New 24 Mav Lariat - MPG Mods

[CBN]

Just bought what is probably one of the last 24 Lariat hybrids in the country. (34K OTD... How'd I do?)

Over the years I've considered many MPG focused vehicles... One subject that has always interested me is hypermiling. I've gotten over 30 MPG in my 06 Mustang GT, and I have the pictures to prove it.

The one simple static thing you can change on almost any vehicle and see a significant MPG improvement --- The wheel/tire combo.

Those of you that have used the steelies vs one of the other options for these, what difference in MPG did you actually see? Theres a set of steelies near me for 100 bucks... I'm considering grabbing them and throwing some "pizza pans" on them to see what I can manage.

What other mods have had tangible improvements or worsened your mpg?

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[Master Blaster]

1. I bought a new set of steelies to put my winter tires on, since nobody should be running aluminum rims in salt-laden slush and destroying them. Then I put a set of cheap full hubcaps from Princess Auto on to improve the aerodynamics and stop snow buildup in the rim. I've done this over the years to a lot of vehicles, since I keep mine as long as possible. The winter tire and heavier steel rim solves the winter driving problem in Canada, but costs about 4mpg on my Hybrid. Lighter rims and less grippy tires definitely improve mileage in the summer months.
2. Keeping the vehicle as light as possible makes a pretty big difference, so I dump my tools and other crap in the garage instead of hauling it around.
3. I check and fix the tire pressure monthly. The big tires on the Mav can vary through 5psi with changing temperatures, and that makes a pretty big difference in mileage and in tire life.
4. Put a tonneau cover on it. I use a hard trifold so that the bed is secure, and it seems to be worth about 1mpg.
5. Don't push snow or water. That takes a huge amount of energy, and you can easily halve your mileage doing so. Stick to bare roads in those conditions.
6. Avoid driving in colder weather. It takes forever to get the coolant temperatures into the operating ranges at -20.
7. Avoid using the a/c. It uses about 5hp on the Hybrid and 8hp on the Ecoboost, and that energy has to come from somewhere. Use the windows (Armstrong a/c ) instead. On an old V8 pig that was so inefficient, you didn't notice the a/c hit very much.
8. Avoid using the heat controls. Use the seat and steering wheel heaters that use only a small fraction of the energy required to heat the whole cabin.
9. Make sure that you buy a Hybrid. Even on the highway the Hybrid gets about 30% better mileage than the EcoBoost, and easily double in the city.
10. Get a FWD Hybrid instead of the AWD that uses another 2mpg to get there. 98% of the people who buy AWD have no need for it, as FWD gets you there even in deep snow when properly equipped.
11. Try not to go over 10% power usage, keeping it into the HVB for as long as possible. If that's not possible, fix the driver problem, not the truck. Its the difference between 45mpg and 60mpg under most conditions.
12. Preheat the coolant tanks with a block heater, especially in winter. The time that it takes for the engine to get out of open-loop warmup mode is a huge fuel hit. Getting the HVB up to temperature quicker makes it more efficient.
13. Use a trickle charger on the 12V battery. I was surprised when I did this on a failing battery, as it got into the gas engine much more easily with the battery hard charging than when it was not. it seems that 12V charging is much more costly than you'd think.
14. Brake earlier, so that you stay in the regenerative braking instead of losing energy when you get into the friction brakes. Timing the lights in town also helps a lot, by not having to brake in the first place.

 

[710-oil-614]

Steel is heavier than aluminum and the tires that come on your lariat are already low rolling resistance.

 

[710-oil-614]

Avoid using the a/c. It uses about 5hp on the Hybrid

Get a FWD Hybrid instead of the AWD that uses another 2mpg to get there. 98% of the people who buy AWD have no need for it, as FWD gets you there even in deep snow when properly equipped.

AC is a DC scroll motor in the hybrid and most definitely does not use "5hp".

Way more than 2% of AWD owners need AWD. "Properly" equipping a hybrid to drive in deep snow would mean you lose the 2mpg efficiency gained by being FWD, and if you suggest that they use winter tires the cost alone would completely erase the FWD efficiency. AWD gets your independent rear suspension and a much better ride.

 

[Waterick]

AC is a DC scroll motor in the hybrid and most definitely does not use "5hp".

Way more than 2% of AWD owners need AWD. "Properly" equipping a hybrid to drive in deep snow would mean you lose the 2mpg efficiency gained by being FWD, and if you suggest that they use winter tires the cost alone would completely erase the FWD efficiency. AWD gets your independent rear suspension and a much better ride.

I easily get about 20 percent poorer mileage on my trips to town using the A/C verses not, although when I do use it, it's usually working really hard. (40 vs 50 MPG). AWD on a Lariat is a mute point now that you can only get the hybrid that way, I'm happy that mine's a '24 in this regard. Not much need for AWD in my use profile. Yeah the AWD rear suspension is a nice set up, but I don't need the higher operating cost and maintenance.

 

[710-oil-614]

I easily get about 20 percent poorer mileage on my trips to town using the A/C verses not, although when I do use it, it's usually working really hard. (40 vs 50 MPG). AWD on a Lariat is a mute point now that you can only get the hybrid that way, I'm happy that mine's a '24 in this regard. Not much need for AWD in my use profile. Yeah the AWD rear suspension is a nice set up, but I don't need the higher operating cost and maintenance.

That’s crazy that you have such a hit on efficiency with the AC

 

[Escapologist]

Something I started wondering about lately. Is whether carrying an 8x4 sheet of something fairly rigid like 1/2" ply, under a tonneau, would improve highway mileage... I am thinking it might. But I am also thinking it might be better to have it trimmed down to only 6" past the reclined tailgate. (Gotta give it just enough for air coming up tailgate to sort itself out and attach somewhat, so it departs horizontal, and longer than that is more surface drag, and PITA for city maneuvering)

 

[710-oil-614]

Something I started wondering about lately. Is whether carrying an 8x4 sheet of something fairly rigid like 1/2" ply, under a tonneau, would improve highway mileage... I am thinking it might. But I am also thinking it might be better to have it trimmed down to only 6" past the reclined tailgate. (Gotta give it just enough for air coming up tailgate to sort itself out and attach somewhat, so it departs horizontal, and longer than that is more surface drag, and PITA for city maneuvering)

I think you’d get worse mpg by adding weight and drag.

 

[The Real Maverick]

1. Slow down. By 1, 2, or 3 MPH. You'll hardly notice driving. But MPG will go up substantially.

2. Drive downhill more. No seriously. A huge advantage I found was, if available; drive the steep way up and the gradual way down.

3. Don't carry extra weight

4. Use seat/wheel heaters & fan only. (10's of watts). Don't use cabin heat or air-conditioning. (1000's of watts)

5. Windows down and A-C off saves gas under 60 MPH. Above, it's about a tie.

6. get the engine off for as much TIME as possible for drive cycle. Sometimes my engine is on less than 10 minutes per hour of drive. (city)

7. perhaps my favorite is: add 5psi more air to your tires. You won't feel a difference. Your tires will last a bit longer. And your MPG will go up by about 2 MPG. The savings is real.

Do not trust anyone who says you HAVE TO inflate tires to what the "sticker" says. The sticker is a universal average for the average driver in average conditions to net average results. YMMV and your tire pressure may vary within reason.

 

[The Real Maverick]

That’s crazy that you have such a hit on efficiency with the AC

The Hybrid's Electric A-C can draw up to 3,500 watts at the highest setting.

3,500w / 746 w/hp = 4.69 horsepower.

But the small HVB can power that A-C for only a few minutes. So you have to run a big ~150 HP gas engine more of the DRIVE TIME to keep A-C running.

 

[Escapologist]

I think you’d get worse mpg by adding weight and drag.

Well there's drag from towing a couple of cubic yards of air behind the tailgate, this proposal is to shed that.

 

[AutobahnSHO]

How to IMPROVE MPGs-

1- don't do mods which decrease efficiency. (Steelies are heavier than Lariat wheels I believe).
2- Maximize the time the ICE is not running. A/C steals battery capacity forcing the ICE to run more. Heat makes the ICE run more.

 

[The Real Maverick]

Well there's drag from towing a couple of cubic yards of air behind the tailgate, this proposal is to shed that.

While not super aerodynamic the Maverick is somewhat aerodynamic.

Expensive professional engineering and testing went into the design.

Any body mods you do are likely to make the aero drag worse.

 

[Pappamoto]

7. perhaps my favorite is: add 5psi more air to your tires. You won't feel a difference. Your tires will last a bit longer. And your MPG will go up by about 2 MPG. The savings is real.

Do not trust anyone who says you HAVE TO inflate tires to what the "sticker" says. The sticker is a universal average for the average driver in average conditions to net average results. YMMV and your tire pressure may vary within reason.

For the 5psi over, are you referring to the 36psi on the sticker? So 41psi all around? When I brought mine home the tires were at 48psi on all 4!

 

[commadorebob]

Avoid using the a/c. It uses about 5hp on the Hybrid and 8hp on the Ecoboost, and that energy has to come from somewhere. Use the windows (Armstrong a/c ) instead. On an old V8 pig that was so inefficient, you didn't notice the a/c hit very much.

Yep spoken like a true Canadian. A/C is a survival necessity here.

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