Hypermiling an Iconic Gas Guzzler: Help!

[EP3]

Atleast you use your truck. Guys I work with here just drive them and don't even need them. They claim they do but they work at the Fire Department where you just have to get to work... We have a Big Red Firetruck. It is a city fire dept. I currently live 8 miles from work. I have debated jogging to work. My jogging cap right now is around 3.5 miles. And you said you use the accent around town. Sounds like you can just do the mods you have said and just work on the driving. Good luck let us know how it turns out.

[st8ic]

I'm planning a 450km (280mi) trip later this week, I'll let you know how she does on the highway with the tires at 40lbs and the roof rack off.

A couple questions about highway driving...do you guys find that it's better to use cruise control or your own foot? Since this is a rather large vehicle, would it be more economical to speed up before the hill and coast down it?

[fud2468]

Regarding using the cruise: I use cruise as long as the road is perfectly flat. I shut it off on slight up-and downgrades, keep same pressure on pedal, let the car slow down over the crest and pick up a little speed going down the other side, just like the truckers do. Works on my Dodge Stratus, 34 to 36 mpg, no mods.
Ray Mac

[Big Dave]

Considering that you are talking 100% city driving the only thing you could do for a radical MPG improvement is seriouslt radical surgery: Remove the engine and put in a 4BT3.9 Cummins diesel. The diesel is far more efficient in low-power operations as you don't modulate power output by making the engine less efficient (throttling) but by merely reducing fuel flow.

This is a mechanically ambitious project and definitely not for the faint of heart.

No, I don't know if the Cummins will fit. Fords have notoriously small engine compartments. I do believe some motorheads have down 4BT3.9s into F-150s though.

Cheap-charley efforts will yield cheap-charley results.

[Tony Raine]

Originally Posted by fud2468

Regarding using the cruise: I use cruise as long as the road is perfectly flat. I shut it off on slight up-and downgrades, keep same pressure on pedal, let the car slow down over the crest and pick up a little speed going down the other side, just like the truckers do. Works on my Dodge Stratus, 34 to 36 mpg, no mods.
Ray Mac

thats what i do with my cruise as well.

fellow explorer owner chiming in here.

you have the SOHC motor, btw, just like my '01. but you have the stick shift, which is going to be an advantage (i have the auto). since you have the lower (4.10) gears, you can probably step up in tire size a little to get your rpms down on the highway. but your speedometer will be off, and your odometer. its easy to calculate actual mileage, though.

my explorer sport (2wd) is lifted on 31" mud tires (which will fit stock too), and i've broken 20 mpg more than once. so far all i've really done is bump up the tire pressure to 40 psi (tires are rated up to 45), removed the roof rack (rails and all are easy to remove), all synthetic oils, and adjusted driving habits.

i think your goal is easily attainable.

i would follow some of aldive's mods such as some of the pulleys and the electric fan.

lots of good ideas in this thread. partial grill block would be a good start. the wheels are aluminum and only 7 inches wide, so i'd keep them.

not sure about your sport's body style, but mine (01+) has a nasty grill-to-hood gap. i can see the hood flexing from the wind while going down the highway. i plan on finding some type of seal to close that gap.

oh yeah, explorers sit butt-low from the factory. you can drop the front end about an inch to level the truck out (which should help aerodynamics as well). check out the lowered/sport section at explorer forum (where aldive's stuff is) for more info on that.



btw, reading all the driving tips on this site got me my first tank of over 20 mpg with no mods to my sport

[Clev]

I have a '96 Ranger XLT Supercab (4x4, 4.0L, auto) with 32" mudders, and I always get around 16 mpg. That's babying or racing, cold or hot, loaded or empty. We get heavy snows here sometimes, and I occasionally have to haul junk to the dump, so we still need it. So, we parked it and bought a used car for me to commute in. It now sees only a couple thousand miles a year.

Similarly, my dad (an electrical contractor) parked his 2500HD (V8, auto, 8 foot utility body) and bought a 5 speed 4 cylinder regular cab Sonoma. He still hauls his basic set of tools, and can even tow light trailers, but he gets 22 mpg (driving fast), compared to 12 in the 2500. When he needs the full set of tools or towing capacity, he can still drive the 2500, but the rest of the time, he's buying half the fuel.

[bhazard]

I didnt know they still offered 5 speeds in explorers in 2000.

[Tony Raine]

Originally Posted by bhazard

I didnt know they still offered 5 speeds in explorers in 2000.

the sports offered them all the way until 2002 or 03 (when sport production ended). almost bought a stick '01, but the dealer wanted waaaay to much for it

[Who]

How pumped up are the tires?

How slow can you drive?

Those 4.10s are gonna kill any economy at speed.

Do you shift to neutral and glide every single chance and almost never touch the brakes?

[Tony Raine]

after reading over this thread some more, i noticed that this rig is pretty much city driving only. i think the lower gears may be of benefit. by timing the stoplights, he may never have to drop down into 1st gear. that ought to help a little. plus he can drive in OD at a lower speed, and go through gears faster to get there.

[instarx]

Originally Posted by trikkonceptz

And last but not least if your tank is larger than 15 gallon consider running with 1/2 a tank or less if possible for weight reduction there too ...that however messes with your mileage tracking, so pick your poison.

As a compromise don't fill up the tank when it is half full - run it to E. That allows you to spend half your time with a half-empty tank and still allows you to track MPG at fill-ups.

Also, tires make a huge difference. My truck lost 15% mileage when I switched from highway tires to M&S. Consider two sets of tires - highway tread for summer and use winter tires only in the winter.

[Backtobasics]

I vote for a couple "performance" type upgrades, to give a little more torque. Air Intake, Exhaust, Headers, as previously mentioned. Let the thing Breathe. I believe a throttle body spacer is available for this too. This should give a little more torque, so less throttle is needed to get moving. Keep the 4.10 to help umph off the line.

Be cautious of the fuel level getting to E. The moden cars use the fuel for cooling, so 1/4 and less poses the higher risk of fuel pump over heating and wear. All your MPG go right out the window when replacing electric, high pressure in tank pumps, which equal hundreds of dollars, plus labor, if applicable.

[johnmyster]

Explorer rear axles are a dime a dozen (8.8 ford rears with disc brakes even) at junkyards. Plenty of them come with 3.73 or taller.

Swap the rear and see if it does any better. Then decide if you need 4wd bad enough to swap the front.

Ditch the roof rack and running boards.

If all else fails, get a truck like mine. You can get great mileage with your payload in the back, rather than needing to get a trailer all the time. Then when you really need a trailer, get it. For you, anytime you need to haul, you have to get the trailer. Sure I'm slow, but it only matters a few minutes on a long trip.

And yes, my truck has 4.10s.