MPG goals for 1998 Ford E350 van?

[jared1970]

I have a need for a full size van and know that full size vans are not MPG champions. Without going crazy with aero mods, what is a realistic goal of attainable fuel economy? It's a 1998 Ford E350 15 passenger van with the 5.4 V8 engine.

I think I could build a set of grill shutters pretty easily and rig them up to a small motor and switch. Getting a chip with a program for better fuel economy should be easy enough. I'm not sure how easy it would be to lower the van, but that might be an option. Building an air dam for the front end wouldn't be too hard.

Would 20+ mpg be attainable with something like this? I think these vans get around 16 mpg on the highway without any mods.

[Jasen]

my astro get's 19-20 combined when empty with the 4.3, the heavy load of tools kills that though, 14.5 mpg.

the v8 in the ford will/should do better, i'd think it would have more then the 250 ft.lbs of torque of the 4.3 i say will/should because the 2 f150 v6's i've driven in recent years fell short on power compared to my vans 190+k v6

lowering is not that hard, drop spindles and a flip kit.