[trikkonceptz]

In my quest to reduce my oil dependency, I am going to trade in the family truckster 06 V8 4-runner, for a 2009 4cyl 2.3L Manual Fusion. Therefore because I work @ a Ford dealership, I figured I would take one home for the night to show the wife and see what potential this car really has.

First of all it is a very comfortable and quiet car, I really did enjoy the 120 mile drive I had in it and feel it is a quality automobile, plus with my employee discount, a mid size 4 door sedan for under 19K isn't bad either. It will literally cut my car payments in half...

Anyhow, sticker on this bad boy said 20 / 29, so I figured I would see what driving techniques alone would do to FE. I didn't check my tires, but they nitrofill here at the dealership to 35psi (I checked this morning).

Here are my results.

Home Trip; 37.6 mpg on Scangauge
-55mph on hwy
-Pulse and Glide whenever possible (Pretty cool too, I'll explain later)
-Coasting to stops whenever possible (Car glides very well)
-Engine off @ Idle only
-A/C off, night was cool

Trip to work; 37.7 mpg on Scangauge
-55mph on hwy
-Pulse and Glide whenever possible
-Engine off @ Idle only
-A/C ON ENTIRE TRIP

My observations.
-The car shuts off injectors when coasting in gear
-It must have an improved a/c clutch because to see no change in mileage is incredible
-Pulse and gliding looks like it doesn't work until you see your average mpg raise a couple ticks each time you do it.
Now for pulse and glide I set the cruise @ 55 and used my LOD to monitor acceleration to 65 then let off, rinse repeat. I don't know if that was optimal, but it delivered some pretty good results.

So in conclusion, with a few more tweeks this is a vehicle that I know I can break into the 40+ mpg mark with very little additional effort.