28 mpg

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Well I took Bill Barbers post to heart and slowed down to 60 mph w/ cruise control set on the frwy. My Scangauge says I am getting 28 mpg on level road. :eek:;) With the cruise control set to 65 mph, according to my Scangauge, I am getting 25 mpg. So, I have to leave 5 min. earlier - oh well no big deal.



p.s. I am running 35 lbs. psi in all the tires.
 
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It is truly amazing the difference it makes from staying below 70 as compared to going over MPH.



When I had my Trac, I was always near 26 mpg (highway and city combined) if I stayed below MPH.



If I went over MPH, it dropped to 19.8 mpg.



That and the proper air in the tires makes for a dramatic change...
 
Truly is amazing how a few subtle changes can reap great benis.

same holds true for any Vehicle, V6 or V8.

On the stang, I can get 22MPG hwy (if i keep out of boost and drive the speed limit)

Drive it like I stole it and I get 8/10.
 
I'm gonna try the "More air in tires" mod....

plus gonna see what a true FULL TANK of gas on teh freeway will get me. I usually have a hard time getting a full tank on the highway....usually its a bit of both or all city.
 
Truley is a no brainer, run your tires 5 over the door sticker, run all syn lubes, engine tranny and diff, stay off the skinny pedal, drive 5 miles under the posted limit.

You will pick up 5 MPG, thats approx an extra 100 miles per tank and about 20 bux at todays prices.

has been said that if all americans checked air pressor once a month and maintained OEM specs, it would reduce crude oil use by several hundred million barrels a year.

Will that have any impact on gas prices (not likely), but for you mod fanatics, may garner you a couple grand a year in mod money:)
 
I went to Orangeburg today in my Ford 500 and went the speed limit the whole 65 miles (55 & 60 depending which road I was on) and got 30.6 mpg, I only used 2 gallons to get there and 2 gallons to get back. I am trying to talk LaRue and Rue to drive the speed limit or a little below. It is amazing the difference that slowing down makes.:D:D
 
Rodger,

The Scangauge is giving you an instantanious MPG reading and under more ideal conditions you can probably get more. However that is not an MPG Average, and you probably get much worse mileage just getting up to your cruising speed or just getting the engine warmed up.



My MB C300 has an onboard computer that calculates average MPG from the time you start the engine in the morning. When I start out in the morning and pull out of my driveway, I'm averaging about 17 MPG. Within a mile or so I'm up in the 19 MPG range and it continues to improve. Each wait at a stop light drops the average by about 0.1-0.2 average MPG. If I accelearate slowly from the light, I see a drop of about 0.1 average MPG every 200-250 feet while I am still accelerating. Once I get to my cruising speed (regardless of what it may be), I start to gain about 0.1 average MPG every mile or so.



The longer I cruise at a constant speed the more my average MPG goes up, but it increases much slower to where it may take 4-5 miles to increase the average MPG by another 0.1 MPG.



Last week I had to visit 4 ov my companies locations. The trip took all day and when I got home I had traveled 252 miles and averaged 28.5 MPG for the whole day. While my driving speed was only about 53 MPH, I was avaeraging about 72 MPH on the open country roads where the speed limit was 70 MPH. I did have several bursts of speed that hit about 80-82 MPH while passing some slow moving trucks when I was in a leagal passing zone. Those busts of speed would drop my average MPG by about 0.5 MPG and it would take miles of cruising at a set speed to regain that 0.5 MPG back.



I fugure that if I averaged 28.5 MPG for those 252, I would guess that my car was probably getting instantanious readings of 30-32+ MPG for much of the trip to overcome the starting mileage, and frequent stops and accelleration when going through the many small towns that I passed through that day.



I have learned a lot about saving gas just from watching that Average MPG readout and how different driving tactics effect your gas mileage. We all know that rapid accelleration uses more fuel, but when you see how 6 or 7 seconds of full throttle accelleration can really goble up gas that may take 20 miles of sensable cruising to regain the average MPG you wasted.



If you watch you instantanious MPG Scangauge, you can easily see what eats into your gas mileage and what kind of driving maximizes you mileage. It's a great learning tool and I am of the opinion that if you really want to save gas and improve your MPG, forget about mods...Get something like a Scangauge or computer that will give you an instantaneous display and update of your current MPG and it will show you what your driving habits and driving conditions are doing to your gas mileage.



...Rich
 
Al Franklin is in to the 30+ MPG with his 4.0 explorer...



Todd Z
 
The Scangauge is giving you an instantanious MPG reading and under more ideal conditions you can probably get more. However that is not an MPG Average, and you probably get much worse mileage just getting up to your cruising speed or just getting the engine warmed up.



Aparently, you have never used, nor owned a Scanguage. The ScanGuage will not only give you instantanious gas mileage, but can also average it for you.



Figured you would want to know all the information before you bash something you know nothing about.





Tom
 
Caymen,

Get your head out of your ASS! I was not bashing the Scangauge. Rodger's description sounded like he was usiing the instantanious mileage which can easily be 28 MPG or even higher at certain moments in time. You and I both know that a Sport Trac will not get 28 MPG for an average fuel mileage although it can do that or better under ideal driving conditions.



Remember that he said he got 28 MPG while driving on a flat level stretch of road. When he speeds up or slows down the mileage will change. If he goes up hill or down hill it will change. If he stops at a light it will drop considerably. If ye has more weight in the truck it will change. If the temperature is hotter or colder, it will change. If there is heavier traffic it will change. My point is that Average MPG takes in all the good and bad mileage and that these gauges/computers will show how it takes a lot of good driving to make up the mileage lost for just a brief amount of bad driving.



I said that the Scangauge is a great tool for monitoring your driving habits and showing you what driving style will save you gas and what will waste fuel. How is that bashing the Scangauge???



Caymen, stop reading peoples posts and looking for something to pick a fight about.



...Rich
 
Very good Rodger! Remember back in the 70's when the fuel shortage scrare was in place. You know...when the truckers were striking..and the Gov''t brought all highway speed limits down to 55? They knew then how to save fuel and go further. And they didn't put any or very little ethonal in the gas.



Then, over the years, the Gov said OK raise the speed limits...oh and by the way...since our air is bad..Lets add this stuff to the fuel....it won't help our citizens and eventually, it's going to cost more to buy the fuel (since we know our hidden deal with the Middle East Oil countries time is coming up) but boy will our citizens be able to breath better! ;)
 
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WOOT

Live in the foothills, coasting down the hill this A.M scangage reported 91 MPG.

Comeing back up the hill I got 5MPG:angry:
 
Richard L, You are correct in thinking that I am using the instantaneous read out on the Scangauge.



Thanks Tom for pointing out and reminding me that I can set the Scangauge for an avg. readout too.



Bill, It is pretty cool to look down at the Scanguage and do some wishful thinking around driving down hill all the time. :lol:
 
Rodger,

I hope you don't think I was bashing you or the Scangauge, as Caymen claims?? I think it is an excellent tool for improving your gas mileage by showing you where you get good mileage and where you get bad gas mileage.



I just did not want people to get the impression that you were getting an overall average of 28 MPG when it was just limited reading under very ideal conditions.



It would be good to post other things that eat into the MPG such as adding 100-200 lbs to the bed and see how that effects mileage?



...Rich
 
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