The quest for best fuel economy w/ lift

[Mr Adventures]

I’m on a quest to achieve the best realistic fuel economy/ gas mileage. Not to save money; I want to maximize time between fill ups on long road trips. The difference in 5mpg is almost 100mi added range per tank for the Ranger.

My truck has the following specs:
Icon 2.5 CO RR CDCV set at 3.5” lift
Icon UCAs
Icon leaf pack set at 1.125” lift
Icon 2.5 RR CDCV rear shocks
Toyo AT3 285/75r17 load E
Mishimoto CAI

As of last week, I was averaging ~18mpg per tank (hand calc). This weekend I changed my spark plugs out @67k miles. I also added a throttle controller at the same time: which has an “economy” mode.

Initial impressions: I took a 240mi road trip on Sunday and hand calculated 23.4mpg with this new setup. I am thoroughly impressed with this truck!! I mostly use the ACC set at 72mph. I will note that the “economy” mode has noticeably less punch and I feel like it’s keeping me out of the boost when I don’t really need it. Now I’m not sure if this huge jump is from the spark plugs or throttle controller, but I’m going to do some more controlled testing on my work commutes in the coming weeks. Will update here.

Cheers!

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[Justin says...]

Very cool. I find this interesting. I like to see what kind of mileage I can squeak out of the Ranger not to save every penny I can, although that's always wise, but instead I see it as a game to see how efficient I can make it. I was just thinking the other day that the airflow that hits the spare tire might cause significant drag and I was wondering if some type of aero cover could unlock a couple MPG's.

 

[WingShot]

I recently switched from 87 octane to 91 here in Colorado and am getting 2 MPG more. I suspect your all ready running 91, may be 93 would give you a little more range when you can find it.

 

[Fawnbuster]

I’m on a quest to achieve the best realistic fuel economy/ gas mileage. Not to save money; I want to maximize time between fill ups on long road trips. The difference in 5mpg is almost 100mi added range per tank for the Ranger.

My truck has the following specs:
Icon 2.5 CO RR CDCV set at 3.5” lift
Icon UCAs
Icon leaf pack set at 1.125” lift
Icon 2.5 RR CDCV rear shocks
Toyo AT3 285/75r17 load E
Mishimoto CAI

As of last week, I was averaging ~18mpg per tank (hand calc). This weekend I changed my spark plugs out @67k miles. I also added a throttle controller at the same time: which has an “economy” mode.

Initial impressions: I took a 240mi road trip on Sunday and hand calculated 23.4mpg with this new setup. I am thoroughly impressed with this truck!! I mostly use the ACC set at 72mph. I will note that the “economy” mode has noticeably less punch and I feel like it’s keeping me out of the boost when I don’t really need it. Now I’m not sure if this huge jump is from the spark plugs or throttle controller, but I’m going to do some more controlled testing on my work commutes in the coming weeks. Will update here.

Cheers!

Info on the throttle controller and plugs?

I have the Roush tune, love the power but would really like better mileage, even a little bit will help.

 

[Blmpkn]

Very cool. I find this interesting. I like to see what kind of mileage I can squeak out of the Ranger not to save every penny I can, although that's always wise, but instead I see it as a game to see how efficient I can make it. I was just thinking the other day that the airflow that hits the spare tire might cause significant drag and I was wondering if some type of aero cover could unlock a couple MPG's.

With nothing hanging below the frame for a good portion of the truck it would be super easy to make it a flat belly, which would help.. Aluminum sheet would be the material to use probably, light.

 

[Mr Adventures]

Very cool. I find this interesting. I like to see what kind of mileage I can squeak out of the Ranger not to save every penny I can, although that's always wise, but instead I see it as a game to see how efficient I can make it. I was just thinking the other day that the airflow that hits the spare tire might cause significant drag and I was wondering if some type of aero cover could unlock a couple MPG's.

Great idea! Need to get rid of my stock spare anyway since it won’t really help now that I have 34” tires.

I recently switched from 87 octane to 91 here in Colorado and am getting 2 MPG more. I suspect your all ready running 91, may be 93 would give you a little more range when you can find it.

Good point! I should note I only use 92 octane here in the PNW. Definitely get better fuel economy with the higher octane.

Info on the throttle controller and plugs?

I have the Roush tune, love the power but would really like better mileage, even a little bit will help.

Replaced with stock Motorcraft plugs. I have another thread about that. It’s a cheap throttle controller from Amazon, but after researching, it looks identical to many higher priced name brand options. I was skeptical at first but am thoroughly impressed after the first few days. Will post install pics tomorrow. Here is the Amazon link:

Throttle Response Controller 9 Drive Modes Smart Electronic Racing Accelerator Compatible with Ford F150 F250 Raptor Falcon Fusion Focus Grand Mondeo Ranger Transit Mazda 5 6 BT-50 CX-9 https://a.co/d/3hERoj4

 

[Wytchdctr]

Info on the throttle controller and plugs?

I have the Roush tune, love the power but would really like better mileage, even a little bit will help.

Roush tune? I thought their package was an intake and a bunch of cosmetics

We have another option? Im about to pull the trigger on Livernosis.

?!?

 

[Fawnbuster]

Roush tune? I thought their package was an intake and a bunch of cosmetics

We have another option? Im about to pull the trigger on Livernosis.

?!?

Yes the sell the tune, cold air kit , exhaust maybe other stuff by now. I bought the tune and cold air kit. Installed the kit myself and had my dealer install the tune so I would get the warranty

https://specialtyperformanceparts.c...mance-pac-level-1?_pos=7&_sid=cb7568e2c&_ss=r

 

[mgallo13]

2" level, UCA, P285/70/17 wildpeaks = summer highway 23mpg, winter highway 20-21mpg. 93 octane, stock tune.

prior to lift and level the truck got damn near 27 mpg one trip up the parkway to see my sister when i first switched to 93- admittedly it was a 40 mile trip @ 70-72mph

i truly believe controlling your right foot is the best way to increase MPGs but i'm curious about this throttle controller. i find myself yelling at this truck sometimes with the stupid delay built in from the factory in anything other than sport mode..

 

[Mr Adventures]

2" level, UCA, P285/70/17 wildpeaks = summer highway 23mpg, winter highway 20-21mpg. 93 octane, stock tune.

prior to lift and level the truck got damn near 27 mpg one trip up the parkway to see my sister when i first switched to 93- admittedly it was a 40 mile trip @ 70-72mph

i truly believe controlling your right foot is the best way to increase MPGs but i'm curious about this throttle controller. i find myself yelling at this truck sometimes with the stupid delay built in from the factory in anything other than sport mode..

Totally agree the right foot is the ticket to better gas mileage. I can’t fine tune mine, so the throttle controller seems to help with that ?

I’m wondering are you going by the display MPGs or hand calc? The displayed MPG is always a bit higher for me. FWIW I hand calculated that 23.4mpg noted above, but the computer displayed 24.2mpg. Also how many miles are on your truck? I’m skeptical how much negative influence on fuel economy my old spark plugs had.

 

[Justin says...]

2" level, UCA, P285/70/17 wildpeaks = summer highway 23mpg, winter highway 20-21mpg. 93 octane, stock tune.

prior to lift and level the truck got damn near 27 mpg one trip up the parkway to see my sister when i first switched to 93- admittedly it was a 40 mile trip @ 70-72mph

i truly believe controlling your right foot is the best way to increase MPGs but i'm curious about this throttle controller. i find myself yelling at this truck sometimes with the stupid delay built in from the factory in anything other than sport mode..

By built in delay, are you referring to the downshifting? I've noticed it takes A LOT of throttle to get it to downshift sometimes.

 

[mgallo13]

By built in delay, are you referring to the downshifting? I've noticed it takes A LOT of throttle to get it to downshift sometimes.

yeah it's friggin brutal. Dont get me wrong i'm very OK with stomping on her every once in a while but to downshift sometimes it seems like you gotta send a certified letter to ford requesting permission to shift LOL

 

[mgallo13]

Totally agree the right foot is the ticket to better gas mileage. I can’t fine tune mine, so the throttle controller seems to help with that ?

I’m wondering are you going by the display MPGs or hand calc? The displayed MPG is always a bit higher for me. FWIW I hand calculated that 23.4mpg noted above, but the computer displayed 24.2mpg. Also how many miles are on your truck? I’m skeptical how much negative influence on fuel economy my old spark plugs had.

hand calc usually. i find the computer to be optimistic as well. Im at 275XX miles rn

 

[rondowe]

Make of this what you will. Admittedly this was an experiment on a mostly-level stretch of highway with light traffic and the displayed mileage is usually a bit higher than my calculated mileage. I reset statistics when I got on the highway and took this picture 46 miles later with cruise control set to 59mph the whole time. 2019 XLT FX4 Super Cab with mid-rise cap and a solar panel on the cap. No truck mods other than Bilstein shocks/struts. I've gotten similar mileage under similar circumstances several times.

 

[Mr Adventures]

Make of this what you will. Admittedly this was an experiment on a mostly-level stretch of highway with light traffic and the displayed mileage is usually a bit higher than my calculated mileage. I reset statistics when I got on the highway and took this picture 46 miles later with cruise control set to 59mph the whole time. 2019 XLT FX4 Super Cab with mid-rise cap and a solar panel on the cap. No truck mods other than Bilstein shocks/struts. I've gotten similar mileage under similar circumstances several times.

That’s fantastic. Cracking 30mpg, love it. When I had my stock wheel/tire setup I would regularly hit 27-29mpg on highway stretches like that, but never 30mpg!

Now I have 34x11.5r17 (60lb) tires and a 3.5” lift which have significantly hampered the fuel economy. I’m on a mission to get that range per tank back up ?

I want to note that I went on a roadtrip this weekend with the throttle controller setup. I found 94 octane ethanol free gas consistently throughout the trip (versus the max 92 I have by home). I found I got even better gas mileage with the higher octane. But this wasn’t a controlled test because of thevarying levels of driving on a vacation. I plan to do more controlled testing with my work commute over the following weeks.

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