How to get the best mpg out of a 99 4 speed auto v6 Ford Ranger

[Whitetail Ranger]

yup i saw his post already..If he did all that with no engine tuning mods as far as using a tuner then i suppose i wont use one on mine. But yea idk..Ive been getting good mpg on my ranger. Sorry to hear yours never got it. Of course i don't really expect my truck to get 30 mpg knowing i drive a brick with some smooth edges. But I have to have the 4 wheel drive for the winter here in PA and a truck looks nice and i made some money from it the other day helping my friend to take scrap metal to the scrap yard. And it doesn't make it cost effective for me to have a car along side of that as a commuter. Too much cost to keep both vehicles inspected and such. It serves its pupose just fine..If there was no winter here id drive a 2 wheel drive ranger.

[Whitetail Ranger]

I still wonder if 2500 rpm is the way to go to accelerate to. I mean theres always the fact that the torque converter is set to the stall speed of where the engine makes its peak torque in rpm.

[ecomodded]

You should run a tank of gas threw it using 2500rpm (& under) to shift at and see how it goes.

a tank of gas will be more accurate to measure with then part tanks and make losses or gains more apparent.


Your edging looks like it works good, I Imagine in bends inwards by wind force, into its aerodynamic sweet spot.I have noticed that flaps self adjust for best aero and your edging is a flap of sorts..
http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/...psc86527ab.jpg

[Whitetail Ranger]

Mhm..And yea it would be nice to drive with a full tank of gas again rather than make multiple stops. Plus over all i know it doesnt save me anymore money either way. I just chose to run it at half tanks to reduce any extra weight on the truck that could reduce mpg. Theres a small performance difference in how the truck accelerates with a full tank of gas compared to a half a tank or near empty. Although ive had some interesting outcomes with a full tank of gas beings that it gives the truck more mass as it moves down the road as any air resistance has a harder time slowing down the truck. But it also on the flip side hurts acceleration a bit.

[Whitetail Ranger]

So its now 4/22/2015. I driven my truck alot in that time. There are a few things that showed up that seem to to to have a moot effect on fuel economy but yet still get me good mpg. For one ive found that i still can see up to 25 mpg out of my ranger keeping my tires at stock tire pressure. 30 in the front and 35 in the back. But effect giving me that is this. I do set them to that spec in the morning before i go to work. Around 7:30 am. As the day goes on it gets warmer and the air expands as well from driving too. Yes i know duh. That how your supposed to check tire psi. I seem to get good riding comfort and good fuel economy as well. If any of yous are in my state of PA you know that in the past few months that we have had a few temperature swings. So its hard to even set a certain tire psi without it going way too high from weather or being underinlfated. When i have them set to stock im always in that safe zone with a comfortable ride and low fuel consumption. I also put all new shocks on and adjusted my driver side torsion bar cause it was sagging and was wearing the front inner tire a bit. The good news is its about time for me to replace my tires so ill be looking for a good set of tires that has less aggressive tread and rolls nicely down the road and doesn't make a lot of road noise while having decent handling in all conditions. I also noticed that some would say that 30 psi in the front is too low with the weight of the engine in front BUT its actually acceptable and what Ford recommends for this truck. I can feel the weight burden change from when i have a full tank of gas to empty. When its empty then yes a bit more weight is pressing on the front tires giving a bit more rolling resistance on the front. Also makes more tire noise on the fronts at that point as well. But my tires are messed up anyway so that's a separate issue brought on my over inflation before and then going to stock psi later.OK That's all part one of this. Part two is that i still found that being light on the throttle and letting the auto trans decide when to shift nets me about the best mpg. The low rpm vs high throttle lower pumping losses don't work. But i attribute that to a wide ratio trans with the torque converter slippage and the weight of the truck. I find slow acceleration or a light brisk acceleration works best. Most mpg lost was from cold starts this winter. No other aero mods have been done to this truck so everything else is still the same. There is my update so far.