My Ford Ranger - Project Log

[nathan01xl]

I landed a new job last month, the only issue was that it was a 90 mile round trip commute. This inspired me to look into hypermiling and ecomodding. I had already done some mods to my truck (lowered 2/3 and an ARE tonneau) and was pumped to do some more. First thing I did after reading some about aerodynamics was to tape over my lower valance and fog light holes, fold my mirrors in, remove my mud flaps, and fill my front body gaps between the bumper and grill and grill and hood with pipe insulation and weather stripping.

Today I did some more modding and installed a cardboard upper grille block, painted black and attached with zip-ties. I also received my new Ultra-Gauge in the mail and installed it into my instrument cluster. I still need to calibrate it but I think it is pretty accurate as is.

My mileage has steadily improved over my last few tanks as I have adjusted my driving habits and done some modding. My ultimate goal is to average 40 mpg for one tank (500 miles). On my last tank I got 31 mpgs without my tonneau cover on and without my Ultra-Gauge or upper grille block.

[MetroMPG]

Nice start. Any other mods planned?

You're going to love the gauge - makes driving for economy much more rewarding (fun).

Though the ecomodder in me couldn't help but notice the engine was idling while you were taking the dash pics.

[nathan01xl]

planned mods include a belly pan, probably just to the front suspension at first, and hopefully lower it some more at some point.

Haha, ya the engine was idling because i wanted to get a picture of the gauges working for the Ford Ranger forum i am on. Cant please everyone all the time lol

[nathan01xl]

My first 45 mile trip into work this morning with my new grill block and ultragauge running i averaged 35.5 mpgs! I actually drove a little faster than i would have liked to due to time but i did really well through the two small towns between where i live and work and only had to stop once, as opposed to the 3-5 usual times.
I need to work on integrating more P&G into my commute, right now i only use it on the hilly sections(3-4) and through town.
I can clearly see the mpg improvement between cruising using 4th and 5th around 50mph now that i have my ultra-gauge running, i definitely was spending way too much time in 4th before!

[nathan01xl]

Set a new record for distance and mpg on my last tank of gas, 6/26-7/5, covered 515 miles on 14.9 gallons for 34.5 mpgs. Really pleased with the progress i am making and hopeful that i could hit 40 mpgs for a tank with a few more aero mods and some better hypermiling technique

I completed a couple more aero mods, air dam installed, wipers deleted, antenna shortened, and am getting more familiar with my ultragauge. The only issue i have with my ultragauge is that it has so many features i dont know which ones to use.
Any suggestions for the best gauges to cycle through, what do you all use on yours?

before air dam

after

[euromodder]

On the Scangauge in Hägar the unlamented Volvo, I usually had instant FC, average FC, engine load - and due to the DPF regenerations, intake temp.

With the UG, you can have more gauges / display and even cycle through displays, but I'd always have / keep instant FC, average FC, and engine load on there, and cycle only the other gauges that you may find useful.

After some observation on frequently travelled roads, engine load will also tell you wether you're on a slope or facing wind - simply by comparing normale engine load for a given speed with what you're seeing.

[MetroMPG]

Agreed on displaying instant & average (trip) MPG at once. Those are the key ones for most people.

Congrats on continued progress!

[radioranger]

on my 88 ranger I bolted a section of plywood across the last 4 feet of the bed and noticed a 1 mpg improvement I let it hang over the tailgate about six inches and rounded off the back corners, seemed to help in the cruise speed range quite a bit. cheap to try , just 1/2 inch sheet plywodd

[nathan01xl]

I actually own a fiberglass tonneau, it is just temporarily broken and waiting for a part to get in from the east coast for 2 weeks now . Once i put that back on i am expecting to gain another 1-2 mpgs at highway speeds. Before i started ecomodding i had already noticed that the tonneau makes a big difference at speeds above 60mph.

[radioranger]

I've notice many nnew cars hide the entire front of the tire with the bumper cover, extending it past the outer edge of the tire, might be worth doing, as I notice the air from your low dam is feeding the front of the tire. on my escort with the wider tires I have the same issue and will soon I hope extend the bumper cover out a bit to fair in the front edge . also I 've read where a partial tonneau is a bit better, so all in all you like the ultra gauge?