marrying a fat woman and complaining about the grocery bills.
Or trying to turn a hooker into a housewife - Been There, Done That!
But seriously, why do some of us truck owners think that we are driving sports cars? One of my buddies was asking me about 0-60 times, horse power, and quarter mile track times. Like I care!
I bought a truck. Not a sports car. Not a pony car. Not a muscle car. But a truck!
Let's see him haul plywood, sheet rock, wood studs, and concrete.
Besides, he drives a Honda with those magic stickers that add horses when his V-Tec kicks in. The knuckle-head actually wants me to line up and race him. I'm almost tempted to do it, just so that I can apply my grille guard push bumpers while effecting a Patrol Intervention Technique (PIT Stop), right as his V-Tec kicks in and he tries to pass.
By the way, sorry, a Honda is not a muscle car either. And while we're at it, the Ridgeline & Pilot are not real trucks. What can you haul and tow with them? How will they handle off road? All that you really have is a Honda Odyssey mini-van with a different body configuration.
But getting back to the topic: I didn't expect a whole lot at all with my truck. I knew that a truck was not an economy commute car.
I think the original poster can get back to 17mpg (highway I am guessing) by slowing down to the speed limit *gasp*, and driving in a smooth manner. Simply not jabbing the throttle all the time and maintaining a constant speed can make a huge difference. On the highway you expect to get better mileage, but if you are driving faster than everyone else, weaving in and out of slower moving traffic, applying brakes for people going the speed limit, and then speeding up again; you are wasting fuel. As far as your truck is concerned you are doing stop and go driving, your fuel usage will reflect that.
On the original point and as mentioned above, guess what you drive? A truck. It weighs about 5600-5800lbs, and has all the aerodynamic qualities of a brick. The faster you try to push it through the air the more energy it takes, and not in a proportional manner. It increases exponentially, it requires way way more power to push the vehicle the faster you go. More energy is required to go from 60mph to 70mph than from 30mph to 50mph.
So, if you want to get good mileage go the speed limit, accelerate smoothly, use the brakes sparingly (because you have to speed back up wasting fuel). Also keep the truck in good running order, tires inflated properly (even a few pounds over inflated helps a little) etc.
I read that before I bought my truck (no it's not an F-150) and have tried to drive accordingly, especially on long trips. My last long trip was from Western South Dakota, to Lincoln, NE. I averaged (hand calculated) 19.1 mpg, which I was thrilled with considering I was driving a 1/2 ton truck burning 85 octane cat piss. Some things working to my advantage were very little traffic, calm weather, and the fact that I-80 is made of concrete which is a low rolling resistance surface that is good for mileage. The trip home was not such a good story with a heavy head/cross wind all the way home, but some things are out of your control.
One other thing I will point out that might be holding you back on mileage is gearing. I didn't see you mention what your rear end is, and with only a four speed auto if you have a 4.10 rear end you will be using more fuel due to higher engine speeds while cruising. The lack of a modern transmission is one of the reasons I didn't go with an F series when I bought my current truck, but that is another discussion for another day.
I just put on some new tires. Kumho Road Venture AT, stock size, very aggresive tread pattern for an AT tire, and I went from 19 mpg to 14-15 mpg. Holy Crap! Still love the 4.6L, and yeah, I really like the tires
What can you haul and tow with them? How will they handle off road? All that you really have is a Honda Odyssey mini-van with a different body configuration.
LOL, she did great pulling the boat! I took out the middle and rear seats and the van was completely empty. Barely even squatted when I hooked her up. I used my F-150 to launch the boat once at the lake. Those minivans have plenty of power and brake to handle a 3000 lb setup like that but I wouldn't want to do it very often!
Only made one trip like this as we had a travel trailer and used the truck to pull that. Now we sold the trailer and bought a motorhome with a hitch so no more minivan abuse! The hitch is only used now to hold bikes!
I have a 07 F-150 4x4, Supercab w/5.4 liter and 3.73's...I get 10-16mpg. Can't seem to get better than 16-17mpg on highway and that's only going 65mph. Around town, 10-13mpg is the norm. Not what I expected. And I'm driving pretty smooth, no heavy accelerating...although I do like the torque the engine produces.
I remember back in the 90's, my buddy bought a full sized Ford with the 460. He got the same mileage as my '72 390. You will never see 25mpg in a 5.4, unless they kill half of the cylinders.
Be careful of what V-Tech you line up against. My daughter had a '98 Prelude that was supercharged, and much engine work. It would have taken a good truck to keep up, anything factory would have been a laugh. I drive a Ford with the 5.4, and this wouldnt have been a race without the 'charger. Hp to weight ratio=kills the truck division.
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