anyway to get better mpg 08 4.0 v6 explorer

[NickSantagataa]

I get between 14-16 in the street and on the highway 19 but with cruise control around 23 on the highway, I'm thinking of getting nitrogen into my tires because my parents had a 2007 escalade that got 13 then with nitrogen it got 15, being 17 and gas at 2.50 a gallon I'm tired of spending 70 a week on gas, so I need all tips to keep my mpgs up, I try to keep the rpms between 1-2, but seeing as I hate getting stuck behind people I accelerate kind of hard , thanks guys

 

[Tech By Trade]

Take your foot off the pedal, that's about it.

 

[Flag Gibby]

You already have nitrogen in your tires, just not 99% (regular air is approx. 78% nitrogen) so it is not worth putting in the higher percentage if you check the air pressure on the tires every couple of weeks. What I recommend and have found as having the most benefit is inflating with very dry air since it is the water content that seems to make the most difference. The other thing that may get you about 0.8MPG more is to run your tire pressures about 1.5 PSI over the factory recommended pressures. Also, removing the roof rack cross bars (if you never use them) will net you maybe 0.3 MPG Honestly your MPGs seem correct for the 4.0, the only thing driver wise that could help your MPGs is to have a more steady foot (your highway cruise control results already prove this) and to not quickly accelerate as much.

 

[Rcflyer330]

I had nitrogen put in my snow tires for the winter gained maybe 1 mpg on the highway and none for city driving. But I have not needed to air up my tires since I got them filled.

 

[intelisevil]

Park your Explorer and ride a motorcycle?

Your mileage doesn't sound that bad for the boxes that we drive!

 

[Jim0523]

Use a higher octane gas, if you can. My 07 runs much better on mid grade gas than it does on 87 octane. Only problem is that it does not have the engine braking when you let up off the gas, it wants to continue on.

 

[NickSantagataa]

I will be putting about 1.5psi over recommend limits and I'm 99.99% I'm going to take off the racks bit the racks keep it from looking like a soccer dad car lmao, and I had a 2015 ninja 650 but I took a corner too fast and wiped the brake out and broke the oil pan and gas tank so it's going to be awhile before I use the bike again got to get around 2000 to fix it... so Ex time for a long ass time

 

[Tech By Trade]

This is true,
http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/gasoline-octane-myths.html

 

[NickSantagataa]

Eh super really isn't worth it, it's another 50 cents a gallon so figure 10 per fill up to get 1 mile to the gallon better that's 22 more miles about 1 and a half gallons which is about $3.25. So who ever buys super or super + you got suckered into the scam by your lovely gas station

 

[96firephoenix]

Eh super really isn't worth it, it's another 50 cents a gallon so figure 10 per fill up to get 1 mile to the gallon better that's 22 more miles about 1 and a half gallons which is about $3.25. So who ever buys super or super + you got suckered into the scam by your lovely gas station

that depends on your area and the season. Down in FL, you probably don't get sold "winter gas" like we do up here. when I lived in Pittsburgh PA, I would get the 93 in the winter and 89 in the summer and it made a huge difference with all the hills out there.

(numbers are from my firebird, not the explorer) In flat land like Indianapolis, I'd get 30 highway on 87. In the hilly country like PGH, it dropped to 22. Then I started putting the higher grad in it, and got back up to 28. Out there, it was only $.20 more/gal, so I would pay another $3 on a 15 g tank, and go almost an extra 100 miles per tank.

I'll have to try the mid-grade in the explorer. With the weight and (lack of) aerodynamics, I can see it making a difference. Needs gas anyway. If it gets me +2 mpg, That'll make the difference in cost back, depending on the station.

 

[NickSantagataa]

Lol yeah here in Florida the octane stays the same depending on the gas station, at she'll they us ally give 90 octaves standard, and mobile gives 91 standard racetrack and 7/11 do 89 but every time I put in a full tank I put in an octane booster just for my fuel injectors though

 

[NickSantagataa]

I filled my tires up to 36.5 psi and recommendations for the kelly safari signatures so let's see if I get better gas.

 

[michael loibl]

Jim, I'm going to be up all nite now cleaning up the sangria I spit out from laughing while reading about your loss of engine braking due to higher octane fuel!
You were joking about that right?

 

[NickSantagataa]

Lol , Mike he meant to say that he can coast at one speed after he let's his foot off the gas , or that what I assume he's meaning to say lmao.

 

[Flag Gibby]

This engine was designed to run off of 87 octane and running a higher octane is a waste of $$ (injector cleaners fine but octane boosters forget it). What makes the difference in fuel economy when it comes to the gas is the ethanol content, gasoline without the ethanol can give you easily 1 MPG better than the usual winter mix of 10% although typical mixes are around 6% year around from the studies/testing that I have done. If you can find a station that sells ethanol free then I would always fill up with that and you will see a big difference on your MPG numbers. Also, you may have to go with more than 1.5 PSI over factory in order to maximize your fuel gains (1.5 PSI is a good compromise between fuel savings and still having a good tire contact patch and I didn't notice a significant change once I went over 2 PSI but what works best for you may be completely different since you are in a completely different environment). I used to run 3 PSI over factory on my ATRs in order to get the best fuel economy in my case. The higher pressures helped with my short distance driving in my case since the tires were not getting warmed up much before I reached my final destination and my ATRs are a fairly grippy tire. However, running the pressures that high over the life of the tire put a feathering pattern on the outside edge of the tire tread over the life of the tire so with this set I have backed down to 1.5 in order to limit those effects and yes I lost about .5 MPG (out of 1.2 MPG just from tire pressure changes) doing that but worth it in my mind since that really only adds up to about 8 miles on a tank that I am no longer getting.

 

[MotorCityFats13]

the only difference in winter and summer blend is the butane they add.... all fuels have to stay between the mandated 10-15%.... alcohol has a lower power ratio than petrol so with the higher % of ethanol you get less bang.... unless you jet for alcohol you basically just dump it out in the exhaust ... even E85 formulated engines get way less MPG on E85 than E10.... I do not think any refinery's let straight gasoline reach the final market

 

[Flag Gibby]

As of last year locally here (Arizona), summer blend was 6% ethanol and winter was at 10% ethanol which matches up very nicely with the national studies that are out there from a couple of years ago. We also have a local refinery that provides ethanol free at the pump and you can typically find ethanol free pumps at stations that sell racing fuel. As far as the alkanes, that is a formulary thing that is specific to the brand that is mixed in at the refinery just before it goes into the tanker to get delivered and isobutane (an alkane) is typically used to change (increase) the octane rating of the fuel.

BTW the whole reason the industry had to go to ethanol is because the EPA killed the use of MTBE as an oxygenate.

 

[NickSantagataa]

Any engine tunes I could do for better miss?