Better gas mileage

[Old Iron]

How to squeeze out better gas mileage? What can I add to my 2020 4x2 FX2 with the 2.3L to help squeeze out better mileage. Probably a K&N air filter, but what else?

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[AzScorpion]

Don't drive it.

A tune does help some (maybe 1-2 mpg) but then you find out how much more hp/tq you have and now are going WOT most times.

Seriously, you can add all sorts of stuff trying to squeeze out over mpg but at the end of the day it's a truck, not a Prius. Dive it and have fun!

 

[Frenchy]

As much of a point @AzScorpion makes, there are quite a few things you can do,but also things you should avoid.

First and foremost stay away from bigger tires and get a good street/HWY tire(seriously, you have a 2WD). Second is to consider a tune along with a Cat Back Exhaust. As for the air filter? Personally I would stay away from it. The Aftermarket Air Filters like to do let more objects pass through that shouldn't and these objects can and will damage the Turbocharger and Engine.

One other thing you can install is a Velocitec Intake pipe. It will help force air to the Air Filter at HWY speeds and therefore make the Air Supply easier to get causing better efficiency.

Last but not least is your driving habit. Driving like you stole it in the fuel mileage is going to be crap all the time. Be a bit reasonable and use cruise control and then you most likely will have good results.

 

[Old Iron]

Thank you Frenchy for your input. I will consider all of the above

 

[AzScorpion]

As much of a point @AzScorpion makes, there are quite a few things you can do,but also things you should avoid.

First and foremost stay away from bigger tires and get a good street/HWY tire(seriously, you have a 2WD). Second is to consider a tune along with a Cat Back Exhaust. As for the air filter? Personally I would stay away from it. The Aftermarket Air Filters like to do let more objects pass through that shouldn't and these objects can and will damage the Turbocharger and Engine.

One other thing you can install is a Velocitec Intake pipe. It will help force air to the Air Filter at HWY speeds and therefore make the Air Supply easier to get causing better efficiency.

Last but not least is your driving habit. Driving like you stole it in the fuel mileage is going to be crap all the time. Be a bit reasonable and use cruise control and then you most likely will have good results.

Besides your driving habits there's really nothing (worth the money spent) that will give you any significant gain in mpg. After installing all the things you listed you're going to spend a couple grand for what, to gain 1-2 mpg? It would take years to get your ROI back on that.

We've beaten this to death on here for 6 years. Everyone's driving habits are different and so is their daily commute. Stop and go city traffic will kill your mileage where driving 70 mph on the highway will give you much better. We've seen members who swear their truck is broken because the best they can do is 16 mpg where others are averaging 23 mpg. I'm averaging 22.3 in my Tremor with many short commutes. I'm pretty easy on the gas when taking off and don't come to a stop light at 50 mph then jamb on the brakes. lol

Unless you're driving 20,000 - 30,000 miles per year the added savings is so little it's not worth worrying about. If it is you're driving the wrong vehicle. The last thing on my mind when deciding on what truck to buy is mpg as they all get roughly the same. Payload, towing, size and comfort rank much higher on the list.

 

[Frenchy]

Besides your driving habits there's really nothing (worth the money spent) that will give you any significant gain in mpg. After installing all the things you listed you're going to spend a couple grand for what, to gain 1-2 mpg? It would take years to get your ROI back on that.

We've beaten this to death on here for 6 years. Everyone's driving habits are different and so is their daily commute. Stop and go city traffic will kill your mileage where driving 70 mph on the highway will give you much better. We've seen members who swear their truck is broken because the best they can do is 16 mpg where others are averaging 23 mpg. I'm averaging 22.3 in my Tremor with many short commutes. I'm pretty easy on the gas when taking off and don't come to a stop light at 50 mph then jamb on the brakes. lol

Unless you're driving 20,000 - 30,000 miles per year the added savings is so little it's not worth worrying about. If it is you're driving the wrong vehicle. The last thing on my mind when deciding on what truck to buy is mpg as they all get roughly the same. Payload, towing, size and comfort rank much higher on the list.

You are not wrong about the miles driven to time vehicle owned ratio. Plenty of people don't think about that ratio at all. They're actually many people out there that seem to get new vehicles every couple of years just because they found a better deal. Those kind of people I can never understand because I want to know what kind of money they're making.

As for the stuff I mentioned above You can get more than one to two miles per gallon max with everything combined. You just have to keep in mind of the actual driving habits themselves along with suspension and tires. If you go for a lifted four-wheel drive then there's no way you're going to get excellent fuel mileage. In my 2019 that I had I was usually able to see around 22 to 24 average for backcountry Highway driving with cruise control when I had my lift and 33s. If I had a two-wheel drive and I wasn't worried about trying to lift it, I probably would have done better since I would have retained the front air down and would have stuck with good street tires on stock size along with a lower profile due to not lifting the vehicle. In reality it all depends on what you do.

And don't worry, even on my 2012 Frontier the thing is atrocious on fuel thanks to the modifications I've done. The front bull bar and the big tires do not help one bit.

 

[Old Iron]

Thanks for your reply AZScorpion. I did a search and couldn't much about MPG. I certainly don't want to beat a dead horse. For now I'll just drive it like a Grandpa, get street tires when I need new tires, keep it tuned with regular oil changes, and just ride down the road with a huge smile in my beloved "Lone Ranger"

 

[Frenchy]

Thanks for your reply AZScorpion. I did a search and couldn't much about MPG. I certainly don't want to beat a dead horse. For now I'll just drive it like a Grandpa, get street tires when I need new tires, keep it tuned with regular oil changes, and just ride down the road with a huge smile in my beloved "Lone Ranger"

Something to also keep in mind if fuel range for long distance trips is important, use premium fuel instead of regular unleaded. It has already been proven to get an extra one to two miles per gallon at least on the four-wheel drive models with premium fuel. This is on the stock tune by the way. Others may argue dollars per mile, But I find the extra fuel range especially on a long trip to be well worth the extra price.

 

[AzScorpion]

Thanks for your reply AZScorpion. I did a search and couldn't much about MPG. I certainly don't want to beat a dead horse. For now I'll just drive it like a Grandpa, get street tires when I need new tires, keep it tuned with regular oil changes, and just ride down the road with a huge smile in my beloved "Lone Ranger"

No worries there's a lot of old threads on this but sometimes they're hard to dig up. The key to better mpg is just driving it easy and not with a lead foot. Of course that's hard to do sometimes because the truck is fun to open every once in a while. Hills are a death blow along with city driving. Have fun and enjoy your Ranger.

 

[Old Iron]

When going long distance with this rig, we'll be towing our toy hauler with our bikes in it, or the wife will be hauling the toy hauler to dog shows. So gas mileage goes out the window. Thanks all for all your insight, I really do appreciate all of it.

 

[got3fords]

I will just add that, you lose MPG the more stuff you keep in your truck. I try to keep it minimal, but there are things I always keep on board, like my running shoes, biking stuff etc.

 

[AzScorpion]

I will just add that, you lose MPG the more stuff you keep in your truck. I try to keep in minimal, but there are things I always keep on board, like my running shoes, biking stuff etc.

This! I have to laugh when I see this guy in my neighborhood driving his Jeep Gladiator all decked out with all his overlanding stuff. He has the side racks that are full of stuff along with the RTT and inside the bed all sorts of pull out draws and slide out fridge. When we first moved there I asked him where a good place to go off road was and he said he never really goes off road and if he does it's only fire roads. He goes camping maybe once a year and other than that he's a mall crawler with about 1,000+ lbs of wasted gear on his rig.

 

[Frenchy]

This! I have to laugh when I see this guy in my neighborhood driving his Jeep Gladiator all decked out with all his overlanding stuff. He has the side racks that are full of stuff along with the RTT and inside the bed all sorts of pull out draws and slide out fridge. When we first moved there I asked him where a good place to go off road was and he said he never really goes off road and if he does it's only fire roads. He goes camping maybe once a year and other than that he's a mall crawler with about 1,000+ lbs of wasted gear on his rig.

Those are the best kind of individuals!! I won't argue that I'm a bit lower than what I would like for my trips this year, but I at least use my stuff!

 

[kieefer]

How to squeeze out better gas mileage? What can I add to my 2020 4x2 FX2 with the 2.3L to help squeeze out better mileage. Probably a K&N air filter, but what else?

Settle for less and get a Maverick with the hybrid option.

 

[Old Iron]

Nope, the Maverick doesn't have the towing I need. My toy hauler with both bikes is 6,000lbs

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