Mileage and Power Improvements

[dagall]

Hi guys, I have a '06 V8 AWD. It has all the bells and whistles, rides nice and love the V8. Not crazy about the AWD, but couldn't find another with all the options. Mileage is horrible, I am lucky to get 300 out of a tank full, that is combining around town and highway. Power seems sluggish, doesn't respond with the 290 horses as I would expect. I guess this could be attributed to the AWD taking a lot of those horses away. It only has 29000 on it.
What is the fix for the mileage, I don't want to get rid of it, but I may have to if I can't solve this mileage issue.
Thanks.

 

[midiout]

I have the V6 - had the wheels aligned, nitrogen in tires, synthetic oil and replaced factory filter with K & N filter. I average between 21-25 @ 63 MPH. You may get get better milage, as the V8 would not have to work as hard as the V6. Hope this helps.

 

[michael loibl]

I didn't think the 2006 was availible with the AWDm just auto 4x4

 

[sailfishford]

I have a 2006 v6 that gets about 13 15 mpg mostly city and a little highway. In my opinion, you have a V8, It uses a lot of gas. It is a great engine though. You also have all wheel drive. Try a new exhaust maybe.

 

[SpartanTS]

I have the V8, and I consistently get 17 MPG around town, sometimes I get 18 if I'm doing some cruising.

The AWD system is not only hogging power, it's added weight. Also, if you have all options, that's even more weight. So you have to take that into consideration as well.

I can imagine that my V8 4x2 is a good bit lighter than your V8 AWD/4x4. Yet another reason why I never go with 4WD, coupled with the fact that I never use it, it's more moving parts, and it burns more gas.

Oh yea, and if you're not using regular 87 Octane gas, you're robbing yourself of quite a few MPG. My mileage went to 12 MPG when I put premium in my tank. Won't ever do that again...

 

[shaker1]

Mileage is completely dependent on driving style, locale (hills?), temp and, as mentioned above, 4wd/2wd and weight.

First thing is to get a decent reading on mileage under controlled conditions. i.e. Hwy driving at the speed limit with reasonably gentle driving. And the same for your daily commute. If you are making lots of short trips, stops and cold starts it is going to really kill the mileage. Particularly on a fairly heavy SUV.

Then you will know if you have a problem or if your driving style and locale are the big factors.

I get around 20 MPG with my V6 in the summer with steady driving and an (easy) commute. But, throw in some added short trips and cold weather and it will drop considerably.

If you are getting 300 miles and putting in 20 gallons, that might be about right for your driving conditions (15 MPG), if you make lots of stops and short trips.

 

[indyex]

I have a 2006 v6 that gets about 13 15 mpg mostly city and a little highway. In my opinion, you have a V8, It uses a lot of gas. It is a great engine though. You also have all wheel drive. Try a new exhaust maybe.

sailfish,I'm curious as to your driving pattern.I would think with the intake and exhaust that you would get alot better milage than that.My 06 is totally stock and gets almost 16mpg in the city.I was thinking of getting the intake and exhaust,but if I won't see a gain in mpg,I'll just do a drop in K&N.

 

[sailfishford]

I am a normal driver not grandma but not agressive. Ituink a lot has to do with the tires. That just what the reading says on my average mpg

 

[jesiali]

I have an X 2006 V6. I seem to get better mileage when I put fuel of lower octane rating. Th X with V6 can take 86 octane. We have an option of 90 octane her ein Dubai whereas most of the petrol is 96 octane. For some odd reason I get around 50-60 kms more on a full tank of the 90 octane fuel.

 

[SpartanTS]

I have an X 2006 V6. I seem to get better mileage when I put fuel of lower octane rating. Th X with V6 can take 86 octane. We have an option of 90 octane her ein Dubai whereas most of the petrol is 96 octane. For some odd reason I get around 50-60 kms more on a full tank of the 90 octane fuel.

It's just the opposite with my X. If I use a higher octane rated fuel, my mileage takes a huge hit.

 

[CHEESYPOOFS]

if you really want better gas mileage heres what i suggest...
Cold air intake, exhaust, and a custom tune. As far as the tune you can get an economy tune which will give you alot more MPG at the loss of power or get a performance tune which will give you 2-3 better MPG with a good boost in power. Check out www.hensonperformance.com he is a vendor on here and does really good work for explorers. He was the one who i got my tune from and i am very satisfied.

 

[jesiali]

It's just the opposite with my X. If I use a higher octane rated fuel, my mileage takes a huge hit.

Hi Spartan,

Thats what I said . Not the opposite
High octane = higher Consumption
Low octane = Lower Consumption

 

[williams.cory]

I beg to differ on the octane rating.

Why you get lower MPG with higher octane, im not sure, it shouldnt be that way.

The higher the octane is the harder it is for the engine to burn the gas.

I dont get anything other than premium and there really isnt a any difference in MPG, its actually a "little" better than regular. Besides if you run premium it keeps your motor cleaner and you have more power.

If you dont believe it, then go find a big hill and go up it with premium first then go with regular. Regular wont have as much power and as a result you give it more gas meaning worse MPG.

Try premium again, but this time wait until the gas tank is almost completely empty so it will all be premium and not mix. And where did you buy the premium last time? Try to stay away from the discount no brand gas stations, always stick with shell, exxon, texico etc.


Same goes with diesel...the lower the cetane rating the worse performance and MPG. Unfortunetly its not mandatory for gas stations to put up cetane ratings so you kinda just have to go to the gas stations that you have got the best results from...or put in a bottle of cetane.


Oh yeah, they didnt make regualr, mid grade and premium for no reason, there is a difference. And FYI if premium is that much worse in MPG, which it isnt, then there wouldnt be a premium option because no one would buy it. Believe me, there is a reason why people pay the extra .20 cents a gallon for it!!


But its all opinion, do what you want to do.

 

[jesiali]

I am surprised as much as you are.

The only reasonable explanation could be the quality of petrol.

Here in dubai we generally have 3 providers. We have the super (98 RON octane), special (95 RON). These fuels are provided by all the stations.

There is just one supplier (ADNOC) which provides 91 RON fuel. I am getting better mileage when I put this fuel in my car.

Maybe the quality of the ADNOC fuel is beetr than the other providers.

I see no difference when I comapre my mileage with 98 RON and 95 RON with all the suppliers.

http://www.adnoc-dist.ae/eplus/faq.aspx