Explorer Gas Mileage - including Ecoboost

[corpflyboy]

1700 miles on odo.

Averaged 16.7 on the highway driving spirited above the 70mph limit with no traffic yesterday. Normally get as advertised of 22mpg driving 65-70 mph running 93. Most people dont buy a decent amount of hp vehicle to get great fuel mileage.

Buzz

 

[AZmom]

The engine on the Ecoboost is the same as my husband's F150. Until two weeks ago he was not a believer due to poor gas mileage. I bought him the truck December 2012 and it has 5K miles. I talked with the dealer and was informed it is how we are driving it. His best friend who has identical truck (even color) was getting 20 mpg with the same habits, so why the vast difference of 15 mpg to 20. Well that was until two weeks ago and something clicked in. I don't know how else to describe it, as he is now getting 20 mpg and that is around town- no highway. I followed up and called the dealer and they are still claiming it is the driving habits....I don't believe that based on driving the truck for the last year and only seeing the perks of the Ecoboost now.

I just wish we saw the perks before I went to buy mine... As his mpg are looking better than mine- but I barely have 1k miles on my Explorer. Oh well, there is always next time.

 

[Wildcat_1]

AZMom
What are you getting on your 14 Sport ?

The engine on the Ecoboost is the same as my husband's F150. Until two weeks ago he was not a believer due to poor gas mileage. I bought him the truck December 2012 and it has 5K miles. I talked with the dealer and was informed it is how we are driving it. His best friend who has identical truck (even color) was getting 20 mpg with the same habits, so why the vast difference of 15 mpg to 20. Well that was until two weeks ago and something clicked in. I don't know how else to describe it, as he is now getting 20 mpg and that is around town- no highway. I followed up and called the dealer and they are still claiming it is the driving habits....I don't believe that based on driving the truck for the last year and only seeing the perks of the Ecoboost now.

I just wish we saw the perks before I went to buy mine... As his mpg are looking better than mine- but I barely have 1k miles on my Explorer. Oh well, there is always next time.

 

[AZmom]

I have a Limited and it just dropped to 19.4 mpg after letting hubby drive it and now I cannot recover or climb any higher.

His Eco is getting 22.? (I forget until I drive it in an hour) and its getting better and better. His buddy with the same 2013 Eco has stated that with city driving he doesn't average less than 20, and these guys are hard on driving....so I am debating...

Also I have to go to dealership this weekend due to a fluke in my paperwork-they have 5 Sports and I am completely messing with hubby saying which vehicle will I come home with...lol. Poor guy he will end up with a heart attack so I had better stop....

 

[peterk9]

Over time your mpg should climb again. Hubby likely gave the the 'learning programs' a scare and they adjusted to his driving. Now they have to calm down and adjust to yours again.

Peter

 

[gtnos]

i have not checked in on this in a while. im still getting 21 mpg average on my 13 Explorer with the Ecoboost 4 cylinder. No matter how wife and I drive, it, we cant get it over 21. I cant believe its that far off of 28.

has ford acknowledged any mpg issues with the explorer yet? we love ours, and we will keep it, but I wish it would at least pull 25mpg....

from my perspective, I think its too small of an engine for an suv. while it powers the suv just fine, even going up on ramps it has some get up and go, from watching the tach at 65-70 mph, its taching at 3000 rpms. thats WAY to high for economy. it should be tacking in the low 2000s for fuel economy. at 3000 its in the middle of the power band and that turbo is in boost at that rpm.

ford either should have upped the engine size just a bit, or gave the auto trans a double overdrive gear. it should be cruising not in boost, at 70mph and taching below 2300.....

 

[baddceo]

they did up the engine size it's called the 3.5 V6. not sure you could expect what you are asking to happen in a 4 litre engine and almost 6k lbs of vehicle. I'd be pretty happy with what you are getting...

 

[principalpony]

i have not checked in on this in a while. im still getting 21 mpg average on my 13 Explorer with the Ecoboost 4 cylinder. No matter how wife and I drive, it, we cant get it over 21. I cant believe its that far off of 28.

has ford acknowledged any mpg issues with the explorer yet? we love ours, and we will keep it, but I wish it would at least pull 25mpg....

from my perspective, I think its too small of an engine for an suv. while it powers the suv just fine, even going up on ramps it has some get up and go, from watching the tach at 65-70 mph, its taching at 3000 rpms. thats WAY to high for economy. it should be tacking in the low 2000s for fuel economy. at 3000 its in the middle of the power band and that turbo is in boost at that rpm.

ford either should have upped the engine size just a bit, or gave the auto trans a double overdrive gear. it should be cruising not in boost, at 70mph and taching below 2300.....

I haven't checked my tach for a while, but it seems to me my ecoboost runs close to 2k rpm's at 70 mph. The turbo doesn't provide boost pressure unless the engine is under enough load for the exhaust pressure to be high enough to cause the turbo to spool up and provide the boost that needed. Under a normal load the turbo is just going along for the ride. Example, if you're cruising at 70 mph on a level road, you won't have any boost pressure, however if you're climbing a significant hill, the throttle valve will be opened more creating more exhaust pressure & will cause the turbo to provide boost pressure. The rpm's have remained constant the whole time. Drive with a vacuum/pressure gauge and you will see this.

I'd take your Ex in to the dealer & have it checked out. Sounds to me like it's not shifting into 6th gear.

 

[plumbago]

Gtnos: any chance you have hit your grade assist button, and it did not light up to alert you?.. This would effectively lock you out of 6th gear, and hold the rpm's higher. I agree with Prin Pony, at highway speeds 65-70 mph, you should not be anywhere near 3000 rpm. More like 2000-2100 rpm...Only time you might see the 3000+ rpm is a run up when you step down on it to enter a ramp or pass.....Other than that I must agree if you only get 21 on the highway, that's a long way from the advertised 28 mpg....I consider it plain and simple false advertising on Ford's part. I'm in the same boat with out 13EB XLT, and will never buy another one.....best regards Plum

 

[tahoetom]

Bad gas mileage

Hi, I have a new 2014 Explorer AWD with 1800 miles. It is listed to get 17 to 23 mpgs, but the best I have done on any tank full is 15. Any thoughts?

 

[Explorer0204]

What type of driving? City, Highway? Combination?

Usually vehicles get a little worse mileage when new... You may find it get better over time especially after say 5k miles.

 

[tmg19103]

I'm getting about 13 mpg in heavy suburban driving which would be like city driving in my 2011. Not pleased. Upped it to 13.5 mpg by trying to keep it below 2,000 rpm, but I feel like I'm over the hill driving that slow.

Thankfully my much older Saab 9-5 Aero, even though it takes premium gas with its High Output Turbo, gets about 20 city and 30-32 highway.

 

[Explorer0204]

I'm getting about 13 mpg in heavy suburban driving which would be like city driving in my 2011. Not pleased. Upped it to 13.5 mpg by trying to keep it below 2,000 rpm, but I feel like I'm over the hill driving that slow.

Thankfully my much older Saab 9-5 Aero, even though it takes premium gas with its High Output Turbo, gets about 20 city and 30-32 highway.

Something isn't right in my opinion...That mileage is too low for what you got. Winter will hurt mileage a bit in places with winter regions bit even at that I wouldn't expect that much of a loss.

Hell, even my 04 does better than that!

 

[tmg19103]

Something isn't right in my opinion...That mileage is too low for what you got. Winter will hurt mileage a bit in places with winter regions bit even at that I wouldn't expect that much of a loss.

Hell, even my 04 does better than that!

Yeah, there's a big thread on gas mileage I'll take a look at. Car passes its internal health check and at only 31k don't think sparks or other wear and tear are in need.

 

[Explorer0204]

Yeah, there's a big thread on gas mileage I'll take a look at. Car passes its internal health check and at only 31k don't think sparks or other wear and tear are in need.

Turbocharged engines can be funny sometimes with mileage. It seems counter intuitive bit sometimes light throttle kills em. The turbos have to spool up to make power so sometimes when acceleration it is in your best interest to punch it a bit.

 

[AZmom]

My Limited is not AWD, however I cannot improve my gas mileage- I am stuck at 19.4. This happened after hubby drove it, and I still cannot recover any higher. I have tried Shell gasoline and babying my car.

This weekend I went to the airshow- way across town, all highway miles. I think my Explorer is still shocked over the way hubby drove it-driving with cruise control and 65 I cannot improve it at all. In Arizona our temps are in the low 80's so no reason weather is the issue. I am stumped.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Explorer0204]

My Limited is not AWD, however I cannot improve my gas mileage- I am stuck at 19.4. This happened after hubby drove it, and I still cannot recover any higher. I have tried Shell gasoline and babying my car.

This weekend I went to the airshow- way across town, all highway miles. I think my Explorer is still shocked over the way hubby drove it-driving with cruise control and 65 I cannot improve it at all. In Arizona our temps are in the low 80's so no reason weather is the issue. I am stumped.

Anyone have any ideas?

Maybe you need a new husband hehehe.

I'm just kidding...

Like I said above, try to not baby it too much. Turbos need time throttle to become efficient try a thankful or two accelerating a little harder and see what happens. I found with my Explorer I was over thinking it so much I was actually hurting my mileage. Do what feels comfortable and you may be surprised to see your mileage goes up.

 

[tmg19103]

Maybe you need a new husband hehehe.

I'm just kidding...

Like I said above, try to not baby it too much. Turbos need time throttle to become efficient try a thankful or two accelerating a little harder and see what happens. I found with my Explorer I was over thinking it so much I was actually hurting my mileage. Do what feels comfortable and you may be surprised to see your mileage goes up.

My Ex that is getting 13.5 city in not a turbo. I was referencing my Saab that gets quite good mileage with a high output turbo and where I tend to drive rather aggressively in sport mode. The Ex being babied at 2,000 rpm or below only gets 13.5 city, and it's not a new car that needs to be broken in or one so old you might expect problems. Like I said, I'll be looking into it.

 

[Sgt1411]

Driving the I5 Vancouver to LA averaging 70-80MPH (Ya I know the limit is 65-70 most of the way) my Explorer shows me I got 20.7 average MPG

Between Sacramento and LA I had to spank a couple Audi's along the way ....oh and and a BMW.......so that brought the average down a little.

 

[Dr Plastic]

I am getting 17-19 in city driving and I have no complaints at all. Compared to my 2005 Explorer 4x4 3.0L that got 10-12 mpg.

People... this is an SUV, it is heavier and will not get gas mileage like a sedan will, so don't get upset when it doesn't!