What kind of mileage are you getting?

[JWA]

Originally Posted by Cyrull

I'm in 5.4 Gas and I'm getting 9MPG.....would a vacuum leak account for this?

I don't want to pile on but even when I was driving my 03 E250 EB weighing right at 7,800# with 245/75-R16 tires my average was just about 15 MPG. I tend to drive 65 or 70, cruise control on when possible.

That van was basically a daily driver but a work van--kinda somewhat busy most often. There were sometimes several hours a day of idling time to keep the interior warm for my tools, supplies and parts just before installation.

You might want to do a live data report on things like fuel trims and just about every other performance parameter there is to be shown via a good higher level scan tool.

That just ain't right MPG's there friend.

[nyyankees588]

I've been tracking MPG since I purchased our van a couple years ago, so I have an average from over 35k miles now.

2003 e250 5.4L with fiberglass high-top. 3.63 gearing (2wd) 7940 total weight when fully loaded with ~20g water, full gas tank, etc. Have a roof box and solar panel on top (probably adds some drag).

During a 9 month road trip, we averaged 13.7mpg. Mostly highway and forest service roads, not much city driving.

Currently average 12.1mpg w/ 265/75/r16 - mileage definitely took a hit with the slightly larger tires and more city driving. Never see higher than 14mpg. As others have commented, if I drop down to 60-65mph on the highway and avoid stop n go traffic, mpg is a lot better.

[Cyrull]

Originally Posted by JWA

I don't want to pile on but even when I was driving my 03 E250 EB weighing right at 7,800# with 245/75-R16 tires my average was just about 15 MPG. I tend to drive 65 or 70, cruise control on when possible.

That van was basically a daily driver but a work van--kinda somewhat busy most often. There were sometimes several hours a day of idling time to keep the interior warm for my tools, supplies and parts just before installation.

You might want to do a live data report on things like fuel trims and just about every other performance parameter there is to be shown via a good higher level scan tool.

That just ain't right MPG's there friend.

I do have a bit of a lead foot :P. I will certainly look into it, I'm not nearly that heavy, maybe 6-7k tops. On 33's with a hightop, then again we live in the mountains so we never drive anywhere that is really flat.

[daveb]

I find a lot depends on terrain. My 6.0 gets about 15 on flat ground @ about 60MPH. If I run a tune, the mileage goes up a bit. My van is heavier than most though.

[motoidiot]

06' 6.0, ~9800lbs, 2wd with 6" lift and 33" tires, 4.10 gears.


If I can keep it between 55-60mph on (mostly) flat highway such as running down I-5 I can crank out ~17mpg. That rarely happens though and I end up running 65-75mph and getting ~13-14mpg.
Toss in mountainous terrain and or slower off road speeds and that drops to ~12-13mpg. Interestingly towing (~2500lbs) only drops me to ~12-13mpg hwy.




I attribute my mileage to the lift, tires and gearing. It's apparent that the less boost I'm using the better the mileage. (prior to the lift and tires I could easily get 17-18mpg consistently in mixed driving)

[wanderers]

According to the readout on the trip meter I'm getting between seventeen and fifteen miles per gallon but when I figure out my mileage on my hand written trip log I get between sixteen and fourteen miles per gallon and that depends on the odometer being correct, which I'm not sure that it is since the speed is off a bit when compared to the GPS. I need to get on a stretch of interstate highway with enough distance between major cities to get an accurate measurement. Of course when I'm headed home from the front range of the Rockies, the combination of losing six-thousand feet and having the prevailing wind at my back improves my mileage a great amount.
My van is about 8500 pounds and I have the 5.4L engine.


________
Roger

[Vanzila]

Originally Posted by Belize

I tried searching to find a discussion on the type of mpg people are getting with their SMBs, but "mpg" is to short of a word and mileage is on every post describing an SMB for sale. I have a 2006 Ford E350 RB with a 6.0 and am getting between 10-12 mpg which I feel is kind of low, but this being the first SMB I have owned, wanted to hear what others are getting if possible.


Thanks!

96 5.8L
in 1996 when mine was new i got about 18 on the Hwy and about 13 city. Now it averages about 10 mpg all day..

[jpau00]

I've been driving an 87 with bad catalytic converters, so my MPG was like -4. They're fixed now, so I'll be interested to see where my mileage ends up with an old van.

[BrianW]

I carefully tracked my 98 5.4/3.73 rear 2WD full SMB on several 7-8,000 mile XC trips. Consistently was in the upper 14s for mixed driving, from 70-80mph highway runs to twisty mountain roads. On a recent 10-day, 1300-mile trip with my similar newer 2011 I got 15.6 mpg actual as calculated with actual miles driven and gallons used, not the trip computer (which said something like 16.5 IIRC). 98 van had Michelin LTX highway tires, 2011 has Cooper ATs

[nortryder]

Originally Posted by jpau00

I've been driving an 87 with bad catalytic converters, so my MPG was like -4. They're fixed now, so I'll be interested to see where my mileage ends up with an old van.

I'm curious, why would bad converters affect mileage?