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To V8s Only - How bad does your mileage suffer with short trips?

jayhawkexplorer said:
Oh I drive everywhere too. Campus is 3 miles from my apartment but I always drive there. I was just thinking that you lived in the city. Don't worry, I know all about snow. I may be in Kansas now but home is Wisconsin :)
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No, live in the burbs work in the city.
 



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Robb said:
When I switched from 15" alloys w/ 29s, up to 16" steels w/ 30s......I instantly lost 2 mpg. no lie
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Interesting. My 16" are the from the factory so I'm thinking they are alloy. I run the 255/70/16. I'm surprized about the mileage dip but steel is heavier so maybe that is it?
 






250 is my best so far. I'm averaging 200-180 right now.
 






I have a 2000 EB V8 AWD. Not sure about the miles per tank but my normal commute of 30 miles 20 of which is expressway I get about 15-16MPG when about 30 degrees out. when it gets down to the teens I get 12-13MPG and during summer 18-19MPG.

When doing short trips to the store or to drop kids off at school I get about 8-10MPG during the winter.
 






I would deal with the gas mileage if I didn't hear claims of higher but 8 - 10 MPG is pretty awful.

To those of you with the lower mileage: Do you feel something is wrong with your X after hearing the higher mileage claims?
 






IAmTodd said:
250 is my best so far. I'm averaging 200-180 right now.
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What size tires do you have?
 






The trucks seem to be on-par with any other vehicle of its size/engine displacement while at speed, they just suck gas like mad at idle. And, you're not gaining any 'miliage' at idle, only 'gallons.'

I just installed a message center, which is extremely accurate. Here are some results:

1) The other day is was about 10 degrees and had snowed about 2 feet. The truck was idling for most of the day, I jumpstarted two people, towstrapped two others. Didn't feel like shutting her off for short stops. Lots of stop and go traffic. avg mpg: 6.5

2) Normall Boston stop/go, around 32 degrees: 10-13 mpg

3) In the summer, driving mostly in the burbs, I have never recorded less than 13+ mpg.

4) Highway, around 65mph: 16-18mpg

Before the message center, I'd just keep track of the miliage by the trip odometer, and would get about the same results. Normal stop/go was 10-13 mpg, and highway trips were up around 16-18mpg. Again, once at speed it's not bad, it just uses lots of gas sitting at idle. The real bottom line is winter sucks.

Too bad we can't rig up some sort of Caddy Northstar system to shut off cylinders at idle!
 






spta97 said:
I would deal with the gas mileage if I didn't hear claims of higher but 8 - 10 MPG is pretty awful.

To those of you with the lower mileage: Do you feel something is wrong with your X after hearing the higher mileage claims?
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I believe the stock, well tuned 5.0L AWD in our trucks should be averaging about 15mpg mixed driving in the winter and about 17-18mpg in the summer. If all is good with the engine (MAF clean, good oil, injectors clean, good air filter, no vacuum or compression leaks, good plugs and wires, etc.) and rolling friction is normal (good wheel bearings, no dragging brakes, stock tires, etc.) and normal acceleration, the milage should probably be close to the above figures. Maybe in some cases resetting the computer by disconnecting the neg battery cable for 15 minutes will force the computer to relearn driving habits and adjust parameters to achieve better milage. Hey, take that for its worth, just my 2 cents.
 






V8BoatBuilder - It's that 16 - 18 MPG that I'm after. I have never seen that doing all highway at 70 MPH. Also, what kind of message center did you get? Link?

rblais - Today I took off the intake and cleaned the MAF and IAC while the battery was disconnected (the IAC had some carbon on it but the MAF was pretty clean). I also cleaned the throttle body with Deep Creep and microfiber cloth.

In addition, I replaced my thermostat. The one I put in over the summer seems to make the X take too long to heat up. I got the new one (195 degrees) and the old one (192 degrees) and boiled them in a pot of water. The one rated for 192 opened at about 188 degrees so I'm hoping that with the higher rated one I'll gain in the MPG. Many people have said that a faulty thermostat will result in bad mileage (I agree - it runs rich for longer burning more fuel). Lately I have had my X outside, warm it for 15 minutes, then drive 1 1/2 miles to the train station and on the cold days it bearly gets above "C" (cold).

I also ran another can of Seafoam through the gas tank (according to the manufacturer this is the preferred way) so well see how it goes. All that and an idler pulley replacement and a wash and wax - it's been a long day!!!!
 






spta97 said:
V8BoatBuilder - It's that 16 - 18 MPG that I'm after. I have never seen that doing all highway at 70 MPH. Also, what kind of message center did you get? Link?
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You have to use a message center from your year range Explorer (1996-1997, 1998+) and make all the wiring connections.

My install is pictured on page 3.
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80670
 






Running the car for 30 minutes is what's killing your mileage. Thats rediculous. Todays motors are plenty warmed up for easy driving after 5 minutes max. Get a block heater, have full heat, and save a lot of $$$ in gas, and wasteful idling. idling for 30 miutes a day, and then driving a few miutes in't good for it.

Edit:i suppose if you live in an apartment there wold be no where to plug it in, but I'd rather hook up a second battery, and an inverter than idle for a half hour, and get 8mpg.
 






spta97 said:
What size tires do you have?
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31s. So I'm actually going further than what it reads. I really need to get my PCM reprogrammed for them. Although I don't know how much longer I will be keeping them.
 






Wouldn't it be cheaper to change the speedo gear?
 












IAmTodd said:
31s. So I'm actually going further than what it reads. I really need to get my PCM reprogrammed for them. Although I don't know how much longer I will be keeping them.
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Are you going to go back to stock size? If so, any other reason besides the MPG?

I ask because I have been considering this for my X.

Oh, I get about 13 mph in the city with some hwy. I usually average between 14 and 15 mpg mixed driving. I get about 17-20 mpg on hwy depending on which way the wind blows. LOL.
 






Mbrooks420 said:
Running the car for 30 minutes is what's killing your mileage. Thats rediculous. Todays motors are plenty warmed up for easy driving after 5 minutes max. Get a block heater, have full heat, and save a lot of $$$ in gas, and wasteful idling. idling for 30 miutes a day, and then driving a few miutes in't good for it.

Edit:i suppose if you live in an apartment there wold be no where to plug it in, but I'd rather hook up a second battery, and an inverter than idle for a half hour, and get 8mpg.
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I only heat up my car for 10 - 15 minutes. The 30 minutes was another poster in the thread. Hopefully my new thermostat will shorten that time but it has gotten warm in NY (about 50F) so I'll have to wait until it gets cold.

On the bright side I started my X this morning and got a bunch of smoke from the tail pipe - I guess the Seafoam in the throttle body cleaned out some gunk. I'm going up to my friend's house today about an hour away so I'll see if any of these things made a difference.
 












I have the Scangauge and its awsome. I feel its better than the message center. But yes, it does light up orange :rolleyes:

I've been looking at a set of 18s and if I get them, I will be lowering, which means my 31s won't fit. Thats the only reason why'd I'd get rid of them. I have a big trip coming up in a few weeks and I need to get the speedo correct b/c I'll be doing a lot of highway driving and can't afford a ticket. And I'd also like to know what the true mileage is.
 






IAmTodd said:
I have the Scangauge and its awsome. I feel its better than the message center. But yes, it does light up orange :rolleyes:

...
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Funny how much difference a color makes. I really wish these manufacturers would catch on. I recently bought a toaster oven and was not impressed with the way it looked until I turned it on and noticed it had a cool blue LED for the power light. My g/f saids "That changes everything...doesn't it". :D

I'm gonna write the company to see if they can assist me in modding it so it uses blue LEDs. It will void any warantee but I hate orange more than I hate green :mad:
 



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What are you 2WD guys getting on the highway?
 






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