Bottom line, I am considering ditching my old 02 F150 4.2 for a 2016 Chevy Colorado i4. The new Chevy is 200HP with 191ft lbs torque. The only thing I tow is my 16 foot Scamp, with air conditioner and 2-3 adults with gear. Chevy is rated at 3,500lbs towing capacity. I just don't think this would be a huge issue with the Chevy. It's much lighter than my F150 and while the torque is lower, the HP is nearly the same. Most of my concerns are a few of the Sierra passes, which I currently struggle on regardless.
Let's hear to from 4cyl tow-folks. I have only a couple of years which I know I will be utilizing my Scamp and towing and after that, no idea where things will go. However, the truck is an every day commuter, with 38miles RT for work, so the small and nimble 4cyl seems so much more attractive.
16 Scamps fully loaded for trip shouldn't come in at more than 2700 lbs, and most will be less. 3500 lb tow rating leaves a good safety margin and with the trucks specs I wouldn't think you'll have issues towing. Hope you get to tow the SCAMP for many more years and aren't contemplating a move to the "dark side."
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Since you are already a Ford Owner, have you really looked at Ford's EcoBoost options?
The new Ford F150s are 700 pounds lighter and their EcoBoost engines are extremely Efficient AND Powerful !!!
I would really prefer to have the larger truck, especially on the Mountain Passes.
One thing I do when comparing Gas Mileage between two vehicles is to look at the annual cost differential between the two vehicles.
I take my annual mileage and divide it by my average MPG (or Combined MPG on a new Vehicle) and then multiply that times the current cost of gas (plus 50 cents or one dollar [as a fudge factor]). This gives me the annual fuel cost for each vehicle, I then subtract the two numbers to determine the annual cost differential. I then ask myself: "Am I willing to pay more (the differential amount) to drive one vehicle over the other vehicle?"
I would also perform this calculation on the Old Truck Vs. the New Truck. I would suspect that you may not find as great a Dollar savings as you had hoped for ( this calculation is why I have never been able to justify the cost of an Electric Vehicle. The dollars saved were never great enough to justify the cash outlay needed to purchase the vehicle in the first place).
Good luck, and let us know how your decision turned out.
By-the-way, why aren't you considering the 6 cyl option on the Colorado? If you drive 20,000 miles per year the difference is only 29 gallons of gas per year and you double the towing capacity to 7,000 lbs !!! Also, with the bigger engine, the truck will struggle less getting up hills (especially when towing) and you will probably save more than the 29 gallons of gas by not taxing the engine as hard even in daily driving.
Note: the 29 gallon difference is based on 27 mpg for the 4 cyl engine and 26 mpg for the 6 cyl engine with 7,000 lbs towing capacity. I could not determine from the Chevy Colorado website if the MPG was Highway mileage or the Combined mileage estimate, I suspect the numbers are the Highway mileage numbers ONLY!
Also, by-the-way, the Ford F150 EcoBoost is rated at only 1 MPG less than the Colorado 4 cyl and would also result in only a 29 gallon annual differential.
I am sure this information will make your decision harder, not easier. Glad to HELP !
As Always,
Happy Scamping !!!
We have a new F150 towing our 16ft Casita and it does fine just adding my two cents worth, It has the 6cyl Eco Boost motor
Launey and Earlene
With regards of why not consider another Ford... we purchased a new '14 Focus due to reviews and gas mileage as a commuter car. Long story short, the automatic transmission is junk. The dealerships are at the mercy of Ford. Ford seems to have little clue as to what is happeneing with the "dry clutch" system aside with the fact that, theirs just doesn't work well. We've been through 2 sets of clutches, had an oil leak repaired and new suspension parts replaced because they "weren't correctly installed from the assembly line". Less than 2 years old, less than 30k miles and the shop has been in the car 8 or 9 times. To me, that's unacceptable and I wouldn't put another dime into their vehicles (I even sold off my stock).
As for the 6cyl Chevy... the initial cost is about 6k more and I just don't really use it enough to warrant the purchase. Probably tow the scamp 12 times a year. Aside from that, it's me with sporting goods in the bed and not much else.
Don't follow trucks too closely, but it looks like the F150 6 Eco Boost stickers out in excess of $55000 while the Chevy Colorado i4 stickers out around $23-25k. Since pmo mentions he isn't likely to use it for towing much longer and if the Colorado will handle it in that interim, that is a lot of $$$ difference to go to the F150. I'd look at comparisons to similar trucks in that price range that might be something to consider and have higher towing capacities. IE the Frontier, Tacoma, etc.
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I am leery of the eco boost. Turbo chargers historically have been high maintenance on gasoline engines.
The following is my opinion only:
Personally I would wait to see how they perform after 5 years. Ford may have engineered the engine to be more durable, but I don't want to beta test for them. My other concern is on MPG the EPA tests are unloaded and typically running sans turbo charger, mainly normally aspirated. I suspect towing, you are typically operating with the turbo engaged and larger drop in economy figures than you would typically find in normally aspirated engine.
Again just my opinion.
The new GM twins, the Colorado/Canyon are nice "lifestyle" trucks, seen as 3/4 size of the uber large pickups popular now. They're very, very nice. We have one in the family and it is outstanding. However. the SIL got the V-6 as he too wishes to tow a FGRV. The V-6 truck gets a steady 22 in suburban driving and a solid 25 on the road. I drove the 4 cyl and I honestly believe the V6 will return a much higher re-sale value. But... I also believe the towing experience of a 4 cyl is strenuous. The V6 will likely get BETTER mileage towing than the 4 cyl. In the everyday driving, the difference between them is so insignificant that the 4 cyl just isn't a smart buy. IMHO
Get the Canyon/Colorado, but get the V6 and never look back. The towing package on "life style" trucks is normally only offered on the V6 models. This is true of Tacoma as well. The SIL got a very nicely equipped Canyon 4 dr, with all the most common options, such as power seat, windows, locks, A/C, auto, alloy wheels, rear camera, tow package and V6 for around $26K. That's pretty darn hard to beat. Just my two cents.
We got the '15 Canyon loaded for the new 19 DL since the GM tow package features are just awesome. Now, I'm in the Elantra and she won't let me near her truck without prior permission. She even washes it. So there's your endorsement. BTW, she gets much worse GPM than me because she likes to keep her foot in it. ;-)
Consider a pre owned Ford Escape 6 cylinder. 2012 was the last year Ford put 6 cylinder engines in the Escape. We got one with just 24,000 soft miles on it. We did have a transmission cooler put on. We paid just $16,500.00' for it, and it is a Limited model, just loaded with options. Now to get a 6 cylinder in a smaller SUV from Ford it must be the Edge.
<p>Doug Allen 2016 Ford F-150 2018 Lance 1575</p>