Crazy good mpg ---> 27 mpg

[JL8jeff]

So if you don’t fill up your tank all the way, the mileage won’t be accurate? I usually put in about 10 gallons (50$) at a time…. Could that be a reason I’m seeing 16.6 mpg?

Not necessarily. As long as you keep track of the gallons you put in and the miles you drove, you can get a pretty accurate calculation. The truck computer isn't that accurate and tends to be optimistic with the mpg so hand calculations will give you the real mpg. Looking at 1 tank of gas can be misleading if you don't fill the tank all the way so it's best to average out several tanks to balance it. In NJ you don't pump your own gas so who knows how close the attendant got your tank to a true fillup. The nozzle shuts off when there is some splash back and they usually round it up to the next dollar but that could still leave you a gallon short easily.

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[TX-Dennis]

244 miles in 6 hours is averaging 40mph. So, it's not all that surprising to get unusually good mileage. Of course I'm assuming a steady speed which may not be the case. I think if I drove a steady 40 on the freeway I could get similar mileage with my WildTrak. Of course, I would be repeatedly cursed (justifiably so) and possibly run over in the process.

 

[userdude]

244 miles in 6 hours is averaging 40mph. So, it's not all that surprising to get unusually good mileage. Of course I'm assuming a steady speed which may not be the case. I think if I drove a steady 40 on the freeway I could get similar mileage with my WildTrak. Of course, I would be repeatedly cursed (justifiably so) and possibly run over in the process.

Oh c'mon, we are talking about Texas, where on any given country road one guy's running up your ass, another's slower than molasses in front of you. I mean, it's about a right enshrined in our constitution to go sloooow on country highways and byways around these parts, at least. Don't get me started on the tractors, hay haulers and sxs!

 

[Jakob1972]

Oh c'mon, we are talking about Texas, where on any given country road one guy's running up your ass, another's slower than molasses in front of you. I mean, it's about a right enshrined in our constitution to go sloooow on country highways and byways around these parts, at least. Don't get me started on the tractors, hay haulers and sxs!

Texas must also teach drivers to pull out in front of you on a two lane road and make you have to slam on the horizontal pedal then they only go 45 MPH in a 65 and they make sure they do it when there isn't a person behind you for a mile or so. and when you go to pass them when there finally is a passing lane they speed up so you have to go 85 just to get around them.

 

[EveryDayBronco]

Your 2 door base model (i.e. lowest in GVW, unusually low {for a Bronco} unsprung and rotational mass with small wheels/tires) is optimal, particularly that it has no mods (such as roof racks) that significantly degrade an already poor Cd measurement (relative to most other vehicles).

You don't mention the conditions of this reading other than saying it was "a trip" - highway miles, obvoulsy not at 75mph...averaging in the low 60's mph at most?

Don't take this the wrong way, but who cares? No one (and I mean no one) should be buying a Bronco for the gas mileage. The vast majority of Bronco owners, who drive a mixed cycle and normally (i.e. they are not trying to be amateur hypermillers), are going to be getting something like 17/18, maybe 19 if they are lucky. They will read the computer readout and assuage themselves with its optimistic (i.e. fake) readings of around 20.

Oh I as well don't believe you, and neither should you

Lots in there and I agree it's not a vehicle someone buys for fuel economy.

I am conscious of mpg and I am an engineering geek so with someome like me you're going to get efficiency and with my bronco I do care about that.

My wheels are the 32" regular all terrains that come stock on the bid bend model. The big bend wheels & tires combo are the tallest tires with the lightest weight, iow the most efficient.

Next time I'm doing a trip with known destination and miles I'll calculate the accurate mpg and compare that with what my bronco's trip meter says.

 

[Owl]

I see 23-24 MPG with my Base 2Dr V6/auto every now-and-then (after tire calculations). That's with OBX tires & rims and about 37-38 lbs of air in the tires at about 68 MPH (actual after computation)... on the highway in NorCal.

Hard to calculate wind (obviously).

Lets face it... with the 3.73 gearing, not much of a lead-foot, and maybe a mild tailwind... I can see where more MPG is possible.

Still wish I would have gotten a Big Bend with the 4.2? and the eLocker in the rear, but that is a nit.

 

[crenca]

I am conscious of mpg and I am an engineering geek...

Does a real 27 mpg in your vehicle - think about what it weighs, it's frontal area, its Cd - make any sense to you, based on physics/known engineering principles? Even under ideal conditions (almost all the time of the trip spent in one of the overdrive gears, 49-61 mph over the whole distance, no cross winds, no hills/elevation gain, etc.) it does not make sense - neither the 2.3 nor the 2.7 is that thermodynamically efficient.

In other words it simply takes a certain amount of energy, and thus a certain about of fuel burned in these engines, to produce enough HP (i.e. torque over time) to overcome the resistance of all the knowns. Sure, your rolling resistance/rotational mass is about as good as it gets for a Bronco (but still bad when compared to sedans, etc.), but that number still does not really make any sense.

Now, maybe under unusual conditions - a long elevation drop with a tail wind and your wife outside pushing....

 

[JL8jeff]

I've gotten up to 23 mpg on the computer during a drive to the beach and that's with a base Sas V6 with heavy E rated 35's. With the 10 speed automatic overdrive if you can keep a steady 58-62 mph, that's the sweet spot and the mpg keeps climbing.

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