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My quest for 30 MPG - Ford Explorer Gas Mileage Tips

I'm sorry, but I dont believe it for a single second. The only way an explorer is going to get 30 mpg's is to remove the engine, install a tow strap and have someone tow you around.....

I know how to drive conservitavely and its not gonna get you 30 mpg.

Anyway, whatever you need to tell yourself I guess. Good job. Congrats.
 



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LOL i doubt he's lieing, he's got a 4x2, plus he lives in Florida which is pretty flat and he's go 3.73 gears, plus with all his mods. i can get around 23ish on flat road with 4.10 gears w/ 4x4 and only cone air filter and all synthetics.
 






When my truck was stock, I used to get 20 on the freeway when I lived in Houston (ie:flat as a pancake) and I have a 4X4. The gearing was 3.55 ratio! My tires were 31X10.50's so that even rasies the overall ratio more....

I'll give you your 23ish as you put it just for sake of arguement... I am a realistic person and maybe you drove like miss daisy. No problem... BUT add 8-10 more mpg to that :crazy:??? The only way thats gonna happen is if he strips the entire truck down and torches a whole in the floor board for his feet and starts pedaling :biggthump

Yabbadabbadooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!
 






When my truck was stock, I used to get 20 on the freeway when I lived in Houston (ie:flat as a pancake) and I have a 4X4. The gearing was 3.55 ratio! My tires were 31X10.50's so that even rasies the overall ratio more....

I'll give you your 23ish as you put it just for sake of arguement... I am a realistic person and maybe you drove like miss daisy. No problem... BUT add 8-10 more mpg to that :crazy:??? The only way thats gonna happen is if he strips the entire truck down and torches a whole in the floor board for his feet and starts pedaling :biggthump

Yabbadabbadooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

Yea but did you go the speed limit in houston?

i dont kno about where you were, but where i live (about 25 miles out of houston) EVERYONE has a lead foot, and its even worse in the city limits:D
 






5mph over Speed limit, cruise control. Slowing down will always net a little better mpg's. Were are talking 1... if your lucky2 mpg. 8-10mpg better than anyone other explorer on the planet is absurd.:banghead:

Oh by the way, I run synthetics too. Its really not that big of a secret :thumbsup:

The only way that truck is gonna get 30+ is if he sells it and buys a bicycle... I recomend something in a 24 or 32 speed :bsnicker:
 






Well if Aldive's lying then he has quite a bit of people fooled... :p: silly chief. you should see and actually read all the stuff he has done to that truck... it's amazing

I know why i get 20mpg on the high way (70-90, unless there's a cop.. ;)) and about 16mpg around where i live... I'm 20 years old and used to own a 5.0 mustang...:D So my foot is about as lead as they come. It's definitally possible.. i've gotten 21 on a bone stock ex, painstakingly of course ,for me at least.
 






I dont know if anyone else is having a problem with the site, but it is extremely slow for me right now. I could only make it through a few pages because it is taking forever for the pages to pop up.... So maybe I missed something about what he has done to his truck that is amazing....

The last time I checked an intake, exhaust, air dam, and synthetic fluids wasnt good for 10 mpg.... The best you ever got was 21? But you think its possible to get 30+ .... hmmmm..... interesting.

The only way that truck is gonna get 30+ mpg's is if he can get enough speed gathered up in one mile to coast the next 29 miles and repeat until he gets where he is going...
 






I dont know if anyone else is having a problem with the site, but it is extremely slow for me right now. I could only make it through a few pages because it is taking forever for the pages to pop up.... So maybe I missed something about what he has done to his truck that is amazing....

The last time I checked an intake, exhaust, air dam, and synthetic fluids wasnt good for 10 mpg.... The best you ever got was 21? But you think its possible to get 30+ .... hmmmm..... interesting.

The only way that truck is gonna get 30+ mpg's is if he can get enough speed gathered up in one mile to coast the next 29 miles and repeat until he gets where he is going...

You obviously have to read through all 85 pages. Takes a few hours...

Aldive is one of the most Respected members on this Forum.

He logs his findings and is very meticulous in reporting the details. He is much like a scientist in that he stays objective. He has gone through all the trouble most others just talk about doing.

His work speaks for itself, and its not like he's trying to sell it. Because he should of been getting paid along time ago...

Im surprised He is not a Modderator By now, maybe he turned it down.
 






Well, Like I said I only went through 5 or 6 pages because at the rate the pages are loading for me right now it would take me a year to get through all the pages lol....

I dont know about "all the other" things he must have done, but on the very first page it says he is seeing like 30-32 mpg depending on the trip from a 3.73 ratio, intake, exhaust, and synthetic fluids... Oh yeah and driving with the windows up and A/C off i think. That right there is not going to happen. I dont care if you accelerate painstakingly slow and drive 55 mph..... It won't happen.

I consider myself a very objective person as well. I look at things in a scientific and mathmatical matter myself. I have an 08 F-450 powestroke that I nurse and milk for every shred of MPG I can get every day.... So I am very accustomed to driving conservitavely. Things like minor aerodynamics changes and driving/accelerating slow will give you minor mpg benifits.... BUT not 10 mpg!!

Despite the Sarcastic notes in my posts here (which are only in fun) I am not trying to attack the integrity of this guy. He might be a super nice guy and well respected, but When I smell stink I have to say something!

Just on a side note a Ford focus can get UP to 35 mpg with a manual transmission.... A Chevy Tahoe HYBRID can get UP to 25 mpg.... Think about it.... It doesen't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. ESPECIALLY since ALL of us drive Explorers!!! BUT only 1 of us gets 30+ mpg?

He'd probably have better luck putting a ford explorer emblem on the side of a purple honda goldwing tank and trying to pass it off as a 30+ mpg explorer, than convincing me that his actual explorer gets it. ;)
 






how you drive makes a huge difference on your mpg, if you have the message center u can put it on instant MPG which will tell you what MPG every few seconds. the more you let off the gas when "slowing" down, starting slowing down farther back, you can get more mpg. will it help you get 8 more mpg? maybe.

Explorers with a sohc 2nd gen the hwy says it can get 19-20 and going from anchorage,ak to glen allen, ak averaging about 70mph i got 21.6 which is more then its suppose to get and if i would have driven 65mph and tried to get better mpg i could have easily got 23. plus alaska i very not flat! so i can believe that he gets 30. just a little FWI for you
 






Cool, another person questioning Al's claims!

Here's my take on the "legitimacy" of his claims.

I believe what he says. Here are my reasons...
-He has the SOHC engine, which is more efficent
-He has made a lot of changes to his vehicle, and has $pent lots of money on mods
-He gives an honest opinion on how he likes each mod, and goes into detail with them
-He has stated that he isn't doing this to save money, but for better MPG. He has put more cash into his truck trying things than he has saved in gas
-He stated at one point his son only gets 24ish mpg when driving, which shows that driving style clearly plays a big role.


Chief34 - I understand you doubts of Aldive's MPG. It is understandable. If he really does get that good of mileage or not I guess will never be proven. However, he has given many opinions on different products to try, and other modifications, which other members have then done and agreed that they help. His research and experiments have helped many people on here get better mileage, and people have learned to trust him.

Bottom line, if you don't believe Aldive, that's fine, and if you say in a post that you don't, that is also fine. Just understand that many people here do believe him, and have followed in his footsteps with good success.

Here's my opinions..although I do not doubt his numbers, I do believe they are not common. I think simply by his driving style, and luck in how well his truck runs, to some extent, explains why the numbers are so high. I don't think there are any single mods that give good mileage, but rather a combination of things, such as the UP kit, and synthetic fluids, ect. After all, just simply from when I changed my transmission fluid and filter I gained 1-2mpg in town, simply from the fresh fluid, which lets it run better. I can only imagine if I had spent the money for all synthetic fluids.


So, to bring this long post to an end, I would just like to sum it up by saying...
Aldive's mileage may be debated, but his reputation and research cannot be. He has tested so many products, just to let us all know if something helps or not, and even if we can't all get 30mpg, we all can improve it by following in his steps.
 






I consider myself a very objective person as well. I look at things in a scientific and mathmatical matter myself.
-If you were an objective person, you would've research more about what Aldive has done, read through his threads about the write-up of each part that "gives better mileage", THEN you would've had to repeat the process yourself to see if it holds true. But because you read 5-6 pages, or about 14% of the thread, you can't make that statement about yourself.

I am not trying to attack the integrity of this guy
-But you all ready have by saying he's lying about his mileage, in front of the hundreds of people that read this thread.

ESPECIALLY since ALL of us drive Explorers!!! BUT only 1 of us gets 30+ mpg?
-But again, he's the ONLY PERSON to go this far with upgrading his Explorer merely for mileage gains. He's not into the lowering or lifting (from what I know ;) ) area of Explorers, he's into the mileage area. Companies can make cars that get better mileage then they do, I mean, you put a better air filter on any vehicle...BAM... almost always get better mileage. Why dont' they do that? Cost extra money.

He'd probably have better luck putting a ford explorer emblem on the side of a purple honda goldwing tank and trying to pass it off as a 30+ mpg explorer, than convincing me that his actual explorer gets it
-He's not here to convince anybody. Plain and simple. If you don't agree with what he says then simply don't post.
 






I also would like to see 1 other person go to the lengths Aldive has to achieve this goal. This would either dispel, or legitimize his claims. For now we have only his word to rely on, as there is no scientific data possible to monitor how much fuel is put in the tank.
I'd like to feel we members all have one thing in common, which is our good word. So,

can we please get this thread back on track?

:D
 






Yeah, I trust Aldive's results. Amazing amount of work involved! I sometimes wonder what kind of a difference can be made if such mods were done on something already good on gas...

I took my foot out of the pedal, still went up to 3500 rpm occasionally, but not nearly as aggressive, mileage went up from 12mpg to 15 :) Course there is still something messed up under the hood, but its a start. It was nice to see the tripometer hit 340km, and still be at 1/4 tank. 320km was pushing it below E before!
 






The PCM tune is a massive part of saving gasoline in today's vehicles. If you have the stock programming in your PCM, then you are wasting gasoline. I fall into that category still, but not for much longer. Regards,
 






I was thinking of getting the programming changed.. but theres not really anywhere around here that i know of that can do it.
 






The following is a list of modifications that have resulted in the mileage reported on my 99 4.0 SOHC:
Mobil 1 5 w 30 synthetic motor oil
Mobil 1 ATF in auto tranny ( a complete change )
Mobil 1 in the 3.73 rear end
KKM Tru Rev intake
Custom cat back exhaust system
Remove roof rack
Many coats of Zaino polish
Tire pressure 40 psig
Explorer Express X Spec air dam
Amoco 87 octane gas
Secondary tranny filter ( don’t know if this helps )

Driving habits help also:
No race like starts
Windows up always - usually with AC on
Keep top speed at or below 70 MPH

I know there have been many more "mods" done to this truck as you all point out, But here is a list of mods on the very first page that he says he got 32.1mpg out of..... I must be missing something. The consensus seems to be that most are babying their trucks and getting 22-23 mpg. There is a big difference from 23 to 32....

Blacksheep Josh.... since you seem to be the most ruffled by My disagreement, I'll just adress a couple of your concerns....
-As for objectiveness, I am only referring to the claim of 32 mpg on the mods listed above. I am not even talking about the hho generator or ecu tune. I am talking about the original claim. Therefore, the rest of the info doesent matter.
-These threads are discussions Not a one sided conversation. You dont think anybody who disagrees with something said here should ask questions or voice an opinion? What if someone spends money doing something he has documented here, without ever hearing anyone ask questions about how that is possible? Regardless of the mpg outcome. I would love to hear some other info I might have missed on how this equipment got 32 mpg.
-The reason they dont put open air conical filters on vehicles from the factory isnt because it cost more.... It is because Sucking in extremely hot under hood air into your engine is BAD. You might think it is the best thing since sliced bread but it is not. I wont go into that anymore.....


Aside from all that, that biggest thing that most keep going back to is driving habits.... Yes this is very true. D.H. do make a difference. Not 8-10mpg.... The Kicker is you can take driving habits out of the equation by staying on the freeway! Like while on a trip...
Bottom line is the truck is 5000lbs! Not very aerodynamic... When comparing the same vehicle... On a flat freeway with "X" amount of weight and wind resistance the only way you will get better gas mileage is a lower Rpm at the same speed. There is no magic here.
 






I'm sorry, but I dont believe it for a single second. The only way an explorer is going to get 30 mpg's is to remove the engine, install a tow strap and have someone tow you around.....

I know how to drive conservitavely and its not gonna get you 30 mpg.

Anyway, whatever you need to tell yourself I guess. Good job. Congrats.

I somewhat agree with this line of thinking. Though the guy seems to really know his stuff and has modded and done a lot to acheive it, none of it is really substanciated.

If I were to do the same thing, I would state my base gas mileage, and then as I modded I would post the mod and the increase it gave me and why I did the mod/what I expected it to do. Just to say I drive well doesn't cut it at all. I drive with the absolute best fuel efficiency in mind (don't go over 55mph, predict braking way in advance in order to brake as unoften as possible, do not ever practice hard acceleration) and the absolute most I've been able to get is about 20mpg. My vehicle is older, but that's as you stated in another post, about a 2mpg improvement over driving without being cautious about your gas usage.

If this were a real thing, I get the feeling he would do more explaining of how he improved (and you can too) his mileage, rather than just 50+ pages of no information how to improve your gas mileage even unsubstancially.

I have a 2WD as well (is that so rare?) and it has only been road driven its whole life. I see absolutely no improvement in gas mileage over a regular 4WD model. The window sticker advertised 18mpg av, 20mpg hwy. This is precisely the gas mileage I get when practicing economical driving habits. My vehicle has 260,100 miles on it which probably equates to a slight drop in gas mileage, but that is offset by economical driving habits.
 






I'm sorry, but I dont believe it for a single second. The only way an explorer is going to get 30 mpg's is to remove the engine, install a tow strap and have someone tow you around.....

I know how to drive conservitavely and its not gonna get you 30 mpg.

Anyway, whatever you need to tell yourself I guess. Good job. Congrats.

I've gotten 25MPG with my 4DR, 4x4, OHV, 3.55 gears with nothing more than synthetics and a CAI. With my 2DR, 2wd, SOHC, 3.73 gears I often get 23MPG with nothing more than a CAI. Once I do the mods I want to do to it I don't think I'll have much trouble getting 28MPG.

Once you get up to 3.55 gearing I think your 31" tires actually start to hurt mileage. It gears it too high.

If Aldive is lying than he's gone to a great extent and a lot of trouble to make that lie. With the amount of documentation and write ups he's done detailing what he has done it's very hard to believe it's a lie.
 



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I agree with jtsmith, let's get this show back on the road! No pun intended... lol

Last weekend I drove from Statesboro, GA to Augusta, GA. Which is about 1.5hrs of driving, or around 90 miles one way depending on which way you go (all highway btw). Did not use my Explorer for around town driving (used the sister's 89' Corolla), so round trip came out to 186.2 miles from parking spot back to parking spot. Went back to the gas station, topped off to first click, tank took 8.12 gallons, which is 22.9 mpg. I love it. Goal is to hit 25, and I have plenty I can still do.

Looking forward to the next trip, I have a larger alternator now, want to see if that'll make a difference.
 






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