The 2014 Ford F-150 is a whole lot of truck, and it needs a whole lot of engine. From the base 3.7L V6 to the aluminum/cast iron 6.2L V8 found in the Raptor, you should be able to find a motor that suits your needs perfectly.
Key Points
- The 2014 Ford F-150 sports four engine options, including two V6s, an entry-level 3.7L and twin-turbo 3.5L EcoBoost, and two V8s, a 5.0L and a 6.2L.
- Ford fans seeking a daily driver will want to go with the 3.7L V6. Delivering a minimum 5,500 pounds of towing power at 17 city/23 highway mpg, it’s surprisingly efficient for a full-size pickup.
- The 3.5L EcoBoost V6 is the best all-around engine in the lineup, delivering 365 horsepower at 16/22 mpg. An excellent fusion of efficiency and performance.
- For peak performance, the 6.2L V8 maxes out the capacity of the F-150’s chassis, at 11,300 pounds of towing capacity. With an mpg rating of 12/16, it’s not the ideal everyday vehicle, but it stands as one of the most powerful work trucks on the used market today.
2014 F-150’s 3.7L V6 is a Perfect Daily Driver and Part-time Work Truck, at 17/23 mpg
If your F-150 is going to be your everyday vehicle, this is the engine you want.
At 302 horsepower and 278 lb.-ft. of torque, it’s tough enough to get most jobs done. At the bottom end, the 3.7L V6 can tow 5,500 pounds. So if you want a daily driver that can handle the occasional workload, there you go.
The 3.7L can take standard gasoline or E85, and you should expect to get around 17 city/23 highway miles to the gallon on gas, which isn’t bad for a full-size pickup from 2014. Of course, that’s assuming an empty bed and no trailer attached, and that you’re not in 4×4 mode. 17/23 is your expected daily-driver mpg, not your work-mode mpg.
We all like to see big numbers when we look at vehicle specs. We like trucks that can tow four, five tons. If we’re talking dedicated work trucks, big numbers really are better. You’re going to need a little extra oomph if you’re going to be pulling pre-fab houses and trailers full of gravel.
But, for the vast majority of F-150 drivers, the 3.7L offers more than enough power for anything you’ll ever need it to do. 5,500 pounds of towing capacity will pull most fishing boats, plus the trailer, and 302 horsepower is plenty enough pushing power to keep you from getting stuck in the mud.
2014 Ford F-150’s Fuel-efficient 365 hp 3.5L EcoBoost V6 is the Best of Both Worlds
The 3.5L EcoBoost gets about 16/22 miles to the gallon, just one mpg shy of the 3.7L’s 17/23, but at a much higher output of power, delivering 365 horsepower and 420 lb.-ft. of torque.
So, yes, it takes a little more fuel to keep running than the 3.7L, but it takes a lot of fill-ups to really notice the difference. The 43 extra horses and the 142 extra lb.-ft. of torque, on the other hand, is a difference you’ll notice right away.
On the low end, the EcoBoost will tow around 7,400 pounds. With the Max Trailer Tow Package, certain models can go up to 11,300 pounds.
Simply put: it’s a lot more than you expect to get out of six cylinders, and it’s shockingly fuel-efficient for an engine that can pull more than five tons.
2013 F-150’s Mid-range 5.0L V8 is Neither as Efficient as the V6s nor as Powerful as the 6.2L
At 15/21 miles to the gallon, the 5.0L V8 engine takes a hit on fuel economy, but you get a power upgrade to 360 horses and 380 lb.-ft. of torque. As with the 3.7L V6, you can go with either regular unleaded gasoline or E85.
The 5.0L is one of those neither-here-nor-there engines. Not as efficient as the V6 engines, and not as powerful as the EcoBoost or the 6.2L V8.
If you can find a great deal on an F-150 packed with a 5.0L, there’s nothing wrong with the engine, exactly. It just doesn’t really excel in either direction.
2013 F-150’s 6.2L V8 may be more Power than You Need, or Just Enough, Pulling up to 11,300 Pounds
The 6.2L V8 is by far the most powerful engine in the lineup if we’re talking right out of the box. The EcoBoost requires some special packages and features to tow 11,300 pounds, while certain configurations with the 6.2L only require that you switch over to 4×2 mode.
You’re definitely spending some extra cash at the pump with this one, so it’s not an everyday driver. The advertised mpg is 13/18, city/highway, but the EPA suggests that 12/16 might be more realistic. Like the EcoBoost, it only takes regular unleaded gas.
That may sound steep, but we’re talking about an aluminum/cast iron engine delivering 411 horsepower and 434 lb.-ft. of torque here. This is the motor that powers the Raptor, a full-size off-roader that hits zero to sixty in just 6.7 seconds.
A 6.2L V8-equipped F-150 is a terrible choice for your daily driver, but it’s an excellent choice for a second vehicle. This is the truck that’s going to pull your buddy’s SUV out of the mud on a snowy day. It’s going to have you taking everything in a single trip when you move to a new apartment. It’s a powerhouse on the job site and a beast at the mud pit. A 2014 Raptor makes no sense as a grocery-getter, of course, but it’s one of the best weekend warriors ever mass-produced.
2014 Ford F-150’s 3.5L EcoBoost V6 is the Perfect Pickup Engine, but not Necessarily the Only Choice
Buying a used 2014, you might have to take what you can get. But if you have the chance to scoop up an F-150 with a 3.5L EcoBoost under the hood, that’s a hard one to beat.
If the EcoBoost isn’t an option for some reason, the 3.7L V6 and the 6.2L V8 are both excellent for their own reasons. The 3.7L is great for anyone who needs a daily driver that can handle the occasional towing and hauling task, and the 6.2L V8 is simply one of the best commercially available work-truck engines on the market today.
Photos: Ford
