The only way to eco-mod an Escape w/V6 is to get rid of it

[Varn]

That is interesting. My 99 Wind star is rated about the same but gets in the mid 20s. It is only 2wd but it has a 3.8 v6 engine. Did you get a fuel mileage gauge? It takes effort with mild acceleration and letting it freewheel when coasting.

[mechman600]

Originally Posted by jtbo

Today's high tech in car engines is 40 years old on ships, for example common rail injection, has been used in ships really long time before in cars.

You are thinking of diesel engines, where direct injection in many forms has been around forever. A diesel engine requires injection into the combustion chamber, or at least a pre-combustion chamber in early designs. I am talking about gasoline engines, where, while the technology definitely isn't new, it has only been implemented in the last few years. I think the VW 2.0FSI engine was one of the first engines to make GDI "normal". Now we are seeing this technology everywhere - VW, Hyundai/Kia, Ford and Mazda. Toyota and Honda aren't on the bandwagon yet but no doubt will be soon. From what I understand, GDI allows for highly statified charges, allowing overall leaner air/fuel ratios, by making the area nearest the spark plug rich enough to support combustion and the rest of the chamber lean - basically, a variable air/fuel ratio in the same charge. That's as best as I can understand it. A more apt description from someone else would be appreciated.

Originally Posted by notanarborist

Wow, that's not very good mileage on the Escape for what it is. My wife and I are averaging 23.0 mpg on our 03 Town And Country with 3.8l with the occasional average going to 23.1(and this is with the odometer reading about 4% low).

That's exactly why I got rid of the Escape. "For what it is" is the reason. Such a small vehicle should get better figures. I attribute the ridiculously low economy to the poor transmission. A genuine slush-box in every sense of the term. The engine was always revving at 2500 rpm to even acclerate a modest amount in traffic because of so much torque converter slippage. I tried "freezing the slush-box" (see other posts about this) by overriding the torque-converter lockup, but the transmission would usually just go into a limp-home mode after a while. It sort of worked, but not well enough to make a difference. On the highway, it wasn't ridiculously bad - 25 mpg on road trips. It was just the city driving that was awful, again, because of the slushiness.

[jtbo]

GDI is WW2 tech:
Gasoline direct injection - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mitsubishi was first (1996) in this new coming of that old tech GDI, VW is latecomer to party.

Computer control and better manufacturing tolerances are giving new life to old tech, now we can unleash potential in them, but there really is not much new stuff going on.

[slowmover]

Improve it by getting rid of it. An old saying was "Jack up the hood ornament and slide a new car underneath."

[morphector]

If you want another car with better FE and around the same cargo space I would look into a wagon, the toyota matrix is a really good one.

I personally got a ford focus wagon, look out for a 06-07 as they're rated 37mpg on highway (with a std transmission). They can be found cheaply (paid 5k for a 06 with 60k miles on odo) decently reliable, maintenance&tires will be cheaper than your escape.

You could probably sell your escape for around the same price as a focus and you'll get around the same cargo area.

[mcguire]

Originally Posted by morphector

If you want another car with better FE and around the same cargo space I would look into a wagon...

"SUVs are gross because they're the solution to a gross problem. (How to make minivans look more masculine.)" - Paul Graham, [Link blocked].

Me, I'll second the suggestion of the wagon, or maybe a modern minivan.

[orange4boy]

People think they are getting a lot or cargo space in an SUV but they ain't. Not compared to a van.

You would think that a monster like the excursion would have a lot of space...

Ford Excursions offered 146.4 cubic feet of maximum cargo space. This is the most capacity ever offered in a full-size SUV

The Ford Excursion was too heavy to qualify for mandatory EPA testing, so there is no official mpg rating for the vehicle. Its curb weight is 7,361 lbs.

It got about 12 mpg.

Previa Van: 152.3 cu ft cargo space. Curb weight 3600 lbs. 17-20mpg epa

[Christ]

Marcus, that is an awesome post. It makes a great point about how people can be misled to think that something physically larger in mass/ volume must also be better in every aspect.

[orange4boy]

Thanks Christ,

I might also point out how insecure someone must be to buy an SUV instead of a minivan because they think minivans are not masculine enough. A man is defined by his actions not his outward appearance. But who am I to rob someone of their need to compensate?

ps. This is not aimed at anyone here, just a general observation.

[jtbo]

Originally Posted by Christ

Marcus, that is an awesome post. It makes a great point about how people can be misled to think that something physically larger in mass/ volume must also be better in every aspect.

Works with cars too, modern bloated cars are really big from outside, wide and tall, but there is less interior space than earlier models of same car which had smaller outer dimensions.

All the unneeded huge plastic 'decorations' are taking really big part of space from inside.

So in that way progress has been going backwards.