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Doing a lot of Custom Stuff This Weekend


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17 hours ago, Fifty150 said:

Don,

 

Reminds me of how 10 years ago, people were "hypermiling".  Guys were getting almost 50 MPG with a Ford Ranger.

I was happy enough averaging 30MPG with my 2011 Ranger 2.3L manual, lol. Until I totaled it, anyway...

Seeing these posts of 20MPG and even down to the teens makes me feel a little less bad with my van. When I lived in northern Illinois, I was averaging 26-28 MPG on a tank, 50 mile commute with about 1/2 of it tollway. Moved to Texas, higher speed limit (75 MPH between towns), 27 mile commute but I have no traffic and only a handful of stop signs at each end of the commute (in my neighborhood and close to work) plus a stop light by work - MPG's dropped to 22-24. This is on a 2015 TC 2.5L LWB XL van.

Drop looks pretty sweet, but I could never do that around here, lol. I'm with the "lift it" crowd, then add some truck all-terrain tires since I'm in ranch country. 

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Yup  -  Speed kills mileage, more than any other single thing!  Stopping and then getting going again would be a close second

Most any electric car gets much better around town mileage than on the freeway, many times TWICE as much, whereas almost every gas powered vehicle gets better freeway mileage than around town.  This doesn't mean they're super efficient at higher speeds, it's just that they're absolutely terrible in stop and go driving.  An electric car uses zero energy when it's not moving and using regenerative braking to slow down gives back about 80% of the energy it took to get the car up to speed, where ICE vehicles get back nothing when they slow down.  When your foot is on the brake, you're effectively burning the gas it will take you to get back up to speed again  -  That's why steady speeds get you much better mileage . . . . you only accelerate up to speed once

Our little Mitsubishi EV's will do close to 100 miles on a 16 Kw charge around town at 25 mph, or 75 miles on roads where we do 40 or 45 mph, or only 50 miles at freeway speeds  -  The big difference?  The air you're pushing out of the way at higher speeds really uses up energy, and the faster you go, the worse it gets.  The difference in the energy required to go only 5 or 10 mph faster is really an eye opener  -  It can cost you as much as 10 to 15% more

An electricity to gasoline comparison.  A 25 mpg ICE burning $2.50 per gallon gasoline uses 10 cents per mile in fuel  -  Our EV using 11 cents per kilowatt hour juice uses about 2.5 cents per mile in energy . . . . and not too many gas powered vehicles can give you 25 mpg around town

I'm preaching to the choir I'm sure . . . . . but I find most folks really don't understand how efficient EV's are in slow speed, stop and go driving and that's where many of us spend much of our time behind the wheel

Don

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I have a SCAN GAUGE II on my 2015 lwb 250 eng. and if you're concerned about mileage, I would suggest getting one. They're programmable to monitor different engine functions and I have mine set on voltage, gallons per hour, Ave. mileage, and current mileage. I live in central Missouri along the MO river so we have rolling hills but I drive on I-70 a lot where the speed limit is 70 mph.  I do not have cruise control and that probably helps a little bit more as i tend to ease off the gas slightly going up a hill ( from 70 down to 65 mph) and once I crest the hill I slightly push on the gas to get it up to a little over 70. Driving in this manner on the interstate, I don't have much of a problem making 28 mpg.  Driving on some of the 2 lanes roads I can get 30-32 mpg but then my speeds are between 55-65.  The biggest help in getting good highway mileage is coasting.  Coming off the freeway, coming to a light, etc. coast; If you have to use the break you didn't start coasting soon enough.  Also at idle I found that my truck burns about 1/2 gallon/hour. Putting the trans in neutral drops that down to a little less than a 1/4 gallon/hour.

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I do have a SG-II, but it's at least 5 years old and needs to be updated, lol. When I had a 2003 F-350 diesel, I got some crazy MPG numbers because the SG-II couldn't read some of the OBD data correctly - Google research showed that it would need to be updated, but I never got around to it. That said, I really need to put the gauge back into my van because I haven't used it since late last summer when I had to take it out to scan a friends car for CEL codes. But I'll also be moving soon, my commute will be 11 miles and there will be a single stop sign going to work (turn onto the main road from my side street) and then a single one going home (again, turning onto main road from parking lot). So once I'm moving, there typically shouldn't be any reason to stop until I'm at my destination :) That will be great. 

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  • 1 year later...
3 hours ago, Juliecat4 said:

I replaced the factory tires with Michelins & what a difference!  Now have GREAT traction in the snow & far better handling on dry roads.  Much improved performance on curves.  Best tires EVAH!

That's unusual  -  Somebody loves Michelins . . . . and for better handling too.  Never thought I'd hear THAT!

 

Michelins are famous for outlasting most other tire brands because they use harder rubber compounds than most others, which usually causes them to rate lower in the handing department than many brands.  My 2017 Chevy Volt came with Michelins as the OE tire and on the Volt forum, virtually everybody is looking for another tire to improve the handling  -  Can't wait for them to wear down far enough to get rid of them

 

To each his/her own.  Glad you're happy with them  -  Whatever you took off must have been terrible tires if the Michelins gave you better handling though

 

Don

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Michelin make lots of different tires including some great high performance tires.  For years I’ve stayed away from “hard” tires due to their lack of performance.  Usually don’t run Michelin’s due to higher cost but have had some and they had a good combination of performance and durability and were very smooth.  My Volt currently has Continental tires which are a major impediment over OEM Goodyear’s.  But lost some range and mileage.  Buying tires used to be simple, now it’s complex with lots of choices and price points.  Reviews from places like Tire Rack can be helpful.

 

A side note is motorcycle tires.  Michelin make arguably the best sport touring tire with a great combination of wet and dry performance and good traction in the cold.    They have a hard compound in the center of the tread and a soft compound on the sides (for cornering) so they last well but not at the expense of handling.  For me the rears last 12,000 to 15,000 Miles.  My current Ninja ZX6R got 4,000 miles out of the ORM rear - “hypersport” Bridgestone S20.  

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  • 1 year later...
On 1/30/2017 at 4:20 PM, DapperVan said:

Well it took me the entire day, but I got the springs installed. Not an easy job on these vans. Results are great though. Excuse the dirty van.

No time to install the BoostMax yet. Another weekend project. Getting to the firewall is not easy on these vans.

IMG_20170130_081513_089.jpg


Looks very good DapperVan.

 

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