Ridiculously low Gas mileage ENOUGH already WTF is going on ?

[A_Turkey_Sammich]

I get the idea your maverick isn’t driven much, but unless I missed it, I didn’t see anything about typical distance or frequency. That absolutely can make a HUGE difference in mpg, particularly during the colder months. Like just one trip a couple miles or so and back stone cold and that’s it for the day will get you noticeably less than if you were doing the same sort of couple miles or so here and there around town multiple times per day. Compared to older cars, newer ones are prob worse off if any different at all, not better. A lot of programming strategies focus on bringing things up to temp quickly at the expense of efficiency to get to an optimal state more quickly. It’s mainly done for emissions, but sacrificing some efficiency during things warming up gets it to its normal efficiency quicker as well, Pretty much means you get the crap end of the stick if it’s just short infrequent trips. I don’t have maverick yet, but my F150 is that way. I can get 22-23 on road trips, most tanks come in around 18-20, but I’ve had a few times where it’s been nothing but a couple miles out then back just once a day for most the tank and those times come in around 13mpg. Same kind of driving as the usual 18-20, just not out and about several times a day.

I don’t think your tires and all are it. Some impact yes, there usually is, but I’d agree the difference in size/weight and all shouldn’t amount to anything that drastic. The vehicle itself may be a culprit though. Even though they are essentially carbon copies, they don’t all perform exactly the same right down to the dot with things like power and mpg. With any car, between the thousands of identical ones, there’s going to be a range with that stuff with outliers at the top and bottom ends. Entirely possible you got one of the ones that would be a bottom end outlier. Trouble is that without an obvious problem, what made it that way could be just about anything, like just enough defect with a part or how it was assembled to work completely normal but still affect that sort of stuff.

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[Atisko]

Ive had this truck 4 months. I don't drive a lot and I currently have about 2k miles on the odometer.

AWD, 4k tow running 245 65 17s and 1 inch front level lift. K&N drop in filter, no other mods. 89 octane gas used every time. Standard drive mode. I use it for personal transport and dont haul any heavy loads. Tire PSI set to 35.

I live in NW Indiana and do mixed driving of hwy and streets. I drive normally and I'm not a leadfoot. I don't use remote start or sit in traffic. I am getting absolute horseshit mileage. I have not seen 20mpg. I understand the figure may be off a tad with the slightly different tire size but other people with the same truck and mods are claiming 30mpg. WTF gives already? I bought a small truck to save on gas mileage. My V6 equinox was a gas pig and got better mileage. Its one of the reasons I dumped it. With the the gas $ now going through the moon its starting to bother me. I have the money but I didn't buy a "baby truck" to piss money away on gas. I bought this truck to get a few more mpg than the equinox and I was expecting to get at least 22mpg. I understand going up a size in tires may kill 1-2 mpg but come on now. Enough with this BS already. Im tired of the.excuses. Im seeing 17-18mpg tops. Less than 280 miles per tank. I am always putting gas in this truck. I've reset all settings twice to start from scratch to see if that helped and it has not.

Anybody have any ideas what could be going on? I cant be getting 10-12 less than other members with the same truck. Winter gas blend, altitude, driving style/ BS already. 10-11 mpg less than others is NOT normal. Something is wrong here and I'm getting pissed. The biggest reason people buy small trucks to save on gas.

Put on Michelin energy saver tires you should see a 3 to 5 mpg^ Test with manual calculations @the pump don’t trust on board mpg computer gauge

 

[Atisko]

I get the idea your maverick isn’t driven much, but unless I missed it, I didn’t see anything about typical distance or frequency. That absolutely can make a HUGE difference in mpg, particularly during the colder months. Like just one trip a couple miles or so and back stone cold and that’s it for the day will get you noticeably less than if you were doing the same sort of couple miles or so here and there around town multiple times per day. Compared to older cars, newer ones are prob worse off if any different at all, not better. A lot of programming strategies focus on bringing things up to temp quickly at the expense of efficiency to get to an optimal state more quickly. It’s mainly done for emissions, but sacrificing some efficiency during things warming up gets it to its normal efficiency quicker as well, Pretty much means you get the crap end of the stick if it’s just short infrequent trips. I don’t have maverick yet, but my F150 is that way. I can get 22-23 on road trips, most tanks come in around 18-20, but I’ve had a few times where it’s been nothing but a couple miles out then back just once a day for most the tank and those times come in around 13mpg. Same kind of driving as the usual 18-20, just not out and about several times a day.

I don’t think your tires and all are it. Some impact yes, there usually is, but I’d agree the difference in size/weight and all shouldn’t amount to anything that drastic. The vehicle itself may be a culprit though. Even though they are essentially carbon copies, they don’t all perform exactly the same right down to the dot with things like power and mpg. With any car, between the thousands of identical ones, there’s going to be a range with that stuff with outliers at the top and bottom ends. Entirely possible you got one of the ones that would be a bottom end outlier. Trouble is that without an obvious problem, what made it that way could be just about anything, like just enough defect with a part or how it was assembled to work completely normal but still affect that sort of stuff.

This is an excellent point! As I’ve said in another post(researching for yourself) ice engines at 27° compared to 77° will see a mpg decrease easily 25% the first 3 to 4 miles and at least a 10% decrease after that combine with winter blend you’re looking at a sharp decrease. Test using hand calculations and a long highway tripOver200miles.

 

[Mctwzzle]

Just to chime in here, mine is still fully stock, no mods, only 2.6k miles since Oct. The wife does most of the driving and it's 95% grocery runs. It sits at 21mpg avg. When I drive it, it tanks to 15-17 because I'm hot-rodding this little truck because it's fun. We just took a 200mile trip to Galveston and back, 75-90 on the freeway, 27.9mpg. HOW you drive it has a ton to do with the mpg. Put your foot in it and every vehicle that exists gets bad mpg. I had an early 80's suburban 4x4 with a bigblock in it and you could literally watch the gas gauge drop if you hammered it.

 

[kuma]

Changed tire size on two vehicles in the past had the dealer re-calibrate odometer settings for the new tire size. Made a difference! They just went into the trucks computer and typed in the correct tire size and it made a difference with my MPG.

 

[Xbbqpitmaster]

I would love 20mpg… I am lucky to get 10mpg, usually closer to 8.

 

[brnpttmn]

It sometimes amazes me how a small engine with "gas mileage" gearing struggles to achieve decent MPG. Lots of things contribute to this, cold weather, not being broken in and winter gas is a huge one. I also fear gearing and possibly increased rolling weight due to tire changes could add to the issue. I'm hoping VESPA the best of luck, I know he's mad as hell, but a summer fuel situation may jump him by 3 to 4 MPG. One of my daily drivers is a 2015 Ram C/V Caravan, Cargo model, 3.6 V6, winter MPG usually around 19 to 20 MPG, but recent warmer weather here in Iowa, and I also suspect that summer fuel is here, now the van has jumped to 24 to 25, best increase noted Thursday, a 437 mile day, showed 26.3.
...

I think you're over estimating the winter fuel impact. It's not likely to reduce his mpg 20% (3-4 MPG) since its only about 2% less energy dense. I also don't think your recent MPG increase is due to the fuel mix. I think winter mix runs through March in the upper Midwest.

 

[bbhaag]

I dont even care if I get banned for saying it, go #UCK yourself. Seriously, your response is as worthless as you negative, BS contributing Prick.

Thank you to everyone else who can keep a decent discussion going. I had posted follow up answers to your questions a few pages back. Thanks

Dude you need to chill out.....the answer to your question was already posted by me on the first page of this now ridiculously long 8 page thread.

Your gas mileage is right in line with what other Mav owners with AWD and the tow package are seeing with mostly short trips and city driving in cooler climates. Throw in the the lower octane fuel you use and the few mods you've done and there is the 2-3 mpg difference. 17-18 mpg vs. 20-21 mpg.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with your Mav.

 

[Pickles]

You bought a vehicle that gets 22/29 without 4K.
After about 5k miles it will loosen up a little and mileage will get a little better.
Cold weather hurts mileage
Bigger tires hurt mileage.
4K towing hurts mileage.
Lifting the front hurts mileage.

Your mileage is to be expected and sounds correct.

The eGoboost engines can’t overcome physics. Put your foot in it for acceleration and more power output, you burn more gas.

Sounds like you should have bought the hybrid. Or a Prius.

4k hurts milage? Cuz ratios? I figured for highway it wouldn’t matter since the cruising gears should be unaffected

 

[Pickles]

Dude you need to chill out.....the answer to your question was already posted by me on the first page of this now ridiculously long 8 page thread.

Your gas mileage is right in line with what other Mav owners with AWD and the tow package are seeing with mostly short trips and city driving in cooler climates. Throw in the the lower octane fuel you use and the few mods you've done and there is the 2-3 mpg difference. 17-18 mpg vs. 20-21 mpg.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with your Mav.

That escalated quickly

 

[Pickles]

Have you bought a new car before? Let it break in and come back to us. I agree with you that winter gas shouldnt really change milage that much. But the combination of winter conditions (snow, ice, cold startup temp), winter gas, steelies with winter tires, for my current small displacement vehicle changes the milage by over 15%. For what its worth.

 

[grumpyunk]

I expect the mods are affecting fuel mileage. How much? Who knows...
The transmission is programmed to shift to higher gears based upon load and road speed, along with other factors. Changing the final drive caused by tire size is unknown to the ECM and transmission. It could be that the engine is being lugged more than the original setting, and that can cause poor mpg.
If you really want to know how much the mods affect fuel economy, reverting to factory as much as is reasonable should give you a good baseline to determine if there is a systemic problem or the mods arc causing the increased consumption.
tom

 

[MAVelous]

Ive had this truck 4 months. I don't drive a lot and I currently have about 2k miles on the odometer.

AWD, 4k tow running 245 65 17s and 1 inch front level lift. K&N drop in filter, no other mods. 89 octane gas used every time. Standard drive mode. I use it for personal transport and dont haul any heavy loads. Tire PSI set to 35.

I live in NW Indiana and do mixed driving of hwy and streets. I drive normally and I'm not a leadfoot. I don't use remote start or sit in traffic. I am getting absolute horseshit mileage. I have not seen 20mpg. I understand the figure may be off a tad with the slightly different tire size but other people with the same truck and mods are claiming 30mpg. WTF gives already? I bought a small truck to save on gas mileage. My V6 equinox was a gas pig and got better mileage. Its one of the reasons I dumped it. With the the gas $ now going through the moon its starting to bother me. I have the money but I didn't buy a "baby truck" to piss money away on gas. I bought this truck to get a few more mpg than the equinox and I was expecting to get at least 22mpg. I understand going up a size in tires may kill 1-2 mpg but come on now. Enough with this BS already. Im tired of the.excuses. Im seeing 17-18mpg tops. Less than 280 miles per tank. I am always putting gas in this truck. I've reset all settings twice to start from scratch to see if that helped and it has not.

Anybody have any ideas what could be going on? I cant be getting 10-12 less than other members with the same truck. Winter gas blend, altitude, driving style/ BS already. 10-11 mpg less than others is NOT normal. Something is wrong here and I'm getting pissed. The biggest reason people buy small trucks to save on gas.

I'm averaging 23.9, use Normal and Sport mode regularly, don't baby it and have the same truck. I'd be thinking about what it is, and within the drivetrain that's consuming more gas. Your mechanical efficiency took a nosedive, and at some point e.g, come of the line bad, post lift mod etc.,

 

[MAVelous]

I expect the mods are affecting fuel mileage. How much? Who knows...
The transmission is programmed to shift to higher gears based upon load and road speed, along with other factors. Changing the final drive caused by tire size is unknown to the ECM and transmission. It could be that the engine is being lugged more than the original setting, and that can cause poor mpg.
If you really want to know how much the mods affect fuel economy, reverting to factory as much as is reasonable should give you a good baseline to determine if there is a systemic problem or the mods arc causing the increased consumption.
tom

Good POINT! The "growling" my drivetrain makes in Normal Mode drives me nuts and why now- when in town, my choice is Sport mode. I'm always in the right gear and love hearing that 8-speed work. 245 65 17 isn't radical by any means but could be the issue when the ECM firmware might be saying....GULP, GULP, GULP

 

[Dun4791]

4k hurts milage? Cuz ratios? I figured for highway it wouldn’t matter since the cruising gears should be unaffected

Actually the lower gear set ( higher number) for towing has a more minimal effect on stop and go vs. a more pronounced loss in mpg at highway speeds.

So yes 4K towing effects mileage all the time, but especially on the expressway. If I had to guess, I’d say a difference of likely 1 mpg especially at speeds over 45. And that’s with everything else being stock. Add in increased wind resistance from lifting your truck or increased unsprung weight like adding heavier tires and the effects are even more pronounced

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