Tuning and improved mileage...anyone?

[Dynawide]

2019 XLT with stock drivetrain aside from 265/70/17 tires. Been running a couple different 5 Star tunes, have tried the 87 versions of daily & performance as well as the same ones for 89 octane and a 91 octane performance one. With any of them the truck shifts great, responds to throttle inputs instantly, etc however the gas mileage has been downright dismal. I have tried to drive as if I have an egg under my foot and am lucky if I can get 19.5 mpg on flat runs and yes that mileage is calculated at the pump. Doesn't matter which tune is in as they offer horrible mileage. Been hoping maybe it's a combination of the cold weather, winter gas, blah blah but as it has warmed up nothing has changed. So I swapped back to the stock tune and instantly the mileage is in the 22-23 range driving the same roads, the same speeds, etc.

Has anyone had any success with a tune offering at least enhanced transmission operation and mileage at least comparable to stock if not even better? I like the way the truck drives with the tune but I am not going to continue to do so & lose 5-6mpg.

Thanks

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[Colo_Ranger]

I have the Ford Performance tune with 285/75r17 Toyo ATIIIs, a roof rack, a RTT over the bed and I still pull ~20+ on long trips. Around town, when I don't cruise on the highway, I get about 16. When I am on the highway, I cruise 65-70 and get good mileage. When I do 75-80 (speed limit around here) I get ~18.

 

[Dynawide]

I have the Ford Performance tune with 285/75r17 Toyo ATIIIs, a roof rack, a RTT over the bed and I still pull ~20+ on long trips. Around town, when I don't cruise on the highway, I get about 16. When I am on the highway, I cruise 65-70 and get good mileage. When I do 75-80 (speed limit around here) I get ~18.

And you have run what octane 91 or 93 for that?

 

[Colo_Ranger]

And you have run what octane 91 or 93 for that?

91

 

[Dynawide]

I have been in touch with 5 Star and asked them to make a tune with all the trans improvements and other little things they do but leave the fueling alone and lets see how that goes. Was told they can do that so now I wait for an updated tune.

 

[fusseli]

I lost few mpg, I think. 310/370 Ford tune, 265/70/17 Grabber ATX, Ford Fox 2.0 leveling shocks, I get 20-24mpg depending on average speed.

Increased mpg and tunes is a bizarre internet myth by the way. Tunes are for power and aggressive transmission shifts that increase your 0-60 and 60-100. My Ranger FLIES 60-100.

 

[Dynawide]

I lost few mpg, I think. 310/370 Ford tune, 265/70/17 Grabber ATX, Ford Fox 2.0 leveling shocks, I get 20-24mpg depending on average speed.

Increased mpg and tunes is a bizarre internet myth by the way. Tunes are for power and aggressive transmission shifts that increase your 0-60 and 60-100. My Ranger FLIES 60-100.

Thats just it, I read these posts and threads from people who claim they have their cake and they ate it too. I don't mind losing a tiny bit of mileage but to drop from 22-23 down to 17-18 is unacceptable. Especially since I have a 3,500 mile road trip coming up soon and don't want to blow my entire budget on gas.

Of course I also read posts where some claim they are getting 28-29 mpg and wondering how the hell is that even possible unless it's all extremely flat land.....like Florida Keys flat and they never go over 40 mph?

 

[fusseli]

Thats just it, I read these posts and threads from people who claim they have their cake and they ate it too. I don't mind losing a tiny bit of mileage but to drop from 22-23 down to 17-18 is unacceptable. Especially since I have a 3,500 mile road trip coming up soon and don't want to blow my entire budget on gas.

Of course I also read posts where some claim they are getting 28-29 mpg and wondering how the hell is that even possible unless it's all extremely flat land.....like Florida Keys flat and they never go over 40 mph?

Yes, the 28mpg people are reporting downhill or flat routes. 100% guaranteed. If I go downhill 50 miles I can get 27mpg. The 17-18mpg people have very large lifts and very large tires. I literally have never seen a stock suspension/tire Ranger with a tune, perhaps those can get more mpg.

 

[Clank]

2019 XLT with stock drivetrain aside from 265/70/17 tires. Been running a couple different 5 Star tunes, have tried the 87 versions of daily & performance as well as the same ones for 89 octane and a 91 octane performance one. With any of them the truck shifts great, responds to throttle inputs instantly, etc however the gas mileage has been downright dismal. I have tried to drive as if I have an egg under my foot and am lucky if I can get 19.5 mpg on flat runs and yes that mileage is calculated at the pump. Doesn't matter which tune is in as they offer horrible mileage. Been hoping maybe it's a combination of the cold weather, winter gas, blah blah but as it has warmed up nothing has changed. So I swapped back to the stock tune and instantly the mileage is in the 22-23 range driving the same roads, the same speeds, etc.

Has anyone had any success with a tune offering at least enhanced transmission operation and mileage at least comparable to stock if not even better? I like the way the truck drives with the tune but I am not going to continue to do so & lose 5-6mpg.

Thanks

I have same tire size as you, installed Ford tune. Mileage is around 18.5-20 in town only, recently drove about 3 hours through the mountains and back. Averaged 25.5-26. This was the computer calculation, but with the tune they recalibrated the speedometer for tire size so should be fairly accurate.

 

[ccasanova22]

Thats just it, I read these posts and threads from people who claim they have their cake and they ate it too. I don't mind losing a tiny bit of mileage but to drop from 22-23 down to 17-18 is unacceptable. Especially since I have a 3,500 mile road trip coming up soon and don't want to blow my entire budget on gas.

Of course I also read posts where some claim they are getting 28-29 mpg and wondering how the hell is that even possible unless it's all extremely flat land.....like Florida Keys flat and they never go over 40 mph?

I did a late night test, with nobody around, country roads at 5 under (40mph in a 45). Still didn’t get 29mpg. This was over the course of about 2 hours, and I checked by filling up at the same pump. 100% stock, 91 octane.

Yeah, YMMV. No idea how people get their claimed 29mpg unless they are accelerating, resetting the trip meter, then driving downhill.

 

[Zvedza]

I have the Ford Performance tune with 285/75r17 Toyo ATIIIs, a roof rack, a RTT over the bed and I still pull ~20+ on long trips. Around town, when I don't cruise on the highway, I get about 16. When I am on the highway, I cruise 65-70 and get good mileage. When I do 75-80 (speed limit around here) I get ~18.

pretty much the same with mine with the fp tune, using the tire calibration tool helped cause before the computer was showing i was getting worse.

 

[CO2Ranger]

pretty much the same with mine with the fp tune, using the tire calibration tool helped cause before the computer was showing i was getting worse.

This is what I was going to ask the OP. If they changed the tire size programming.

I get/got 17 in town and 23+ highway with both the Livernois and Unleashed tunes. And that's with one of the heaviest 285/70r17s and 2.5" lift.

 

[got3fords]

I have been running the Livernois 91-93 octane tune. Mileage is about the same as running without the tune, maybe just a tad better.

 

[AzScorpion]

Yes, the 28mpg people are reporting downhill or flat routes. 100% guaranteed. If I go downhill 50 miles I can get 27mpg. The 17-18mpg people have very large lifts and very large tires. I literally have never seen a stock suspension/tire Ranger with a tune, perhaps those can get more mpg.

Well this is 100% guaranteed NOT going downhill. While it wasn't 28 mpg it's still darn good for this truck. This was going to CO from AZ which is far from downhill. I was running the Livernois 91-93 soft shift tune with 32's and lifted and driving 70-75 mph.

I lost about 1-2 mpg with the larger tires and lift and gains that back once running the tune. My overall average was 22.5 mpg'


It was so good I actually made a whole thread on it thinking I had the wrong engine. lol

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/mpg-during-our-road-trip.20287/

 

[Wytchdctr]

On a tank when I'm just driving to work on it.. aka not driving like a clown. My average improved 1-2 mpg on the LMS 93 SS tune. Over many tanks at this point to compare. I was also running ASS just before the tune and it got rid of that.

The minute I use that extra ability to get to 60 faster that gain goes flying out the window and the average goes the opposite way; relative to when I drove it stock like a clown. It turns to crap in a hurry.

Compare apples to apples with driving style maybe? Vs calling people liars. That or maybe its something LMS is doing based on others posting about them here. My first few tanks after the trans settled down a bit from the flash where horrible because weeeeee..... once some of the novelty wore off and I actually got a few tanks without hooning around, the tune helped a bit - sure as hell didnt hurt *when driving normal*. Maybe the shift points are actually better for mpg than Fords. Maybe LMS made it more efficient with timing and fuel use at partial throttle? Not exactly sure why it doesn't consume as much when not driving like a crazy person.

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