The thing that bothers me is that it is not connected to a manual tranny, or an automatic with manual gearing option that forces it to not downshift unless you tell it to, and that makes it hard to REALLY floor it to see how it is performing throughout the power band without it automatically downshifting on me...this drives me NUTS!
Transmission aside, I think the engine in mine has gotten smoother, stronger, and more fuel efficient in the last 2000 miles. I have about 5500 now. Overall, I think it is a fantastic engine. The power band is not as "exponential" as maybe I would expect from a sportscar, but for a truck it is solid, powerful, and consistent; and it gets me right into traffic from a dead stop like nobody's business.
It has a large sound for a v6 IMO too.