11.75mpg...is that normal?

[White Whine]

Just filled up fully for the first time, got the truck last week, 200 miles traveling from the coast, 48 in city miles, never got on it more than three times and only for short spurts, the result was 11.75mpg! $55.06 to fillup, this was a slap in the face, not the fillup cost, but the mpg, I was expecting after all the highway travel to get around 16 or so, whats the norm here, is something wrong? should I do a plug change? its got a predator 91/pulley tune and 6# lower. what can I do to help this? get a 4#, intake and a tune? I knew it would suck, but not this much :shrug:

 

[Nvr_Spds]

You need a tune, if your running the pulley tune, and the 6lb lower. Id throw some NGK TR6s in too.

 

[LightningFast00]

I have NEVER gotten better than 14 no matter where I drive... I think you are dead on.

 

[quicksig]

The most mileage I've gotten out of a full tank on my stock L is 320 or so which works out to about 13mpg. $50-55 here to fill as well...everything sounds about normal...thats the price you pay for making something that big that quick

 

[|SvT-TiPsY|]

Your not getting very good MPG, what mods are there on your truck again? If there are mods, that's one thing.......if not you could get higher numbers......

 

[SNCBOOM]

I can sometimes make the interstate trip from home to school which is 330 miles on one fill up. My city mileage is just horrible :burnout:

 

[Ryan]

in strictly city driving I get about 12.5-13.5 mpg. I have a very fat tune (~9.5-10.5 a/f). So, I'd say you are fairly close. I was getting 10.5-11.5mpg driving with the O/D off since I usually don't go fast (damn traffic)

 

[Flossing888]

It is a bit low...I get about 14 almost all the time...300 miles per tank with 14lbs of boost..

 

[White Whine]

in strictly city driving I get about 12.5-13.5 mpg. I have a very fat tune (~9.5-10.5 a/f). So, I'd say you are fairly close. I was getting 10.5-11.5mpg driving with the O/D off since I usually don't go fast (damn traffic)

ok, this may be worse than a newbie question, but how does the o/d work and should I keep it on when just driving in crappy city work traffic? I dont even know how to turn it on, but curious.

 

[jdm99svt]

how does the o/d work and should I keep it on when just driving in crappy city work traffic? I dont even know how to turn it on

its always on, to turn it off you push the small button on the end of the shifter handle.....I run mine off all the time unless I'm getting on the freeway or maintaining speeds above say 55-60mph......drives better IMO.......just be sure to shut it OFF when you come to a stop.......probably not required but if you turn it off while moving you can feel it "shift" down .....I've heard this is one of the things that burns up these FORD trannnys.....the fact that they are always running in OD unless you turn it off..I know mine will "hunt" and "lag" if I leave it on and am driving in the 0-45mph range.....I can't stand it so I always shut it off as soon as I start it and as soon as I get off the freeway....ask around, I'm sure some other people have opinions on this too

 

[nastynivek]

I'm getting about 15.75 miles to the gallon in the city, as long as I stay out of the boost. I just recently changed my front O2 sensors, and my gas cap because it wasn't sealing properly. I'm also running electric fans, and no trailer hitch/spare/winch. I also have an A.R.E. hard tonneau cover. Not sure how much weight it adds, it's not really light IMO. I also change my fuel filter every 6 months and I run Amsoil 5w20 synthetic oil. Hope some of this info helps.

 

[ice man]

that sucks , im getting almost 16 city and almost 19 hgway thats with od on all the time .

 

[White Whine]

so...could this simply be a combination of 91 gas + possible bad plugs + "safe" predator tune? sounds like I'm not too far off, but theres room for improvement for sure.

 

[Jesse@MBRP]

I have got 350 miles out of a tank on the highway...and i have got 280 in all city driving

 

[ice man]

check, fuel filter might need to be changed

 

[mickey03L]

I usually get bout 14-15 in city and probly 16-17.5 on the highway. I do alot of both so I average bout 15 all the time. I hate that it gets bad mileage but I didnt buy this truck for mileage, I knew what I was getting myself into with a truck with this much power.

 

[Mongoose 03]

Just got my 7k mile Lightning a week ago. Already installed mods are in sig. Checked my half city, half hwy mileage today and it was 17.1
Mine also has the soft peel off toneau which I think comes stock :shrug: Can someone tell me for sure :shrug:

 

[White Whine]

I usually get bout 14-15 in city and probly 16-17.5 on the highway. I do alot of both so I average bout 15 all the time. I hate that it gets bad mileage but I didnt buy this truck for mileage, I knew what I was getting myself into with a truck with this much power.

yeah I didnt buy this thing for mileage either, my first truck got 7mpg and had a bigger tank, the neon got 17-18, I estimated from what Id read this thing would be getting 13-16 at least, didn't expect less than 12, so I'm not so much griping as looking for answers, like I said, I dont drive stupid fast or anything and ive been taking it really easy, so its not my driving, I think theres something that needs fixing/adjusting, so yeah, how easy is a fuel filter to get to and check? what should I gap the ngk tr6s to? bear in mind i'm on 91 oct. tune is kinda out of the question right now...hmm, just had a thought...the dealer put the 20" wheels on the truck, with 295/50/r20 tires, are they going to be bigger than the stockers? if so, if they didnt change the info in the ecu via predator, could the odometer be reading wrong? like, bigger tires = reading I'm not going as far as I really am, or am I backwards on that? guess I should check...

 

[Bootbox]

The 20's won't help your gas milage any. They're quite a bit heavier than stockers.

 

[White Whine]

The 20's won't help your gas milage any. They're quite a bit heavier than stockers.

yeah I know, sad thing is I like stockers more anyway, but dont have money (do, but its for wedding...) to do anything about it.