[todde702]

We always see these threads asking about good or bad fuel economy. Most of us drive our rigs in a manner that yields low to mid 20's in the MPG scale. I know I'm quite happy to be averaging 21-22 mpg on a daily basis. But it got me thinking. What would it take to get bad mileage? How low can we push it? I just filled my tank last night so I think I'll try a little experiment. I'm going to drive through this tank and try to use as much gas as possible. I'm going to do the jack rabbit starts, race up to every red light (so I can just sit idling), floor it when merging onto the highway and generally not give a damn about fuel economy. Maybe I'll even use the autostick and only shift at 4000 rpms. This is not to say I'm going to drive reckless and speed. I'm just going to do the opposite of my normal driving style. Since I have a good average, it also tells me everything is working as it should right now so I'll have a baseline low to know when something is really wrong. Wish me luck...or lack of luck.

 

[arcboy2006]

i can say doing all that ive hit 17-19 mpg thats even while towing

 

[UA_who]

Good luck Todd
I bet you can get it into the 15-17 range like that.

I've tried the opposite to maximize fuel economy at all cost and pushed my FDII up to 28mpg for a full tank. But I swear I saw a grandma pass me on the left with her walker.

 

[Kahbrohn]

I have been toying around with doing the same thing. I need to fill up today so I may do the same and we can compare the results.

 

[arcboy2006]

my best was 29.2 on regular gasoline and stock 16" rims and factory tire size. and thats was just mostly highway at 55-60 keeping the rpms as close or lower than 2000rpms

 

[APT]

I used to autocross my in college with a car that got 25-30mpg on public roads. I got as low as 12mpg in that on autocross days.

 

[Schoat333]

I'll admit that I usually drive more agressive. I drive on city street to and from work. I have to deal with traffic, and slow driving little old ladies every day.

The last tank was 16.5 mpg. Thats is my record for the lowest mpg.

I usually get between 17-21 mpg.

 

[Rskitall]

I try to drive normal but I wind up driving fast.sometimes 80-90mph down the hwy,got it up to 115mph one day.worst gas mileage was 18mpg best was 23mpg I rarely make long trips on the hwy so I don't have any estimate on hwy mileage when I go on vacation I will let you know

 

[robi454]

Get on the Interstate and go 85...you get about 15 MPGs. It does great drives like a car but burns thru gas. Still, when i get my 78 Blazer on the Highway at 85 it gets about 9 MPGs. (side note, you should never exceed the posted speed limit it is dangerous and illegal) but it is FUN!

 

[todde702]

Well, I'm almost through the tank and the scangauge is reporting 18.5 mpg for the average tank economy. The scangauge is usually within 1 mpg, or closer, of the calculated actual so I'm very surprised. I've been shifting manually at 4k rpms, cruising on the highway in 5th (CVT), doing the back roads in 4th or 3rd. Accelerating very briskly, pulsing the pedal, letting it idle and warm up longer...18.5 doesn't seem low enough. I know I'm "beating on it" some as my intake air temps are running +20 to +40 above ambient (usually with the battery cover off, I only see a +10 degree rise) and my coolant temps are in the 190+ range (usually only see 179-184 deg F in the winter). I've got 1/4 tank left so I guess I'll have to try a little harder! :doh:

 

[JoeBecker]

To brutalize the MPG....

Never get on an interstate. Let it warm up for 2 mins before going anywhere. Drive only 10 miles or less at a time. Consistently get on then off the gas at least a dozen times in a mile.


My daily drive to work is 8 miles - all city streets.
Somedays I will get 22 MPG one way and 20 on the way back (or visa versa).
It is all in how I hit the lights, how much other traffic, road conditions (dry, wet, icy and how it affects other drivers), etc.

I have seen 18 MPG as my low on a very cold icy drive.

I once got 25 MPG on the exact same route by making all the lights, good conditions, and almost no other traffic. It was like being on any empty interstate.

 

[miketmx]

I have the 5 speed and I don't even consider city driving because there are so many variables and besides when I drive our Cherokee I don't even wanna know! Anyhow on our Patriot I often average 8L/100 km (sometimes 7.6L/100 km) highway driving speeds around 105 kph. On our last highway trip of over 1000 km I deliberately used only 4th gear (3400 rpm) and did not use 5th gear. I averaged about 8.5L/100 km. I don't have a handy calculator to compare mpg but it is pretty thrifty even when using 4th gear.

 

[Ignatz]

To brutalize the MPG....
Never get on an interstate. Let it warm up for 2 mins before going anywhere. Drive only 10 miles or less at a time. Consistently get on then off the gas at least a dozen times in a mile.

You should meet my cousin. She stomps on the gas like a drag racer, then on the brake because she's going too fast, then on the gas again because now she's going too slow, next on the brake again . . . you get it . . . and all with two tires in the gutter! Now imagine being beside her in traffic; or her unfortunate passenger (with whiplash)! She chose her car because it was supposed to get good gas mileage but for her the window sticker mpg is dreamland. Its not the car's fault.

 

[UA_who]

The Patriot seems to do it's best at 40-50mph. Fast enough to stay in the highest gear, but not so fast to have the crummy aerodynamics take over.

Something like this maybe: (for my FDII at least)
Speed in mph on the bottom, fuel economy in mpg on the side.

 

[todde702]

Well, my first attempt at this was a bust. I had managed to get the scangauge to show an average of 18.5 mpg with about 1/4 tank left to go. But then the wife had to borrow the Patriot. I told her it was almost out of gas and if she put some in to save the receipt, which she did. She put in $10 @ $2.89 a gallon, which comes out to 3.46 gallons. I ran it back to empty and filled it with 12.05 gallons. The trip was never touched and showed 303.4 miles. So...

3.46 + 12.05 = 15.51 Gallons

303.4 miles / 15.51 gallons = 19.56 mpg (scangauge was showing 19.1)

So 19.56 mpg. And I was beating on it, letting it idle, purposely driving it at 3500 rpms or higher, flooring it when merging (5000 rpms)...no doubt the wife's highway cruising really hurt the results...guess I'll have to try again. :doh:

 

[dixiedawg]

You should meet my cousin. She stomps on the gas like a drag racer, then on the brake because she's going too fast, then on the gas again because now she's going too slow, next on the brake again . . . you get it . . . and all with two tires in the gutter! Now imagine being beside her in traffic; or her unfortunate passenger

I think I've been behind her on the two lane highways before! lol

 

[davecanuck]

Well, my first attempt at this was a bust.

I think your experiment was quite informative and despite the gentle driving on the last 1/4 tank it does give an indication of the expected lower end of performance from the vehicle.
Can you comment on your weather (outside temp) and road conditions (wet, dry, etc) over the test period.
My thanks for your efforts.

 

[todde702]

I think your experiment was quite informative and despite the gentle driving on the last 1/4 tank it does give an indication of the expected lower end of performance from the vehicle.
Can you comment on your weather (outside temp) and road conditions (wet, dry, etc) over the test period.
My thanks for your efforts.

Well, I thought I'd easily drop my average into the 17 mpg range with the way I was driving. My commute does have about 3-4 miles of highway travel everyday, but to maximize fuel usage, I shifted in to 5th gear turning some 3500+ rpms. As I said I really hammered (in my opinion) on the poor thing and still struggled to get it below 18.5mpg (until the wife drove it for 40+ highway miles). Anyway, the weather was:

Monday was a scorcher @ 54 deg. F (for Jan. anyway)
Tuesday it started dropping off from 40 deg. F to as low as 16 deg. F over the weekend.
It rained Monday (torrential at times) and Tuesday and we had a little snow at the end of the week over the weekend.

 

[Afmcronnie]

The Patriot seems to do it's best at 40-50mph. Fast enough to stay in the highest gear, but not so fast to have the crummy aerodynamics take over.

Something like this maybe: (for my FDII at least)
Speed in mph on the bottom, fuel economy in mpg on the side.

Weather, terrain and traffic figure into any calculations, but your chart seems pretty darn accurate. I get anywhere from a low of @19 to a high of about 25. I'm still experimenting with different driving techniques, as the route and traffic are pretty much the same everyday.

 

[R.E.M.]

Just to let you know, I've started a while back to check my fuel consumption. I did my worst tank last week, getting 19MPG (but I do have the 5sp. transmission). Most of it was city driving in high traffic, and all week long was around -15F...