mileage vs. performance
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Joined: Feb 2002
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mileage vs. performance
to those of you seeking steroids add-ons - what tweeks in the form of leaning out the mixture (since there are no carburators anymore) and exhaust formulas are recomended with the gas at $2.00 +
anyone out there - P Ferlow, etc.
no bowling money left
anyone out there - P Ferlow, etc.
no bowling money left
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 1,558
Likes: 3
From: Eastern TN
With all of the mods listed in my sig, I can honestly say that my gas mileage has remained identical to stock, when I spend the majority of time in town. This includes the not-so-infrequent burn-out and ricer smokin' on the way to and from work !! 
If I have the chance to burn a tank on the highway, I have found that I consistently get 1 to 2 mpg more, if I stay below 80mph and use the cruise control.
Before any of my mods, the most I ever got from a tank on the interstate was 375 miles. I now routinely go 400 - 425 miles on a single tank when I'm on the Interstate.
Once I put the MAF on, Mike T. said I needed to richen-up my mixture to prevent engine damage from a too-lean mixture. I must admit that after he re-burned my chip, the truck DOES run more powerfully. My rear tires show it too!!
If you were to do the air intake, exhaust, pulleys and electric fans you would probably do as good or a little better than I am mileage wise. A topper or lid would probably help some as well. A chip can theoretically help mileage, but I am proof that if you get more power, you'll probably use it. More power used more often = less MPG & more fun!!
Good luck...
If I have the chance to burn a tank on the highway, I have found that I consistently get 1 to 2 mpg more, if I stay below 80mph and use the cruise control.
Before any of my mods, the most I ever got from a tank on the interstate was 375 miles. I now routinely go 400 - 425 miles on a single tank when I'm on the Interstate.
Once I put the MAF on, Mike T. said I needed to richen-up my mixture to prevent engine damage from a too-lean mixture. I must admit that after he re-burned my chip, the truck DOES run more powerfully. My rear tires show it too!!
If you were to do the air intake, exhaust, pulleys and electric fans you would probably do as good or a little better than I am mileage wise. A topper or lid would probably help some as well. A chip can theoretically help mileage, but I am proof that if you get more power, you'll probably use it. More power used more often = less MPG & more fun!!
Good luck...
Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 184
Likes: 0
From: Northridge
drive like a grandma, never race, obey the speed limit.
Mods you can do include exhaust and FIPK to increase efficiency and sound of the motor. That's it. It is a truck it likes the gas pumps.
Brian
Mods you can do include exhaust and FIPK to increase efficiency and sound of the motor. That's it. It is a truck it likes the gas pumps.
Brian
Technical Article Contributor
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 10,511
Likes: 10
From: Under the flightpath of old ORD 22R
Re: mileage vs. performance
taldb,
The truck runs pretty lean from the factory, so I would not think you would want to try to go anymore.
Cold weather and the lean and mean tune = blown engine.
I keep an eye on my A/F ratio gauge, and in general ( considering it is a narrow band lambda O2 sensor not a wide band ) it is mostly to the lean side.
The tune still holds on the TPS > 80% and when hammered I still get a rich mixture.
Anything less then ~ 70% TPS and it is already lean ( that is how they get the mpg on it to start with from the factory ).
Any mods you do to try to get better mpg are going to cost up front, rather then week by week at the gas pump.
The Electric fans alone, I calculated from the short amount of mpg tracking that I did and the miles that I drove that it was a 35 months return on investment to recoup the cost of the fans in saved gas costs. I did this without taking into account the cost of money. If you add to this a FIPK and a cat-back muffler, then you had better be driving a whole lot of miles per year to get it all back in 3 years ( that is break even, not gettng ahead ).
As B-Man & wamsleyb pointed out you still have to drive like grandma, and don't use the HP that you have added to the system, else it will drink it worse then before.
If you want to try a little experiment without the mods, get a vac gauge and hook it up. Keep the gauge in the 12 or higher in/hg area and you'll be getting the good mpg rates, but don't be suprised when the fat guy ( i.e. me ) on the bike on the side of the road passed you as you leave a signal light.
That is an indication of how easy you'll have to drive it to get good mpg ( better then factory rates ).
Just a thought on the topic, I usually keep my mouth shut when people ask about how to increase mpg ( the true answer is a 4 cylinder Ranger ).
Try the vac gauge first, to see if you will be able to drvie the truck like that, it is about a 20.00 experiment to see what it really takes.
The truck runs pretty lean from the factory, so I would not think you would want to try to go anymore.
Cold weather and the lean and mean tune = blown engine.
I keep an eye on my A/F ratio gauge, and in general ( considering it is a narrow band lambda O2 sensor not a wide band ) it is mostly to the lean side.
The tune still holds on the TPS > 80% and when hammered I still get a rich mixture.
Anything less then ~ 70% TPS and it is already lean ( that is how they get the mpg on it to start with from the factory ).
Any mods you do to try to get better mpg are going to cost up front, rather then week by week at the gas pump.
The Electric fans alone, I calculated from the short amount of mpg tracking that I did and the miles that I drove that it was a 35 months return on investment to recoup the cost of the fans in saved gas costs. I did this without taking into account the cost of money. If you add to this a FIPK and a cat-back muffler, then you had better be driving a whole lot of miles per year to get it all back in 3 years ( that is break even, not gettng ahead ).
As B-Man & wamsleyb pointed out you still have to drive like grandma, and don't use the HP that you have added to the system, else it will drink it worse then before.
If you want to try a little experiment without the mods, get a vac gauge and hook it up. Keep the gauge in the 12 or higher in/hg area and you'll be getting the good mpg rates, but don't be suprised when the fat guy ( i.e. me ) on the bike on the side of the road passed you as you leave a signal light.
That is an indication of how easy you'll have to drive it to get good mpg ( better then factory rates ).
Just a thought on the topic, I usually keep my mouth shut when people ask about how to increase mpg ( the true answer is a 4 cylinder Ranger ).
Try the vac gauge first, to see if you will be able to drvie the truck like that, it is about a 20.00 experiment to see what it really takes.