18mpg on a 50K 2014 XLT?

[Russell]

First up: Hey! This is my first post. Looking forward to hearing about your experiences with your vans and hitting you up for advice with mine.

 

I picked up my XLT this past Monday. While it has been great in almost every way, I've been surprised by the low mpg. After ~100miles divided 75/25 between highway and city the dash reports that I'm averaging 18mpg. This seems awfully low given that the van has just 50K miles, it is unloaded, and I've been going super easy on the gas pedal. 

 

Is this something to be concerned about? What's the best place to start diagnosing? Full disclosure: I have a lifetime of wrenching on bicycles but absolutely none working on cars. I'm happy to get my hands dirty, though!

 

Thanks in advance!

Edited November 30, 2018 by Russell

[PhotoAl]

Welcome!

 

That sounds somewhat low but not crazy.  Don't know what the local terrain is like but here in the suburb I live in we have lots of hills.  I have seen as low as 7MPG average when just driving around locally with no interstate.  I get 25 to 28 on the interstate depending on speed and terrain.  70 or 75 doesn't seem to matter much 80 is a little bit less but sometimes necessary to keep from getting run over!  For diagnostics first check is tire pressure, the OEM tires run 42 PSI if memory is correct.  Doesn't help the ride but goes around corners better :-) Second thing to check if alignment.  If the front wheels are toed in or out that can hurt mileage.  Ive wondered about mine but haven't checked - its only got 11,000 miles on it - a 2016 I bought new a year ago.  You know everyone is going to say bicycle person doesn't know about alignment but I align my motorcycles all the time.  If the rear wheel is not true to the front wheel they don't turn correctly.  A third thing is the gas, if you get real gasoline mileage goes up, with the E10 mileage goes down.  A few years ago I was driving every Saturday to see my mom.  I would get on the interstate and set the cruse on my Volt at the same speed.  I could tell a difference in headwinds but sometimes the mileage was a few MPG different.  Rain is bad for mileages well.  My plan was to use the TC for trips and hauling stuff but use my Volt for local trips.  My son's car broke and he has been driving my Volt while saving for a new car.  He has a job and no wife or kids or debt so Im expecting my Volt to return very soon!

[jrm223]

Digital gauges are generally always suspect, they should only be used as a rough guide. The only way to know your true mileage is dividing miles traveled by the gallons put into the tank to fill back up. I have larger-than-stock all-terrain tires and I'm averaging 23-24 MPG hand-calculated (including correcting the indicated miles on the tripmeter to adjust for the tire size; in my case, multiply the tripmeter by 1.059 and then divide by gallons of gas). My van is an XL, though, so it doesn't have the fancy MPG display and such, haha.

[Project bike truck]

I drive a mix of city and highway. I have a 2014 XLT SWB with a 1.6l Ecoboost, K&N filter, ST 18's and its lowered. I drive like a grandma and i get 19 MPG on average. Only on long drives do I get up into the 24-26 range. 

 

I love my van but the MPG is the only downfall. 

[G B L]

My long term highway average is 25.5.  It drops in the winter and depending on the load. City Driving could lower it to under 20.  

[Beta Don]

2 hours ago, Project bike truck said:

Only on long drives do I get up into the 24-26 range. 

 

After 25,000 miles with my 2014 SWB 2.5, my lifetime mpg is higher than that.  I think the driver has more to do with it than the van

 

Don

[Fifty150]

22 hours ago, Russell said:

 

 

I'm averaging 18mpg.

 

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

Join the club.  I bought my Transit Connect new.  Since the first tank of gas, I've gotten bad mileage.  I'm driving in city traffic, with California reformulated fuel.  Here is some information from fueleconomy.gov  The 2016 information was submitted by me.  I tracked the the MPG until I got tired of doing it.

 

 

 

[Fifty150]

23 hours ago, Russell said:

 

 

I'm averaging 18mpg.

 

 

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

You're not alone.

 

 

[Russell]

Thanks for all the replies. Helpful and appreciated.

 

I did one find one possible reason for the low reported number: It was the average set by the previous owner.

 

After a reset and ~100mi, it reports 25mpg. 

 

Phew!

 

Thanks again.

[PhotoAl]

LOL, that is a simple fix.  Over the years Ive gotten accustomed to resetting my trip odometer every time I fill up.  I reset one of the odometers in the TC every time I fill up now out of habit.  Its also fun to watch the instantaneous mileage display.  My current motorcycle has similar features and Ive used them to great effect, particularly the instantaneous mileage display which seems to have a slower update frequency than the TC and therefore is a little easier to judge with.  A few times Ive missed a gas station and its handy to have an idea of how much further you can go.  The motorcycle simply says low fuel and tells you how far you been since the low fuel light goes on.  I nursed it to a gas station last trip and put 4.09 gallons in a 4 gallon tank!  Think when I fill it all the way up I'm actually overfilling a bit but still ran it very low.  Nice thing about the bike is at 80MPH (in Wyoming of course) it gets 42 to 43 MPG, slow down to 55 and it will get something over 70MPG!  The TC responds to slowing down but not nearly so spectacularly.  

[Russell]

It's been about a year now and after that initial hiccup, I am pleasantly surprised by how well the van has done on the mpg front. It's over five years old and still averages 32mpg on the highway. Woo-hoo!