Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) Real expected fuel economy?

[Fordiesel69]

Listed in my sig, what kind of mileage is average for town and highway?



Mixed city and two 85 mile highway trips only got me 12. 3 MPG. That seems low. When I mean city, I mean start cold, drive 7 miles, shut off for 4 hours and go the same again all week to and from work.



I have 160HP stock setup with 252k miles on stock injectors. I will be installing used 215's soon and hop my mileage does not drop at all.

 

[WDixon27]

i flog the crap outta mine with 325k miles a flatbed 4. 10 gears and get 16 in mixed driving, don't know what it'll get unloaded pure hwy but the worst i ever got was hauling a load of crap on the bed and dragging a 73 f350 camper special on a double axle trailer and i got 12. 5 going 70 mph in the hills around middle-lower va, the rest of the trip back to loserana was in the low teens

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

My driving is similar with my '98 automatic and mileage seems quite a bit worse this winter than last. I figured it's because I'm burning more veggie (DSE mix) than last but the rate the current tank is dropping I'm only getting 13-14 right now.

 

[EKlem]

I would think that you should be averaging 16-18 in mixed driving and as high as 21-22 on the highway. What is your driving style like? If you accelerate hard and don't coast up to lights that can hurt your mileage a lot. Also, on the highway speed is very important. The wind resistance is proportional to the square of the velocity so slowing down a little bit makes a huge difference. To get 21-22, you will have to be down to 65 or 60 mph.

Where is your location? You might be getting winter fuel and that would hurt your mileage some.

 

[Tom C]

Auto's will get worse mileage than a 5spd. I've had my share of both. I would think you should be about 15-17 around town and up to 22 on the highway. With my setup I'm getting 19-21 highway (74mph) and 16-17 around town (I don't drive slow). I gained about 1 mpg over stock.

 

[bmoeller]

The short trip crap kills your mileage. Particularly in the winter. Too much idle time.

This time of year, I don't even bother checking it. I know it sucks and don't need a calculator to tell me that.

Would make sure you don't have warped rotors, sticking calipers or bad ball joints. Anything that can cause drag will hurt mileage. Replaced my calipers and had a bad ball joint on the pass side. Replaced the upper and lower on that side so I wouldn't have to pull it again to do the other.

 

[Fordiesel69]

The short trip crap kills your mileage. Particularly in the winter. Too much idle time.



This time of year, I don't even bother checking it. I know it sucks and don't need a calculator to tell me that.



Would make sure you don't have warped rotors, sticking calipers or bad ball joints. Anything that can cause drag will hurt mileage. Replaced my calipers and had a bad ball joint on the pass side. Replaced the upper and lower on that side so I wouldn't have to pull it again to do the other.

Yes, the whole front end needs refreshed, all of that above is bad. However, it coasts fine in neutral with no noticable drag.

 

[BigPapa]

That sounds very low. 4WD and auto are probably hurting you most. My '95 2WD averages 21-23 mpg. Best I've seen was an average of 25-26. That was when I was driving 50 miles one way to work on back roads, rarely getting over 50-55 mph. Interstate driving 70-75 mph I'll average @19mpg.



Scott

 

[JoeBioDiesel]

I drive almost exclusively highway, and always at 75 MPH. My speedo and GPS agree on MPH, but I never checked it for mileage accuracy. I rarely get less than 18MPG, and on occasion go over 20 MPG. My personal best was 22MPG when traffic was too heavy to speed.

Joe

 

[Driftwood Ram]

When I was employed the daily commute was about 12 miles, the 1st ½ were town miles and the 2nd ½ were freeway. I got a steady 15mpg. We relocated a little further away and the commute was 30 miles mostly highway and it increased to 17mpg. The short drive + town miles will kill mileage!!