Hey guys. Iv always been interested in the theory of Hypermiling. Supposedly, you can make any vehicle get double the fuel mileage. This makes my ears perk up a bit. Imagine this: Ford F-250, V10, automatic tranny, 4 wheel drive... 20 mpg. That's enough to make me excited lol. If I could make my truck get 20 mpg regularly, I would NEVER have a reason to sell it! BUT can it be done?

Is there anyone with a V10 who has experimented with hypermiling? Not long after I purchased my V10, I drove like a grandpa and got close to 11 mpg. Far cry from 20 but its still better than low 10s!

My biggest issue is aerodynamics. These ol Fords are notorious for being equivalent in aerodynamics as throwing a brick through the air. The fix is to attach different aerodynamic enhancing panels. This also turns any good looking truck, gawdy... The last thing I want to do to my F-250 Harley is make it look gawdy. Any ideas here?

Any info is appreciated!

 

I don't know what sort of terrain you live in, but I believe it's a huge part of what sort of mileage any vehicle, especially a heavy truck with a big engine gets for mileage. I live in Northern California on the coast. Lots of hills, lots of short trips etc. I got a job about 6 months ago in Southern Oregon and since I haven't moved my family yet, I commute home during the week and occasionally take my truck back. Around here, my truck gets about 10.7 mpg, but in the Medford, Oregon area, it magically gets 13.7 mpg driving the same way I do here. Why? because the surrounding area in Oregon is flat and the drive to work is long, flat and freeway. My truck also knocked out 15.4 average on the way back from Utah once, and I got 16.2 mpg out of one tankful coming back from Reno, Nevada to Willits, Ca. Driving habits also play a huge part in mpgs, I drive my truck here, it gets nearly 11 mpg, my wife drives it, it'll get high 9's. BTW, I wouldn't lose a lot of sleep worrying about getting better mileage. Big 4WD pickups get bad mileage. A couple guys I work with get 14 mpg with their 2012 Dodge diesel trucks, basically the same thing I get in the same area. My Dad claims he gets in the 20's with his Dodge, but I drove the same truck for a week and got 18 mpg. I strongly suspect he got 20 during a trip thru Nevada ONCE and now claims that's what his truck now gets. Same as a lot of guys on this or any other forum...

 

"Hyper"miling is all about going to extreme measures for the sake of fuel economy. Hence the word Hyper.

The best a V10 truck owner can gain from hypermiling is to employ a few better driving habits. Minimize idling, coast more, brake less, minimize unnecessary weight, maximize maintenance condition...

People who do actual hypermiling are essentially minimizing the functionality of a vehicle. They install skinny tires, spend hundreds/thousands of $ on lightweight parts, drive dangerously slow on highways, shut off their engines at stoplights, roll through stop signs and red lights.... All kinds of crazy, non-sensical stuff that 99% of drivers shouldn't do.

As mentioned in my posts elsewhere on FTE, I improved my E350 V10 economy from mid11's to high12's by idling less, and staying well under 70mph on interstates, and coasting more.

 

If you or anyone is able to get 20mpg's on any terrain with 10 thirsty pistons in a super duty, go buy a lottery ticket immediately.

 

Typically and in nothing more than IMHO all this talk about and steps towards producing a 100% increase in MPG's on anything are just too extreme or require too much continued attention to sustain over a longer period of time.

Your own grandpa experience yielded a 1 MPG increase---was it worth the effort?

Anyone buying a 4x4 V10 and expecting it to be a gas miser should NOT have bought that sort of beast anyway!

You're driving a relatively high-performance truck which derives higher performance at the expense of MPG's. If MPG's are your bigger concerns keep the F250 and buy something more fuel efficient---'bout the only way to save fuel.

 

I average 9-10mpg in 2001 E350 15-passenger V-10 van. I use it as a mobile office/repair shop for dental & surgical equipment, so the truck runs all day after I start it up in the morning. Add in a very high load on the electrical system (aftermarket 270amp alternator powering a 5000W inverter, a large 12 volt air compressor, both front & rear HVAC blower motors) and there is no way it is going to get anything better than 11mpg on a really, really good day.

I have noticed that my 'mileage' has dropped significantly lately. I haven't been able to calculate the mileage due to not filling the tank completely or consistently, but the fuel gauge is moving a lot faster than it used to. I use the term mileage loosely here, as it is based on fuel level position on the instrument panel versus mileage on the trip odometer. Yes, I am well aware that it is in no way scientific, reliable, and is at best, an educated guess. I'll do complete fill-ups this week and calculate it.

The last time my fuel gauge moved this quickly, relative to miles driven, was when I had two COPs dead/dying with 120Kmi on the original plugs. I put in new Motorcraft plugs & boots (aftermarket boots) and replaced the two bad COPs last summer, and mileage returned to normal.

Again, I know I have no real data to backup my 'mileage' claim, so no flames please.

Still, I should be getting roughly 300mi on a tank (35gal.), but I'm lucky to see 200 miles lately.

I'll check back in with an update late this week.

-Brandon

 

I agree with the above statements, the truck is just to heavy, large, and parts are way to hard to get rolling to produce any sort of measurable gain anywhere close to the "double the mileage" you wana try to get.

I can average about 13 real world MPG with my truck, 2000 4 door, 4x4 v10 super duty.

right now with temps in the low 30-20 range I am seeing 10.7ish. What changed, well for starters I let the truck warm up idling, I also notice a change in mileage when the fuel supply in my area switches to the "oxygenated" fuel for winter months. I drive my truck like a grandpa, I stay at 58 MPH on freeway in my morning commute (speed limit is 60 through city) the main thing is to watch the tach, when this truck spins over 2k the gas mileage goes down quickly. so 58-60 is just a tick under 2k rpm. I limit the use of the ac, so only use defrost to clear window and then switch to floor heat. If you don't know on most fords, use of the defrost and even the split defrost/floor function turns on the AC to dry the air thus reducing MPG... I can care less if the car next to me takes off like a rocket from stop lights and I anticipate the change of lights by costing and easy on brakes. It really gets me when I hear people buy a new car/truck and complain about the gas mileage (I am a technician by trade) and go for a ride with them and watch how poorly they drive. When the light turns green they hammer the gas, because "I have to keep up with everyone" and slam on the brakes because the light turns red only to slam on gas again when turns green. over and over, fast as the car can go and then bitch about mileage. Also I cannot count the number of cars that come in to the shop with almost flat tires, and alignments that are way out of spec. those two would cause a very big spike in low MPG.

My best advise for you is this, if mileage is a concern use the truck for what it is designed for, working or towing and buy a commuter car to drive everyday. you will save on fuel, and greatly reduce the maintenance cost of the beast v10 and truck.