I have a new Ford Explorer and it gets 14 miles a gallon. What can I do to squeeze a little more mileage?

Question

Fule injected V6

Answer 1

remove the spare tire, and keep a couple "fix a flat" cans instead, remove the back seats, keep your air filter clean, and change yer points, plugs and cables regularly. Plan your travels , ie: stop for groceries in between the this place and the need to go to that place, and do your run in a circle so yer not back trackin. You will be surprised how much you'll save if you just get used to paying attention to less back and forths. as well as correct tire pressure and lighter weight. Allot easier than figurine how you can drive downhill with the wind at yer back both ways, lol

Answer 2

There are a number of items that can be beneficial to your gas mileage. The first and foremost is a better flowing air filter. I'm not suggesting you go buy a fancy cold air intake, a standard K&N filter ($40-$50) will fit into the stock location and give you at least another mile or so per gallon.

Your next option is to change the oil, forget motorcraft ever existed. Drop in a full synthentic (I recommend Castrol Syntec) and match it with a Wix oil filter. This will extend the life of your engine AND get you a bit better fuel economy. Some people will recommend switching to a lighter oil weight...don't do it. It may save you on gas now but will ultimately cause the engine to wear must faster.

Keep the air (and the wear) of your tires under control as well. Stick with the factory recommended pressure for your vehicle, the engineers that decided on that number didn't just make it up for fun...it's a highly calculated, precise measurement of what will make the tires/vehicle perform best.

Changing the gear oil can help a bit as well but is more difficult to do and the gain will not be significant.

The easiest and best way to get good gas mileage is to drive to vehicle properly. Don't slam on the gas, accelerate smoothly. Use as little pedal as necessary to move the vehicle, if you do this for several weeks your driving style will change and you'll see a huge impact on your mileage.

In the years ahead make sure you keep on top of maintenance and you should have many years of trouble free (as trouble free as Ford gets!!) service.

Hope this helps, good luck!

Answer 3

Lighten the load, and shut off yer engine whenever you just miss the light. Pay attention to the order, it will always be the same, the left turners go before the straight ahead 'ers so after you see the redsies, (if yer close enough to the front of the intersection, you can look up to the left and see them change) fire that motor back up, and drive as smooth as you can, remember every time you are slamming on yer brakes you have wasted a cup of that precious petrol. There are those who will argue that ir takes more to restart than to sit and idle, I have proven my method saves gas. I had a ford econoline cargo van with the V6 and also two Ford Astro vans, I love the Fords, never had much luck with Chevy's, the door/window decide to stop open close interior switch plastic fall apart malfunctions, electrical fuse taillight, tail gate...all the things to drive you nuts just seemed to happen as soon as you fixed the last problem. The Chevy engines are solid enough but then again so are Fords. I'll never figure out why so many rave about Chevy's, (maybe its that "Found On Road Dead" saying Chevy owners think is so dang clever. so what if Chevy is the Nascar of choice, the regular guy on the regular road needs reliable interior integrity. The extra seats pull right out with a lever, and you'll be surprised how easy it is to pop em back in when you are toting passengers.

Answer 4

Change the gearing in the differential. You need to change both front and rear if 4 wheel drive. Go to a higher gear ratio such as 3.08 to 1.

The usual remove weight and tire pressure.

Drive slower. Accellerate slower. No long warm ups, start and go. If idling for more than 2 minutes, turn it off.

Don't expect any miracles from changing your air filter. This used to work on the old carburetor engines, but has less effect in modern fuel injected engines. A carburetor supplied fuel by the air passing a venturi in the carburetor body. This created a vacuum sucking fuel into the engine. A restrictive or dirty air filter increased the vacuum in the venturi causing it to suck more fuel. Fuel injection regulates the fuel air mixture based on data collected from various sensors from under the hood. The engine management computer compensates for the air filter and quality of the fuel, changes in vacuum, etc. So don't expect an air filter to be a magic bullet. You will most likely spend more on the air filter than you will save on gas.

This vehicle was not intended or designed for economy. Unfortunately, you just bought the vehicle, so you will lose too much money by dumping it now. Next time you need to do a little more research before buying. Make sure the vehicle is really the one suits your needs.

Answer 5

The cheapest thing to do, is to make sure that the tires are inflated close to the max pressure. Then the biggest difference will be in how you drive. Try a little softer starts and a few miles per hour slower on the road.

The best mileage you can get is when your SUV is in high gear and you are cruising at an even speed. That should be about 40-45 mph.

Answer 6

I see this question every day. If you want to see how much gas you use then go fill up and drive straight until the fuel light goes on. That means get in the car and waste a full tank of gas. Don't stop at the store, don't go through a town or city full of traffic. One saturday morning go out on a major highway and drive non-stop. Then when you fill-up, divide the amount of miles by the gallons you put back in the tank. That is you true miles per gallon. If you can get 25 miles per gallon in a v-8 then you can't do better. If you get 10 or15 miles to the gallon in the city, or if you only get 150 miles to the tank while driving to and from work, then you are going to keep getting that.My car gets 280 miles during the work week and 400 miles when I go on vacation. It is all about the stop and go. There is no ointment or additive that is going to give you more milage, those juices only mess up the engine.

Answer 7

try a tune up, oil change. You should be getting better mileage from the V6. I have a V8 that gets better mileage than your V6. You should have the vehicle inspected by a mechanic.

Answer 8

Remove unnecessary parts that weigh it down (e.g. seats, bumpers, spare tire).
Replace the engine with a four-cylinder.
Over-inflate your tires.
Fill the back of the vehicle with helium baloons.
Install a big wing on the roof to provide lift.
Drive downhill only.
Draft semis and other large vehicles by tailgating them.

Answer 9

if the wheels of your vehicle is steel, replace with aluminum or alloy wheels. this will cut down the vehicle weights. do not use light truck tires on your vehicle, use passenger tires type. this will cut down on weights. look on the side of the drive door and use that tire pressure that stated on the decal. do not use any fuel or oil additive to your vehicle since your Explorer is new. stop tailgating or applying brake constantly. last, tell all your out of shape,obese friends to get out your vehicle or use their vehicles because you can not afford the high price gas. p.s , my slr mclaren only get 8 miles to a gallon

Answer 10

Put 36 PSI cold tire air pressure in all the tires. Switch to http://www.mobiloil.com full synthetic oil in the engine and rear axle differential. Install a K&N lifetime air filter to get more air into the engine. Put some Chevron Techron in the fuel tank every couple of months. Drive conservatively.

http://www.csgnetwork.com/gasmileage.html

http://www.fueleconomy.gov