Drastic highway vs city mileage?

pjtoledo · Nov 16, 2018

I bought an '87 Taurus wagon new, had the 3.0 didn't win any races but it would cruise at 85 forever. nominal freeway mileage was 24-26.
it served the family well for 15 years, then as my work vehicle for another 5 before rust took over.

sgtsandman · Nov 16, 2018

adsm08 said:
The 4.0 SOHC is to the 4.0 OHV what the Cosworth DOHC 2.9 is to the OHV 2.9.

It is part of the Cologne engine family, even though for our purposes on this board we don't usually consider it to be.

It is more or less the same block (The OHV version has no provision for the rear timing chain), the casting numbers are different, but all the holes are the same. The heads are different. The jack-shaft for the rear timing chain on the OHC sits where a camshaft would be on a pushrod engine. The oil pan arrangement is different between the two.

I watched a video on how to so the timing chains and time the 4.0 SOHC. I hope I never have to do it. Do able but looks like it is a real PITA of a job. But this is veering off the thread topic.

21 mpg on average is about what I got with my 1998 and it’s 2.5 Lima. I see an average of 18.5 with my 2011 and the 4.0 SOHC with the occasional 20-21 on a highway trip and a once in a blue moon 22+.

If the new Ranger gets about 21 like the original post shows, I wouldn’t grumble. 24-25 would make me happy. And if it gets the 26-27 highway the Explorer is supposed to be able to get, I would be ecstatic.

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1990RangerinSK · Nov 16, 2018

pjtoledo said:
I bought an '87 Taurus wagon new, had the 3.0 didn't win any races but it would cruise at 85 forever. nominal freeway mileage was 24-26.
it served the family well for 15 years, then as my work vehicle for another 5 before rust took over.

That engine was very well suited to the Taurus and Sable. I owned a 1991 Sable wagon and a 1990 Taurus wagon. My ex wife's parents "loaned" us a 1998 Sable sedan, and I frequently drove my housemate's 1998 Taurus. They all had the 3.0 Vulcan. You're right, it wouldn't win a race, but the engine had more than enough power to move the car. I also had it in my 1991 Ranger, and there it also had more than enough power.

In the '91 Sable and 1990 Taurus, it was rated 30MPG (imperial) on the highway, 20(imperial) in the city. I'm pretty sure we got pretty close to that, even with an automatic transmission.

JohnnyO · Nov 22, 2018

Ranger850 said:
I had an 08 Sport Trac 4.0, don't know what rear end was. But if I drove it hard around town, I'd get 14-15, but i could baby it and get 17. hwy 23 was the best I remember getting.

Same. Basically Rangers and Explorers are heavy vehicles and it takes a lot of energy to get them moving, repeatedly, in city driving.

All 07-10 Sport Tracs will have either 3.73 gears with a V6 or 3.55 gears with a V8.

JohnnyO · Nov 22, 2018

adsm08 said:
The earliest thing I can remember it being in was the 86 Taurus, so it was probably made for the Taurus.

It ended up in the Ranger because the 2.9 wasn't going to make emissions for 93, and the pencil pushers in marketing didn't think the Ranger would sell well with just a 4-cyl and a large V6 in the line up, and the bean counters in accounting said "Why design a new engine when we have this nearly identically sized other V6 over here, just use that" and the morons in design said "OK" instead of "But that will suck fuzzy monkey balls".

My first Ranger was a 99 SuperCab 4x4 with a 3.0/stick, leased new. Great mpg for a 4x4 but slow as molasses in February. At the time I was traveling a lot and Budget had a great deal on renting Rangers for like $19.99 a day. They were all 3.0/auto SuperCabs, some 4x4, some 4x2, but also very slow and the mpg was horrible with the automatic.

black_demon69 · Nov 23, 2018

adsm08 said:
"But that will suck fuzzy monkey balls".

Can I use this :icon_rofl:

91stranger · Nov 23, 2018

Anyone know of any tricks to get better gas mileage other than expensive upgrades. I was considering underdrive pulley kit but wasn't sure if it was worth it. Planning on getting a K&N intake as well when money comes around. The gas mileage I get now is the same gas mileage as a lifted full size truck with mudders and 4wd and I have none of that lol. the 3.0 gets up and goes pretty good considering for what it is,,,, no HP and no torque wont move a truck. I just want to do mods that I can see a difference in gas mileage. I'd hate to get rid of a truck bc it gets bad gas mileage. Ive done so much to it and it only has 115k on it AND I am the 2nd owner. Still have a copy of the title before it got put in my name showing the previous owners name and his purchase price in 1999 with 25 miles on it lol.

sgtsandman · Nov 23, 2018

Nothing that would be record breaking. Keeping everything in tune, choosing tires that have the least amount of rolling resistance, depending on what ring and pinion gear set you have, maybe a regearing.

The right tires might give an mpg or two. The same with a regearing, assuming your existing set is too tall or too short. 3.73 typically gives the best balance of performance and fuel usage in general.

A K&N filter won’t make a measurable difference. I don’t know enough about under drive pulleys to give useful info.

Another option that might give a mile or two would be a tuner.

Outside of that, carry as little as possible in the truck, keep the foot out of the firewall, and keep to the speed limit.

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Dirtman · Nov 23, 2018

If no one else lived in my town and red lights didn't exist I bet my mileage would improve by 50%! I drive 8 miles... 8 miles!! to pickup my neice to take her to school in the mornings. Its an hour long trip... :annoyed:

91stranger · Nov 23, 2018

Dirtman said:
If no one else lived in my town and red lights didn't exist I bet my mileage would improve by 50%! I drive 8 miles... 8 miles!! to pickup my neice to take her to school in the mornings. Its an hour long trip...

Gotta love city driving. 4 times slower to go 1/4 of the distance and still get terrible gas mileage lol. At least now vehicles are getting better transmissions. I had the idea 15 years ago for a 10 speed transmission. Made sense on bicycles. more gears meant easier riding. more gears in a transmission would mean less work on motor. I always thought engines should run at idle at highway speeds when the transmission is in its highest gear. Bout time someone caught onto this at a manufacture.

Dirtman · Nov 23, 2018

91stranger said:
Gotta love city driving. 4 times slower to go 1/4 of the distance and still get terrible gas mileage lol. At least now vehicles are getting better transmissions. I had the idea 15 years ago for a 10 speed transmission. Made sense on bicycles. more gears meant easier riding. more gears in a transmission would mean less work on motor. I always thought engines should run at idle at highway speeds when the transmission is in its highest gear. Bout time someone caught onto this at a manufacture.

The problem is idle speed is not very pollution friendly. Ever notice your idle doesn't drop instantly when you let off the gas and coast in a modern vehicle? They usually hold to 1,200 or more rpms because its actually "cleaner" to run this way. Running less than 1500-2000 at 65-70 would get the hippies all upset.

1990RangerinSK · Nov 23, 2018

Dirtman said:
Oddball question/observation.

My 09 regular cab 2wd 2.3 auto gets great highway mileage (roughly 23-24) but city driving it gets like 14-15.

Does this seem right? I know city driving should be less but practically 10mpgs?

Since you're looking at mods to increase your gas mileage, I have a great one for you that's free. In town, it will get you 16.8 - 18 MPG. On the highway, it will get you 27.6 - 28.8 MPG.

What's the mod, you ask? Change the size of the gallon. Imperial Gallons are larger than US gallons by a factor of 1.2.

Dirtman · Nov 23, 2018

1990RangerinSK said:
Since you're looking at mods to increase your gas mileage, I have a great one for you that's free. In town, it will get you 16.8 - 18 MPG. On the highway, it will get you 27.6 - 28.8 MPG.

What's the mod, you ask? Change the size of the gallon. Imperial Gallons are larger than US gallons by a factor of 1.2.

But wouldn't that mod also make me have a weird fetish for hockey, end every sentence with eh, and stop eating anything except maple syrup and beer?

JohnnyO · Nov 24, 2018

91stranger said:
Anyone know of any tricks to get better gas mileage other than expensive upgrades. I was considering underdrive pulley kit but wasn't sure if it was worth it. Planning on getting a K&N intake as well when money comes around. The gas mileage I get now is the same gas mileage as a lifted full size truck with mudders and 4wd and I have none of that lol. the 3.0 gets up and goes pretty good considering for what it is,,,, no HP and no torque wont move a truck. I just want to do mods that I can see a difference in gas mileage. I'd hate to get rid of a truck bc it gets bad gas mileage. Ive done so much to it and it only has 115k on it AND I am the 2nd owner. Still have a copy of the title before it got put in my name showing the previous owners name and his purchase price in 1999 with 25 miles on it lol.

The best bang for the buck to help gas mileage is a cat-back exhaust. Gibson makes a kit for Rangers. I put one on my Sport Trac when it was almost new. Since replaced the muffler with a Flowmaster DBX when the Gibson rusted. Both sound good. Picked up 3 mpg on the highway, city mpg was no different than stock.

1990RangerinSK · Nov 24, 2018

Dirtman said:
But wouldn't that mod also make me have a weird fetish for hockey, end every sentence with eh, and stop eating anything except maple syrup and beer?

Well, no. I'm Canadian, and that doesn't describe me at all. HOWEVER, I *do* like poutine. If you don't know what that is, it's fries with gravy and melted cheese on top.

Drastic highway vs city mileage?

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