wheel size and mpg

[FloydExplorer]

i own a 98 explorer and i have the stock rims and tires on it, with them i get about 260 per tank. I keep the rpms below 3grand 2 if possible. Is that normal MPG for my X? also has anyone tried putting smaller tires by that i mean thinner side walls? if so have you seen any difference in MPG? any feedback would be great. thanks

 

[jimbo74]

thats what my moms 96 X gets with a 4.0 ohv and an automatic....

 

[Alec]

Often rims are more heavy than tires, so running low profile tires with larger rims can actually make each corner heavier which can result in worse mpg. You just need to investigate on the weight of the rim/tire combos. Lighter the better.

 

[G-rigged]

i'm only getting about 190 miles on a tank ... but the new explorers could have a bigger tank. My actuall mpg is about 18 with 100 of it being highway.

 

[Hokie]

Originally posted by G-rigged
i'm only getting about 190 miles on a tank ... but the new explorers could have a bigger tank. My actuall mpg is about 18 with 100 of it being highway.

190 miles/tank = 18 MPG? What kind of math are you doing? That would mean your tank is like 11 gal max.

The Sports have a 17.3 gal tank, and I can barely strech mine much farther than 300 miles regardless of how good I am with the throttle. 260-280 miles is about average for me.

 

[Alec]

Grigged, you're getting about what I am, and that's not very good. I'm running 33" tires and 300 hp, so I'm allowed to get bad mileage

 

[FLYIN 5.0]

Just went on a trip and got 20mpg WOW thats the best so far. Around town down to 16.
Thats on 32"BFGs. I average around 18 during my normal driving to work and back.

 

[G-rigged]

I didnt know the size of my tank so i jsut went by the gallons i put in and the miles i got out of just the fuel i put in. I must have a lot of fuel left after E b/c i can only get about 11 gallons in at a lil below 1/4 tank. I'll let it run to almost E and see how many gallons it'll take. I havent had it long enought o mess around too much with mileage.




* whoops i see my mistake. 190 miles is not the full tank ... only after i put gas in around 1/4 tank so i left out a few gallons.

 

[Shagnasty]

I get about 320-340 a tank in my 200 xls OHV v6.... why so much more?

 

[MattHarrell]

That's not really much more, Shagnasty. I get about 300 - 310 on my '91 and average 18.6 mpg. Not too bad for a 12 year old Explorer. It all depends on how much city / highway driving you do and how hard you are on the gas.

BTW, this is with 31" tires

 

[Shagnasty]

Should I expect a significant drop in mpg when I switch gearing from 3.27 - 4.10/.30/.54 and put some 33" meats on it?

 

[Alec]

Originally posted by Shagnasty
Should I expect a significant drop in mpg when I switch gearing from 3.27 - 4.10/.30/.54 and put some 33" meats on it?

Your mileage will most likely drop, but as long as the gearing and tires are matched well it shouldn't be too bad.

What makes my mileage bad is the supercharger, not the tires.

 

[MattHarrell]

Yeah, and also the speedometer and odometer should be off by some amount. It's not really a problem as long as you're aware of it. I tested mine with the 31" wheels with a couple of GPS's and found that the speed was actually about righ. Previously the speedometer was always somewhat high

 

[brendan]

I have a 2000 XLS 4.0 OHV and I get about 19-20mpg 90% hwy 10% local. I just changed oil to syn and plugs and wires and got an extra 1-2mpg out of that.

I have the stocker tires on stocker rims for now. I believe if you setup for slightly less power you should get better gas mileage (i.e. put 31s on and leave gears @ 3.73) There was a picture of recommended tire sizes and ratios somewhere, don't remember, but it was excellent info! Wish I knew where I saw it. I remember that when I had 31s they were still in the usable band and leaned more towards mileage. If I would've thrown 33s on I would've been way below recommended and would therefore have no power.

Now if I would've regeared to 4.10s with the 31s I would have more power but less mileage essentially.

I hope you can all decipher this, wish I still had the graph.

 

[Doug]

I get about 16 mpg out of my truck on average and i'm running 35s and 4.10s. hopefully my mpg will go up when i regear. I have to give it alot of gas from a stop to get moving with the rim/tire combo i have.

 

[G-rigged]

Wow it sounds like i'm not getting near the milage i should. I just changed plugs and wires when i got it and it had a new air filter on it. I also have a flowmaster exhaust but i'm unsure what model it is... is their any way i can tell?. I'm usually on the gas pretty decent and do a lot of short driving (work is only 10 minutes away) . I'll have to run most of the gas out of it and fill it up to actually see. The previous owner did a lot of modifiing to it so its hard telling what else was done to it.

 

[chipmunk2k3]

G rigged I'm getting the same mileage you get per tank(about 11 mpg) but all my driving is new york city,stop and go traffic
I took a trip to Virginia and got 22 mpg on the highway

Does anyone know if this is anywhere near normal. The only mod I have is an open element filter.

Oh yeah I also have a 2500 watt system(3 RF amps and 4 RF HX2's) could the extra strain on the alternator have anything to do with mileage. :smoke:

 

[G-rigged]

I'm usually near 3 grand a lot when its shifting from first to second then second to third. I used about the same amt of pedal on our 2000 explorer 4dr and it didnt pass 2300. Im starting to think i might have taller gears than stock, i'll see when i pull the rear carrier to replace it with a limit slip unit. On the highway i'm running around 2200 rpm at around 65 -70.