Help me Improve gas mileage in my escape

[badtlc]

Originally Posted By: Clevy



I used to drive that way until I got a vehicle with a digital fuel consumption readout. I found that average mpg increases when achieving speed rapidly then letting off and cruising then slowly achieving cruising speed.


Yes, as long as you stay in closed loop mode!

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
It's a 6-cyl SUV. What is the EPA rating on it?

Best advice I can give is to drive as if there is an egg under your shoe.



I used to drive that way until I got a vehicle with a digital fuel consumption readout. I found that average mpg increases when achieving speed rapidly then letting off and cruising then slowly achieving cruising speed.

+1 Accelerating with traffic or even more quickly seems to be the best strategy for me, watching instantaneous consumption you can see that bogging along for a 1/2 mile before engaging the top gear is not only annoying but uses more gas. Get up to 60mph quickly, then drive like you have an egg under your foot.
Getting a scangauge or ultra gauge also helps you pay attention to mileage and how its affected by throttle position, also it shows how going through a drive thru kills your mileage as well.
If you have really bad mileage habits now, then you could get maybe 20% better mileage with good habits(not extreme hypermiling either). If you are an average driver than maybe 10-15% is possible.

 

[supton]

Scanguage helps a lot. Each vehicle is different, but for my six speed auto I've found that, if it refuses to hold gear, that I am better off downshifting so as to get the TC to lock up than running in top gear with the TC unlocked. In an older 4spd auto with bigger ratio jumps that might not be true.

 

[rjundi]

Return the o2 sensors and save it for fuel or another more economical vehicle.

First you need to report what is MPG of the vehicle and compare against EPA estimates. If you are way out of range maybe consider fixing it.

Basically divide your miles traveled at last fillup by gallons to fill it. 275 miles on a tank is meaningless.

 

[zzyzzx]

Sell it and get a Focus.

 

[BrandonVA]

yes i have considered selling it for a 4 cylinder like an old '96 camry. I just can't bring myself to do it since I have put so much money into this car in the last couple of years and I will only get a fraction of that selling it. Any other good old reliable cars I can get for under 3k?

 

[BrandonVA]

Most of my drive is 50/50 backroads/highway.

 

[BrandonVA]

i experimented with tcw-3 for a few fillups a while back and didn't notice any difference. Maybe I will try it again.

what are the symptoms of a collapsed catalytic converter?

 

[19jacobob93]

Originally Posted By: hpb
Originally Posted By: 19jacobob93

Quote:
On highway runs I can get 1000km (620mi) out of a 68l tank in a Ford 4.0 with a 4 speed auto. Works out around 34 mpg
Quote:


You get an AU Falcon to average 6.8 litres per 100km? That's about 40mpg...


Yep with absolute ease! Drove from Gold Coast to Sydney last year which is 840km and I still had 150km left in the tank! That was using 91 octane and had 15w40 in the sump. The official highway rating is actually 6.8L/100km or 1000km/tank but that's at 110km/h on 91 octane. I now sit at 100km/h, use 98 octane plus the addition of thinner oil + MoS2 and TCW3 and pumping my tires slightly over, I reckon I'll increase that figure way way more than the official figure. These are phenomenally economical for their size, no one believes me that I can get 1000km out of a tank of fuel and get 6.8L\100km (34mi/USgal) out of a 14 year old big Ford with a 4 liter!
In fact the new Hyundai i45 achieves 6.7L/100km and they were bragging about that, in a brand new direct injected 2.0 engine that's half the size and has half the torque. Probably better round town but still, long live the AUs!

 

[yesthatsteve]

98 octane is aviation fuel around here. The highest we can normally get at the pump ranges from 91-93.

Good on ya for that kind of fuel economy in a 4.0 liter Falcon!

 

[andyd]

In Ranger circles the engine is known as the 3.slow. All the power of a 4 with the MPG of a V8.

 

[05LGTLtd]

LRR rated tires when it's time.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Originally Posted By: andyd
In Ranger circles the engine is known as the 3.slow. All the power of a 4 with the MPG of a V8.
Nice engine then they killed it with OBDII. rAN REALLY GREAT BEFORE obdii.. sAMNE THING WITH THE Lincoln mARK viii 32V INTEC V8. IT WAS A SCORCHER in '93 and a dog in '95. I had a '93 wit the 4 speed truck auto trans - The "gentleman's mustang" jet sled with air suspension - COOL!

 

[Smokescreen]

95% of the difference made to improve fuel economy is to adjust driver attitude and style: http://ecomodder.com/forum/EM-hypermiling-driving-tips-ecodriving.php

The other 5% are listed above and then some listed here:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/fuel-economy-mpg-modifications.php

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: BrandonVA
yes i have considered selling it for a 4 cylinder like an old '96 camry. I just can't bring myself to do it since I have put so much money into this car in the last couple of years and I will only get a fraction of that selling it. Any other good old reliable cars I can get for under 3k?


Never think of money put into car as return on investment. It was to give you transportation that is it. The value when selling is bonus. You'll at least get $300-$500 for scrap.

 

[Landrew]

Originally Posted By: rjundi
Originally Posted By: BrandonVA
yes i have considered selling it for a 4 cylinder like an old '96 camry. I just can't bring myself to do it since I have put so much money into this car in the last couple of years and I will only get a fraction of that selling it. Any other good old reliable cars I can get for under 3k?


Never think of money put into car as return on investment. It was to give you transportation that is it. The value when selling is bonus. You'll at least get $300-$500 for scrap.



But be cautious when spending more money on another car even if it gets better mileage. Do the math on the amount you'll save in gas vs. the difference in price on the newer one.
You'll save at every fill up but may have large monthly payments.

Is the vehicle going into OD properly, throwing any codes, CAT issues etc ? Fixing those helps a bit but yes new small/medium cars certainly get amazing mileage today.

 

[BrandonVA]

well, i'm spending incredible amounts of money on repairs lately it's almost the same as a car payment.

anyways, I certainly improved my mpg today...by trading in my escape for a 2006 corolla with m/t. this is my first m/t so I have some learning to do. Accidentally smoked it a bit on my driveway once...arghhh!

 

[yesthatsteve]

If you don't have a lot of stop & go or idling in your daily drive(s), you can get close to 40mpg in that Corolla without trying.

 

[BrandonVA]

cool. i'm having a little trouble shifting in 1 & 2...very jerky. lots of shuddering due to low rpms in some of my shifts but i'm learning.... haven't stalled it too much!

 

[Nick1994]

Originally Posted By: BrandonVA
cool. i'm having a little trouble shifting in 1 & 2...very jerky. lots of shuddering due to low rpms in some of my shifts but i'm learning.... haven't stalled it too much!
Practice definately makes perfect. What helped me with a stick is finding a neighborhood that's on a hill and taking my time to learn how to release the clutch on the hill. Might need to use the parking brake to help at first.