really, 9.5?

[nvycrmn]

how the hell is it that i am only getting 9.5 MPG on my expy when people like walnuts are getting 13?! WTF? truck is getting new plugs this weekend, already has new fuel filter, only 1k on current oil/filter. yes, i do drive city/highway but i still shouldnt be in single digits!

 

[NC-Expy]

Don't feel bad, mine get's about the same and I'm running less lift and smaller tires than you are.

Even with the cruise control on driving down the long country roads I still can only manage to get 10.5-11.

 

[alaskanexpy]

i get close to that with mine.

 

[toms89]

I got that towing my boat in heavy stop and go traffic with my new combo. I got 14mpg last year towing my boat but in far less heavy traffic (stock setup).

 

[nvycrmn]

that is what i do not understand, how does the MPG vary so much between our trucks?! i used to get almost 12 on the highway (last year) with the exact same setup i have now. granted, most of my driving was highway then. but i have not calibrated my speedo so since my MPH is off, wouldnt that in turn make my MPG off as well? and if all of that is off, then isnt my odometer off too?! at the end of october i am driving back to Iowa (29 hrs) so we will see what kind of MPG i get then, but i have to go through.....COLORODO! AHHHHHH....MOUNTAINS!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAH

 

[toms89]

that is what i do not understand, how does the MPG vary so much between our trucks?! i used to get almost 12 on the highway (last year) with the exact same setup i have now. granted, most of my driving was highway then. but i have not calibrated my speedo so since my MPH is off, wouldnt that in turn make my MPG off as well? and if all of that is off, then isnt my odometer off too?! at the end of october i am driving back to Iowa (29 hrs) so we will see what kind of MPG i get then, but i have to go through.....COLORODO! AHHHHHH....MOUNTAINS!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAHAH

If you never had your speedometer recalibrated for the taller tires your speed, odometer and mpgs will be off by the percentage of the difference in tire size.

 

[toms89]

I dont know what size tires you have but say if they are 10% larger in circumference. This means you are going 10% faster than your speedo reads. You are putting on 10% more miles than the odometer reads and therefore you are getting 10% better gas milage.

 

[fun2drum]

I know a guy who added a roof rack to his Land Rover and immediately lost a few MPG on the highway from the wind resistance. That was just from an empty roof rack. I wonder of those four lights on your roof might be having the same effect on your MPG.

BTW - I'm already finding that I'm much happier with my Expedition if I keep the little computer thingy set to only display the compass. That gas mileage info is kind of a downer to look at all the time.

 

[KWT2000]

i was in the 9's at one point but had to get better.. on the high way im over 14 now and mid 10's around town. the tuner made the most differance and so did getting the speedo corrected so i knew what i was really getting

 

[nvycrmn]

tom, i am running 35" tires (34.7 or something like that). if i am 10% off, wouldnt that make me get 10% WORSE MPG, not better?

fun, i think i may do the same thing! right now i am going through roughly $240/mo in gas!!! wife wants me to trade expy in for new truck. problem is, new truck i want is f250 diesel! hahahha

 

[GAINMOB]

thats $60 per week...im doing $80 per week...but i do drive everywhere in the city...driving 60mph for half a mile...stop...half a mile...stop...the the quarter stretch lights doing 45...yeah...

 

[nvycrmn]

problem is, i pretty much only drive to and from work, about 13 miles round trip! hahah. stop light, stop light, highway for about 1 mile, then stop light, stop light, stop light, stop sign, stop light....and so on! hahah.

 

[panda24619]

i hate my edge. cause it shows current mpg. i get upwards of 14 highway. and then when i gun it i get 4.8mpg...

 

[Expeditionary]

i hate my edge. cause it shows current mpg. i get upwards of 14 highway. and then when i gun it i get 4.8mpg...

my overhead display already does that lol

 

[jacks3am]

i get around 13, get a fun truck if you want, and then get a fuel efficient car lolz

 

[alaskanexpy]

yeah the bigger tires throw off your speedo and odo. which in turn will screw up your mpg figures...

hell, going from stock 255/70 16s to 265/75 16s has thrown mine off also. enough that it screws my mpg figures up. if i really felt like it i'd fix it but i figure i know the small difference and i keep my speed in check with my GPS.

 

[toms89]

tom, i am running 35" tires (34.7 or something like that). if i am 10% off, wouldnt that make me get 10% WORSE MPG, not better?

fun, i think i may do the same thing! right now i am going through roughly $240/mo in gas!!! wife wants me to trade expy in for new truck. problem is, new truck i want is f250 diesel! hahahha

Don't qoute the 10% figure. I just threw a number out there. But to answer your question, No it would be 10% better than calculated because your odometer would be reading 10% low until corrected. Add those miles back in and miles per gallon go up.

 

[fun2drum]

b

...fun, i think i may do the same thing! right now i am going through roughly $240/mo in gas!!! wife wants me to trade expy in for new truck. problem is, new truck i want is f250 diesel! hahahha

...That trade-in idea sounds like a solution at first but you're jumping from the frying pan into the fire. I just traded in a new 2010 Toyota Sienna AWD that gets 21 MPG for this 2001 Expedition that I'm seeing about 12 MPG on (mostly highway). Why did I do such a thing? Because I lost about 10 grand in depreciation and about a grand in interest during the first 1 1/2 years. That doesn't count the $530.00/month payments I threw away to the finance company. The depreciation I was looking at going forward was about another 10 grand if I kept it another 2 years while making that payment all the while. My point is that I CAN BUY A LOT OF GAS WITH THAT KIND OF MONEY! And of course to add insult to injury, I was still having to put gas in it. Honestly, pay that 240/month in gas and laugh all the way to the bank.


Edit:
Just to clarify, I work in sales and drive about 30,000 miles per year.

 

[Thermo]

nvycrmn, your speedo is off by 16.7% (I know, I had your setup). So, when your speedo is saying 60 MPH, you are actually doing 70 MPH. So, your speedo is not showing as many miles as you are actually driving. So, therefore, you need to add 16.7% to your mileage, not subtract. So, if you are getting 9.5 mpg, you are actually getting around 11.0 MPG.

Now, with that being said, I was close to what you are seeing and then I recalibrated my speedo. Not only did the truck shift better, but I also gained about 2 mpg in mileage because the truck could now find the right gear. Also, when accelerating, at what RPM does the truck shift? Are you down around 2500 RPM or up at 3500-4000 RPM? I am guessing that you are up around 4000 RPM as you are wanting your truck to keep up with traffic. that is killing your mileage, especially with the speedo error.

2 other things that you can take it or leave it on what I say. On another truck club for Expeditions, we discovered that the bug deflectors on the fronts of the trucks were costing members about 1 mpg. Along those same lines, where you have the off-road lights, think of the windshield as a ski slope. The air is rushing up over the windshield and is getting thrust right into the lights. Those are essentially acting as boat anchors to the passing wind. This is putting more drag on the truck. More drag means more fuel to move it through the wind. More fuel means less mileage.

Some other things to keep in mind. Try to coast up to a light, using the brakes as minimally as possible. If you charge the lights, not only are you hard on the brakes, but you have to remain in the gas longer. Also, when you are moving at side street speeds, attempt to keep the RPMs in the range of 1800-2200 RPM. This is the sweet spot for the engine. More than that and you are making lots more power and there are more drag losses inside the engine. Less than 1800 and the efficiency of the engine cycle goes down (ie, don't get as much power out of the fuel).

If you need more or ideas, let me know.

 

[2000eb]

im stock height etc and and my overhead computer says 10.1 and it bout dead on when i do the math. that all city though and i rarely drive it so when i do i have a tendency to really get on her. so 10.1 with a real heavy foot isnt too bad in the city. cant wait to get an edge and do a nice highway trip