Ford Escort MPG advice needed

[radioranger]

Hi Guys , just started driving a 98 Escort 4 door, got 38 MPG first highway trip instead of the 27 for the 88 ranger, so am addicted, need to know a good tire choice for mpg and rain performance, saw that michelin makes a new mpg tire, also what spark plugs recommended, its a 5 speed and thinking of trying to change trans oil and repack rear bearings in red line bearing grease, seems extra slippery stuff. also what about spacer for O2 sensors , thanks for the help. i keep it under 60 most of the time. also will a rear spoiler help at all

[nemo]

Nice start...There are several people on here with Escorts just use the search function to see what they have done. Here is a thread you might want to check out http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...epa-18075.html
Think the 98 uses ATF in the transmission, synthetic might be a good bet in CT, would make for easier shifting in the winter.

[Nevyn]

I had a 97 Escort (base) with 5-speed. I miss it terribly. Part of the reason they do SO excellent on the road is because they have Ford's "SPI" system - Split Port Induction. There are TWO air pathways to the cylinders, one remains shut via butterfly valve almost all the time. When you get the revs WAY up (over 3000 RPM), the second one opens and you can feel the car "surge" with power. Stay out of that range, and your MPG will stay way up!

For tires, I'd recommend either Kumho Eco Solus of one nature or another, Bridgestone Ecopia EP422, or GoodYear Assurance FuelMax.

I also found out that mine liked platinum spark plugs a LOT! You should be able to start averaging 40+ real easy in it, and if you work hard, 50+ is achievable!

[radioranger]

Thanks for the advice, I was going to see about the new Michelin High MPG tires because tire rack's distribution center is near my house, and they had a rebate, but still checking I noticed the power surge and wondered about it, way faster and sportier than i thought it would be, My ranger runs great with a rebuilt 2.3 and 5 speed but man there is some serious wind drag, my commute is 130 mostly highway miles at night so i could go pretty slow, was coasting down the other njght on a 65 mph highway and almost ran through radar going 35, !! they would have wondered about that one at 1 AM, Thanks again

[Ford Man]

I have a '97 Escort wagon with a 5 speed, keeping it at about 50-55 mph in local driving I usually get about 32-34 MPH without any other special modifications. My best highway mileage has been driving with the c/c set at 55 MPH on a cool summer day when no a/c was needed and was riding with the windows down and got 49.85 MPG. This was with the original Goodyear tires on it that had about 1/4 of the tread life left on them. I've since put BF Goodrich 70K mile A/S radials on it and the mileage has dropped to around 40 MPG under the same conditions. I do have a K&N air filter which most people say don't help their mileage, but on my '97 I think it gave me 1-2 MPG increase. I just recently put new plugs in my '02 Escort and used Bosch platinum, I've heard mixed comments on the Bosch platinum in this engine, some say they last good others say they don't, but I use them in my '88 Escort with the 1.9L engine and they usually last 100-125K miles.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by radioranger

also will a rear spoiler help at all

Some say yes, some say no. I think the trick is not to do what the racing kids do. Their spoilers produce some down-force apparently and they therefore suffer a "drag penalty" apparently. Here's a thread to read:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...any-10434.html

james

[SubSonic]

Just to give you a little eye candy to think things over re: rear airfoils.
No real data here just a made up run, but you can see how even the smallest addition to a profile can have dramatic effects.



Enjoy

Kind regards

Subsonic

[honda_love]

i love ngk for plugs, and i have had good luck with bridgestone tires for mpg. as for the spoiler i would say its a bad idea 95% of the time just cause they cause so much drag.

[radioranger]

thanks for the input guys , i was thinking about a tiny lip on the back of the trunk lid, since it tapers so softly down to the taillights, I noticed on the 98 Taurus sedan they had a clear or red colored lip on the taillight itself, kind of gave me the idea.

[laserwizard]

Hi,

Just found this forum - I own a 1997 Ford Escort LX 4 Door with 5 speed manual transmission with 150k on the odometer - purchased new.

I have a ScanGaugeII that I have used for the last 50k miles and have fine-tuned my driving style.

Over the last 5000k miles, I have averaged 42.1 mpgs combined with most local travel with some highway miles thrown in. My best mileage was a 53.3 mpg trip over 50 miles including time spent getting onto the interstate and time spent off it going to my folks' neighborhood.

My tire inflation is usually 38-40 psi and I run Goodyear Viva 2's purchased from Walmart (they are on sale now for $55.50 - just put a new set on after over 60k miles on the last set).

I strictly do posted speed limit or not to exceed 60 mph in 65 mph zones. I know the traffic light patterns in my area so I know when to coast and when to keep on the gasoline. I do hypermile where possible but spend time watching traffic behind me so as to never impede others' progress and always stay in the right lane where possible on the interstate.

There is nothing trick about my car - it runs 5w-30 oil as it did when new. I just think when I drive and combining trips and knowing the most efficient routes helps with the mileage tremendously.

This car routines gets over 47 mpgs on the highway with weather (wind/rain) causing 5% decrease in mileage from that.

It is awesome going over 540 miles on a tank of gas or stretching it to 1 tank per month.

Keep up the great work on this site - nice to see people who take fuel economy seriously!