The Ultimate MPG thread.
11-15-2014, 08:22 PM
#542
Let me tell ya'll a little story. From mid November to mid December of last year I made about 14 or 15 trips from my home in Oceana, WV to Covington, VA (around 230 miles round trip). My truck is an 09 SCAB with 5.4 and 3.55 gears and the trip was about 40% two lane roads and 60% interstate. I started out on my first trip with the cruise set on 72 mph I averaged around 16 mpg (on the computer). After a couple of trips I dropped down to about 67 mph and got around 17.4 mpg. 60 mph broke the 18 mpg barrier. On one of my last trips I sucked it up and set the cruise on 55 mph and got 19.6 mpg! Now keep in mind that I am driving in WV and VA and there are no flat roads. The terrain here is continuous up and down. On the first 40 miles or so from my home is 2-lane road. The elevation goes from about 1300 asl to 4000 asl and then back down to 2500'. Then on I-64 up to 3500' then down again to 1800' then back up to 2500' and so on. You flat landers could do a lot better than me.
Moral of the story is just SLOW DOWN. I know it's hard, I was around back when the government changed the speed limit to 55 and I did get a few speeding tickets.
It wasn't that bad driving 55 now though. It felt a little weird having a big trucks pass me but I eventually ended up catching and passing them on the next long grade.
I don't think I would like to see the mandatory 55 MPH speed limit again but I do believe it would have a big impact on fuel prices and our dependency on imported oil.
Moral of the story is just SLOW DOWN. I know it's hard, I was around back when the government changed the speed limit to 55 and I did get a few speeding tickets.
It wasn't that bad driving 55 now though. It felt a little weird having a big trucks pass me but I eventually ended up catching and passing them on the next long grade.
I don't think I would like to see the mandatory 55 MPH speed limit again but I do believe it would have a big impact on fuel prices and our dependency on imported oil.
11-20-2014, 01:13 PM
#543
Senior Member
The truck currently has 47,000 miles and the mileage has crept up to 19.2. 2012 Super Crew Lariat with the 157" wheelbase. 5.0 Coyote. 3.55 limited slip. I have NO complaints.........
12-15-2014, 04:19 PM
#544
Senior Member
My dad just picked up a new 2014 Eco boost about a month ago. He drove it from Southern MN to International Falls, reset the mileage before he left and only got 16.2mpg average the whole way and back! Is there something wrong with the truck or what? Any ideas?
12-16-2014, 11:49 AM
#549
Fully retired now!
Mileage Numbers
I have a 2011 SCREW FX4 with the 5.0 V8 and 3.73. Doing a proper break-in made a world of difference. As a result, my truck, with a light to moderate load in the bed (approximately 200 lbs) averages 21.3mpg at 65MPH. Of course, terrain has some effect on that, but this is the overall figure. A co-worker with the same truck in a 2012 version with the highly touted EB, only gets about 17-18mpg under similar conditions. Now, if I keep it at or below 62MPH, interestingly enough, my average jumps to just about 22.4, which is better than the max rating for the 2012-current EB engines. Most of the time, I monitor based on RPM, keeping it below 1900 while cruising. Oh, I do have a cab high fiberglass canopy on the truck.
I might also suggest the following:
1- Don't spend lots of money buying MobilOne, etc. The semi-synthetic used in Ford's Works package is just fine. I do the oil change every 5,000 miles. I can't buy the oil, filter and do the changes and other included checks myself for less than that. That said,
2- I do use Royal Purple Full Synthetic fluids for the transmission and differentials. Additionally,
3- I use ZMax additive for the engine and transmission. It's one of the few engine and transmission additives that really do work.
4- I run my tires (Pirelli Scorpions) at 5psi over the door sticker, or 40psi instead of 35. I'm not a hypermiler by any stretch, but this does help a bit. It also surprised the dealer, who when he reviewed it at my recent 50K service, advised I still had more than 20% left on my tires. The Pirellis aren't known for going much, if any, beyond 50K miles.
6- I wax the truck once a quarter. The rest of the time, I normally use the drive-through car wash machines (provided they are NOT the brush style) that have either cloth or spray wash dispensers. I've used a detailing team (no wax job) for wash and vacuum perhaps once or twice a year.
Advise him, if he isn't already doing it, don't be in a rush to get to speed. Light pressure on the pedal works better than getting up to cruise speed quickly. Then, every time the truck drops out of 6th gear (once there), you can expect to lose at least .5mpg.
Finally, if you have the instrument package, don't rely on the instant fuel economy gauge. Use the one for the overall trip odometer. It's more accurate.
Hope this helps. Let us know the outcome.
The following users liked this post:
besel53 (12-17-2014)
12-17-2014, 02:57 PM
#550
Senior Member
I don't know what your father did after purchasing the truck, but if he drove it as far as you stated right off the bat, he screwed up. To properly break in the engine, it needs to be driven at varying speeds for the first 3,000 miles or so. This allows the rings and seals to properly set themselves and seal as they're supposed to. Driving at freeway speeds for an extended period on a new engine prevents this from taking place.
I have a 2011 SCREW FX4 with the 5.0 V8 and 3.73. Doing a proper break-in made a world of difference. As a result, my truck, with a light to moderate load in the bed (approximately 200 lbs) averages 21.3mpg at 65MPH. Of course, terrain has some effect on that, but this is the overall figure. A co-worker with the same truck in a 2012 version with the highly touted EB, only gets about 17-18mpg under similar conditions. Now, if I keep it at or below 62MPH, interestingly enough, my average jumps to just about 22.4, which is better than the max rating for the 2012-current EB engines. Most of the time, I monitor based on RPM, keeping it below 1900 while cruising. Oh, I do have a cab high fiberglass canopy on the truck.
I might also suggest the following:
1- Don't spend lots of money buying MobilOne, etc. The semi-synthetic used in Ford's Works package is just fine. I do the oil change every 5,000 miles. I can't buy the oil, filter and do the changes and other included checks myself for less than that. That said,
2- I do use Royal Purple Full Synthetic fluids for the transmission and differentials. Additionally,
3- I use ZMax additive for the engine and transmission. It's one of the few engine and transmission additives that really do work.
4- I run my tires (Pirelli Scorpions) at 5psi over the door sticker, or 40psi instead of 35. I'm not a hypermiler by any stretch, but this does help a bit. It also surprised the dealer, who when he reviewed it at my recent 50K service, advised I still had more than 20% left on my tires. The Pirellis aren't known for going much, if any, beyond 50K miles.
6- I wax the truck once a quarter. The rest of the time, I normally use the drive-through car wash machines (provided they are NOT the brush style) that have either cloth or spray wash dispensers. I've used a detailing team (no wax job) for wash and vacuum perhaps once or twice a year.
Advise him, if he isn't already doing it, don't be in a rush to get to speed. Light pressure on the pedal works better than getting up to cruise speed quickly. Then, every time the truck drops out of 6th gear (once there), you can expect to lose at least .5mpg.
Finally, if you have the instrument package, don't rely on the instant fuel economy gauge. Use the one for the overall trip odometer. It's more accurate.
Hope this helps. Let us know the outcome.
I have a 2011 SCREW FX4 with the 5.0 V8 and 3.73. Doing a proper break-in made a world of difference. As a result, my truck, with a light to moderate load in the bed (approximately 200 lbs) averages 21.3mpg at 65MPH. Of course, terrain has some effect on that, but this is the overall figure. A co-worker with the same truck in a 2012 version with the highly touted EB, only gets about 17-18mpg under similar conditions. Now, if I keep it at or below 62MPH, interestingly enough, my average jumps to just about 22.4, which is better than the max rating for the 2012-current EB engines. Most of the time, I monitor based on RPM, keeping it below 1900 while cruising. Oh, I do have a cab high fiberglass canopy on the truck.
I might also suggest the following:
1- Don't spend lots of money buying MobilOne, etc. The semi-synthetic used in Ford's Works package is just fine. I do the oil change every 5,000 miles. I can't buy the oil, filter and do the changes and other included checks myself for less than that. That said,
2- I do use Royal Purple Full Synthetic fluids for the transmission and differentials. Additionally,
3- I use ZMax additive for the engine and transmission. It's one of the few engine and transmission additives that really do work.
4- I run my tires (Pirelli Scorpions) at 5psi over the door sticker, or 40psi instead of 35. I'm not a hypermiler by any stretch, but this does help a bit. It also surprised the dealer, who when he reviewed it at my recent 50K service, advised I still had more than 20% left on my tires. The Pirellis aren't known for going much, if any, beyond 50K miles.
6- I wax the truck once a quarter. The rest of the time, I normally use the drive-through car wash machines (provided they are NOT the brush style) that have either cloth or spray wash dispensers. I've used a detailing team (no wax job) for wash and vacuum perhaps once or twice a year.
Advise him, if he isn't already doing it, don't be in a rush to get to speed. Light pressure on the pedal works better than getting up to cruise speed quickly. Then, every time the truck drops out of 6th gear (once there), you can expect to lose at least .5mpg.
Finally, if you have the instrument package, don't rely on the instant fuel economy gauge. Use the one for the overall trip odometer. It's more accurate.
Hope this helps. Let us know the outcome.
Thanks for all of the info, I actually made a mistake saying a month ago, i guess it has been a good two months, but I'm sure he wasn't at 3K yet. I'm not sure where he was at on mileage before he drove it up north, but before he's just been driving it into town and whatnot. I'll have to check. My guess is the dealer didn't even tell him that he had to break it in properly.
