Fuel economy and brand of gas

[Frenchy]

Hi Rob,

I run 87 Costco Tier one with occasional pumping from Circle K in Flagstaff which does not have a Costco... On the road when we were touring in the RV, the Ranger ran what was close to the RV Park. I do not track or record fuel economy...it is what it is. My last RV fill up in Flagstaff was over $550... It was what it was... I could have saved about $20 dollars to shop around, but when you are 40ft long and about 60ft with Ranger in tow....ease of entry and exit become key. Mostly use Truck Stops for the RV and if the Ranger needs fuel I pump it from the truck pumps if available so I do not have to break off the Ranger to go get fuel.

Short answer, I run 87 and try for tier 1 if I can get to it easily. My Ranger has never seen 93 or higher fuel...

Best,
Phil

A lot of fair points here. Also unless you decide to travel back east you won't see higher than 91 anyway.

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[Racket]

... midgrade is 89 octane and up - I never run 87 octane. My gas mileage is pretty similar although E30 (when I find it) is pretty satisfying at 94 octane. Generally I put in 93 octane from Sam's club.

I don't see differences in power, operating temp or mileage that makes a noticeable difference otherwise.

EDIT since forum keeps bringing me back - I'm not being clear on 'power.' The Unleashed tune has made a noticable improvement in driving performance, so I'm not correct in saying that. From a step-on-the-gas perspective the E30 is the most exciting. The tune+gas variables have provided an experience I like without hurting performance.

E30 is/was pretty cheap compared to usual 10% blends and didn't hurt my MPG's enough to negate the savings. While Ford didn't build the motor for Flex fuel I doubt there is risk in running E30. I've never put E85 in.

 

[pbethel]

Ummm.... Vancouver is 3500' lower in elevation than Bend.
Return trip was all downhill. Makes this even more of an apples to oranges comparison.

 

[got3fords]

1st 32,000 miles: 27 MPG, almost always Shell, always premium, always Top Tier.

Last 3,000 miles: 24 MPG, always Shell premium, always Top Tier. The difference: new Michelin tires installed to replace the original oem Hankooks.

My Theory: Tire changes on our Rangers make a huge impact on mileage.

Well crap, now I am second guessing my next set of tires!

 

[Todd Chapin]

Well crap, now I am second guessing my next set of tires!

Its no so much the tire but the weight of the tire. I dropped 2 miles a gallon with 6 lb heavier AT tires.

To OP I seem to get the best milage from Sunoco 87. Recently I filled up with Shell then Sunoco and saw a 2.5 mpg increase with Sunoco. The other thing about gasoline is the blend/formula varies by region and winter/summer.

 

[got3fords]

Its no so much the tire but the weight of the tire. I dropped 2 miles a gallon with 6 lb heavier AT tires.

I assume your are talking about the Michelin Defender LTX? The numbers I found put that tire 1lb heavier than my stock Duelers.

 

[Todd Chapin]

I assume your are talking about the Michelin Defender LTX? The numbers I found put that tire 1lb heavier than my stock Duelers.

Cooper Wild Trek 265/70/17. A fairly aggressive at/mt hybrid. I love them.
I have had the Michelin LTX on two previous trucks and loved them. Difinitely an upgrade from the Hancraps. 1 pound wont be a huge change.

 

[RedlandRanger]

Well crap, now I am second guessing my next set of tires!

IMO, the stock Hankooks are good for one thing and one thing only - MPG - changing to something else will most likely negatively affect MPG - I changed to Toyo AT III's which I love, however I lost a couple MPG when doing so - getting a Livernois tune recovered some of what I lost.

 

[Dr3wDrop]

You can always try 100 octane.

 

[HenryMac]

Its no so much the tire but the weight of the tire. I dropped 2 miles a gallon with 6 lb heavier AT tires.

The Michelins I just installed are 5 lbs lighter than the OEM LT Hankooks that came on our Ranger. I got better mileage, with the heavier tires.

This leads me to believe that tread pattern and compound are what is making the difference in our case.

 

[OrangeStreak]

I haven't tested the truck with different gas brands because I've always used only Chevron. My best hwy mpg was 23.2 and the best city was 17.6 but the average city is around 14-15. As many of you have mentioned there are numerous variables. I use Chevron plus 88 Octane (which is their octane rating for plus at my altitude...Octane rating varies with altitude) in the Ranger which is the acceptable Octane recommendation in the owner's manual under normal operating conditions. Chevron has always given me top performance and substantial gas mileage. The standard when purchasing gas is go with a quality gas that is Top Tier rated...

TOP TIER™ Gasoline Brands (toptiergas.com)

 

[IdahoRanger]

So last tank I had run about 80 miles all town and it was at 17.2 mpg. Next 200 miles were highway 60-70mph and it brought up the average to 22.2 so not bad on 89 winter fuel from Costco. These trucks like consistency.

 

[landiscarrier]

I only run Sunoco 94 Octane. Summertime I average 23-24mpg. Wintertime 20-21mpg. Always a mix of highway and around town driving.

To be fair my employer pays for all my fuel. Yes, I am very lucky!

 

[subquark]

I'm sure this topic has been covered before, but I'm just curious if anyone else has experienced what I have with gas mileage.
Recently filled up my 2022 Ranger XLT FX4 at my local no name gas station that I always use and drove from Vancouver WA to Bend OR.
My average fuel economy was 22 mpg, which has been my best economy using this gas, around town it's 18 mpg at best with said gas.
I filled up at a Chevron station in Bend for the return trip, same route in reverse, and averaged 26.5 mpg.
There us no difference in the ethanol content between WA and OR.
What brand of gas are you using and mpg you're getting with that gas?

I tend to use Sunoco, mainly because it's nearby. I always run the highest octane I can get (93 in Portsmouth).

I know most modern cars tend to run well on any regularly available octane, I've just always run the highest (up until this year, I would have said any better performance was minimal between 89 and 93 octane, I've just always thought it was cleaner burning with less crud for the engine, but Kate's Mazda supposedly sees a big difference:

"227 hp and 310#' torque with 87 octane and 93 octane gets 256 hp and 320#' torque"

As to mileage, my short 1.6 mile dump runs and small-town errands gets me around 16.4 MPG. On a six-hour road trip in the fall, I did get over 28 mpg - stock 2-WD XL Scab.

 

[subquark]

Darn it, I have to apologize to @AzScorpion, I missed the perfect opportunity to ensure he has a nice retirement fund. The company that sells AzScorpion-endorsed 303 products also sells an octane boost that I use on every other tank or so:

https://www.goldeagle.com/product/104-octane-boost/

They also have the same with a lead substitute that we use in my old FJ40.

By the way, these bottles make great funnels for our capless systems. Just cut off the bottoms.

And take 23% OFF your order with code NW20YR23. Promotion runs Jan. 2-3.

Or *wink,wink* use promo code - "DoubleMyTotalAndDeposit@AzScorpion" to obtain a higher status on this forum, kind of like the $8 that Elon Mustie wants for premium twits.

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