2011 Mustang V6 300hp / 31 mpg hwy

[EricF]

I am thinking about buying a 2007 Mustang V6 Manual and I wanted to get an idea of what to expect. So I rented a 2012 V6 Mustang Automatic from Hertz today and went on a road trip to get an idea what kind of mileage I could achieve.

I drove 300 miles. The first 60 miles was all highway traffic. I simply sent the cruise control at 65 mph. At the end of that 60 miles my Ultra-Gauge reported 38 mpg.

The next 30 miles was on State Highways with a 50 mph speed limit. I again set the cruise at 55 mph. MPG was about 36-37.

The next 80 miles was on 2 lane windy roads (Hwy 101 on the Olympic Peninsula). I drove all of this section in 3rd gear instead of drive to get an idea of more spirited driving. I kept it within 10 mph over the speed limit, and never accelerated at full throttle. Spirited, but still smooth throttle. I had 26 mpg for that segment.

The next 100 or so miles was again on State Highways. Traffic was quite a bit heavier, so most of the time I was varying speed between 45 and 55. I think I had 31 or so mpg for that segment.

The final 30 or so miles was in the city of Seattle and it's suburbs. I think I got 27 mpg for that segment.

At the end of the 300 mile trip, the mpg gauge in the Mustang reported 29 mpg overall average. My Ultra-Gauge reported 32 mpg and doing the math after filling the tank back up also came out to 32 mpg (309 miles and 9.6 gallons to fill the tank).

I did not do any hypermiling driving techniques, other than not being very heavy on the throttle and keeping the speed near the speed limit.

I really want to get the 2007 Mustang V6 I've got my eye on, but I don't think I can expect to get as good of mpg as I got with the 2012 Hertz rental. I know it had the newer V6 with dual instead of single exhaust. I think to get the higher EPA rating the new Mustang uses a different rear axle ratio than previous years. I wonder if it's possible to swap that into older models.

Overall, I was quite surprised how easy it was to achieve over 30 mpg. Even when I spent an hour and a half or so driving in a lower gear I was still getting pretty close to 30 mpg. I was really shocked when I got 38 mpg for the first hour of all freeway driving. Makes me wish I'd done that at 60 mph instead of 65 mph. I might have hit 40 mpg.

If I could afford it, I would be buying a 2011-2012 V6 Mustang today. But that's out of my price range so that's why I'm considering a 2007.

[mcrews]

there is a guy on here w/ a mustang.....he gets decent mileage.

Changing out the rear gear is very doable.
also, if you do a far amount of hwy driving, running a taller tire (nurmorus threads on this) will also help

[tjts1]

The 2012 3.7 engine has nothing in common with the 2007 4.0 motor. Very very different animals.

[mcrews]

true, but mustang dave has a 07 V6 and i believe he gets 30+ (when he keeps his foot out of it!!! )

[mcrews]

and true, the 2012 is a very different breed than the 2007. (kind of the point of ths post) Ford really wanted that EPA MPG number. And designed the car to get it.

[tjts1]

2012 motor has vvt, DI, an extra 100 hp, improved aerodynamics and reduced weight just to name a few.

[darcane]

Originally Posted by tjts1

2012 motor has vvt, DI, an extra 100 hp, improved aerodynamics and reduced weight just to name a few.

..and exploding driveshafts:
Why do 2011 Ford Mustang driveshafts keep exploding?

[gone-ot]

...using Microsoft-speak: "...that's not a defect, that's a mechanical fuse to keep you from exceeding the manufacturer's designated 'limit." -- uh-huh, uh-huh.

[pete c]

a 2.5L 4 cylinder ecoboost SVO stang would be pretty sweet. I would think that such a rig with a 6 speed with tall gears should be able to get close to 35 mpg on the highway.

[mcrews]

I had a 1979 Mustang Pacecar with the 2.2 liter w/turbo. It was a sweet ride. Never checked it for mpg.........

It was a 5 speed.