Monster V8 engine to debut in Ford 2020 pickups in fall

The 2020 Ford F-250 pickup will offer a new 7.3L gasoline V8.
The 2020 Ford F-250 pickup will offer a new 7.3L gasoline V8.

Ford’s biggest trucks will get one of the world's biggest V8 engines starting this fall, as one aspect of the Truck Wars turns into an old-fashioned battle of engine size that's reminiscent of the muscle car era.

Exhibit A: A 7.3L gasoline-powered V8 coming to Ford’s Super Duty pickups and commercial vehicles, from ambulances and utility bucket trucks to just a step shy of massive highway semitrucks.

Most of the conversation about big trucks like these – they’re officially called Class 2 through Class 7 vehicles, based on the massive weights they can haul and tow – focuses on diesel engines. But gasoline engines play a role, too, accounting for up to 40% of sales of big Class 2-4 pickups like Ford’s F-250, 350 and 450 Super Duty trucks.

“Diesels are incredibly important for those trucks, but many customers don’t need their full towing capacity,” IHS Markit senior analyst Stephanie Brinley said. “Those customers can get everything they need at a lower cost with a gasoline engine."

In addition to that, many fleet customers only keep trucks this size for three or four years, so diesel’s long-term, high-mileage durability isn’t worth those engines’ higher cost.

The new V8 produces 430 horsepower and 475 pound-feet of torque in Super Duty pickups, slightly less in some of Ford's other commercial trucks.

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Tested for reliability, durability

Ford builds the V8 in Windsor, Ontario. It made and tested hundreds of preproduction versions before it was ready to start selling the new V8. That’s expensive – every preproduction engine an automaker builds takes time, parts and money you’ll never be able to use in an engine it sells to a customer – but a sign of how important durability and reliability is to commercial truck owners. A broken truck is a crisis for a small business that can’t make deliveries, or for a hospital without an ambulance.

The 7.3L engine is an upgrade from the gasoline V8 Ford offered before, a 6.2L that produces 385 hp and 430 pound-feet of torque. The 6.2L remains the base engine in the F-250 and 350.

General Motors also introduced a new 6.6L gasoline V8 – its biggest gas V8 – for its Class 2 and 3 (Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra 2500 and 3500) pickups this year. It’s smaller, with a total cylinder displacement of 6.6L. It produces 401 hp and 464 pound-feet of torque. Ram’s biggest gasoline V8 for its 2500/3500 trucks is the 6.4L Hemi.

Ford's new 7.3L gasoline V8 produces up to 430 hp.
Ford's new 7.3L gasoline V8 produces up to 430 hp.

Ford has a new diesel V8 coming this fall, too, but it hasn’t revealed its power output yet.

The new gasoline V8 should increase the trucks’ capability, but Ford is playing coy about how much a truck with it will be able to tow or haul. Towing and hauling may sound like the same thing, but to truckers, “towing” means how much you can pull behind the vehicle on a trailer. “Hauling” is how much you can load onto the back of a pickup or flatbed, or how heavy a body you can put on an ambulance, utility company bucket truck, etc. Expect details on all that closer to when the 2020 Super Duty pickups go on sale this fall.

Can run on natural gas

Ford doesn’t have to report fuel economy figures for these big, commercial trucks, despite the fact that many people drive F-250s and 350s for everyday use. The 7.3L gasoline engine can be converted to run on natural gas, though.

The engine is paired with Ford’s new 10-speed automatic transmission on F-250 through F-600 trucks.

The transmission shares just 7% of its parts with the 10-speed automatic available on the smaller F-150.

The 10-speed transmission in Ford's 2020 Super Duty pickups is the same length as the six-speed it replaces.
The 10-speed transmission in Ford's 2020 Super Duty pickups is the same length as the six-speed it replaces.

Key features:

  • It’s the same length as the old 6-speed transmission

  • It got just 3.5 pounds heavier, despite adding four gears and other features

  • Its top three gears are all overdrives

  • All models have five programmed modes including “eco,” “tow” and “slippery"

  • Tremor pickups add a sixth mode for off-road driving

Contact Mark Phelan at 313-222-6731 or mmphelan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @mark_phelan. Read more on autos and sign up for our autos newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ford pickups to add one of world's biggest V8 engines this fall