend it - as long as you aren't going to the drag strip.

 

I can live with 16 mpg. My Ranger's 3.0L V6 makes about 100hp and the best it can do is 18 mpg highway on a really good day.

As long as the F150 it is fun to drive I can ignore my drag-strip cravings until I can afford to buy and mod a dedicated racing machine.

 

Loaded down with my tools, my truck averages over 6000 pounds, and I have no problems at all. Steep hills, no problem. Quite possibly the best engine Ford ever made, all things considered.

Take care,
~Chris

 

i have no complaints about mine. wonderful engine. i'm hoping to tweak it a bit this summer, otherwise i'm quite happy. the torque is unreal. i can pop the clutch in 2nd gear and have the back end jump off the ground with axle wrap trying to spin the tires. i pulled my old dakota across a cement garage slab with it's emergency brake on. the 300 6 didn't even bog down. the dakota's tires never turned. it just slid across with the wheels locked!

 

One of my friends has a 95 F-150 reg cab short bed with the 4.9 5 speed 3.55 rear... stock, and when I was stock, he would take me off the line about half way intersection, then I would put about 3 truck lengths on him. Now if we run after I have done my mods, he still takes me off the line, but after that, he just falls back in my mirror real fast, I beat him by like 10+ truck lengths at 90mph, once his hits 60 or so its a DOGGGGGG. And If we tow my little boat, 3500# with his truck, it does a good job around town, but on the interstate, it plain sucks, you cant go much faster than about 65, with my truck it has no problems towing it at all, and I can tow my 6000# big boat with my truck, his trucks tow rating isnt even that high, I guess its the 5-speed. But I love me 5.0, I would trade it for anything, and any go fast parts you want for it, and there are PLENTY, they are dirt cheap.

 

My last truck was 95 extended cab 2wd with 302 which now has 184000 and still runs and drives perfect! No work has been needed and as for towing, it pulls very well for only just over 200hp. I had a i6 and can totally agree that they last forever but most anything can if it is taken care of! My i6 towed for crap but it wasn't fuel injected and also had a 4sp with od manual. In the mpg department I was getting up to 20mpg with v8 on the highway!!!!!!!! If you aren't towing much either motor will be fine but I still would recomend the 302. Just my opinion!!
Good Luck

 

hey do your self a favor go with a 351v8 i have one and it has 190,000 miles on it and its perfect i think the power specs on it are 210hp and 310 torque btw my 351 is in my parents e-350 van

 

If you are not concerned with performance, or towing 6000 lbs (obviously the only choice would be 351) then don't worry about which engine the truck comes with. Just CONCENTRATE on finding a SOLID truck. Any one of the 3 engines can break down at any time. They are all reliable and all have their pros and cons. To buy a hailed out truck with a 4.9 vs a mint condition 5.0 or 5.8 for a reasonably close price is simply stupidity. My truck has the 5.0 in it. And no, the I6 will NOT outrun any stock 5.0 except for the first 25mph or so. On the highway, both the 5.0 and 4.9 are very slow relatively speaking. My truck is lifted with 33" mud terains and it requires a downshift quite regularily when a hill is encountered. The same thing happens with headwinds over 20mph, must keep in 4th gear. My friends 4.9 seems to do a little better than mine in OD gear, but his is also a short box reg cab with stock tires on.

 

My 4.9L out runs stock 5.0's and I recently took down a 460, My only performance mod is the FIPK, one thing that does seperate my 4.9L to most others is the Mass-Air, my friends 94 4.9L really feels under powered compared to mine.

Don't get me wrong though, I do get my fair share of butt whoopins from other 5.0's.
I havn't had a chance to get up against a 5.8L.

I did race a Auto 4.2L (97-98 F150) and that was a complete joke, not sure if it's the engine or the tranny that made it suck.

 

Sproket you are dead on right, those new 4.2s SUCK. There is a 3 lane road, and it was like 2 am and the left lane was empty, and the other two lanes had new F-150s w/4.2 in them, I wasnt paying much attention, well the light goes green and these two guys take off, I was in the middle lane, so I punch it, go into the left lane, catch both of them and blow past em. At the next light the guy in the middle lane was talking all kinds of crap, like he missed 3rd gear or something, so now I was really gonna show him, the light went green, and those trucks are the slowest things I have ever seen off the line, by the time I was in 2nd gear (~42mph) I had him by about 2 truck lenghts, and when I shut it down at about 70, he was just way back there. At the next light, he wouldnt even look at me LOL, I guess he is all upset that he lost to an older truck
They were both reg. cab short beds, 1 had dual exhaust, thats all I could tell.