Fuel economy bad. Driving wrong?

[1995E]

Hello guys, I have an XLT 2011 Explorer with 4WD and I drive in the city most of the time, lots of potholes and hills, going about 35 - 55 MPH. I originally was averaging 13 MPG and now it's raised up to 15 - 16 MPGs but I haven't seen anything higher than that. 10% ethanol is in my fuel. Is there something I'm doing wrong? The max RPMs I'm going to are about 2 - 3k RPMs when accelerating and then I coast it when I get up to speed. Any help would be appreciated, especially since gas prices have hit almost 4 bucks here.

 

[Bill #5 Explorer]

You are only 1 MPG off the spec on the window sticker. It will improve a little with summer blended gas, and an oil change to full synthetic.

 

[JDraper]

Part of the problem is that at the lower end of the speeds your travelling at the vehicle doesn't allow the transmission to get into top gear, which robs fuel mileage. I've found that my vehicle gets it's best mileage between 55-65 mph.

 

[uniquename]

I have virtually the same driving conditions, and with 80 miles on my ex, it is sitting at 18.3 average. This includes the first seven miles that were not me, and the idling at the dealership. I pulled out of the lot with an average of 6 MPG.

I don't mash the gas pedal. I coast when I know I'm coming to a red light. I watch the instant economy and sometimes will go a few MPH over the speed limit when I find a sweet spot on mileage. After a while with a vehicle it becomes second nature. I turned in my 08 XLT 4X4 V6 and it had a Mostly city average of 18.1 with winter blend gas.

 

[JustB_Rad]

I have virtually the same driving conditions, and with 80 miles on my ex, it is sitting at 18.3 average. This includes the first seven miles that were not me, and the idling at the dealership. I pulled out of the lot with an average of 6 MPG.

I don't mash the gas pedal. I coast when I know I'm coming to a red light. I watch the instant economy and sometimes will go a few MPH over the speed limit when I find a sweet spot on mileage. After a while with a vehicle it becomes second nature. I turned in my 08 XLT 4X4 V6 and it had a Mostly city average of 18.1 with winter blend gas.

The tank that was filled up at the dealer was under 10mpg when I picked it up, and with about a 50/50 split between city/highway, I had it up to 15mpg before I filled up (at about 1/3 tank). With my new tank (since Tuesday and around 140 miles) and the same 50/50 city/highway, I'm averaging right around 20 mpg....which is about 1mpg less than my 2006 Pontiac G6 GTP got!

 

[peterk9]

Part of the problem is that at the lower end of the speeds your travelling at the vehicle doesn't allow the transmission to get into top gear, which robs fuel mileage. I've found that my vehicle gets it's best mileage between 55-65 mph.

I just filled up for the first time today. Drove approximately 8 miles with the cruise set at 80km per hour (50mph) and averaged slightly over 30mpg (hwy rating is 32mpg). I have 435.6 km (270 mi) on the odometer. Temp was about 41 F. So far, so good.