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Please List the Best mods to get better gas mileage

DROPZONE

Active Member
Joined
November 16, 2010
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City, State
Methuen
Year, Model & Trim Level
1997 Mecury Mountaineer
Need your help team! Truck is killing me with the gas mileage and im starting a new job with a 10 mile each way commute. Not a biggie, but was wondering what a some mods I should look into? I am currently making my own intake, but still need to purchase the mass air flow replacement to finish it.. I already installed new plugs, wires and performed a seafoam treatment.. I am still saving up for TMH's aswell..
 



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Air up those tires, drive slow, accelerate and brake smoothly. Remove excess stuff from the truck to lower the weight. Cat back exhasut, custom tune. Electric cooling fan. Underdrive pullys. Synthetic fluids, engine oil, trans, diffs, t-case, even power steering if you want. Also, people have used a ScanGauge to monitor MPG's as they are driving to help adjust their habits.
 






Buy a compact car.

Check aldive's thread. It's already all there.
 






Buy a compact car.

Pretty much. Doing any mods that will significantly increase the MPG in an Explorer will cost more than a cheap 4 cylinder car that will get significantly better MPGs than the Explorer with mods.

Aldive did some amazing stuff and got some crazy good MPG numbers- but that hasn't been replicated by anyone else that I'm aware of.

Or buy a bicycle.

I'm actually currently looking at buying a compact car now myself. I figured it out, at $3.49/gal, it costs me roughly $5.99/day to drive my Explorer to and from work (getting 16.3 mpg- which has been my average since I bought it). If I could get a vehicle that got 33 mpg, it would cost me $2.96/day. I'd keep the Explorer (I need it to tow my camper) still.
 






i wanted way better mpg , so i bought a 4 cylinder Honda CRX for long drives, it gets about 35 mpg, and use the Ex for close driving.

Now before anybody gets on me for that, i have a grand total of about $1600 into the CRX, that is about as much as all the fussing around to get the number out of an Explorer,,
 






i did get about 21 mpg in my Explorer with all synthetic lubes in everything, and 4:10 gears and 33 inch tires, which is decent,,
 






This is why I tolerate the Camry, and why Deuce hasn't been moved in weeks. :)

68 mph runs on the highway to and from work are kind to tanks of gas...


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put it in park, turn the ignition off, and step out of the vehicle. haha. just kidding. my v8 is killing me. but i can;t keep my size 13 foot out of that little pedal. and 80 on the interstate doesn't help. wait i don't do that, honest.
 






Tighten the loose nut behind the wheel...seriously...
Driving habits can make the biggest difference if you can't make the expense for a compact.
Like Matt0248 said, drive smooth and accelerate/brake smoothly. Try to anticipate traffic patterns. If a light is green way off and will be red anyway by the time you get to it, let off and coast up to it. Sometimes you can accelerate a little to make a green to avoid sitting at a red. Shut the engine off if you will be idleing for more than 30 seconds. Accelerate while going down hill gently and maintain momentum going back up the next hill. Explore alternate routes. Sometimes a longer route will actually save time because of less stop and go. If I leave 30 minutes early there is much less traffic and I can catch almost all greens.
 






This is why I tolerate the Camry, and why Deuce hasn't been moved in weeks. :)

68 mph runs on the highway to and from work are kind to tanks of gas...


utf-8BSU1HMDE3NjktMjAxMTA0MTUtMTkwNi5qcGc.jpg

sweet just too bad it cant tow 7000lbs and carry 7 people like my Explorer or I would trade it for a Camry in a hartbeat..
 






check this post i wrote up on hypermiling. i commute to work 95 miles round trip four days a week. none of the tips on here will cost you very much to do, most of them are free, just driving techniques, but you will save a ton of money on gas. take it from someone who commutes in the bay area. i was able to get 550 miles on one tank of gas in a 2003 explorer sport trac. i think that might be a world record. one tip thats not on this post that is cheap and works wonders too is cleaning your MAF sensor. good luck!

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=312591
 






sweet just too bad it cant tow 7000lbs and carry 7 people like my Explorer or I would trade it for a Camry in a hartbeat..

That's why the Ex is in the garage, waiting for trips. :)
 






Nice Post LONO, I did not read all the responses, but one thing I missed was planning trips around right turns.
If your trip includes multiple stops try and map out a route that puts them on the right hand side of the road. This may allow for proceeding through a redlight (if you are allowed to go right on red) rather than sitting in a turning lane waiting for a light to turn, or proceed straight into a destination rather then sitting in a turning lane waiting on traffic.
Sometimes you can also drive around the perimeter of large mall parkinglots rather than idleing at redlights on the service roads that surround them. Anything to maintain motion instead of accelerating/deccelerating.
 






You know, UPS has software to do that for their drivers. I don't remember what it was, but company-wide the savings to them for fuel by limiting left turns was staggering...
 






You know, UPS has software to do that for their drivers. I don't remember what it was, but company-wide the savings to them for fuel by limiting left turns was staggering...

Mythbusters tested this and they found that for delivery trucks that do ALOT of in town daily driving it worked well, but for the average commuter driving a car to and from work, you won't see a significant difference
 






Quality tune-ups are good, yes....but operators are where the differences are really made. For me, running low RPMs and working with momentum and gravity on hills is what gives me an edge on mileage. It's all about being smooth..... and cheap 4 cylinder cars--agreed!!
 






Lol do what I did- get a 4 banger. I traded in my Mustang for a Scion XA. It’s a little subcompact with ZERO power, but excellent gas mileage + it’s a 4 seater 

I only drive the exploder on the weekends or Friday… or if I need to haul stuff. She sits in the garage for the most part now, but I keep her because she’s paid off and fun to drive.
 






Before I did my intake i was getting between 13 and 14.5 mpg. after my custom intake i am now getting 16+ mpgs i havent done anything to the exhaust yet though. was thinking removing the rear cats and y pipe to 3 inch flowmaster 50 and 3" duals out the back. im think after that probably hopfully 18 in town.
 






Nope I don't think that's gonna happen OOMTEDDIE. Mr. X here, (my Dads name on race car in late 1940s and 1950s) 3" exhaust is too big, also might be too loud inside SUV. Use 2.25 or 2.5 pipe. Also 3" hard to bend more than 45° a bend, maybe clearance issues also.3 - 5 mpg is a lot.
 



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