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My quest for 30 MPG - Ford Explorer Gas Mileage Tips

i hear synthetics do wonder's with gas mileage
 



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Funny though because I'm getting simillar milage on my 1994 Sport as I am on my 98 Sport


94 is lifted and equipped with 4:10 gears and 33" mud terrains... standard 4.0 L engine

98 is not lifted (I don't count TT and AAL) running on 4:10 gears and 31" snow Yoko's

98 is a SOHC though
:(
 






To err is human... to air is divine

On the latest trip to the ranch ( 1200 some odd miles ), I neglected to verify that my tires had 40 psig in them and I suffered in the mileage department. I had been experimenting with air pressure in the tires in regards to ride quality.

When I got to Atlanta ( 516 miles ) and refilled the gas tank, I was shocked to see that I averaged only 28.2 MPG. That is down over 2 MPG over what I normally achieve on the identical trip.

After driving around the ranch and the Atlanta area, I thought to check the tire pressure; alas, it was only 32 psig, yikes! I forgot to refill the tires to 40 psig for the trip. That error was quickly remedied.

The return trip netted an average of 30.2 MPG. To err is human?. to air is divine.
 






my average milage is about 12-13. i have an exuast and a custom intake, i guess it didnt help much
 






My '98 Sport gets about 30 with constant highway driving and 24 while in-town. I use ARCO gas most of the time since it is now "only" $1.79 a gallon.
 






BOTTOMGUN said:
My '98 Sport gets about 30 with constant highway driving and 24 while in-town. I use ARCO gas most of the time since it is now "only" $1.79 a gallon.

Thats great, what mods have you done?
 






The trick with the 5R is to get it to shift into OD as soon as you can. With the SOHC motor I can go 1/4 of the pedal down and get up to cruising speed quite quickly. This has gotten me 19/25 MPG average, and I run all dino fluids on a totally stock 126K mile drivetrain. Come to think of it...I have never done a Seafoam. Can I just dump it in the gas tank?
 






It is the same as when I bought her a few years ago.....stock
 






BOTTOMGUN said:
It is the same as when I bought her a few years ago.....stock


I'm gonna go ahead and say there's no way you're getting 30 in a stock Ex unless you are doing down a 75 degree slope with a 75 mph tailwind. :)
 






I own a 95 sport 4x4. I just got my personal best, 19.2 mpg. This was mostly city driving and for the most part, never exceding 2500 rpms. Aldive, after reading all your posts, my question to you is, have you actually started to save money, or are you still behind the power curve with all your mod's and use of high priced lubricants?
 






The-use of synthetic oil pays for itself in extended change intervals,

Yes, with the amount of driving I do, the mods pay for themselves.
 






:rolleyes: OOPS...I meant 20. I only gadiated from hi-scool. SORRY GUYS
 






Are you one of those guys I always get behind at a light that takes 3 miles to get up to 65mph? ;)
 






Pulling a trailer sure sucks…. sucks gas that is.

My son and I just did a 450-mile trip to do some wheeling with his CJ7, which we tow, on a tandem trailer.

The first leg of the trip we averaged 71.3 MPH and the gas mileage was 11.4 MPG. The second leg we averaged 67.3 MPH and got 17.1 MPG.

Other than the speed reduction, we dropped the windshield of the Jeep. We have gotten up to 20 MPG towing this rig in the past. However, the Jeep now rides on 33’s with a 6-inch lift; sure catches the wind now.

The tranny did run a lot cooler with the new tranny cooler addition.
 

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Thanks for sharing your experiences, Al. That's a good example of the relationship between weight, relative wind resistance, and speed. I wouldn't have guessed that the MPG would have improved that much with only a 4 mph reduction in speed, even with the Jeep windshield down.

If I remember correctly, you have a rear spoiler, right? Did you do mpg comparisons with and without it? I'm curious because I'm considering one for my Sport.

Don
 






Runnin'OnEmpty said:
If I remember correctly, you have a rear spoiler, right? Did you do mpg comparisons with and without it? I'm curious because I'm considering one for my Sport.

There was a slight improvement; nothing big, yet t is the sum of all the small things that allow me to get 30 MPG, without a tow.
 






Latest road trip results:

Sarasota to Atlanta avg speed 69.8 MPH 30.24 MPG 548 miles
Atlanta to Sarasota avg speed 71.4 MPH 28.94 MPG 507 miles

used Sea Foam in gas tank on first leg of the trip
 






Went on a road trip with my son to Ft Lauderdale yesterday and did a road test of my new Apten Flasher.

Set the 1st program to my custom 93-octane/max mileage program, filled the truck with Mobil 93 gas and drove I75 South to Naples; this leg of the trip was 105 miles. Mileage was 32.9 MPG. This was 74.1 MPH with the cruse control on.

Refilled truck with Shell 87 octane and set the computer to the stock program. Drove 111 miles into Ft Lauderdale. Mileage was 20.8 MPG. The speed was about 75 except the last 21 miles, which were in town, in traffic driving. The shifts seemed to take forever and the truck felt sluggish.

In Ft Lauderdale, we refilled the truck with Shell 87 octane and set the computer to the 87-octane program.

We drove all the way back to Sarasota in this mode, I75 only, average speed was 78.4 MPH. The mileage was 21.4 MPG. The truck felt much more powerful than with the stock program and the shifts were as crisp as with the 93 program.

My son did all of the driving, speed was calculated with GPS. The truck was considered full at the first automatic cut off of the gas pump.

I am befuddled by the 10 MPG difference in the programs. The 32 MPG reading with the 93 octane program is in line with the same mileage I got with the similar program that was in my Apten chip. It is possible that the various fill ups could have been slightly different due to different gas pumps and their cut off points. This was a short preliminary test of the Flasher vs mileage. The test will be done again on an upcoming Atlanta trip where we will run 500 plus miles per tank to determine a more accurate mileage.

I left the truck in the 87 octane program to see how it works out in town.

Highest gas price was $2.24 9 for 87 octane in Naples.
 



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Highest gas price was $1.24 9 for 87 octane in Naples.
Al, this is a typo, right? You meant to say $2.24 per gallon???

I too am confused with your results. That is a huge gap in MPG. If you could figure out the reason for it, maybe that would be the key to increased mileage. The only thing I can think of that would make that much difference is timing. And it would have to be a big difference, like maybe 10 or more degrees advanced......???
 






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