Surprised by my gas mileage

[dokkerdam]

Damn, some of you guys who get low 20’s must really love the pep of the Ranger lol.

Back in NY while I was commuting 52 miles one way to work, it was all county and state highways, the highest speed limit was 55mph, and always very little traffic. I miss roads like that and get homesick for some real country/back roads where you can just cruise. Here in Texas is seems like everyone goes MINIMUM 75 mph on some of the back two lane roads. There’s really no relaxing. Before long you’ve got someone on your ass!

Anyway , my 4x4 crew cab 2.7 F-150 had lifetime 24.7 mpg before I made the move, and it kept slowly creeping up. I have no doubt if I stayed I would have reached high 25 or maybe 26. I bet if I had the Ranger I would be high 20’s with that commute.

stop and go kills gas mileage, but so does going 75 mph in a brick.

my lifetime has reduced to 21.5 mpg, smh.

exactly. my roads here in bumfuck are 55 to 60 with no traffic or lights. here's some photos i took today of the ever increasing mileage on the trip back from the NH liquor outlets. Note that there are almost 90 miles on this tank so the actual mileage needed to raise the average must be well over 30.

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[dokkerdam]

this photo is my lifetime mileage and the problem is it includes 2 winters of plowing my own driveway which devastates any mileage calculations.

 

[dokkerdam]

These gas mileage threads are almost as much fun to follow as those about engine oil, I said almost.

Trying to compare mileage from one person to another is a useless exercise. Everyone's truck is different. Different lifts/levels, different tires, rack/no rack, tune/no tune, different engine mods. People live in different climates, different regions. People have different driving styles and wants from their trucks.

Gas grades available also varies from region to region along with prices. It is a given higher octane will give you better performance, that includes mileage. Is that mileage increase enough to pay for the cost is an individual calculation. The second part of the decision is, if the cost per mile doesn't justify the cost. Does the increase in performance justify it for you.

Back to comparing mileage. Comparing anything less than to average of o full tank hand calculated is meaningless. Even that will vary greatly from tank to tank, location to location, person to person. Percentage highway to city, speeds, elevation changes, even curves. I just finished a 4760 mile trip pulling my travel trailer. Got 10.6 mpg. I feel that is a fairly accurate average for me towing at 70 mph. Going 60-65 it probably would have been much better, I didn't feel like getting run over on the interstate. My weekend trips to a local campground not so much.

So I've started to just read these threads and look at what they are getting and say that's nice. I don't feel bad because I'm not getting as much as them or brag because I'm getting more. I run 87 octane regular because that is the minimum the manual requires and I can not justify the 30%+ increase in cost to run premium. I just enjoy driving my Ranger.

all my numbers are pen and paper and filling the tank. i posted some photos of the computer mileage climbing on one trip to show what is possible.. 28.1 mpg on the computer will probably drop to about 27 with pen and paper after the fill-up.

your right about the variations. and the biggest thing with large trailers is the wind resistance more than the weight.

 

[cfhgarza]

I just got back from a 1187 mile trip. Gibsonburg, OH > Lansing, WV > Pigeon Forge, TN > Gibsonburg, OH. Mostly highway but we did spend 3 days in Pigeon Forge city driving. I averaged 24.355 MPG. I made it all the way from Sevierville, TN to home in Gibsonburg (476 mi) on one tank of gas. I was impressed by the Ranger.

The trip computer claimed a MPG of 25.3 at the end of the trip.

 

[dokkerdam]

Damn, some of you guys who get low 20’s must really love the pep of the Ranger lol.

Back in NY while I was commuting 52 miles one way to work, it was all county and state highways, the highest speed limit was 55mph, and always very little traffic. I miss roads like that and get homesick for some real country/back roads where you can just cruise. Here in Texas is seems like everyone goes MINIMUM 75 mph on some of the back two lane roads. There’s really no relaxing. Before long you’ve got someone on your ass!

Anyway , my 4x4 crew cab 2.7 F-150 had lifetime 24.7 mpg before I made the move, and it kept slowly creeping up. I have no doubt if I stayed I would have reached high 25 or maybe 26. I bet if I had the Ranger I would be high 20’s with that commute.

stop and go kills gas mileage, but so does going 75 mph in a brick.

my lifetime has reduced to 21.5 mpg, smh.

i'm not looking for trouble here but your comment about how low mileage rangers are performing makes me wonder (aside from having lead feet) if there might be something out of rig with their vehicles or engines. i'm enjoying my truck. no one is beeping at me or passing all the time, in fact i often pass some of these elk snout drivers who can't maintain a speed unless someone is in front of them. when i do the overall mileage drops slighty, too. i described what felt like hesitancy occasionally - more like when driving infrequently in big old v-8's required one to stomp it it to blow everything out, that's all.

the only way i can imagine dropping from my 27+ mpg average in this truck would be to have so much fun i'd either end up in a ditch or jail. i don't think i could do it.

and to the guy who compared the mileage idiots (me) with the oil level idiots (also me) all i can say is i've watched oil dipsticks all my 44 driving years and this ranger is as good as any rice burner.

jim dipstick

 

[Tom_C]

I have a new 2020 scab fx4. I won't say I have a lead foot, far from it. I do occasionally get on it but I'm still breaking in so not much. I also do mostly city driving, so that hurts. I'm getting around 22, but I'm only at around 1000 miles and my 4th tank. Manual calc on 1 tank was 20ish, I don't recall. I will adjust the onboard calc to match manual calc, and hopefully it increases a bit after break in.

I was always disappointed in my 2009 outback which wasn't any better than this in the city, so I'll take what I get. The ranger is way more fun though.

 

[F150stxguy]

i'm not looking for trouble here but your comment about how low mileage rangers are performing makes me wonder (aside from having lead feet) if there might be something out of rig with their vehicles or engines. i'm enjoying my truck. no one is beeping at me or passing all the time, in fact i often pass some of these elk snout drivers who can't maintain a speed unless someone is in front of them. when i do the overall mileage drops slighty, too. i described what felt like hesitancy occasionally - more like when driving infrequently in big old v-8's required one to stomp it it to blow everything out, that's all.

the only way i can imagine dropping from my 27+ mpg average in this truck would be to have so much fun i'd either end up in a ditch or jail. i don't think i could do it.

and to the guy who compared the mileage idiots (me) with the oil level idiots (also me) all i can say is i've watched oil dipsticks all my 44 driving years and this ranger is as good as any rice burner.

jim dipstick

No worries and I understand what you mean. I always at least went the speed limit, sometimes 59 or 60. I would always make sure I was in 10th and keep it there so it didn’t down shift. A lot of times I did use cruise control too.

makes me wonder what the 5.0 F150 would have done with those speeds. ?

 

[dokkerdam]

No worries and I understand what you mean. I always at least went the speed limit, sometimes 59 or 60. I would always make sure I was in 10th and keep it there so it didn’t down shift. A lot of times I did use cruise control too.

makes me wonder what the 5.0 F150 would have done with those speeds. ?

it's an interesting transmission. sometimes it shifts imperceptibly. sometimes it clunks and on rare occasion i worry that i lost some gears on the road. that being said it is much, much better than the 2019 tacoma with a 3.6 v6 (or the 4 cyl. - i tested both. the new tacoma 6 was powerless, noisy junk and the 4 is only acceptable because it costs less. the side by side comparison of the 3 models is why i bought the ranger. i almost waked away because it only had a four but i'm glad i tried it). i would say it doesn't hunt, but it doesn't like to downshift when i would like it to. and sometimes it finds a lower gear like 8th when i want it to coast.

all that being said, i'm the guy getting 27+ mpg so i'm not gonna complain. on rare occasion i use the lock out system where i can control the downshifting by using the shifter button (heavy load, wind resistance, very hilly terrain in northern NH and ME. otherwise my only complaint is that it doesn't downshift when i want it too without being heavy on the accelerator (and that puts it in with about 20+ vehicles i've owned or driven in the past.

i would have been happy with 24 mpg so i am thrilled. if i have to or want to step on it the ranger becomes a rocket ship and i can pass anybody. i've occasionally passed 6 or 7 cars and the truck holding all of them back uphill on route 26 in Maine.

i've said this before but i'm not some kind of ranger whisperer. if your 4WD supercab or better isn't getting around 24 or (even up to 28) start banging on ford's door. soon after i bought the truck there was talk of yet another ford class action about misleading mileage estimates. i was wondering if they would settle with the ranger owners. but would feel downright guilty if they gave me some settlement for bad mileage.

finally, the engine shut-off feature is excellent but could be much more aggressive. more often than not it does NOT shut off when i hope it would. idling in traffic (or at the mcd's drive thru) is what kills my mileage. their software balances all kinds of parameters including if you recently turned the steering wheel and then tells the engine to not shut off (meaning that when you round the corner to window no. 1 the computer is fooled into thinking you are parking or something else and does not shut off).

my last vehicle was a VW Jetta Hybrid so I was more than OK with the engine shut-off feature. that car had a 1.4 turbo mated to the mild hybrid electric motor and was also a rocket ship easily passing 8 cars uphill when you needed to. most americans hate the electric or hybrid concept but it is not only the future but full electric cars are torquey and more fun than i can describe. and that vw hybrid could sit in traffic or at Mcd's for hours with full A/C or seat heaters on and the gas engine off.

but enough about my Mcdonalds obsession that makes trump look like some russian figure skater debutant.

 

[Spetz]

Just wrapped up a 1300km trip today. Started in the mountains and ended up flat prairie land. Averaged 9.6 L/100, which is 29.43 mpg. About 300 lbs in the box, and used adaptive cruise, keeping at 115 kph (71 mph). did two AFE adjustments prior to this. And using 91 octane only from Shell since new. And a tonneau cover, forgot about that.

Wwwaaayyy better than my Jeep Rubicon..

 

[JohnnyO]

I've had my 2020 for eight weeks now and I reset the mpg every fillup. Mostly I run 87 or E-15 88 which is 20 cents less. Tried a couple tanks of 89 when have time to cross the border and gas up in Ohio where it's cheaper and saw no difference in mileage. Can't bring myself to spend an extra 60 cents a gallon for 91 or 93.
It's very hilly where I live so I never get the mpg that people in the south and west do but I'm real happy with the new Ranger. Gas mileage is literally 50% better than my old Sport Trac. I'm averaging 20-21 mpg on each tank and my Sport Trac averaged 14.5. I drive a lot, heck, I'm saving $100 a month in gas.

 

[dokkerdam]

Just wrapped up a 1300km trip today. Started in the mountains and ended up flat prairie land. Averaged 9.6 L/100, which is 29.43 mpg. About 300 lbs in the box, and used adaptive cruise, keeping at 115 kph (71 mph). did two AFE adjustments prior to this. And using 91 octane only from Shell since new.

Wwwaaayyy better than my Jeep Rubicon..

weight in any light compact pickup, as long as it doesn't interfere with airflow, will help with mileage.
jim dipstick

 

[port43]

Just finished my one tank experiment at 20.6 MPG. There's too many stop signs and traffic lights to get a nice long cruise in place. I am losing most of my mileage by idling but I turned Auto Stop/Start off through FORScin and I'm not turning it back on. I know I am an exception so I have never complained about mileage and I won't start now.

 

[dokkerdam]

Just finished my one tank experiment at 20.6 MPG. There's too many stop signs and traffic lights to get a nice long cruise in place. I am losing most of my mileage by idling but I turned Auto Stop/Start off through FORScin and I'm not turning it back on. I know I am an exception so I have never complained about mileage and I won't start now.

when it operates the auto stop/start does make a difference. my problem is that it is not aggressive enough. if the steering is operated or a/c is on or whatever then the off/on won't operate when it could. it can also be turned off and on at the console but i understand it will default to on when you restart.

 

[DanholmesVentura]

I averaged 18.8 on a 2000 mile desert trip, a bunch dirt, mostly pavement. Stock XLT FX4, but with a pop up camper shell that is a pretty big wind catcher. I'm pretty happy with that - it's quite a bit better than what I got with my old Xterra and a roof top tent.

 

[ControlNode]

Last few weeks I've been away from home at races and camping at state parks between the races. I started from home in NC, when to CMP, then to Sebring, to ViR, and finally back home. Pulled a small single axle travel trailer and had my bike on the roof of the truck. I'm not displeased with the milage at all. I have the Ford Performance tune on it. Next month I should be off to ViR again and then NCM.

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