winter mix gas=crappy gas

 

I traded a '97 4x2 S-Cab 4.6L 3.55 on a 13.5K mile '04 4x2 S-Crew, 5.4L 3.55.........

My big a$$ heavy 300hp 5.4L truck gets BETTER mileage than the 4.6L it replaced and I'm HAPPY!!!!!

In the 75k miles I drove the '97 it averaged 15.6 mpg (that's odo miles and pump gallons in an Excel spreadsheet).

The '04 5.4L has never dropped below 15.6 mpg in the 4K miles I have put on it (mixed driving) and has topped out a 18.2 mpg with the running average somewhere around 16.5 mpg (not a lot of data in the Excel spreadsheet yet in only 4k miles).

LOVE the 5.4L and anything over 15 mpg in a 3 ton truck is fine by me!!!!!!!!

 

WOW You guys with the V8 trucks are doing great. My 05 4.2 V6,Reg.cab,long bed,Auto.,4x2 only gets around 13.0 to 13.7 in town and around 17.5 hiway.
You would think the V6 would get better than the V8s. I might look into traiding it for a V8 truck.

 

I think the smaller engines sometimes are not the answer for better mpg seems the 5.4 gets better mpg than the smaller V-8 consistantly. I am not sure just what winter blend is but it is a fact of life up here in New England and I am sure most states with the exception of the very southern most. But you can tell when it comes to the pumps it and the colder weather really drop milage plus the 10 minutes or so of warmup that is needed when the temps hit the single or minus digits

 

I have found the onboard mpg computer to actually show lower than what a calculate the old fashion way at the pumps. I do not know if it is my imagination but if I use 93 octane it seems to feel stronger less downshifting and milage is better teting it again with 87 will fill up again tommorow last with 93 mixed normal driving was about 16.4 will see how the 87 does last few checks have been to see if the magnaflow sido and K&N drop in have helped

 

They oxygenate the fuel much more in the winter months, along with some form of stablizer, to combate both the cold, and emissions.

 

Oh, and for everyone who gets the real bad mileage, what octane do you run? No matter what Ford says, I have always gotten better mileage when I run better gas (even if they say its "designed" for 87).

 

I was not sure about that actual mixture but I do know from my old snowmobile racing days that the colder the weather the richer we had to set our carbs do to the cold ar being denserI wonder if the onboard computers make these adjustments to the mixture probably they seem to do it all but the colder it is the worse the milage at 15 below clearing the onboard to cut out the warm up time I waas only getting low 13's to high 12's

 

In my are northern MA southern NH 93 costs about 20 cents more than 87 or like 2.39 verses 2.59 like 9% and the mpg seems to go up a corresponding amount like 15 to 16.4 or so plus it just feels stronger might be my imagination but it does down shift much less can't wait to see what the excal 2 and custom tunes will do I orderd an 87 tow 93 tow and performance 93 seemed like a good comb

 

I happen to be out on the Tundra forum surf'in around. It was funny, they are struggling with the same mileage numbers / variance we are. In general, they love their trucks like us ... but wish they would do better on gas. I think the bottom line is that we are pushing a lot of mettle through the air.

Here are a few out takes from their thread:

[snip 1]

Hey everyone, I'm new to this site. I've got a 2006 phantom grey Tundra DC. I love it!!! I traded in my 2001 tundra extended cab for more room. The only problem that i have is that i get very poor gas mileage. My gas light comes on at about 300 mi. I'm figuring I get anywhere from 11 to 13 Mpg tops. I drive a combination of hwy and city and am easy on the gas and braking. Like I said, the truck is new and I have only 1200 mi on it so far, dont know if brake-in time makes a difference. Is this norm or a problem with my truck? I figured i'll ask the techs when i take it in for first maintenance. Any ideas or comments? Oh yeah, its a 4x2 4.7L, supposed to get 16/19 mpg.

[end snip 1]

[snip 2]

I can tell you that it improves with break in, although not sure about an exact number. I generally drive with a complete lack of respect for all speed laws and have been getting poor milage, highway and city. After getting around 12 mpg on a 4 hour trip playing Nascar on the interstate (hey it gets boring out there), I read on these forums about guys getting 21 mpg. I followed some advice and drove right all the way home later that week. I put the cruise on 73 and kept the rpms no higher than 2500. I got 19.173 on the hwy, and 16.8 in the city. I have a 04 DC 4x4 with 46,000 and oversize tires on it.

Incase any of you are wondering my truck mostly gets 12 mpg, i'd rather get crappy milage than to have people passing me on the interstate.

[snip 2]

[snip 3]

I’ve been getting 11mpg for my 2004 4wd double cab. I’m driving in stop and go traffic most of the time. When I’ve had a 40 mile trip the best I have gotten was 15mpg. I've lifted the truck with coilovers but am still running the stock wheels and tires. I would love to get the mileage numbers on the window sticker especially with our gas prices here in Hawaii.

[end snip 3]

 

I have a 2006 SCREW XLT 5.4 L 3 V with 3.73 rear end. My gas miledge is averages 18.0 right now but is subject to change because I have only 3000 miles on it. I have checked on shorter trips on the interstate of 120-150 miles and depending on how I drive I have seen 21.0. I will tell you this is in OD and running 70 on the interstate with cruise. I am a little supprised at some of the milage but have checked several times and running the same trip it shows 21.0, but like I said that is 150-120 mile trip. caculated manually.I am not heavy with the foot and run cruise most of the time. I have not checked the overal miles on a full tank of gas but I will soon when I head out on Vacation. I do know one thing my new truck drives like a tank but does get better milage than my 2000 lariet even pulling the boat trailer.I do see a difference, but the new truck pulls so much easier than the older one. I am sure that is the difference I am seeing.