Horrible MPG?

[PaulGrun]

Around town if I'm careful, I'll get 28mpg.

Around town, if I'm careful, I'll get 28mpg.

28mpg? Around town? I don't mean to be rude but I don't believe it.
I am the very definition of the little old lady who only drives to Sunday school, and I feel lucky if it's over 18mpg. Granted most of my around town trips are short 3-5 miles) but again that's more-or-less the definition of "around town".

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[Samson16]

Depends on duration of the “around town” drive for me. If we are sightseeing for hours or just not in a hurry I can see high twenties. 2 mile trip to Home Depot? Nope but the fuel used is minimal.

 

[dbtgt]

It's strange to me, too, which is why I'm here.

I was sometimes able to coax my '16 over 20 MPG driving conservatively (60 MPH) on highway trips and was able to keep it over 18 MPG overall. 12 MPG is unexpected and pretty bad. I hope I don't experience worse disappointment when towing my trailer long distances. I assume I'll average 9-10, and 4-5 in the Smokies.

I have a '21 (Job 1) 501A 3.5L Eco FX4 3.55 diff with factory Hankook 20s and 43,380 miles to date.
My lifetime average MPG according to the truck's "Lie-O-Meter" is 17.5 MPG. That's with 70/30 % City/Highway mileage. Something seems off with your mileage. Maybe your computer average has a lot of towing MPG in it's history before you bought the truck?

 

[PB_2021]

28mpg? Around town? I don't mean to be rude but I don't believe it.
I am the very definition of the little old lady who only drives to Sunday school, and I feel lucky if it's over 18mpg. Granted most of my around town trips are short 3-5 miles) but again that's more-or-less the definition of "around town".

Not rude at all. All good.
I'll try to remember to take a pic sometime soon.

Certainly depends on traffic and route.

 

[12Lariat21]

Yeah 12mpg seems low...I have 3.55 gears, BFG TK02 tires, 157" wheel base 4wd, tonneau cover and I get 16-17 avg winter, 17-19 avg summer.

Make sure your air filter is clean.
Tires are inflated properly
I don't know if they do any good, but maybe an injector cleaner...

It may be worth it for you to do a reset on the learned behavior type modules with ForScan. Like the transmission shift, not sure if there is one for anything else, but if being your the second user, it could help the truck to run 'better' at your driving style compared to how it started out.

Also every truck is different, some are great, some are not so great. The excessive fuel usage could be one of the reason it was traded in.

 

[PaulGrun]

Not rude at all. All good.
I'll try to remember to take a pic sometime soon.

Certainly depends on traffic and route.

Here’s how I am tracking mpg (I kinda think that some of these discrepancies are related to which version of mpg is being reported and how it’s tracked).
I use Trip 2 to track long term mpg, I.e. over many tanks of gas. I kinda reserve that one for when we take long trips to get a feel for long term consumption averaged out over many miles. I’ve had it running for 8 or 9 months, but it’s not particularly useful because that interval included a couple of mid-range trips towing the trailer.
I use Trip 1 to track mpg over each tank of gas, so I reset it each time I fill up. This is the one I watch most carefully because it most accurately measures my “around town” mileage.
So when I say, “18 mpg around town” that’s my summary of Trip 1 over the last 6 months since we haven’t gone anywhere out of town in that timeframe and haven’t towed a trailer in that time. The number that Trip 1 is reporting is consistently high 17s / low 18s. Again, my around town trips tend to be punishingly short (avg is probably under 5 miles - I can see the grocery store from home).

I’m too lazy/not disciplined enough to do the hand calculations, although I used to do so years ago. I’m just not disciplined enough to write down the numbers each time I get gas. Although I did so when the truck was new, long enough to satisfy myself that the numbers it was reporting were reasonably accurate.
I kinda half wonder if some of the numbers being reported are the “this trip” numbers reported on the dash each time one shuts down the engine.

 

[dafish]

Mine is as heavy as it could be: Crew Cab, 4x4, PowerBoost hybrid, max tow, sunroof, power everything (Platinum), bed liner and folding cover.

Highway, depending upon speed:
80mph: 20mpg
70mph: 22mpg
60mph: 24mpg

Around town, if I'm careful, I'll get 28mpg.

Now towing or spirited driving: abysmal. Like they say about EcoBoost: you can have Eco, OR, you can have Boost. Get into the boost and Eco is history. When planning my towing routes / stops, I estimate 8mpg with my ~6K LB travel trailer at 65mph.


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I'm still on the stock Hankook 275/60/20 AT2s.

Thinking of going with something slightly taller and/or wider that will still fit on a bone-stock truck. All the AT tires I'm seeing, weigh from mid 50s thru high 60s.

What is THAT gonna do to my mileage?

posts like this are a mystery. My PB wouldn’t get 17mpg at 80, and that’s considerably more fuel. Nor would it get 22 at 70mph.

 

[PB_2021]

You are correct we're measuring, and talking about, different things.

I'm saying when conditions are right - speed under 50, light traffic so I accelerate slowly without irritating folks, few lights, etc - I'll get high 20s as I previously stated.

When I'm out trying to "get there and back", no.

But I see that as a question more about my driving rather than the vehicle's capabilities.

 

[PB_2021]

I just went back and found a pic from when truck was brand new, not a month old so not even decently broken in.

Second one was a year later apparently.

Can't find any in my gallery of around town.

 

[SomebodyInGNV]

Here’s how I am tracking mpg ...

I did approximately that with my previous truck. I haven't had this one long enough to follow separate trip meters.

 

[PaulGrun]

I just went back and found a pic from when truck was brand new, not a month old so not even decently broken in.

Second one was a year later apparently.

Can't find any in my gallery of around town.

Those are really good numbers, and believable since they are for a single trip of around 3 hours’ duration.

it was the 28mpg around town of which I am so envious. How’d you do that?
I can baby my truck til the cows come home and still about the best I’ve ever seen was way less than 19mpg, and that was only once or twice in the very beginning. I’d sell my first born fir 28mpg (and he’s a great kid!)

 

[stevemcbo]

I'm the recent owner (September) of a '21 Job 1 F150 3.5L 4WD 301A w/ HDPP. My previous truck was a '16 500A RWD w/ MaxTow. The latter averaged ~18 MPG over a long-term w/ mixed use, excluding extensive towing. It had tow mirrors and T/A KO2s which may have added a bit of drag.

The newer truck has regular mirrors and OEM General Grabber APTs. I tend to not drive it around town unless the trip includes some highway time. (I live next to an Interstate.) My driving habits are conservative with slower acceleration and deceleration, and I typically drive around 60 MPH on highways to improve mileage.

I get only 12 MPG in mixed use. I expected some decrease relative to the older truck, due to the new one being a bit heavier and having 4WD, but not 30+%. Can I not expect better?

Questions to ponder. Was the tire circumference reprogramed into the truck? (would effect actual speed and thus mileage reflected on the odometer.) What is your driving speed? What is your air pressure in the tires? How many miles are on the truck?
All of these effect gas mileage.

 

[SomebodyInGNV]

Questions to ponder. Was the tire circumference reprogramed into the truck? (would effect actual speed and thus mileage reflected on the odometer.) What is your driving speed? What is your air pressure in the tires? How many miles are on the truck?
All of these effect gas mileage.

1. LT265/70R18 OWL All-Terrain tires, which matches the window sticker. No reprogramming necessary.
2. Conservative to the point of boring.
3. 50# right now at 50 degrees. The pressure on the door sticker says 48#, front and rear.
4. 55K

 

[gtotco]

I have a 21 3.5L 501A with max tow and get around 22-24 highway (generally keep it under 70 occasionally get up to 90-100 when passing but very short periods) with Michelin Defenders and about 1 mpg less with snow tires. Don’t do a ton of driving around town but it drains gas since the auto stop start never works - the probably 10-15% of my driving that is in town drives my mileage down to 19.5-21.5 generally. Calculated and tracked by hand.

Before the Defenders and snow tires had on Wrangler Duratracs and was more 19-21 highway and 18-20 overall.

 

[gtotco]

1. LT265/70R18 OWL All-Terrain tires, which matches the window sticker. No reprogramming necessary.
2. Conservative to the point of boring.
3. 50# right now at 50 degrees. The pressure on the door sticker says 48#, front and rear.
4. 55K

Are they load rated with the HDDP? Mine is 35psi for all 4. If they are how much do they weigh? That might be a big culprit

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