Abysmal Fuel Mileage

[ranger4x]

I have been watching my fuel mileage over the last couple months as gas has been rising. Lie-o-meter says 13.8 MPG and hand calculated says 14.86. My commute is 6 miles in bumper to bumper, stop light to stop light, traffic. Last 2 weeks been driving it like a grandpa and still haven't crossed 15 MPG. Even with a terrible traffic, stoplight commute I feel like I should be doing better than sub-15. Or should I just start considering a N/A gas engine or hybrid for my commute?

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[Megawatt]

Look at your current gas use readout. Every time you accelerate from your bumper to bumper traffic it will average approx 5 miles per gallon.

 

[BS67]

Drove mine to Lincoln this am.....avg 25mpg.......filled up with E10 and took interstate home.......runnin' 75mph with cruise on......24.5mpg. That stop/go/idle and short distances will kill it!

 

[ranger4x]

a hybrid would be a good choice, but is it saving enough to be worthwhile ?

i drive my hard and average about 19mpg.

Right now I could easily sell it for more than I paid for it. Question is on a replacement what I would pay and if that's worth it.

 

[rcairflr]

stop and go traffic as you describe is a killer for gas mileage. I doubt you should get any better under those driving condition. Plus with that short of drive your engine hardly has time to warm up, which also decreased mileage.

 

[that408guy]

Since I switched to sports mode driving I've noticed the gas milage readout hits a better mpg faster on the lower end of gears. Possibly test some different pedal pressures on the mpg readout to find what the best acceleration would be for your driving conditions. I've experienced some dramatic mpg changes due to the most minuscule amount of foot pressure on the pedal.

 

[OFC Ranger]

Tow Mode + Gear Lockout.

I set my gear lock outs to 7 max while in town and 9 on highway. I drop it to 8 on long drawn out uphills.

10th gear is dumb.

 

[Gsd1976]

I've never gotten better than 17 average stock. Right now I'm 14.5 average, after bigger tires and such.. My commute is 24 miles round trip every day. Half freeway half city. I can see when I'm on the freeway it has potential to get over 20 mpg but the moment I hit city traffic it tanks. No matter my driving style it's not going to get better. I just shrug my shoulders and enjoy my truck.

 

[Trigganometry]

I’ve had mine awhile so things that really kill mileage is stop idling, warmup idling (wintertime 10min driveway) stop and go (a real killer) and getting boost to kick in.

In winter months I took a 3mpg hit as soon as temps went below 40F. Right now with summer blend and 89 octane getting about 20.5 mpg average. So 70% highway and 30 around town.

Any acceleration from stop be real easy on skinny pedal. The minimum to get it moving.

 

[Floyd]

The key is moderate acceleration from each stop, then a slight lift once rolling with momentum.
This will allow the trans to skip second, third and often even fourth gear. There is plenty of torque to maintain speed from that point, even enough for mild acceleration.
It is a bit tedious and I don't usually put forth the effort, but when I do it yields amazing results...
mid twenties in suburban stop'n go traffic.
Good luck

 

[ranger4x]

The key is moderate acceleration from each stop, then a slight lift once rolling with momentum.
This will allow the trans to skip second, third and often even fourth gear. There is plenty of torque to maintain speed from that point, even enough for mild acceleration.
It is a bit tedious and I don't usually put forth the effort, but when I do it yields amazing results...
mid twenties in suburban stop'n go traffic.
Good luck

I'll try it. Tedious work is better than giving up my truck

 

[9zero1790]

i average 21.5 all the time now. my truck always has a stupid amount of stuff in it. about 50 pounds of tools, full off road recovery kit, full size shovel, axe, pick, 13 gallons extra fuel, 4 gallons extra water, two days clothes, running load e bfg with 2 full spares on steels. thats the every day for the truck. if im going fishing or camping etc. i bring more lol. i dont see how other folks are not getting my mpg or better unless its conditions or mechanics. i do run 93 all the time and mobil one full synthetic and a virgin clean kn filter. i dont think those would make much if any real mpg differences.

 

[Nomadjohn]

I'd be surprised if you hadn't thought of this, but do you have auto stop start disabled? I know some people really hate it but I find it makes a big difference when I'm in heavy traffic.

 

[ranger4x]

I'd be surprised if you hadn't thought of this, but do you have auto stop start disabled? I know some people really hate it but I find it makes a big difference when I'm in heavy traffic.

I have left that alone. Figure if I let it do it's job it would help. I may disable it on the next drive and see what happens.

 

[Zetterbeard]

Tow Mode + Gear Lockout.

I set my gear lock outs to 7 max while in town and 9 on highway. I drop it to 8 on long drawn out uphills.

10th gear is dumb.

Can you explain why this would increase fuel efficiency? Why would you not use 10th gear on the highway?

Specifically with city driving, I would never hit 6/7-10 anyway. What does locking those out achieve?

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