Think I found the ecoboost’s sweet spot

[ejordan]

When I got home from the dealership last week, I reset the trip screen. For the first 197 miles, I drove it like I will on a daily basis. I did idle a lot, playing with settings and controls. I also pulled the boat to the ramp one day. It still produced 28.7 mpg. Today I went on a 365 mile trip so I reset the trip screen again. The trip was 80 percent 55-62 mph, 10 percent at 70-72, and 10 percent at 45 with 15-20 stoplights, which caught me several times. When I got home, the trip screen showed 35.7 mpg. I believe Casper likes anywhere between 45 and 72 mph. It was a comfortable smooth ride and continues to amaze me!

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[mamboman777]

I'm no expert, but I believe every car's sweet spot is between 50-60mph. So, I'm not surprised. Something to do with wind resistance not scaling linearly...

 

[ejordan]

You might be right. I was shocked that the stretches of 72 didn’t decrease it no more than it did but seemed to hold the mpg. In my 40 years of driving pickups, I have never seen even close to 30, much less 35

 

[Maverickman74]

My dad could regularly coax his 6300 lb 84 E150 XLT extended long wheelbase with a 302 2bbl AOD and split driveshaft to 20 MPG !! He did it by driving at 55mph from gast station to gas station.

 

[Naranjita]

Living in a hilly environment, I can tell you with my EB that anything above 60-65 MPH pays an excessive MPG toll on any grade. I can maintain about 27-29 MPG on the highway at 65 MPH in most places. But at 70, my MPGs goes down and by 80 MPH, I'm averaging 19-20 MPG.

It's all about the turbo. If you can keep that turbo from engaging, better mileage. It's hard for me with hills and grades to keep the downshifting to a minimum and turbo from lighting up. The transmission is programmed for Performance. ECO mode helps keep the downshifting minimized and throttle pressure reduced and thus the turbo less engaged. I can squeeze an extra mile per gallon or so in ECO mode in my FX4 after hacking it.

 

[ejordan]

Living in a hilly environment, I can tell you with my EB that anything above 60-65 MPH pays an excessive MPG toll on any grade. I can maintain about 27-29 MPG on the highway at 65 MPH in most places. But at 70, my MPGs goes down and by 80 MPH, I'm averaging 19-20 MPG.

It's all about the turbo. If you can keep that turbo from engaging, better mileage. It's hard for me with hills and grades to keep the downshifting to a minimum and turbo from lighting up. The transmission is programmed for Performance. ECO mode helps keep the downshifting minimized and throttle pressure reduced and thus the turbo less engaged. I can squeeze an extra mile per gallon or so in ECO mode in my FX4 after hacking it.

Yea…..I am sure the hills play a major roll. I was traveling up the coast in NC on totally flat roads going to see my Mom. I have driven that route many times in various vehicles. Strong winds can affect mpg too but there were none yesterday. I have used nothing but the normal mode so far

 

[pxpaulx]

I'm no expert, but I believe every car's sweet spot is between 50-60mph. So, I'm not surprised. Something to do with wind resistance not scaling linearly...

Technically it is just whatever the highest gearing between 1.5-2k rpms - a long time ago this would have been 50-55mph! With newer 8-10 speed automatics that can have higher gearing, the sweet spot can be a higher speed (of course once you're past 60-65mph you're also beginning to battle physics).

You might be right. I was shocked that the stretches of 72 didn’t decrease it no more than it did but seemed to hold the mpg. In my 40 years of driving pickups, I have never seen even close to 30, much less 35

I've found here in MN where things are relatively flat, if it isn't too windy you'll keep 29-31 if you're around 70mph. We just filled up the other night before a 150 mile round trip at speeds 65 to 75mph and at the end it was reading 31mpg - that is in 35 degree (MN winter warmth!) weather with winter gas blend.

 

[ShadowBlack XL440]

When I got home from the dealership last week, I reset the trip screen. For the first 197 miles, I drove it like I will on a daily basis. I did idle a lot, playing with settings and controls. I also pulled the boat to the ramp one day. It still produced 28.7 mpg. Today I went on a 365 mile trip so I reset the trip screen again. The trip was 80 percent 55-62 mph, 10 percent at 70-72, and 10 percent at 45 with 15-20 stoplights, which caught me several times. When I got home, the trip screen showed 35.7 mpg. I believe Casper likes anywhere between 45 and 72 mph. It was a comfortable smooth ride and continues to amaze me!

Awesome mileage. I wanted the hybrid but ordered too late and got the XL EB just before the MY cutoff. Not much EB regret based on your mileage. Is Casper an AWD model? Was there an RPM limit or shift point that you tried to keep it under while driving?

 

[ejordan]

Awesome mileage. I wanted the hybrid but ordered too late and got the XL EB just before the MY cutoff. Not much EB regret based on your mileage. Is Casper an AWD model? Was there an RPM limit or shift point that you tried to keep it under while driving?

Casper is front wheel drive. I didn’t do anything special. Drove the route like I always have. I used cruise control on 62 when I could. I thought about getting a hybrid later but I have about changed my mind. I am very happy with the ecoboost

 

[Atisko]

I'm no expert, but I believe every car's sweet spot is between 50-60mph. So, I'm not surprised. Something to do with wind resistance not scaling linearly...

Generally 40 to 50 with most vehicles

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