With the price of gas going to the roof a lot of people ask me if I am sorry I got the V10. I wanted a new F350 with a gas motor and I made the right choice IMO. I have made the same commute for 35 years with 9 different Ford trucks. 5 of these trucks were gas V8s , My 65 -352, my 75,-390, my 80 lemon-351, my 81-400 and my 88-460. I then had 3 diesels 95, 00, 04.
This 05 V10 gets the best mileage of any gas truck I have owned. Now part of this is due to the OD I am sure because none of my gas V8s had OD.
This truck gets me an honest 10 miles per US gal on my 9 mile commute. This includes a 2 minute warm up each start and I drive like a cowboy.
This is great mileage for a 7500 pound truck doing short trips.
My 04 6.0 got me 12 MPG on this commute.
My 88 460 got me 6 MPG on this commute,
My son's 94 Corolla ( no OD ) gets 25 MPG on this commute.
My 02 Accord gets 27 MPG on this commute.
I will swear to these figures on a stack of bibles If that is what some people want to hear. My 81 400 was the nearest to this V10 in fuel economy and got close to 9 MPG.
Now remember , this commute is mixed driving , stop signs, hills corners.
All of these vehicles did and do much better on long highway trips.
So, what is your experience......... gas V8 versus V10 truck mileage?

 

87 F150 4WD SC 351/auto=10 mpg
89 F250 4WD SC 460/auto=8 mpg
91 F150 4WD SC 302/Mazda 5 spd=12 mpg
93 F350 4WD CC 7.3/auto=12 mpg
95 F150 4WD SC 300 I6/Mazda 5 speed=15 mpg
97 F2504WD CC/shortbox PSD/auto=12 mpg
95 E150 Mark III conversion 302/auto=10mpg
98 E350 Clubwgn 6.8 V10/auto=12 mpg

 

my 87 was gettin 9.5 mpg towing a 6k lb trailer with a little over 1k in the truck through some pretty nasty hills, with using 4L and doing some stump pulling added into that equation. My mom is currently using my truck as her daily driver, because she sold her tundra to improve her credit in hopes of us buying a new house. So, every time i try to calculate what it gets under normal conditions she forgets and fills the tank without writing the mileage down. btw this is a 250HD carburated 460 with 4.10's and obviously 4x4.

 

F150 1983 302 3psd auto 4x4. 8-9mpg. No towing.
F250 1986 460 4spd man. 4x4. 9mpg. always 9 no matter what.
F250 1994 460 5spd man. 4x4. 9-10mpg. Once got 15 when driving from Co. - Ca.
F250 2000 415 4spd auto. 4x4. 9-15.2mpg. As low as 9 towing and city, upto 15 on highway.

 

1974 highboy, 4.10 rear, 33" tires.

FE 390, rebuilt top-to-bottom, 11:1 compression, 292/292adv-230/230@.050"-.554/.554" lift cam, Holley 750 vac sec 4bbl, Edel Performer intake, long-tube 1 7/8" headers, etc.

Real-world, CALCULATED mileage, 14-15MPG on the highway! That's doing 3500 RPM at 70MPH!

My '01 v10 puts out at least 80ft/lbs more torque (390 is about 420 gross, V10 is 425 net), runs on 87 octane (vs 93 for the 390) and starts and runs great when it's below freezing.

And the V10 gets 15mpg on the highway empty... 16 if I'm lucky.

 

'73 F250 Camper Special, 390 FE, 4 sp stick, 2WD welding rig - maybe 10 if I hold my mouth right...

'83 F150 4WD, 351M 4 sp stick - maybe 10, downhill, out of gear with the engine shutoff.

'99 SD F350 DRW, V10, 5 sp stick, 4WD, SC - 12 lately for some reason, better than usual - which was 11.2 to 11.4. (Could be the drought situation we're in - the underground tanks maye be condensate-free...)

As far as effecient - the V10 far exceeds the muscle of the 390 FE for tow/haul jobs. I love the 390, always will - smooth, dependable, stout - but Triton's V10 looms larger.

 

1987 F150 6 cylinder 4 speed 18-20 mpg

1994 F150 302 auto 14 mpg

1995 F150 4x4 351 auto 10-11 mg

2001 F250 4x4 V10 auto 3.73 15 average mpg

2002 F350 4x4 V10 4.30 12 mpg average

The '87 was a great running truck. The '02 is a beast and does just fine on the highway at 14 mpg unloaded, 10-11 average towing, most power, best ride, biggest grin.

Hmmmm, all Fords...

Dan

 

Dan you only got 10-11 out of your 95 half ton? I have the exact same setup and I get 14-16 depending on what I'm doing. In the winter with the front end locked in I got 8.

 

Thanks for the great posts and they all point out what most of us already know, our V10s are good motors and decent on fuel use too.

Krewat , what do you mean by "highboy". This is not a term I have heard in Canada.
Thanks eveyone and I am surprized at some of these. I thought the 300 six and the 302s would be getting higher MPG. It kind of shows if you want to drive a full size pickup, your going to buy more gas than the car people and I have also heard some of the little pickups get pretty poor mileage compared to cars.

 

Exactly. The best I ever got was 14 on the highway unloaded, cruise set AT 65 mph, using 90 octane.

Mostly I got pretty crappy mileage for a 1/2 ton. No wonder I am so pleased with my mileage in my F350 4x4 V10!

Dan

 

the only truck i ever had that came close in mpg's is my 53 flatie with stick 17 mpg's at 55 mph. but then most 6's are as big as that 8 with 239 ci's

 

A "highboy" is a '73-'77 4x4 F250 that really has an F350 frame under it, but runs a Dana 44 in front.

I've heard them called "heavy-duty" F250's...

The telling point of a "highboy" is you can put 35" tires on it without a lift, and where the bumper bolts on the rear, the chassis width is 31" like the F350.

 

My "Partner in Grime" buddy has a 69 F-250 Hi-Boy Crew Cab. It's 3 steps up from a basket case, but it's mostly there.


My wife said "What is that supposed to be" when we brought to the shop

 

You dont have to let your truck warm up before you start driving it. In fact its worse for the engine because it takes longer for it warm up under no load. If you read your trucks manual, it'll say the same. It says just to start driving as soon as you start the engine.

Back on topic. I just calculated it for the first time and My 99 F-150 4x4 with a 5.4 gets an average of 9.6mpg! (240mi/25gal) Thats horrible! I really need to get rid of those 35" tires

and the 73 F-250 4x4 with a worn out 360 got 5.2mpg (100 miles/19 gallons) It had 33's with 4.10 gears and no overdrive. The poor milage is my fault though, I had the pedal to the floor 90% of the time. it aslo did 2500 rpm at 55mph

 

on my way down to SD F350 99's house to pick up my zf 5sp and other goodies, i travelled 100miles on the highway @65mph and then i did 100 miles in the city to empty my tank. i got 15.9mpg on that tank of gas. and thats with no overdrive, 3.73 gears, and LT235/85-16 tires