Highway MPG

[sgparnes]

Best I can get on hwy is about 21 at about 78mph. I rented a Dodge SUV Citadel on a trip up north and got about 23mpg, but the speed limits are lower and I probably was going about 70-75 mph. I noticed a pretty large variation in mpg according to the posts. Various factors are involved.

 

[Car 54]

2012 AWD, w/V6 the best or average around town 16.8, freeway, the best 18.9 no better. I have around 3k for miles. My same question, will the miles go up after the oil change?

Speng,

I should know on Friday if it made a difference.

 

[yow04xplr]

I get 21-24.5 mpg highway at 75-78 mph. I all depends on the wind. 24.5 was with a strong tailwind on a 350 mile trip. Return trip was 21 against the wind. I have V-6 4wd with 7500 miles.

Ditto for me.


............mv

 

[RandyH2]

My '11 Limited, AWD with Tow has a mixed-use average of 17.6 and I seldom see much over 20 mpg, displayed, on the highway while running ~75.

 

[1995E]

On my way back from Ocean City during the summer, I hit 23.1 MPG with my 4WD 2011 and I was surprised since I only averaged 21.7 on my way there. My tank was nearly empty when I put the gas in and I believe the gas I put in had no ethanol in it which showed a notable difference in MPG.

 

[dbrook1]

I have a 2011 XLT 4WD with about 3500 miles on it. I am very disappointed in the mileage. My hwy best has been about 21 @ 70-75mph. Even more disappointing is my daily use driving. It is predominantly hwy driving. I only get about 18mpg. With my 2001 4Runner (rated 19/13) I averaged 18+ with daily driving. I have to say the mileage is my only real issue so far (and it is a fairly large disappointment).

 

[jrmexplorer]

Gas mileage is going to vary some from the posted numbers. It really depends on numerous factors such as:

1.) driving style (harsh accelerations/decelerations will impact MPG)
2.) wind direction and speed is HUGE
3.) terrain - flat terrain is best for MPG
4.) A/C use - using the A/C lowers MPG by 1-2 MPG minimum
5.) Temperature - seems like colder temps increase MPG - BUT, in winter, the winter blend gas is not as efficient.
6.) ???? lots of other factors.

 

[spitfisher]

Has anyone disapointed in their mileage considered:

Driving over 65-69 cuts fuel economy by almost 8%, over 70 12%
25 miles per gallon X .88 = 22 MPG

also I have never found out one way or the other but do they use gas without ethanol when they do testing for fuel economy????

Ethanol gas costs more and robs fuel economy. It is not unusual to be robbed of 10-15%of mileage with this gas- and its only going to get worse. If you are supposed to get 25 MPG, using ethanol even under the same testing conditions would make it 22 MPG, drive at 70 with ethanol and now you are down below 20 MPG

 

[JustB_Rad]

I just took a 500 Mile round trip for deer hunting. On roads that have small hills, and the first 100 miles were 65 MPH speed limit, and last 150 miles were 55 MPH speed limit, I averaged 24 MPG on the way there....which is 1 MPG better than any other time I've been on the highway. I was also hauling 700 lbs of weight in the Explorer/on my hitch rack. This is the first road trip that I took since adding the Magnaflow Exhaust and K & N Air Filter. On my drive home, I took a route with more 65 MPH speed limit, and averaged around 23 MPG with far less weight. In my experience with my Ex, I've determined that the sweet spot for mileage is around 61 MPH. I get around 25-26 MPG then. I also live in an area with 10% minimum ethanol, so I'm sure that has something to do with my crappy milage of around 22 MPG at 72 MPH.

 

[dbrook1]

Very valid points jrnexplorer and spitfisher. However accurate your lessons are, they do not explain my issue; namely that my 10 yr newer Ex with a significantly higher mpg rating gets the same or worse mileage than an '01 4Runner under the EXACT SAME DRIVING CONDITONS. To top it off the ratings for the 4Runner were prior to the update to methods used by the EPA. With current methods it's likely the 4Runner would be now rated around 17/12. That is the reason for my significant disappointment with my Ex's mpg.

 

[spitfisher]

Very valid points jrnexplorer and spitfisher. However accurate your lessons are, they do not explain my issue; namely that my 10 yr newer Ex with a significantly higher mpg rating gets the same or worse mileage than an '01 4Runner under the EXACT SAME DRIVING CONDITONS. To top it off the ratings for the 4Runner were prior to the update to methods used by the EPA. With current methods it's likely the 4Runner would be now rated around 17/12. That is the reason for my significant disappointment with my Ex's mpg.

You're close with the 4 runner mileage.
A friend of mine who travels simular routes bought a new 11 4 runner. We are both footwear sales reps so cargo space is needed but there is some balance of fuel economy and towing capacity- we rent uhauls occasionally. Any way he opted for the toyota 4 runner AWD and his fuel around town is often 12-13 and highways is never above 19 at any speed.

according to toyota a 4 runner Ltd is 17-22 with 19 being the likely average

 

[dbrook1]

You're close with the 4 runner mileage.
A friend of mine who travels simular routes bought a new 11 4 runner. We are both footwear sales reps so cargo space is needed but there is some balance of fuel economy and towing capacity- we rent uhauls occasionally. Any way he opted for the toyota 4 runner AWD and his fuel around town is often 12-13 and highways is never above 19 at any speed.

according to toyota a 4 runner Ltd is 17-22 with 19 being the likely average

I hear what you're saying, but I was comparing my 2012 Ex to my former 2001 (not 2011) 4Runner that was traded on the Ex. That is why I am so disappointed in the mileage. In direct, equitable comparisons, the Ex sorely lacks versus the old 4Runner (and by lacks, I mean they get/got equivalent mileage which to me is not acceptable). One of my justifications for the purchase was "better" gas mileage. Again, this is my only complaint about my new Ex... Well other than it may be "too nice"

 

[cmdrivan]

I use GPS and radar to track speeds and am careful to top off tank (made more difficult and time consuming by the annoying capless filler. The car's computer is pretty much spot-on to actual miles/speed and MPG when compared to other measuring tools.

If you turn on the advanced trip computer, it will tell you amount of fuel used to the hundredth of a gallon. That way you can tell when you fill up how much gas you used compared to what the computer thinks you used.

I've found the computer to be within 1/10 of a gallon used, and mpg within .1 mpg. It's the most accurate computer ive ever had in a car.

I have been wondering about this. I used GPS trackers and maps to measure how far I have traveled on 3 separate trips. My measurements show I have traveled a little less distance than what the trip computer shows. Also, in the 9 times I have bought gas, I am filling up with about 8% more gallons of gas than what the advanced trip computer shows I have used up. This results in my calculated average MPG being about 7% lower than the Explorer's computer.

Has anyone else experienced this? If anything, shouldn't the computer report more gallons used that what I purchased?

_______________________________________________________________________________
2012 Ford Explorer Limited 4WD | 302A | Moonroof | Crossbars | Tow Package | Splash Guards
2007 Ford Focus SES ZX4

 

[tucker_bmd]

80% highway commute

I figured I could add my experience. I've been pleased with the mileage on my 2012 XLT AWD. It's my daily driver and my commute is 90 miles total with about 70 miles on the highway. I just hit 5000 miles and my total mpg it 23.2, after 1500 miles I've been using cruise control at 70 mph in the mornings and on the way home from work I'm 65-70 mph going with traffic.

For three weeks I have been driving on my snow tires and before that I was at 23.3 solid for about 5 weeks. So, .1 mpg for tires and maybe different blend of gas.

My best tank mpg, about 4 trips to work, ~360 miles, was 23.7, back in early Oct, when I was not using cruise control. I was probably lucky and found an 18 wheeler doing 65-70 constantly and tucked in behind him.

Jeff

 

[RTX]

Wow. I'm surprised to see complaints over mileage. I'm astounded by the mileage I'm getting. In town/city freeway I'm over 18mpg. Contrast that to the past two cars I have had in the same driving environment -- a 1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9l (under 12mpg in the city) and a 2003 Audi Allroad (12.8 in the city). The Explorer is huge in comparison to either rig.

 

[peterk9]

- we rent uhauls occasionally.

Very interesting. U-Haul rental agencies are not supposed to rent out U-Hauls for use on Explorers.
Many months ago this was a topic of discussion on this site. I asked a local store owner here who is an agent for U-Haul if it was true and he said that it was. The fact that the Explorer has changed made no difference. I believe this all goes back to the Explorer/Firestone tire problems. According to this agent, U-Haul decided to ban the use of their trailers on Explorers altogether. It was deemed to be less costly than fighting potential lawsuits.

My apologies for going off topic.

Peter

 

[peterk9]

Mileage

I'm not really disppointed with the fuel mileage I've been getting. The Ex was rated the same as my previous '09 Highlander. The best I've had was this past Summer. After filling up I drove a straight stretch at 80 kph (50 mph) with the cruise control on for about 7 miles. The computer told me that I was getting 34 mpg or just over 27 mpg (U.S.). Now in the cooler weather with combined town/hwy driving, I'm averaging around 25.8 mpg or 20.6 mpg (U.S.). All using the same gas with 10% ethanol.
To arrive at the U.S. figures I just deducted 20% from the results since our gallon is about 20% larger in volume. Hope that is right.
I believe the biggest factor affecting mileage is SPEED and the way you drive.

 

[jkintn]

Very interesting. U-Haul rental agencies are not supposed to rent out U-Hauls for use on Explorers.
Many months ago this was a topic of discussion on this site. I asked a local store owner here who is an agent for U-Haul if it was true and he said that it was. The fact that the Explorer has changed made no difference. I believe this all goes back to the Explorer/Firestone tire problems. According to this agent, U-Haul decided to ban the use of their trailers on Explorers altogether. It was deemed to be less costly than fighting potential lawsuits.

My apologies for going off topic.

Peter

My local U-Haul ordered and installed an aftermarket hitch on my Explorer. Once finished, they said "you aren't planning to rent a trailer today too are you?" In other words they are more than willing to help you prepare to tow something....so long as it isn't their equipment.

 

[esandye]

My local U-Haul ordered and installed an aftermarket hitch on my Explorer. Once finished, they said "you aren't planning to rent a trailer today too are you?" In other words they are more than willing to help you prepare to tow something....so long as it isn't their equipment.

I haven't reset one of my trip calculator screens for 4000 miles and it reads 18.4 MPG with most driving in town, stop and go and an occasional trip. My '02 explorer 4wd was 15 in town (V-6) and 20 max on the road. The '11 with 4WD is 16-16.5 in town and 21 road (average). This is not quite as good as I hoped for but not too bad for a 4500 + pound vehicle.

 

[Forkmachine]

I haven't reset one of my trip calculator screens for 4000 miles and it reads 18.4 MPG with most driving in town, stop and go and an occasional trip. My '02 explorer 4wd was 15 in town (V-6) and 20 max on the road. The '11 with 4WD is 16-16.5 in town and 21 road (average). This is not quite as good as I hoped for but not too bad for a 4500 + pound vehicle.

That's about where I am at with my AWD as well. I am fine with it. This thing is a big vehicle and it gets about the same mileage as the 05' Sport Trac we drove before.

Since my wife and I are buying the in-law's 2010 Fusion Hybrid next week, I am probably going to worry about the Ex's mileage even less... Maybe when the lease is up we can trade it for a Raptor that probably gets around 12 mpg with the 6.2L and the 4:10 gears!