2011 Ford F-250 Super Duty

Dearborn’s newest piece of artillery in this battle is the all-new, Ford-designed and -built, 6.7-liter Power Stroke diesel V-8, available in the redesigned 2011 F-series Super Duty lineup. On a diesel kick since welcoming a Ram 2500 dieselinto our long-term fleet, we were eager to see how the Power Stroke would stack up.

After Ford’s relationship with Navistar—its previous diesel-engine supplier—went south, the blue-oval team brought the task of designing, engineering, and building the Power Stroke in-house. Ditching the old cast-iron block, engineers opted to use a new compacted graphite iron material to save weight. They also reversed the normal intake and exhaust flow by essentially flipping the aluminum heads around. Air now enters the engine on the outsides of the heads, and the exhaust manifolds are in the engine valley, joined by a single turbocharger.The end result of the new tech was 390 hp and an asphalt-destroying 735 lb-ft of torque, but then the2011 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra debuted with a new Duramax diesel that trumped the Ford with 397 hp and 765 lb-ft. Not one to lose a pissing match, Ford squeezed out another 10 hp and 65 lb-ft with a simple engine-computer reflash, for respective totals of 400 and 800. Acceleration was strong and smooth, and the new 6R140 six-speed automatic provides far softer shifts than we experience in our Ram. The combo returned a stout 15 mpg overall with a healthy mix of city and highway driving, both unladen and towing.