I picked up a 2003 f250 Supercab V10 in March. 69000 miles, great shape. Driving it home on the highway (about 250 miles,I was pleased to get just short of 15 MPG (hand calculated). Driving around town though is a different story. Averaging about 6.5 to 7mpg. I drive like the old man I am, truck runs great. I had coil boots and plugs changed, cleaned MAP, ran a can of sea foam, air filter etc. I don't let it idle for any length of time, but if I do I can see the lie-o-meter dropping quickly!
I know I'm not driving a gas saver, but I've read every post I can find and it seems this mileage is way lower than most people are getting. The truck was used for towing a TT for the first few years, then rarely driven for several years, then a daily driver for a few years, then I bought it to tow my boat. VIN says it has the 3.73, I can't read the tag on it to verify.
I drive in Miami but not bumper to bumper, mostly 2-3 miles one way with a couple stop lights. Had a different work assignment for a while, mostly highway driving with about 30% city driving, and I got around 13mpg. Any ideas on the super low city mileage?
Thanks,
MiamiDave.

 

"Two to three miles each way with a few stop lights" will destroy the measured fuel economy of any vehicle.

Remember- it's "miles per gallon" and you are only going 6 miles. But still using gallons. Another post on here was about fuel consumed during idling. I think it was .65 gallons per hour for our V10. I mention this only to get you thinking about YOUR ratio of fuel/hour. I bet it's triple the idle usage- so that's 1.95 gallons per hour. How long is your "2-3mile each way"? Maybe 12 minutes? That's two tenths of an hour at (the hypothetical) 1.95 gallons/hour. That's .39 gallons for a 3mile drive. That equals 7.69mpg.
Granted these are hypothetical numbers but you get the idea.

Any gasoline vehicle will measure poor economy figures when driven such a terrifically small distance.

Also: do you have 4wd? Big tires? Are any of the brakes dragging?

 

Yes I agree the short distance makes for terrible mileage. The truck is stock, 2 wheel drive. Not loaded with any tools or equipment.
I'll take a closer look at the brakes, jack it up and make sure nothing is dragging. I have an infa-red temperature scan tool that I've checked wheel temps with after driving and they seem relatively the same.
Thanks for your ideas, makes sense. Short trips, engine barely gets up to operating temperature, and I'm in very humid climate.
Still love the truck and performs great for what I wanted - towing my boat.

Thanks

 

My truck is different but my "city" mileage can range from 5-9. Don't feel bad, my unloaded highway never gets above 10.

 

Thanks. Mind is consistently around 7 city mpg. Just thought I'd ask about it since most are claiming higher city. I guess their city driving and mine are a little different.

 

I don't believe many of the claims on this site, ever. Yes my truck is a much heavier dually with more rolling resistance. I track my mileage, just because, and my high/low/avg are

11.31/5.97/8.84

Now my numbers are skewed a bit for low and average because this truck is hooked to a dump trailer 85% of the time. But that 11.3 has not happened again. That was a highway trip where I accelerated slowly and kept to the speed limit.

I see the 14 & 15 mpg numbers tossed around and I only believe it when it comes from a single cab 2wd. Sure someone may have hit that number a few times in their trucks 100,000mi life. But it's far from an average.

I have an escape for mpg and the V10 for work and play. I bought it for power, not mpg.

 

Mine, even though I can top out at 16 on the highway (even 17 once on a long trip), my city mileage is in the 5-7 range.

On a 22 mile trip to work, I used to get just short of 10MPGs, and that was about 10 miles of highway at 55+ and the other 12 a bit of stop-and-go.

I don't think your mileage is out of the ordinary for your driving conditions.

 

Mine is the same way. 14mpg Canadian gallon per mile highway but way worse in town. I guess them two extra cylinders just plain n simply burn more fuel.

 

I just recently got 14 mpg on a hunting trip out east (but with a brisk 20 MPH tail wind most of the way, 65 mph speed and fairly flat eastern Oregon terrain).

 

I should clarify. 14-15mpg could be highs but are far from anyone's average. That's why too many people come on this site and crab about their V10's mpg stating "I've read you could get 14-15mpg in a V10, mine never does?"

Reporting highs only confuses people. Highway and towing mpg mean nothing. Average means everything. Simple mathematics.

 

I agree just being a bit of an smart a$$.

 

Oh I know. But I still needed to clear that up.

 

Just my $.02. I recently drove 200 mile round trip empty all hwy. Hand calculated 14.8 mpg. My mph was between 70-85, mostly 75. My commute to work is 17 miles one way and I will avg 13mpg. This is mostly state road with a few stops in and out of the towns I go through. I have noticed that if I am driving in a town or city where I set at a lot of red lights, stop signs or in slow moving traffic my mileage decreases to around 9-10. If I am towing, usually ~6-8k lbs, mileage is about 9-10. I have a tall bullnose 7x16 enclosed trailer. Mind you that I do not drive hastily and coast as much as possible. Also, I am OCD when it comes to maintenance. So my mileage may not be consistent with what most experience.

 

Used to drive my v10 every day to work. My commute is 2 miles one way. I work as a mechanic and I don't have any scientific evidence bit I believe that startup burns way more gas in my opinion. I would normally get 7 during the warmer months. But I live in Iowa so if there was frost or ice on the windshield or below zero Temps I would warm it up before leaving. Then 5mpg was the norm if we had a cold streak. This is the reason I bought a 93 ranger 2.3 5 speed for a work truck now I get 17 in cold weather and 19 in the summer around town! Best $300 I've ever spent. A v10 is made to pull and that's what I do with it now.