I have 2003 Escape with a V6 engine and automatic trans. I did a little experimentation to find out what would give me the best milage under any conditions. Some had told me to take the car out of overdrive while driving in the city or under 40 miles an hour, so I tried this for a few tanks of gas. It seemed that the car drove a little better and was more responsive with the OD off in this situation, but had no effect on the gas milage and I think it may of gone down.
My usual journeys though are usually highway driving. I travel a few Interstates to get to work. The speed limit is 65 mph on these highways, but if you do the limit, others will be passing you up, honking their horns at you, flipping you the bird, for going so slow. So I went along with them and started to drive 75 to 80 mph on these interstates like everyone else. No tickets, cops can't give 2000 cars a ticket all at the same time. My gas milage was not what it was suppose to be. Taking it out of overdrive in the city and while doing under 40 mph, plus the 75 to 80 mph speed was not working.
So I did a turn around. I left the vehicle in OD ALL THE TIME, never took it out of overdrive no matter what the condition was, city or highway driving. I reduced my speed on the interstate to between 60 and 65 mph, stayed in the right lane and let everyone pass me.
My gas milage went from a pawltry 18 to 19 mpg to 23 and sometimes 24 mpg! I think the biggest contributor to the increase was the speed on the highway. There is some kind of valve in the engine that when under high demand, opens up and lets a major amount of fuel get to the engine to meet this demand. Ever hear the term, "my car is sucking gas", well, at those high speeds that is exactly what it is doing...

From now on, I always keep the car in overdrive and limit my speed to 60 to 65 mph. One more thing, always check your tire pressure, make sure it is at where it is suppose to be, low pressure will eat into your gas milage.

 

Amazing....
You've just proven what everyone in the entire automotive world knows.

Speed requires power, power requires gasoline.

Why do you think the 55MPH national speed limit was instituted back in the 70's and 80's. The thing is that newer vehicles became fuel efficient so that at 65 they still get good mileage, but (as you saw) faster than that taxes them quickly. At 70 a big drop happens, at 75 a huge drop happens by 80, you are probably into single digits.

 

I drove from Philly to DC and back today on one tank. 358 miles on 14.3 gallons (V6, FWD). My Tribute is the most inconsistent car for mileage I have every owned but it was running efficiently today.

 

I think that is pushing the envelope, almost to good to be true...and you know what they say about that, if something is too good to be true it probably is...
I think the gas station you went to fill up after the trip did not quite fill up the tank to where it was when you started the trip. Sounds like a gallon of gas too short, but still if that was the case, 23.3 miles per gallon is darn good...

 

I commute straight highway and my 02 V6 Escape averaged 24mpg. My 05 I4 auto gets 27mpg. Now add in several in-town trips and you won't get those numbers.

If you were filling up a V6 on a long freeway trip, driving the speed limit, no a/c, etc...you could get 26mpg or better.

 

I just purchased my wifw a 06 Tribute and it is getting 23MPG, but I dont go over 70MPH

 

Recently it has been brought to the publics attention that the EPA milage ratings have been over estimated by as much as 10%. This would mean on the 03 V6 Escape which has an EPA milage rating of 18 city 23 highway, could actually mean 16.2 city 20.7 highway. These numbers are more realistic to what most people actually get with the Escape..I would really question the accuracy of anyone getting more than 23 mpg with a V6 automatic Escape,highway, straight road or whatever, unless it was all down hill..

 

Well Tony, I've driven my Tribute almost 80,000 miles and I can attest that it will regularly achieve 23+ mpg on highway trips. On this most recent trip I topped off the tank as much as possible. I don't believe in the "don't top off" advice. I keep clicking until I can't get anymore into the tank so I am pretty certain that it was full. I have had several trips where I have gotten 26 mpg by driving 65 mph on flat terrain. Keep in mind that my Tribute is FWD so it will do better than AWD. Plus, since mine is a 2002 it probably weighs a bit less than a new Escape/Tribute. In my experience, these cars will hit their EPA highway numbers if you don't exceed 75 mph and if you don't have a headwind (very important). I'll give you an example. Over the Christmas holiday I drove from Philly to Biloxi, MS (1200 miles). I was in no hurry to get there and set the cruise at 70 mph but I had a stiff headwind the entire trip. The result? A disappointing 22 mpg. On the way home I was in a hurry and set the cruise at 80 mph but now I had a tailwind and I average 24 mpg over the return trip. My last tank of gas took me 366 miles before I filled up.

 

I missed that, I was under the impression it was a 4x4. I must read the posts more carefully. Yes, I would assume a 2x4 would achieve better milage than a 4x4 because of the weight factor, a 2x4 is a few hundred pounds lighter.

Keep in mind I live in the state of New Jersey where it is against the law to pump your own gas. So each fill-up is completely different depending on the attendent pumping your gas. Some take out the gas nozzle as soon as it clicks off, others will top off and squeeze in as much gas as possible, and then others somewhere inbetween those two. Almost impossible to get a true amount of gas usage each fill up. With such a small gas tank in the Escape, one gallon or so either way can make a huge difference when calculating your mpg.
The EPA uses high tech gizmos to calculate fuel milage and they are still wrong, so they say...The best way to calculate your milage is definitely NOT by one fill up or one trip. You should take the average of 5 fill ups. Keep track of the milage driven and fuel consumed over 5 tankfulls of gas, then do your calculating. You will be surprised how different the numbers are when taking a calculation when driving under ideal conditions and just one fill-up...
I think GM has an onboard computer in some of their vehicles that tells you your gas milage at press of a button. From what I hear these computers also can be off by as much as 10% + or - also...

 

Tony,

I live 10 miles from NJ and my wife works on the NJ side of the river. When I can I take advantage of the cheaper gas in the Garden State but most of the time I fill it myself in PA. When I first moved to Bucks County I worked in NJ. The first time in needed gas in NJ I started to fill the car myself. You would have thought that I was trying to start a riot given the way the pump jockey acted. How was I to know that NJ didn't let you pump your own? But then, who would think that NJ often has some of the least costly gas in the country?

As for the EPA, their test is extremely accurate but their testing protocol doesn't reflect how most Americans drive. It is kind of difficult to expect the EPA to include speeds that are illegal in the highway test, yet that is how almost all of us drive. Once they start evaluating cars with cold start-ups, using the A/C, full-throttle acceleration and faster speeds the numbers will be more accurate for most drivers. The highway numbers are pretty good for most cars, its the city numbers that are usually off the most.

 

"I missed that, I was under the impression it was a 4x4. I must read the posts more carefully. Yes, I would assume a 2x4 would achieve better milage than a 4x4 because of the weight factor, a 2x4 is a few hundred pounds lighter."
"they say...The best way to calculate your milage is definitely NOT by one fill up or one trip. You should take the average of 5 fill ups. Keep track of the milage driven and fuel consumed over 5 tankfulls of gas, then do your calculating. You will be surprised how different the numbers are when taking a calculation when driving under ideal conditions and just one fill-up..."


I agree. That is why I track my MPG for the entire year. I check each tank but rely on the year to date figure. My 2005 XLS with FWD and 2.3 5 speed is driven mostly short trip (4mile or less) in stop light to stop light conditions with some road trips of 200 miles at a crack. I bought it on labor day week end 2005 and from then to the end of 2005 I averaged 25.5mpg. In that time I put on 4000 miles with only one road trip that was 150 miles. I have the miles and gallons all loged on my 1987 Tbird turbo coupe for the last 10.5 years. I would have to put them all together but it has averaged for that time and 120,000 miles about 23mpg. Exactly what the epa says is the combied average.

Just my .02
Dan

 

I should of said at least 5 fill ups, the more the better to get the most accurate mpg average...

 

The EPA has an extensive document for HOW ratings are to be performed, but MPG numbers are self-reported by the manufacturers. Personally, in my highway commute I've always been able to obtain the EPA MPG ratings for any Ford, Chevy, Nissan/Datsun or Toyota. I have been very disappointed with Honda. We recently owned an 02 Accord (3.0 V6 just like the 02 Escape) but I could only get 22mpg highway in the Honda versus 24mpg in the Escape which is shaped like a box (both were FWD and within 1hp).

Use a search engine and you'll find other people complaining about specific manufacturers overstating numbers. Granted you'll have to exclude the 16 year old that drives with his foot to the floor. With gas prices being up, I believe others have become overstating numbers. I've seen large V8 SUVs stating 26mpg+ lately. Granted more gears in the tranny is helping them but it's become a marketing tactic. I've started researching the numbers through web forums before I buy now. We dumped the Honda and now have another non-Ford that's rated at 27mpg and I've been able to achieve up to 29mpg on it so far.

I think the EPA is moving in the right direction but we'll see how it's implemented.

 

banana - good point regarding how the manufacturers are free to report mileage numbers other than EPA estimates. I don't think I have ever seen one do so but they certainly can and there has been pressure on Toyota to do so with the Prius. I rent a lot of different cars as part of my job and I can usually achieve the highway number or be within 5% but I don't have any experience with Hondas. I would love to see a full-size SUV achieve the mid-20's but I have my doubts. I think the best I ever got with a 4.0 Explorer (1999 model) was 22 mpg but 20 was more likely. Weight is the enemy!

 

As is speed with a boxy SUV. As I recall, the wind resistance increases as the square of the speed.

I've kept track of the mileage on my 2001 V6 4WD since I acquired it in early 2001. I've got 32.5K miles on it now. The summer average is 19.4 MPG and the winter average is 18.1 MPG. This is mostly city and urban freeway driving. My best mileage on a highway trip was 23.1 MPG in the summer. My worst mileage was 15.0 MPG in the winter, in the city.

It doesn't help that the transmission drops out of lockup so easy. If it didn't, I think the mileage would improve.