Fuel consumption too high?
Hello, I have a Ford Ranger 2019 that does 18-21mpg on the highway at around 65mph. I have just purchased a GD 17MKE which is a 21', 6400 GVWR, travel trailer. I expected to go from 18-21mpg not to...
Forum Discussion
Also forgot to mention, while the turbo 2.3 is "designed" to use 87 octane, it may perform better and get slightly better mileage while towing if you use a higher octane grade.
This is outlined in the 2019 Ranger users manual..
HERE
Page 136..
"Your vehicle is designed to operate on
regular unleaded gasoline with a minimum
pump (R+M)/2 octane rating of 87"
Continued on page 137..
"For best overall vehicle and engine
performance, premium fuel with an octane
rating of 91 or higher is recommended. The
performance gained by using premium fuel
is most noticeable in hot weather as well
as other conditions, for example when
towing a trailer. See
Towing (page 208)."
OP most likely will get better fuel mileage with that engine in both non towing and towing bumping up to 91 or a bit higher fuel.
That engine is running 10:1 compression ratio which often benefits greatly with using a higher octane rating, otherwise the ECU compensates by reducing engine timing which affects power and mileage.
Run a couple of tanks of 91+ octane and check mileage if it goes up some it may be to the OPs advantage to use the higher blend..
I had a car that while it ran OK on 87, it ran and got better mileage with 91 octane..
Ford includes some helpful tips (a few that I have already mentioned) on driving habits..
Page 213
Its a bit long so I will not repost it in it's entirety..
"ECONOMICAL DRIVING
Your fuel economy is affected by several
things, such as how you drive, the
conditions you drive under, and how you
maintain your vehicle.
You may improve your fuel economy by
keeping these things in mind:
Avoid these actions; they reduce your fuel
economy:
Sudden accelerations or hard
accelerations.
Drive a heavily loaded vehicle or tow a
trailer.
Carry unnecessary weight
(approximately 1 mpg [0.4 km/L] is
lost for every 400 lb [180 kilogram] of
weight carried).
Heavily loading a vehicle or towing a
trailer may reduce fuel economy at any
speed."
Interestingly enough that section in bold if one were to tow just 5000 lbs with that truck that could result in a reduction of up to 12.5 MPG from the normal unloaded mileage!! And that is just weight and not including frontal drag or tire drag..
I didn't make this up, Read the manual, it is in there.
This is outlined in the 2019 Ranger users manual..
HERE
Page 136..
"Your vehicle is designed to operate on
regular unleaded gasoline with a minimum
pump (R+M)/2 octane rating of 87"
Continued on page 137..
"For best overall vehicle and engine
performance, premium fuel with an octane
rating of 91 or higher is recommended. The
performance gained by using premium fuel
is most noticeable in hot weather as well
as other conditions, for example when
towing a trailer. See
Towing (page 208)."
OP most likely will get better fuel mileage with that engine in both non towing and towing bumping up to 91 or a bit higher fuel.
That engine is running 10:1 compression ratio which often benefits greatly with using a higher octane rating, otherwise the ECU compensates by reducing engine timing which affects power and mileage.
Run a couple of tanks of 91+ octane and check mileage if it goes up some it may be to the OPs advantage to use the higher blend..
I had a car that while it ran OK on 87, it ran and got better mileage with 91 octane..
Ford includes some helpful tips (a few that I have already mentioned) on driving habits..
Page 213
Its a bit long so I will not repost it in it's entirety..
"ECONOMICAL DRIVING
Your fuel economy is affected by several
things, such as how you drive, the
conditions you drive under, and how you
maintain your vehicle.
You may improve your fuel economy by
keeping these things in mind:
Avoid these actions; they reduce your fuel
economy:
Sudden accelerations or hard
accelerations.
Drive a heavily loaded vehicle or tow a
trailer.
Carry unnecessary weight
(approximately 1 mpg [0.4 km/L] is
lost for every 400 lb [180 kilogram] of
weight carried).
Heavily loading a vehicle or towing a
trailer may reduce fuel economy at any
speed."
Interestingly enough that section in bold if one were to tow just 5000 lbs with that truck that could result in a reduction of up to 12.5 MPG from the normal unloaded mileage!! And that is just weight and not including frontal drag or tire drag..
I didn't make this up, Read the manual, it is in there.
