Miles Per Gallon????? | Page 4 | Ford Explorer Forums - Serious Explorations

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Miles Per Gallon?????

i just started a new job, which is 15 miles from the house. yesterday i got 16.9mpg in my 98 5.0 v8. Mostly going 45mph and stopping at a few red lights. i get 19mpg on the highway at 75mph. I am happy with my v8's gas mileage!
 



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well there seems to be a problem for everybody that drives at 70 or above to get the over 20 gas mileage,,,,

hmmmm, coincidence,, hmmm i think not,,, it is in line with engine rpm and speed,, over 60 mph, mostly stock , mileage goes down,,,,,, QUICKLY<<<
 






My Ex runs 6 km/l (14 mpg) in city and 8 km/l (18 mpg) in hway with family and luggage at 110kmh (70mph).
I´m using NORMAL gas (86 oct) since 20 days ago, the engine runs good, it no pinging and start quicklely. Now here is winter and the temp is aprox 3 or 4 ºc, iidn.t know what happen at summer whith 38 ºc.
I try no exceed the 1800 or 2000 rpm in each gear in the city and 2500 rpm at hway, have a manual 5 speed.
I want to do more economy, my EX is very "thirsty".
Here the gas prices are:
Ex. ESSO (EXXON)
3000 ( 86 oct) $ 2.199 x Lt. (U$ 2.7 x Gal)
5000 (95 oct) $ 2.599 x Lt. (U$ 3.18 x gal)
8000 (97 oct) $ 3.199 x lt. (U$ 3.92 x gal)
SHELL is 10% more expensive.
Please give me some ideas!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Alberto
 






How much fuel economy one gets is, to a large extent, determined by how one drives. Slower = better economy.

That being said here are a few mechanical items that can, and have helped my 2002 V6 4.0L 4WD Ford Explorer:

1) Tire inflation pressure. Insure you are running at least as much as Ford recommends for your car. The higher the pressure in a tire, the less the rolling resistance. More than 2 or 3 pounds over one will start to effect the ride (harsher) and increase the bounciness and chances of rollover. In any case do not go over the maximum sidewall on the tire. I'm running at 32/37 and my Explorer which is spec'd for 30/35.

2) Engine oil. Insure you are using the right grade and change it every at least every 5000 miles. To really know how the oil is doing, get a used oil analysis and change according to those results. Using a synthetic may also be of benefit in MPG, and can certainly vastly increase the oil change interval (although I'm using regular yellow bottle 5W30 Penzoil in mine).

3) Put synthetic oil in the front differential, rear differential and transfer case. I used Valvoline SynPower 75W90 gear oil in my front differential, Lucas Synthetic 75W140 limited slip gear oil in the rear and Mobil 1 Mercon V Synthetic ATF in the transfer case. I'll be doing the transmission with the Mobil 1 soon.

4) Change out that PCV valve! No telling when it goes bad, and it is super cheap so why not? If bad, it will decrease gas mileage, cause sludge and a host of bad issues over time.

5) Change out the spark plugs for some new ones, but at least insure that the gap is in spec. Use double platinum or iridium.

6) Check the spark plug wires.

7) Change the air filter. Won't effect mileage in an OBDII vehicle which has a MAF sensor and always insures the proper fuel/air ratio, but limits the max power of the engine.

8) Go to www.cleanmpg.com and learn the techniques on how to drive for good mileage. Some of the techniques are radical, so do only what you feel comfortable doing. On the highway the biggest increase in mileage comes from driving less than 60MPH. I drive at 57MPH and get 24MPG out of my stock 2002 Ford Explorer V6 4WD.

Rumple


I want to do more economy, my EX is very "thirsty".
Alberto
 






thanks, i´ll try with this changes.

Alberto
 






Ok here is never ending question??? What can i do to better my gas mileage...

Hello,

I installed an hho booster in my 1999 Escort and only got a 2 mpg increase. I am waiting on some o2 extenders and an MAF enhancer, which I hope will significantly improve the results.

If it works out well I have another booster ready to install in my 2002 4.0L SOHC Explorer XLT.

It will take me a few weeks due to "stuff". But, if you can hang on for a bit, I will post the results (win, lose, or draw) as soon as I get time to install the XLT booster.

Thanks
 






Took a trip to Houston and back(Dallas) in the 3gen. Dad drove on the way down and we got 15mpg. I drove on the way up and got 20mpg. Ac wasn't on for the majority of the time. We weren't loaded down with any heavy gear either. Over all I guess 20mpg is good for an SUV. But I am certainly looking into some mpg saving mods in the near future.
 






Took a trip to Houston and back(Dallas) in the 3gen. Dad drove on the way down and we got 15mpg. I drove on the way up and got 20mpg. Ac wasn't on for the majority of the time. We weren't loaded down with any heavy gear either. Over all I guess 20mpg is good for an SUV. But I am certainly looking into some mpg saving mods in the near future.

15 MPG on these is even very fair. 20 MPG is awesome. I would like to get 20 out of mine some day. Average after tires (not the best driving conditions either) is 15.7 or so. I lost about .5-.6 after tire install, but went up to 265/75R16 from the stock 235/70R16, so only loosing a half MPG is great. I'm hoping that with an exhaust upgrade and a new tune, I can squeeze 2 MPG out of it. If I can get 1 MPG out of the exhaust, I will pay for it in about 2K miles. Only bad part about that figure is it was based on when my average fuel price was $3.48/gal...my average now is only $2.04, so it could be quicker, but I don't remember how I have all the numbers set up.
 






02 extenders a no-go

02 extenders didn't work. HO project on hold for now.
 






Took a trip to Houston and back(Dallas) in the 3gen. Dad drove on the way down and we got 15mpg. I drove on the way up and got 20mpg. Ac wasn't on for the majority of the time. We weren't loaded down with any heavy gear either. Over all I guess 20mpg is good for an SUV. But I am certainly looking into some mpg saving mods in the near future.

Also, my tires were pumped to 42-43psi, right below the maximum for my tires to help decrease roll resistance for the entire trip.

The next road trip I take I'm going to switch out all my wheels (rims and tires) for all the wheels on my grand cherokee.

The grand cherokee's tires are 10mm more narrow than the ones on my explorer. So hopefully this too will help decrease roll resistance. Both my ex and my gc have same size diameter wheels over all.

Both the ex and gc have 5 lug nuts so I assume they will both bolt to each other.

I don't take trips very often <100+ miles. So it will be a while before I will be able to see how much 10mm in tire width makes a difference on mpg.
 






I have 02 xlt v8 with leather and third row and I am calculating 18 mpg. I just got it so I have only filled it up once though. I have been driving it easy but have pushed it when necessary. Not bad considering my mother only get 20 mpg in her 2006 4cyl camry se.
 






We weren't loaded down with any heavy gear either.

Actually I take that back, I had a big crate of water bottles and 2 heavy tool boxes in the trunk. Both tool boxes were loaded to the gills with all my tools. I never go on a road trip without all my tools ("be prepared"). Amongst other stuff, probably about closer to 200lbs of junk in the trunk.
 






My 05 4.0 I get 18+ city and 20+ highway at 70mph. I expect better HWY since I just changed the fuel filter and it was OEM. You should have seen the trash that come out. It looked like roof tar. No I am not the original owner. I just purchased not long ago. Due to a lost job it took me some time to get to it.
 






My experience at higher speeds is the same.
 






i just started a new job, which is 15 miles from the house. yesterday i got 16.9mpg in my 98 5.0 v8. Mostly going 45mph and stopping at a few red lights. i get 19mpg on the highway at 75mph. I am happy with my v8's gas mileage!

I got 19.6mpg @ 75mph with the A/C on before I changed out my fuel filter. Now I get ~20.2mpg @ 75mph w/ A/C on.
 






Since the oil leak clogging my engine Im down to 13, my 18 above was wrong that should have been 16. The engine was shampooed but I havent kept track since, maybe that will increase it.
 






Bigger tires kill mileage in the city for the V6, probally the V8 too. My city dropped about 3 mpg and my highway dropped maybe .5-1 mpg after installing 260/70/16 and a grill guard w/4 6" lights on it. I have noticed no difference between shifting at 2k rpm and being nice and shifting at 3k rpm in town with the occasional foot to floor- mileage is terrible regardless of how hard I drive in the city. In theory, going slower in acceleration makes sense for better mileage but I have noticed no difference. I recommend MOST to switch to synthetic (Quaker State full synthetic goes for around $20 at Wal Mart) all around, some kind of air filter, and exhaust mods. after deleting the cats, full synthetic and K&N drop in went from 20 to 23 highway. I have noticed little to no difference between having 4 people and gear piled bottom to top and me driving by myself.

The biggest killer is wind for me (other than blasting down the highway at 90). With a headwind, my 4.0 3.55 struggles bad and drinks gas like no other (drops 2-5 mpg depending on wind speed). with a tail wind, i have gotten a touch over 26 mpg. so the biggest factor is one that we have no control over which makes me think if it is worth it owning a suv, but frankly, i dont have a choice considering my lifestyle. So alot of it is out of our hands and more of a pride/do I really need a truck choice.

lots of random rambling but maybe this will help.
 






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