DEARBORN, Mich., Sept. 17, 2010 – Ford will put some 20,000 people behind the wheel of the new 2011 Ford F-150 months before the vehicle arrives in dealer showrooms so they can see for themselves how its all-new powertrain lineup – including the much-anticipated 3.5-liter EcoBoost – performs and how F-150 stacks up against the competition.

The Ford EcoBoost engine will be available in 90 percent of the 2011 Ford F-150 lineup.

The Built Ford Tough Roundup, a comprehensive drive program for consumers, fleet customers, and dealership sales staff, will travel to seven cities throughout the country between now and November. Additionally, Ford will offer drives of its full car and truck lineup to fair-goers at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas next month.

“We know that once people get into the 2011 F-150 and experience the four new engines that they’re really going to be sold on them. Some of our dealers had a chance to drive it and one constant feedback was ‘Wow!’” said Mark Grueber, F-150 Marketing manager. “Customers tell us they’re really impressed with the specs of the new engines – including best-in-class horsepower, torque, trailer tow and fuel economy – but they want to get behind the wheel and compare it with the competition.”

In recent months, rumors have been rampant that the next generation of Ford’s Shelby GT500 Mustang would dump the existing 5.4-liter supercharged V8 in favor of a twin-turbo version of the new 5.0-liter Coyote V8 that debuts this spring. Unfortunately, in spite of earlier reports confirming the development, it appears that such an engine will not be installed in the GT500 any time soon. Mike Harrison, Ford’s chief engineer for the 5.0-liter and 6.2-liter V8 engines  made it clear that the mooted engine is not part of the program for the Blue Oval bomber.