8+ mpg loss towing???
05-06-2013, 11:27 AM
#11
Retired and loving it!
I'm well aware that my '03 was a 3/4 ton diesel truck, it weighed probably 1500lbs more than my ecoboost does, it also made 65less hp than my ecoboost does. it did make 100lb more tq though than my ecoboost. in my everyday commute i would get 2.5mpg better with the duramax, i would have expected the 1/2 ton lighter ecoboost to at least match or beat that MPG??
I knew going in that it would not get as great of MPG #'s as the dmax did while towing, but lets just say that i didnt expect it to be 6+ mpg worse while towing the exact same combo with a 1500lb lighter truck?
as for tires, i run 40 in the trucks tires which is higher than the door calls for. you mentioned spark plug gap?? are people changing from the OEM gap and finding better MPG??
I knew going in that it would not get as great of MPG #'s as the dmax did while towing, but lets just say that i didnt expect it to be 6+ mpg worse while towing the exact same combo with a 1500lb lighter truck?
as for tires, i run 40 in the trucks tires which is higher than the door calls for. you mentioned spark plug gap?? are people changing from the OEM gap and finding better MPG??
Not so much "changing" from OEM spark plug gaps, as finding that some trucks were inconsistently gapped from the factory, with some plugs gapped much larger than others.
I think that I've read on here that .032 is about right, but others should weigh in here and see if i am correct....
As to your mpg..... I think that you are doing great at the speeds and weight your are moving....the little EB is only less than 214 cubic inches, so anything needing anywhere near the torque it is capable of producing is spinning up the turbos = GAS being force fed. Torque is not free, and neither is the gas it takes to produce it in this little wonder.
05-06-2013, 11:27 AM
#12
Member
Lol, that sounds like really good mileage for towing a boat that size. A NA gasser would not come close to that mileage and if it did, it is gutless.
The following users liked this post:
hydro (05-13-2013)
05-06-2013, 11:36 AM
#13
Senior Member
Actually an na gas would get better mileage towing, turbos really suck fuel the more weight you add and the more power they have to make where na motors are already making the power which is why they get worse empty mileage.
The following users liked this post:
smurfs_of_war (05-06-2013)
05-06-2013, 11:43 AM
#14
Boom. Precisely why I'm really torn about Ford's current EcoBoost marketing. Yes, it will get the work done, but while getting the work done it is not going to get the mileage they are harping on so much.
05-06-2013, 11:44 AM
#15
Senior Member
Thread Starter
i had a chevy 2500hd with a 6.0 gasser before i got the dmax, interestingly enough that truck got about the same mpg towing that my ecoboost is getting towing. i can say that the ecoboost rides TONS better than that 6.0 did!
05-06-2013, 12:03 PM
#16
OP, my MaxTowEB went from 17 to 10 towing a 21ft bass boat. I agree it drops alot but it is probably no worse than my 5.4 SD was getting towing the same boat, but my SD never got 17 city. In the end i get better fuel economy 5 days a week w/o towing. But u do have to remember your towing with a twin turbo V6. Turbos = Gas guzzler at low torque.
05-06-2013, 12:24 PM
#17
Senior Member
The amount of time spent towing is the determining factor, if you tow every day its not a smart move to get the eco, but if you only tow on weekends or a few times a month it will probably average itself out. For everyday towing a diesel is the smart money.
05-06-2013, 12:32 PM
#18
Member
Give an Eco to someone to use for towing for a week, record their mpg.
Let them drive a gasser and tell them to do whatever they needed to do to make it drive like the Eco drives.... They will be buried in the floor on the gas and will get less MPG. The only way it would get better was if the gasser driver changed his driving habits.
Last edited by rdkev; 05-06-2013 at 12:36 PM.
05-06-2013, 12:42 PM
#19
Senior Member
Gotta agree with "rdkey"
The following users liked this post:
rdkev (05-06-2013)
05-06-2013, 12:52 PM
#20
Senior Member
I get about 10 mpg at 70 mph towing my boat which weighs between 4500 & 5000 lbs with my ecoboost. If I slow to 65 it goes up to about 12. My 2010 with the 5.4 that I had got pretty much identical numbers. Before the 2010 f150 I had a tahoe with the 5.3 and it got in the 9 mpg range at 70 towing the same boat. I also had a 2002 chevy 2500hd with the big block 8.1 it got 9 mpg also but it only got 11 unloaded on the hwy. I wrote all that to say that for a gas truck I think that mileage is about avg. For that load and speed no matter what engine you have.
The following users liked this post:
rdkev (05-06-2013)