Maybe some guys with later pickups with instant mileage readouts can offer advice here. Let's assume a fuel injected gas engine, towing up a very long moderate grade...which would give the best mileage? Using a lower gear, higher rpms, but lighter throttle position...or...highest gear that can be pulled, lower rpms, full or near full open throttle.
Generally the former. Especially if it's turbocharged. Better for the engine, too.
My Dear old Granny said "put an egg in the sun for a week, then put it between your bare foot and the accelerator pedal " You will be surprised how much more fuel mileage you can get !
I thought this was going to be one of those cow magnets things where you put them an the gas line. Anyone remember that ?
No idea how the instant read things work, but they replicated a vacuum gauge.
You want to maintain fairly high vacuum.
My car has the digital thing, it's amazing how you can go up a hill burning 5 bars
worth of fuel. Lift your foot very slightly, and fuel consumption drops significantly.
With little to no reduction in speed. The opposite is true. You can press down just
a bit, increase consumption, and see little to no speed increase.
Ever drive an old car with vacuum wipers.
Drive like it's pouring, and you don't want the wipers to quit!š
If you want good mileage, turn off cruise control unless you are in level country.
Former - you're letting the gears do the work instead of just dumping more fuel into the equation.
I shift down and let it drink. Towing my #3500 boat in the mountains my 4.6 tundra gets 13-14 mpg. I leave it 4th (no overdrive) when towing always unless pulling a hill and then I manually shift to 3rd and let it rev until I get to a flat or downhill.
Iām actually surprised it does so well locked out of OD gears when towing. Its better on fuel than my old tacoma did towing my boat.
Also, I record the mileage each tank so Iām not spitballing on the mpg figure while towing. The real trick though, keep it 65mph or less. Less fuelā¦. and way safer.
https://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/tundra/2019/bigbadheadwound/882472
My 2019 6.2 F250 makes better mileage with the cruise on 55 or 75 than it does at 65. I guess the 3.73 rear end puts it in the wrong RPM range at 65, which sucks because thatās the speed limit 90 percent of the roads I drive. At 55 itās just loping along and at 75 it doesnāt shift as much on hills.
My wife's Camry was claiming up to 80mpg on I-80 going across Pennsylvania, then we'd get to the bottom of the hill and start going Up the next hill, and it would drop back to 33mpg. It was quite interesting to watch the ticker swapping ends. That was with the cruise control sitting on about 73 or thereabouts. 2.5 liter 4 banger, still runs like a wild deer, though.
My little pickup has a 4liter V-6, and just running around here locally in fairly hilly Kentucky terrain, I'm lucky to squeak out 19mpg running at 60-65. I think I might as well drive a full-sized pickup, and be more comfortable.
My new 5.3 crew cab 4x4 trailboss has gotten 25 mph on a trip. Towing my 8500 lbs trailer I was getting 10 mpg or so if I remember right. From a power standpoint I could hardly tell it was back there.
Maybe some guys with later pickups with instant mileage readouts can offer advice here. Let's assume a fuel injected gas engine, towing up a very long moderate grade...which would give the best mileage? Using a lower gear, higher rpms, but lighter throttle position...or...highest gear that can be pulled, lower rpms, full or near full open throttle.
Without me adding to what's already been said and duplicating. I would like to add, that I'm a maintenance, and pre-maintenace Freak.
With that being said, keeping your unit in the best possible running condition, and Using Lucas Fuel Injector Cleaner, per measured applications, have helped me a lot over the years.
I have noticed the difference using it since my Mechanic suggested it about 15 plus years ago. One gallon usually last me a couple years, and at about $32.00 Bucks a gallon, to me it's well worth it!
HS58
I stated my OP question poorly, let's try a hypothetical situation. Ok, we have a small 4 liter fuel injected gas engine, a 6 speed manual, a 4,000# towed load, a modest 6% average grade, the course is 5 miles to the top (this happens to match the grade to Siskiyou Summit on I-5 northbound). Which scenario will result in the least total fuel consumed to the summit, 3rd gear high revs, partial throttle, or 4th gear low revs mostly wide open throttle?
I stated my OP question poorly, let's try a hypothetical situation. Ok, we have a small 4 liter fuel injected gas engine, a 6 speed manual, a 4,000# towed load, a modest 6% average grade, the course is 5 miles to the top (this happens to match the grade to Siskiyou Summit on I-5 northbound). Which scenario will result in the least total fuel consumed to the summit, 3rd gear high revs, partial throttle, or 4th gear low revs mostly wide open throttle?
3rd
I don't know why a WOT condition would burn less fuel than less than WOT over the same distance/time.
Teal, I'm no math guy, clueless actually, and I'm not arguing at all...but there is the fact that the exhaust readings from the O2 sensors don't let modern fuel/air computer engines receive an over rich mixture for clean combustion in a "lug" load condition. So, at a lower total rpm "lug' condition over the 5 mile course...there will be less total cubic displacement volume going thru the engine.
Now when the truck is dropped a gear, and revs are increased to maintain road speed, and less than wide open throttle...the total displacement volume consumed will mathematically be higher...so my question is, (assuming the fuel/air computer always strives for 14.7 to 1, air to fuel) won't the more rpms (complete 4 stroke combustion cycles) require more fuel than the lower rpm ''lug'' condition? I was hoping someone with an on dash fuel readout could answer this.
I would look at the rpm powder and torque curve for your particular engine. Every engine has a sweet spot where it is running the most efficiently. My newer truck is rated 150 hp more than my old truck yet gets better milage because it isnāt lugging at lower rpmās. That old 302/5L V8 was great in a Mustang, but it had no place in a heavier F150 4x4 with a 5 speed. It made power but only at higher rpm than where it spent most of itās lifetime.
Driving for the best MPG
I have a newer 2021 Japanese 4X4 with a V-6. It has a fuel mileage screen with average MPG since last fill up, and a real time bar graph showing current MPG second by second.
I have found that if I try to maximize my fuel economy, I can increase my MPG 2 to 3 MPG.
With current gas prices that works out to about $15-, or 60-miles savings per tank.
The most important thing is to focus on minimum throttle pressure.
When your vehicle is moving at any speed, that is momentum. It takes a lot more energy (gas) to obtain momentum (accelerate) than it does to maintain momentum (cruise).
It takes a lot less energy (gas) to obtain momentum slowly that it takes to obtain momentum quickly.
When accelerating from a stop, or merging into faster traffic, use the minimum throttle necessary to achieve the desired speed.
When cruising on a throughfare or freeway, back off the throttle as much as you can while still maintaining a reasonable speed.
In other words, drive like your grandmother.
Keep tires inflated to the higher end of their recommended range
Air filter with more flow
Wind deflector on bottom side of front bumper
Drop tailgate
All things Iāve heard before. I know number 1 and 3 work. Not sure about the other two
As for your truck question specifically. Why donāt you post that to the YouTube channel ā tfl trucksā Facebook or something. They test this stuff and post videos about the results. Maybe they can do a video or have one that answers the ?
You asked for fuel savings tips? From my documents. Regarding improved gas mileage. A list of ideas formulated over the years when I taught high school auto shop.
There are many ways to improve gas mileage. Some might seem funny but all of these help:
Proper air pressure in tires. Additionally use of a narrower yet high load range tire will decrease rolling resistance.
Use AC and windows up compared to running the AC off with windows open has been proven to improve milage by most sources I have read. Newer vehicles use low volume AC compressors which is an attempt by the manufacturers to improve MPH
Get that air in and out of the engine as easily as possible. I wouldn't necessarily go with an different air box but a K and N air filter does help. If the vehicle doesn't have a monolithic catalytic converter, install one. They flow far better than the pellet style. Get rid of that standard muffler and put in a magnaflow or similar. Headers are not a bad idea either. Heck a superior intake manifold can help too. Some form of ram air could help too. It is all about flow.
Remove any belt driven device you can. Electric fan instead of a clutch fan. Electric water pump. Electric steering. Most of of our rigs cannot do these things but if you look to newer cars some of these are now standard.
Use lighter oils. The newer cars have been calling for 5W-30 for years. Synthetic engine oil is generally lighter too.
Lighter or synthetic gear oils. Heck 1/2 quart less oil in the crankcase would help but not recommended. Even lighter grease for wheel bearing would help.
Aerodynamic aides. Air dams help but work best with a rear spoiler. Smooth under carriage. Wipers tucked under hood as some vehicles have. Remove wipers and use Rain X. Internal radio antenna. Smooth door handles. Heck even flat hubcaps or non dished in wheels help. Wax the vehicle. Don't laugh, talk to aircraft owners and even boat owners.
Naturally a perfect tuneup. If the vehicle has adjustable valves frequent adjustments to maintain cylinder balance. New plugs with a few thousandths larger gap produce a tiny bit more torque.
Mechanical changes: These are not cost effective, unless you are rebuilding your engine. In some cases change camshaft. change the pistons or heads to raise compression ratio. Go with a roller rocker system for some systems.
Run the engine as hot as possible without damage. Haven't you noticed the newer engines are using 195 thermostats and smaller radiators? Ideally a ceramic engine would great for improved mileage.
Driving habits. No jackrabbit starts, try not to slow down or heaven forbid stop. Stopping is zero MPG. <grin> I used to tell the students, with a disclaimer of course, to run all lights and stop signs. When stopped explain you are concerned about saving a finite resource and minimizing pollution. Cruise control helps waste fuel, especially if you are traveling hilly roads. Put tranny in neutral and coast when you can.
Fuels:The so called Oxy fuels actually lower gas mileage. Until the vehicle has a way of knowing the percentage of ethanol in the tank the closed loop system functions on free oxygen. The alcohol blends add more oxygen into the exhaust changing the reading the O2 sensor reads. When the O2 readings go up the programing richens the mixture! Arizona is forced to use this fuel by law. It only helps the older non fuel injected vehicles.
One student, Trevor Brown, had a chevy geo metro with a 3 cylinder engine. He did many of the things on this list made his own air dam etc. He got over 50 mpg on a trip with four in the car!
I hope this entertained you and perhaps gave you some ideas.
Interesting stuff, thank you.
Driving for the best MPG
I have a newer 2021 Japanese 4X4 with a V-6. It has a fuel mileage screen with average MPG since last fill up, and a real time bar graph showing current MPG second by second.
I have found that if I try to maximize my fuel economy, I can increase my MPG 2 to 3 MPG.
With current gas prices that works out to about $15-, or 60-miles savings per tank.
The most important thing is to focus on minimum throttle pressure.
When your vehicle is moving at any speed, that is momentum. It takes a lot more energy (gas) to obtain momentum (accelerate) than it does to maintain momentum (cruise).
It takes a lot less energy (gas) to obtain momentum slowly that it takes to obtain momentum quickly.
When accelerating from a stop, or merging into faster traffic, use the minimum throttle necessary to achieve the desired speed.
When cruising on a throughfare or freeway, back off the throttle as much as you can while still maintaining a reasonable speed.
In other words, drive like your grandmother.
Sounds a lot like what cruise control will do for you.
If it drops several gears going up a steep hill, you're using a lot of gas. Maintaining 70 or 80 on steep freeway grades is terrible for mileage. Slow down to stay in a higher gear.
Years ago, a friend had a car with an early cruise that would hold the throttle at a set level, not the speed. It was like setting a weight on the gas pedal and letting it just sit there. On uphills, it would slow way down, on downhills it would take off and go. Needless to say, it wasn't popular with other drivers. It was useless in any kind of traffic. I don't remember what kind of car he had.
I can see as much as 30% difference in mileage in the Kenworth between different drivers. Like was said, drive like your grandmother. Slow down, accelerate slowy where safe, and coast where possible and safe. Number one issue is the pressure on the accelerator.
I can see as much as 30% difference in mileage in the Kenworth between different drivers. Like was said, drive like your grandmother. Slow down, accelerate slowy where safe, and coast where possible and safe. Number one issue is the pressure on the accelerator.
Holding it to the floor going up the Hammett hill on 84 might save you 5 seconds in the climb but it's sure going to eat a lot more fuel.
The biggest fuel saving tip is drive less. Seriously. It's cheaper to order most things online and have them delivered to your house than driving to the store. If you do go to the store, don't go as often. Make do until you need several things. You can do all kinds of things to gain an extra 1/2 mpg here or there, but just drive less and save more. When you do have to drive, slow down if mpg is a concern.
All of the stores that we use on a day to day basis (Costco, Winco, Home Depot, etc) are in a bunch about 10 miles from home. That's a 20 mile trip for about anything we buy, even for a couple odd sized nuts that I have to have to finish a project. With $5 gas, it adds up fast. I leave my pickup at home most of the time and drive an old beater minivan that gets 26 mpg.
Same here Rock Chuck. My F150 is in the garage at the cottage and the SUV gets the daily driver runs. When I did use the truck, since it has those big remote controlled fold in side mirrors, I'd fold them in when I had light traffic and watch the mpg computer register slightly better mpg. Floating hills using the momentum that you have built up on flat road and not trying to maintain your speed going up hill saves gas. It does drive other drivers behind you crazy though, so don't do it in traffic.
You asked for fuel savings tips? From my documents. Regarding improved gas mileage. A list of ideas formulated over the years when I taught high school auto shop.
There are many ways to improve gas mileage. Some might seem funny but all of these help:
Proper air pressure in tires. Additionally use of a narrower yet high load range tire will decrease rolling resistance. - Yes
Use AC and windows up compared to running the AC off with windows open has been proven to improve milage by most sources I have read. Newer vehicles use low volume AC compressors which is an attempt by the manufacturers to improve MPH- Yes
Get that air in and out of the engine as easily as possible. I wouldn't necessarily go with an different air box but a K and N air filter does help. If the vehicle doesn't have a monolithic catalytic converter, install one. They flow far better than the pellet style. Get rid of that standard muffler and put in a magnaflow or similar. Headers are not a bad idea either. Heck a superior intake manifold can help too. Some form of ram air could help too. It is all about flow.- Be careful of non stock oiled filters- they can contaminate air mass sensors, and don't filter as well as paper elements. Prepare for a dusted engine if driven in severe dusty conditions. The cost of a quality mono-cat buys a lot of fuel, even at today's prices.
Remove any belt driven device you can. Electric fan instead of a clutch fan. Electric water pump. Electric steering. Most of of our rigs cannot do these things but if you look to newer cars some of these are now standard. - Electric fan in some applications, yes. The rest, impractical unless the vehicle comes so equipped.
Use lighter oils. The newer cars have been calling for 5W-30 for years. Synthetic engine oil is generally lighter too. - Be careful. Using oils too light than what the maker specs out will result in premature failure. Older engines had larger bearing clearances, and less efficient oil pumps.
Lighter or synthetic gear oils. Heck 1/2 quart less oil in the crankcase would help but not recommended. Even lighter grease for wheel bearing would help. - For light duty use, maybe. If you tow heavy, good luck.
Aerodynamic aides. Air dams help but work best with a rear spoiler. Smooth under carriage. Wipers tucked under hood as some vehicles have. Remove wipers and use Rain X. Internal radio antenna. Smooth door handles. Heck even flat hubcaps or non dished in wheels help. Wax the vehicle. Don't laugh, talk to aircraft owners and even boat owners. - Yes.
Naturally a perfect tuneup. If the vehicle has adjustable valves frequent adjustments to maintain cylinder balance. New plugs with a few thousandths larger gap produce a tiny bit more torque. Yes
Mechanical changes: These are not cost effective, unless you are rebuilding your engine. In some cases change camshaft. change the pistons or heads to raise compression ratio. Go with a roller rocker system for some systems.
Run the engine as hot as possible without damage. Haven't you noticed the newer engines are using 195 thermostats and smaller radiators? Ideally a ceramic engine would great for improved mileage.- Lots of differing opinions on this. From a pure efficiency standpoint, it has some merit. Downsides include less margin safety margin when towing in high temps, and more oil sludge formation, especially in forced induction engines. That includes engines using synthetic oil.
Driving habits. No jackrabbit starts, try not to slow down or heaven forbid stop. Stopping is zero MPG. <grin> I used to tell the students, with a disclaimer of course, to run all lights and stop signs. When stopped explain you are concerned about saving a finite resource and minimizing pollution. Cruise control helps waste fuel, especially if you are traveling hilly roads. Put tranny in neutral and coast when you can.- IC engines are most efficient when under full load, as there is little to impede intake airflow (Throttle valve is wide open). Have read a few real world tests showing equal or improved mileage when accelerating hard to your set speed. Theory is you're spending less time getting up to speed than gently accelerating. I have not personally tried this, so only hearsay from me. Coasting in neutral with some auto transmissions isn't the best idea. The input (front) pump circulates fluid, and with high output shaft speeds, lubrication becomes iffy.
Fuels:The so called Oxy fuels actually lower gas mileage. Until the vehicle has a way of knowing the percentage of ethanol in the tank the closed loop system functions on free oxygen. The alcohol blends add more oxygen into the exhaust changing the reading the O2 sensor reads. When the O2 readings go up the programing richens the mixture! Arizona is forced to use this fuel by law. It only helps the older non fuel injected vehicles.
One student, Trevor Brown, had a chevy geo metro with a 3 cylinder engine. He did many of the things on this list made his own air dam etc. He got over 50 mpg on a trip with four in the car!
I hope this entertained you and perhaps gave you some ideas.
Just a few observations added above. YMMV.
Thanks for reading my post Badger. Appreciate your comments.
Regarding coasting: I figured if the tranny was rotating at idle there wouldn't be an issue as there is mimimal load. Will consult with my tranny expert soon and see what he has to say.
I realize the bit about lighter oils. As a sidenote I worked 6 weeks with Granite Construction to experience what an equipment apprentice job would be like to share with my students. I was surprised to talk to the techs and learn that they use some lightweight oils in their engines, transmissions and drivetrains. Was told they tried the usual heavier oils including gear oils. Chemical analysis and tear down measurements determined that they were better off with lighter weight oils and this is from a company that does work in Arizona in the summer! I added my comments based on that. (I realize the bit about bearing clearances)
FYI I frequently don't make any attempt for stellar gas mileage and go for the thrill of acceleration.
Driving slower than the flow of traffic on the interstate highway seems like a good way to get into or cause an accident.
Traffic flows at about 80 mph on I-80 from Omaha to the east side of Lincoln and from the west side of Lincoln all the way to the intersection with I-76 at Big Springs or to the Wyoming state line. Anyone going significantly slower is going to be passed, if the left lane is open, or cussed out by anyone who gets caught behind them without an opening to pass.
Some will laugh......
Snake Oil ?
I run a can of Seafoam or 16 oz of Marvel Mystery Oil through my vehicles on a regular basis
Everything else is up to snuff.....plugs...coils.....filters...air pressure etc
pic..7K# built Lexus SUV with AC on
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/ceeJRbb.jpg)
1. Use Techron fuel cleaner every 3-5k miles
2. Keep tires inflated to factory specs.
3. Use cruise control when safe to do
4. Keep your engine rpm at cruising speeds at its sweet spot.
5. Change your air filter frequently and pollen filter(if equipped)
Maybe some guys with later pickups with instant mileage readouts can offer advice here. Let's assume a fuel injected gas engine, towing up a very long moderate grade...which would give the best mileage? Using a lower gear, higher rpms, but lighter throttle position...or...highest gear that can be pulled, lower rpms, full or near full open throttle.
Gear down and lighter throttle. You're not going to see a huge difference for just the one hill, but low RPM and full throttle is going to kill your transmission and engine cooling systems.
Beyond that, stay in the slow lane.
Climbing at high speed is a major gas eater. Flooring it to pass on an upgrade is even worse. In fact, it's probably one of the biggest gas eaters of all.
Flooring it to pass on an upgrade is often necessary to get around the blue-hairs in the motorhome. In fact, it's probably one of the biggest gas eaters of all, but well worth the pittance of extra expense.
fixed....
Flooring it to pass on an upgrade is often necessary to get around the blue-hairs in the motorhome. In fact, it's probably one of the biggest gas eaters of all, but well worth the pittance of extra expense.
fixed....
Well, not really fixed. The OP asked how to save gas and that's what I did, whether it was frustrating or not....and following a slow RV up a steep hill can get REALLY frustrating.
K&N filters are proven to flow well but they also are proven to let a bunch of dirt by also.
![[Linked Image from i.postimg.cc]](https://i.postimg.cc/2SHh8CPq/gas.jpg)