QOTD: Do You Care About Powertrain Specs?

by Tim Healey

Published: June 16th, 2025

Ford brass seems to think that, for a variety of reasons, today's consumer doesn't care that much about powertrain specs.

That might be accurate when describing the mainstream car buyer -- but maybe it isn't. So, I wanted to ask you if you think about it when you're buying or shopping.

I suppose you lot care more than most -- most of you are enthusiasts. But maybe you don't, or maybe you care only if it's a performance vehicle or a truck that will be used to tow. Maybe you care if the powertrain is solely internal combustion, but you don't if a vehicle is electrified or purely electric.

So, go ahead, you know what to do. Sound off below.

[Image: Art of pixels/Shutterstock.com]

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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2 of 40 comments

TCowner on Jun 17, 2025

Of course! More cylinders and more displacement =Smooth Operation and Long Reliability

Says TCowner who had his wifes 2.0 Ford Edge Ecoboost replaced at 65k miles due to coolant intrusion (thank you CarMax warranty!)

2 Reply
Otz65743402 on Oct 23, 2025

Now well into my 7th decade, I would consider reliability #1 that extends to long(er) life. Driveability and ride comfort #2. To me this applies to tar, gravel, or bush road usage. Mechanical complexity for no real purpose to #1 above is definitely distained. I would suffer higher purchase in lieu of economy of ownership down the track. To me nothing else matters. Given the above it's easier to review past performance and past owner experiences. Even new, there is considerable carry over. - However others milage may vary.

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