Madd_Dogg_Explorer
Member
- Joined
- September 14, 2021
- Messages
- 12
- Reaction score
- 8
- City, State
- Vacaville, CA
- Year, Model & Trim Level
- 2020 Explorer Limited 4WD
I've seen a few threads asking about fuel economy of the 2.3L engine in the Explorer, so I thought I would share our results after a trip.
We just got back from a 2000+ mile, week and a half trip from Northern California through Utah, down to Las Vegas, then Santa Cruz then home. We did some light off-roading, and quite a few hills throughout Utah. Highway speed was generally set at 72 MPH, however there were some highway stretches where the speed limit went to 80 MPH, so I set the cruise control to 80 during those stretches. I believe the car is rated at 27 MPG highway, and over the whole trip we averaged 25.6 MPG. We were caravanning with a Toyota RAV4 that got only slightly better at around 27 MPG. Overall, considering the size of the vehicle, I was quite impressed with the overall economy. We ran 87 Octane where available, but in Utah they had 85 Octane or 88 Octane, so we went with 88 Octane.
Here is the obligatory photo of the Explorer exploring in the Capitol Reef National Park in Utah, and the final trip results now that we are home.
We just got back from a 2000+ mile, week and a half trip from Northern California through Utah, down to Las Vegas, then Santa Cruz then home. We did some light off-roading, and quite a few hills throughout Utah. Highway speed was generally set at 72 MPH, however there were some highway stretches where the speed limit went to 80 MPH, so I set the cruise control to 80 during those stretches. I believe the car is rated at 27 MPG highway, and over the whole trip we averaged 25.6 MPG. We were caravanning with a Toyota RAV4 that got only slightly better at around 27 MPG. Overall, considering the size of the vehicle, I was quite impressed with the overall economy. We ran 87 Octane where available, but in Utah they had 85 Octane or 88 Octane, so we went with 88 Octane.
Here is the obligatory photo of the Explorer exploring in the Capitol Reef National Park in Utah, and the final trip results now that we are home.