Main Street Rides

The engine number is 448AA and it’s the subject of Ford’s new marketing campaign.  As the only American automotive manufacturer that didn’t accept a government loan, Ford has had to work double time to steer clear of chapter 11.  After a loss of over $12 billion in 2006, Ford was forced to rethink some things.  Rising from the dust of one of the automotive industries darkest moments, the Ford motor company has risen as one of its brightest stars.  With complete remodels of almost every car and truck in its stables and a large number of new engines that have been developed in house by Ford, the blue oval is on a serious rebound.

With all this change comes the need for some serious advertising and marketing, not only to let consumers know that new products are available but also to dispose of any negative views that may have been generated in the past.  In short, Ford has become one of the world leaders when it comes to marketing strategy and leading one of their newest campaigns is none other than “Dirty Jobs” host Mike Rowe.  Ford’s task in this monumental campaign is to show the world how tough it’s new 3.5L Ecoboost V-6 can be when it finds duty in the new 2011 Ford F-150.  Not only does the Ecoboost need to prove that it can do V-8 work while producing V-6 fuel economy but also that it can be reliable over the long haul as loyal small block V-8 customers will be accustomed to and should rightly expect.

So how does Ford expect to convince consumers that a newly developed engine can last over the long haul?  That’s where Mike Rowe comes in, with a very dirty job.  The marketing campaign for the F-150’s Ecoboost is half-way over and currently in the third stage of a four stage gauntlet of durability, longevity, and of course hard work.  Mike Rowe and his dirty job consists of helping Ford randomly select one of the Ecoboost engines off the assembly line and putting through 150,000 miles of dyno shock-testing.  After enduring an equivalent of 150,000 miles and extreme temperature changes engine #448AA finds its way into a brand new 2011 Ford F-150 XLT 4×4 which will promptly find its way to a logging camp.  After serving as a heavy-duty log puller at a logging camp for the equivalent of 200,000 lbs the Ecoboost won’t get much of a break.  For the next 24 hours the F-150 and its Ecoboost will be subjected to a 24 hour torture test of more heavy duty pulling.  Last but surely not least #448AA will be pulled from the F-150 and slapped into Baja 1000 race truck where it will finish it’s torture test competing in one of the worlds most grueling desert races know to man.

After enduring more stress, strain, and constant operating time than any normal truck would ever endure #448AA will be dismantled by Ford engineers to inspect the wear and tear that the engine will have accumulated.  While the Ecoboost’s odyssey is only half over, reports say that so far it has performed flawlessly.  While the Ecoboost has drawn skepticism from faithful V-8 owners, it is apparent so far that a twin-turbo V-6 can do what a V-8 can any day of the week and get considerably better fuel economy.  The big question still stands however- Will it be reliable enough to do it day-in and day-out for years on end?  Mike Rowe and Ford have teamed up to show the world that it can, it’s a dirty job but somebodies got to do it.

If you’d like to see #448AA and Mike Rowe in action click here.