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Real World Fuel Economy (not for lead foots)

4K views 31 replies 22 participants last post by  dieselcruiserhead 
#1 ·
Hello everyone.


I commute over 100 miles a day and am trying not to go broke just getting to work. Though not too bad, fuel prices still hurt. I've thought about buying a new penatly box to commute in, but at around $16k for a fairly basic ride I can put that money into what I already own and have much better and safer ride with more economy to boot.

My current goal is to see what maximum economy number I'll get prior to installing any other mods. Along with the mod list I'll also include a running tab of associated costs.

Starting MPG: just under 16.

The mods so far:

DP F5 (bought used, don't know what tunes are loaded but keep in 1) ($100)
235/85 Falken Landair HT's, inflated to 70 with nitrogen ($400 for tires, $20 fill for all 4)
Homeade CAI (parts laying around the house, filter from friend)
Bed cover (came with truck)
Drier vent tube with lint trap air intake (found in house) and ZooDad
Synthetic Rotella ($50+filter)
Emtpy cab and bed, no extra crap (sweat)
Flag mirrors ($45)
Muffler delete ($20 for sawzall, $20 for pipe, $160 for labor:doh:)
Keep it under 65, light throttle around town, roll to stop lights
Rarely approach 2000 rpm
Keep A/C off as much as possible, drive with defrost on high (almost as good as A/C at higway speeds)

Sub total: $815

The reward so far: nearly 22 mpg in mixed driving (85% highway), which is a 28% improvement. Believe when you hear how you drive has the most impact on economy. I just filled the tires yesterday, so I'll see what the difference is after next fill.

Next steps:

Remove spare and tools, carry 12v compressor and plugs
Remove tailgate and rear bumper
Remove passenger mirror, cover hole with blank-off plate from cab chasis van
Block off most of front end/ seal seams around lights

Once I've experimented with all that, the expensive part comes in with the bolt ons. At this point my goal, and emphasis, will be on efficiency and longevity rather than raw power. The mods will include:

4" turbo back
Intake
John Wood valve body/overhaul if required
6.4 convertor
CNG system with tuning (being developed by Deluca Fuel Products)
4 3500# CNG bottles (6 gallon equivalent or more each)/custom rack
38R turbo/ upgraded cooler
Upgraded Stage 1's
ITP fuel system with bowl delete
FASS system
Hub conversion
Electric fans
Waterless coolant
Upgraded cooler

From talking with others who have these systems, and Marc at Deluca, it's possible to see hundreds of miles on a single gallon of fuel. I'll keep this going and continue to post my progress.
 
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#2 ·
good luck keep us posted
 
#4 ·
That's pretty good mileage so far. I'm currently getting 20.34 MPG out of my '02 F250 w/ 3.73 gears, hand checked by filling up to the cap each time (summer fuel seems to be much better than the winter blends as far as MPG is concerned). Stop and go style driving not much highway use. Very light on the throttle, mostly using cruise control and rolling up to stop signs. Only mod is a performance chip that was installed by the dealer when I bought the truck new, don't know what kind it is, but it's supposed to be a 70HP upgrade.
 
#5 ·
22 is awesome. there is a guy over on PSN that gets high 20s but his truck is lowered, low gears, air dams, side skirts and a bunch other things.

I get 17 on the freeway and 14 to 15 in the city.

My best tank I got 400 ish miles per DIESEL gal. but that was burning veggie from my back tank :haha: I normally get about 30 to 40 miles per DIESEL gal on my daily drive to work (30 miles each way) Later this year I am going to drive to cali in the truck and should get about 1k miles per DIESEL gal :) :woot:
 
#6 ·
22mpg's is great. I'd kill to get that with mine, doubt that'll ever hapen though. :scuffy
 
#8 ·
i get around 650-700kms per fill of around 105 liters, diesel is 72.4cents a liter here right now..and thats driving nice..with just an intake..
 
#10 ·
I get 22-23mpg on the highway and with mixed city and highway I see 19mpg

7.3 6speed 3.73's
 
#11 ·
Im averaging about 19-20 mph, but i drive easy and use my TC lock switch around town to keep RPM around 1000. Every now and then I blow her out tho :thumb:
Aint it illegal to take off the bumber?
 
#15 · (Edited)
Someone asked where I'm located: Middleburg, FL. No, it's not illegal to run without a bumper here (I've seen several people running their trucks without ) but I'm not completely insane; the hitch is staying in place, which will give me some protection. Though is sounds as if I'm trying to put the beast on a diet, let's be real: the thing wieghs 7100# with driver and full tank, it's a 4x4 and has the wind resistance of a rounded off brick. Unless I can find 1000# to chop I'm not that worried about wieght, though no dog house, doors, bed or interior has a kind of "Mad Max" appeal to it (legal issues not withstanding).

Every fill seems to get a little better. So far I'm at 500 miles sitting on the 1/4mark. Keep in mind that 22 has been my best so far and that was about 2 years ago. When I fill up this time I'll post what I got.

Keep forgetting: I haven't done the harpoon mod yet, and the nozzle cuts off at about 26 gallons, though if feathered I can fit in another 7 (adds at least 10 minutes per fill up, a real PITA). Who in their right mind (Ford seems to be the only ones) thought it would be a good idea to manufacture such frustration into something so mudane as a fuel tank? Anyway, without knowing how much fuel is left before filling up I can't be 100% certain, so my figures are rough estimates. Once I do the Hutch and harpoon I can get a more accurate reading on the fuel quantity. DISCLAIMER: once the acual quantity is know my figures may be slightly lower than currently estimated, or may be right on the money. Either way, my ulitmate goal will eclipse any current achievements.
 
#16 ·
Get a vegi system and screw diesel. If you drive that much it will pay for itself and you could get insane diesel mpg's.
 
#17 ·
On the Tailgate, Look that up, when you remove it, it hurts the fuel econ more with it off then with it on and closed.

With it closed it holds the air in the bed and the air coming off the roof will flow over the higher pressure in the bed.
 
#18 ·
I can get, over 22 just going 55.... But who wants to go that slow!!?

I tow at almost 70... LOL
 
#19 ·
2000 F-450, CC, dually, 4x4, 6-speed, 4:88s, DIY intake and SuperChips 1805 tuner on 'Perf/Tow" setting. Getting 12.5 on 90% city, 10% hwy empty. Funny, that's exactly what I was getting with my 350-powered 2000 Chevy 2500, CC, 4x4 :woot:
 
#20 ·
Back when I had stock injectors, D66 turbo, stock tires with a 4" lift I was getting 20.7mpg on long trips with an average of 19 mixed driving.

This was the trim I had her in for this kind of mileage(8600lb):
 
#21 ·
Keep A/C off as much as possible, drive with defrost on high (almost as good as A/C at higway speeds)
one problem with that... The A/C compressor still runs on defrost. check it out for yourself if you don't believe me. turn it on to floor and go watch the front of the compressor. it should be stationary. then when you kick it into defrost it kicks the a/c on.
 
#24 ·
Pretty sure only the vent, floor, and off positions prevent the A/C compressor from cycling. Air is warm even when set to cold due to Ford's bright idea to keep the heater core hot all the time.

A removed tailgate is worse for mpg than an installed tailgate. Neither are as good as a bed cover.
 
#26 ·
Take the body and bed off ! Then take a big piece of plexi-glass and make an airo-dynamic wing over the chassis. That should gain quite a bit. If that's not enough, scrap the frame and just put the engine on a lawn mower. Then you can really save a lot.
Or you could save the trouble and trade your truck in on a rice burner with 100k miles and save even more.
 
#30 ·
I'm pretty interested in CNG as well. I'm curious for more info on your kit and how it would work. I have a 4" exhaust currently but that's it, planning a DIY intake at some point. I was planning on possibly making a steel lid for the bed with 4-6" tall or so racking so "two levels" of storage or so and make the lid easily removable and hopefully not too heavy using a thin-wall steel and 16 gauge (which will also save me money as well). Sort of like a heavy duty, usable steel lid for the bed. This said with CNG the costs are only about $.75 a gallon here in Utah so I'm not sure I'd need the fuel economy with the added benefit of the CNG and I'd expect about 30-40 mpg diesel with the CNG blended.

I was planning on using a single CNG tank width-wise across the front of my long bed as I've seen on some gasoline trucks. I believe this is called a "12 gallon" tank. With the offset of CNG consumption that the diesel will add that CNG should last a considerable amount of miles I figure.

I was at one point considering selling my truck (1999.5 Supercab Long Bed) in favor of a shortbed for maneuverability but if I go CNG I'm sure I'll be glad I stayed long bed.

I was also considering scrapping the Powerstroke right now (I personally have a love/hate for the Powerstroke) in favor of a 12 valve Cummins though I love the Ford truck. I was thinking the 12 valve, a beefed up 4R100 aka Jon Woods or Suncoast or BTS or whatever, and the CNG should add something like 50-100 HP I figure... The Cummins is just drying to fit in the Ford, the engine compartment almost looks like it was designed for it :)

Cheers,
Andre
 
#31 ·
CNG here costs nothing, so it's a no-brainer as to what I'll use.

Here's the link for the kit.
http://http://www.delucafuelproducts.com/

According to Mark, in a truck as big as ours, you need at least 12 equivalent gallons of GNG to get any range out of the truck, though more is always better. I saw a few on E-Bay for around $220 ea that might have been a good deal. My rack will be simple angle iron made to fit below a bed cover.
 
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