Tips and Tricks to Improve MPG

[Fleshman03]

Since many of us have EcoBoosts, I wanted to ask. What's your best tip to get the most MPG out of it?

I'm a big fan of getting up to speed and then using cruise control. So far I'm at about 26mpg. I'm only 230 miles into my break in period and hope to get to 30mpg highway as the sticker suggests. I figured maybe others have better tips and tricks.

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[Decayed]

Back when gas spiked up over $5 a gallon about 15 years ago, there was a lot of talk about hypermiling. One big thing they did was shut the motor off at stops. Auto stop start does that for you, so use that. The biggest waste of gas is acceleration so another thing they did was accelerate very gradually, then lay off the gas as soon as you hit your target speed and coast as long as possible. Some guys were killing the engine while they were coasting but that is dangerous. They were often driving so slowly as to be somewhat dangerous. Don't be that guy!

Other than that, keep the tires filled to spec (I go 1lb over to account for gradual leakage). Actually tire choice can make a difference; you want lighter weight tires because weight burns gas (so keep the vehicle emptied out as much as possible) but also choose road tires designed for efficiency.

There was a news item where a hypermiling fanatic went for a drive in some nation al tv reporter's gigantic SUV and got about 1/3 better mileage so the techniques definitely work.

 

[RockHoundTX]

Same as most vehicles. Go slow speeding up (keeping it in the optimal power band) and then going as slow on the highway as the traffic allows. Anything over 60 and you will likely see a measurable increase in fuel consumption (drag is a function of velocity squared). Coast to stops without using your brakes. Don't use cruise control (much better MPG hypermilling and changing speed based on hills). I have not seen any fluid-dynamic models regarding shells or covers yet to know how much impact they have {been a long time since I have done them myself - UT Aerospace Engineering}. Since the bed is so short, probably not a lot (there is less drag on longer objects). If you go to one of the hyper-milling forums, you will see more mods (skirts, under-side treatments, etc.) and suggestions than you can digest. Tires also make a difference but not nearly as big a difference as your right foot (or local traffic conditions).

 

[Cubican]

Get a hybrid lol

 

[pxpaulx]

Back when gas spiked up over $5 a gallon about 15 years ago, there was a lot of talk about hypermiling. One big thing they did was shut the motor off at stops. Auto stop start does that for you, so use that. The biggest waste of gas is acceleration so another thing they did was accelerate very gradually, then lay off the gas as soon as you hit your target speed and coast as long as possible. Some guys were killing the engine while they were coasting but that is dangerous. They were often driving so slowly as to be somewhat dangerous. Don't be that guy!

Other than that, keep the tires filled to spec (I go 1lb over to account for gradual leakage). Actually tire choice can make a difference; you want lighter weight tires because weight burns gas (so keep the vehicle emptied out as much as possible) but also choose road tires designed for efficiency.

There was a news item where a hypermiling fanatic went for a drive in some nation al tv reporter's gigantic SUV and got about 1/3 better mileage so the techniques definitely work.

I did some of these things in my 2008 Toyota Yaris manual. Shut the car off, coasting, etc. I don't care write so much anymore, but some of the techniques are easy and work.

Acceleration is the killer! If you really want to save, accelerate slowly. Uber 2k rpm would be ideal. This truck is pretty fun though, even keeping it under 2.5k will help.
Try to avoid stopping. Look ahead, light just turn red? Slow down to time the light so it is green when you get there. This takes more practice than you'd think, but does wonders (try to do it without being an ahole to those around you though!)

 

[brnpttmn]

Back when gas spiked up over $5 a gallon about 15 years ago, there was a lot of talk about hypermiling. One big thing they did was shut the motor off at stops. Auto stop start does that for you, so use that. The biggest waste of gas is acceleration so another thing they did was accelerate very gradually, then lay off the gas as soon as you hit your target speed and coast as long as possible. Some guys were killing the engine while they were coasting but that is dangerous. They were often driving so slowly as to be somewhat dangerous. Don't be that guy!

I'd say the biggest waste of gas for an ICEV is braking.

 

[Decayed]

I'd say the biggest waste of gas for an ICEV is braking.

Probably, which is why hybrids exist to take advantage of it. But in practical terms you can't coast to a perfect stop every time but you can certainly go easy on the gas when you accelerate.

 

[brnpttmn]

Probably, which is why hybrids exist to take advantage of it. But in practical terms you can't coast to a perfect stop every time but you can certainly go easy on the gas when you accelerate.

Yeah. Definitely. I've just find it more helpful to think in terms of braking to increase mpgs. Especially thinking ahead about braking and giving cars a bit of extra buffer. I worry less about giving a moderate amount of gas to get up to speed than I do about excessive braking. I also find it makes for more enjoyable driving to coast a bit farther than normal rather than taking extra time time to get up to speed. Of course, doing both will really maximize mpgs

 

[thunaman]

The owners manual has some really great tips, one of the things that stood out to me was the vehicle will shut off fuel to the cylinders when coasting. I found exploiting this as much as possible was a huge help. Like others have stated, slow acceleration helps. But if you want to get crazy, only slowly accelerate when going downhill or on flat surface. When going uphill, try to decelerate slowly.

When in traffic stay as far behind other cars as possible, try to not slow down too much, and uses your breaks as little as possible. This is also helpful when coming to a red light, try and time it to not come to a complete stop.

It takes a lot of practice, but it’s not impossible to exceed 30mpg with this engine. All this being said, a direct injection engine should not be driven like this for too long as, over time, it will cause excessive carbon build up. Every once in a while you need to feed it some onions. Give it the old Italian tune up.

 

[Thodges]

I had a 2006 Civic hybrid and used some hypermiling techniques to push it over 50 mpg. My best tank was 550 miles on 10 gallons. No AC, lots of coasting and using cruise control as much as possible. Tires make a huge difference.

 

[Atisko]

Since many of us have EcoBoosts, I wanted to ask. What's your best tip to get the most MPG out of it?

I'm a big fan of getting up to speed and then using cruise control. So far I'm at about 26mpg. I'm only 230 miles into my break in period and hope to get to 30mpg highway as the sticker suggests. I figured maybe others have better tips and tricks.

Pick low rolling resistant tires; Michelin energy savers. Get aftermarket 18”rims that way a lot less then the steel. pop on tesla aero wheel covers,add Two piece lightweight front rotors. Lower the front 1”&the rear 2” don’t drive over 65 and accelerate slow.

 

[nathanchrisman]

Buy a Prius

 

[nathanchrisman]

…or a bicycle

 

[clavicus]

…or a bicycle

Steal it from your neighbors kids even, that’ll save you a few calories on the search. Probably can get 17mpp (miles per potato), remove the handlebar streamers to increase aerodynamic efficiency.

 

[nathanchrisman]

Steal it from your neighbors kids even, that’ll save you a few calories on the search. Probably can get 17mpp (miles per potato), remove the handlebar streamers to increase aerodynamic efficiency.

It goes faster if you put an aero kit on and lower it by a foot.

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