The Gas Mileage Thread

[mrtn]

Estonia. I could get it inside but the underbody and wheel wells are full of brown ice and salt combo and I don't want to mess up the garage.Anyway, just replaced the filter. There was a colony of mosquitoes in the old one. Had to remove the top grille/insert from the filter cowl, the new Denso filter fit exactly in the bottom part. The previous one was small and fit in the top grille.

[G B L]

Nice I have to police the water and Ice on mine when I bring it in for work. At least the Mosquitoes were pretty slow this time of year.

[Charles N. Rutledge]

Has anyone put an RV AC unit on top. How badly does it drop the MPG?

[windguy]

Has anyone put an RV AC unit on top. How badly does it drop the MPG?

welcome to the forum.

curious, why would you need an aux A/C unit for a TC?

[G B L]

If you were making the TC a camper van, then you might want to have AC at a camp ground .

With the Size of most roof top ac units you could also use it to convert the Tc into a freezer to preserve the fish you caught on your Vacation.

One to two mpg would be my guess.

Edited January 27, 2016 by G B L

[windguy]

With the Size of most roof top ac units you could also use it to convert the Tc into a freezer to preserve the fish you caught on your Vacation.

I was thinking he might want to use it as a hearse but I like your idea. I guess I wasn't thinking outside the box.

[Campcrazy]

You guys need to state your year, engine, cargo or van version, trim package, and how much if any weight your carrying. All these things are very pertinent when comparing mpg. Otherwise the data is useless to contrast.

My 2013 xlt cargo version TC with 2.0L I just bought has been doing mixed city/highway driving and my mileage ive computed so far is 19.74, 20.43, 21.43, and 21.46 mpg. This is carrying roughly 500 pounds in the back.

This spring I'll be doing a total tune up on it myself, including cleaning the throttle body, MAF, new platinum (or something even better) spark plugs, synthetic oil and tranny fluids, etc. The whole 9 yards. I'll post my mpg results as these things are done.

Anybody have any other ideas or mods to improve the already fantastic gas mileage?

I've got a question about tire pressure. I know you should always go by the door jam sticker but man 44 psi in the front and 49 in the back seems a bit high. The new tires the dealer put on are only 44psi max pressure anyway. Not wanting to max them out like that and also to soften the ride a bit (it ain't bad...I'm happy with the ride...its just the roads around here are bad)...I lowered them to 40 psi. Do you think this is a good or bad idea and do you think it will hurt gas mileage? I'm not carrying much weight and figure 49psi in the rear is for max loading?

By the way anybody finding success with a softer ride using better shocks on bad roads? I'd like to hear about it.

Edited February 28, 2016 by Campcrazy

[G B L]

Mine is a 2014 Xlt wagon most of the time it is me and 600 lbs of tools. my 24500 total miles the average is 25.3 . I run 40 lbs in the tires,if I run under that the tire pressure warning tends to come on. The 215-55-16 on my rig have a 97H . With a load rating of just over 1600 lbs. As the side wall on these tires is limited in height running them soft makes them more vulnerable to road hazards than they already are.

The Oem tire for your TC is P205/65R15 95T XL This is a 1521 max load tire at 50 Lbs.

If the tires on your TC have a max pressure of 44 lbs they are lighter duty then the Oem, these have a 908-1200 Lbs max load . These tires do not want to be run soft on your TC .

Check the max load rating on the tires you have , Make sure the dealer did not save money at your expense

Edited February 29, 2016 by G B L

[Campcrazy]

Thanks for the info. This 2013 silver TC xlt cargo version I just bought had 82,000 miles on it but the thing is mint. No scratches in the cargo area etc.

The new tires they put on for the sale are an 80,000 mile Falken Touring tire. Yea load rating is probably a bit lower than OEM but I'm happy their an 80,000 mile tire for long life. Not too worried about lower load ability since I don't carry too many tools and parts (in rubber made containers...don't want to muck it up with shelves). For my mini rv camping excursions I also won't carry too much weight.

Since these are 44psi max tires are you telling me I should fill them to 44psi or do you think 40 is good? My main concerns are I don't want to hurt gas mileage but also don't want a harsh boucey ride on bad roads.

Edited February 29, 2016 by Campcrazy

[G B L]

Check The load rating number on the tire and that is what it can carry safely at 44 Lbs. Find a Transfer station or salvage yard and put your TC on the Scale and then you can see what the load is and adjust the pressure.

When you have a tire come apart on the interstate it gives you a whole new restpect for tire pressures.

Edited February 29, 2016 by G B L

[Campcrazy]

The max load of these is 1400 pounds at 44 psi as compared to what you said waswas 1521 pounds at 50 psi of the stock tire. Not as big of a difference as I thought, but I'm still wondering if I should go from 40 to 44psi. As said my main worries are to keep the ride less bouncy on real bad roads but also not to hurt mpg.

[G B L]

40 lbs is 90% so 90% of the tire load would be 1240 per tire. Now weigh the van and you will have your answer

And Yes i am pleasantly surprised at the load rating of your tires

[Campcrazy]

Thanks for the advice. I'm going to try 44 vs 40 psi for a few days to see if there is any change in ride getting bumpier. If not ill stick with 44 just to hedge my bets on best possible mpg. I'm very happy with the mpg now but I like to try to maximize it.

Btw this TC doesn't have fog lights but has the cup like depressions. I'm thinking of gluing clear plastic over these to cut down on wind resistance. Might slightly increase mpg on the highway. I'll use a clear silicone. This will both seal things against moisture and won't show. Plus it can easily be pealed off in the future if the plastic lenses get foggy and I want to put on new ones.

I see new TC's have a motorized grill that only opens if the radiator needs more air from heat. I bet that really helps mpg on the highway. Wonder if this part can be retrofitted to pre 2014 models.

I'm also curious if anybody has done any mods to open up the air intake more. On the rangers I owned we used to pull off the long plastic intake tube from air filter to throttle body and replace it with PVC. The stock tube had a very restrictive funnel inside it that was meant to baffle intake noise a little.

Edited March 5, 2016 by Campcrazy

[G B L]

That's a great question,

The other question is how well the unit is made, how long it lasts and how much fuel it would save.

As for the intake I have not messed with that yet. The most effective mileage enhancer is keeping my ego out of my right foot.

Edited March 5, 2016 by G B L

[David560]

I can get 49.5mpg

five petals on all the icons and a eco warrior.

[Missba]

I have a 999cc Ecoboost and am only getting 34mpg around town and 39mpg on a long motorway run. Very disappointing to say the least. Is this what other owners are finding or is it just me? It is a very long way from the 52mpg in the advertising blurb! Not that I believed that anyway. I used to get 52mpg from a 1.6l Bluemotion VW Passat Estate, was hoping for similar with this estate.

[mrtn]

I can get 49.5mpg

Imperial gallons?

[G B L]

Could be, yours is a diesel, The Ecoboost 1.1 is gas, a 25% mileage difference from the beginning . If the VW was a 1.6 Tdi getting 52. then 52- (25%)=39 MPG He is right there.