2018 5.0 Highway MPG

[Houston Kid]

Today there was a 14 mph south wind with gusts to 20.

22 miles north yielded a 36.8 mpg avg.
Return trip was 21.8 miles due to heavy traffic at the end causing a tap of the brakes. 31.2 mpg avg.
So 43.8 mile trip out and back was a 34 mpg avg. If you figure in a +2 mpg cpu error 32 ain’t bad.

Again cruise set at 60 mph no touching of the gas or brakes. When I head to work I’ll fill the tank and get an overall for this tank.

Lifetime on the car is 17.2 cpu avg.

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[emcee1011]

400 miles on the car. 17-18mpg and I don't expect anything much higher. Mostly highway miles rowing through gears and the occasional 80+ mph in 6th gear.

 

[Houston Kid]

287.1 miles of mixed driving. 14.477 gallons of 93. 19.831 mpg avg hand calculated. So 2.6 mpg higher avg that tank compare to the lifetime car avg.

Next fill up I will compare the cpu avg for that tank and a hand calculated avg. I could not do that this tank for having to reset the trip for the 22 mile trips. I’m not ever going to reset the other trip due to life time avg.

 

[millhouse]

Does anyone know if driving in sport+ mode in a manual car affects MPG when cruising? I like the extra throttle response for over taking and don't want to be flipping switches every time I feel like accelerating.

Why would you need to flip any switches? Just push the pedal down harder/faster. :shrug:

 

[millhouse]

The car feels torquier in sport+ or track mode. Regular mode the throttle is a little dull. Flip that switch and it feels like it's got a tune since the throttle response is instant.

It may feel faster, but (unless you have an auto) it most certainly isn't.

 

[Intrepid175]

Does anyone know if driving in sport+ mode in a manual car affects MPG when cruising? I like the extra throttle response for over taking and don't want to be flipping switches every time I feel like accelerating.

The car feels torquier in sport+ or track mode. Regular mode the throttle is a little dull. Flip that switch and it feels like it's got a tune since the throttle response is instant.

The car doesn't make any more power in sport mode than it does in normal mode. The only thing sport mode does is remap the drive by wire throttle curves. That just has the throttle opening faster relative to how much you push on the gas peddle so the car "feels" more responsive but really, it's not. If all you're doing it freeway cruising then sport mode will make very little difference in fuel economy one way or the other. My other car is a 2013 Toyota Rav4. It's got Eco, Normal, and Sport driving modes. Back when I first bought it, my commute to work was about 80 miles one way. I did an experiment with it about six months into my ownership. I ran 8 tanks through each driving mode and averaged out the numbers. Most of my commute was freeway mileage but I also had a little city driving as well as catching a little bit of Houston rush hour. When it was all over, the difference in fuel economy between the three modes was less than one half of a mile per gallon. The best was in normal mode with sport mode being a very close second. Oddly enough, the worst gas mileage was netted in Eco mode. Go figure.

 

[Houston Kid]

Here we go Millhouse. Final numbers.

CPU for the tank said 18.3 hand calculated says 17.38. So just under + 1mpg.

This was mixed driving between highway and city. A few highway runs up to 130 mph, in Mexico of course. Before I started the road trip this afternoon it was at 11 mpg. So, my city driving kills the mpg and cruise set at 65-75 mph does much better.

I run only 93 octane.

 

[millhouse]

Here we go Millhouse. Final numbers.

CPU for the tank said 18.3 hand calculated says 17.38. So just under + 1mpg.

This was mixed driving between highway and city. A few highway runs up to 130 mph, in Mexico of course. Before I started the road trip this afternoon it was at 11 mpg. So, my city driving kills the mpg and cruise set at 65-75 mph does much better.

I run only 93 octane.

1 MPG based on an 18.3 mpg average. What is your actual MPG based off of the 35 mpg average? Just because the lower MPG delta is close doesn't mean the high MPG delta is going to be the same.

 

[growler]

22 mpg lifetime at 80+ mph 45 mile, 80%freeway 20% city daily commute

 

[Houston Kid]

1 MPG based on an 18.3 mpg average. What is your actual MPG based off of the 35 mpg average? Just because the lower MPG delta is close doesn't mean the high MPG delta is going to be the same.

You are correct but there is no was to arrive at that number for the 35 mpg or at least what I’m willing to do. The 32 mpg avg was arrived at by using a error of +1.5 mpg. Since hand calculations indicate at least a +1 mpg avg, there is no reasonable expitation the difference would be more. It could theoretically be less so most here can live with a +1 to +1.5 for this very unscientific test.

Just because you think the car should or should not do X, does not make it so. Provide some actual evidence like I have and then let’s talk.

 

[millhouse]

You are correct but there is no was to arrive at that number for the 35 mpg or at least what I’m willing to do. The 32 mpg avg was arrived at by using a error of +1.5 mpg. Since hand calculations indicate at least a +1 mpg avg, there is no reasonable expitation the difference would be more. It could theoretically be less so most here can live with a +1 to +1.5 for this very unscientific test.

Just because you think the car should or should not do X, does not make it so. Provide some actual evidence like I have and then let’s talk.

Error increases with speed and larger mpg values. You can’t infer a 1.5 mpg error using completely different criteria and apply it as you did. Well, I mean you can...but it’s wrong.

 

[Kansas GT]

I decided to tweak my driving style a bit and see what I could achieve. Of course, that required getting rid of my lead foot and stopping going 15-20 or so over on the interstate. ;)

With cruise set at a modest 10 over and moderate acceleration on city streets, I'm averaging a little over 25 MPG after 300 miles. That's a decent jump from averaging around 20 before and included several spirited launches (I just can't resist).

It's amazing what a little tweak in driving habits can do. Heck, I was only getting 27 MPG average with my Mazda3. I'm impressed.

 

[Intrepid175]

Error increases with speed and larger mpg values. You can’t infer a 1.5 mpg error using completely different criteria and apply it as you did. Well, I mean you can...but it’s wrong.

That's an assumption on your part. In my ~8000 miles since buying my 2016 GT last November, I've seen computer numbers as high as 25 to 26 mpg. Most of my local driving averages upper 21's to low 22's. All of my manual calculations have averaged around 1.5 mpg less, give or take, than what the computer says. So your assertion that the error will increase with speed and larger mpg values does not prove true by my experience.

Like Houston Kid said,

Provide some actual evidence like I have and then let’s talk.

 

[Houston Kid]

Error increases with speed and larger mpg values. You can’t infer a 1.5 mpg error using completely different criteria and apply it as you did. Well, I mean you can...but it’s wrong.

You are correct and by that reasoning the error factor would be less fir the 32 mpg test because that was based on a speed of 60 mph. The 17.3 mpg average was based on city driving approx 80 miles slow speed cpu avg of 11 and highway driving the remaining milage at speeds up to 130 mph with an avg around 75 thus increasing the error according to your logic.

 

[Intrepid175]

It's amazing what a little tweak in driving habits can do. Heck, I was only getting 27 MPG average with my Mazda3. I'm impressed.

I understand that! My other car is a 2013 Toyota Rav4. It's been a great and reliable vehicle but push come to shove, especially considering the difference in performance potential, they're much closer in fuel economy than I every would have thought they'd be. So far, only about 4 mpg less for the Mustang overall. I can live with that!

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