Powerboost- Same round trip- Same driving habits - Wide variation in MPG. Why?

[LRscott]

Several times per month I make a round trip Little Rock, AR to Dallas. This trip is 290 miles one way mostly on I-30. Running in Eco mode, I Blue Cruise at 80 mph as much as possible. I start each leg with a full tank of 87 regular gas. My mpg is scattered between 17.5 to 22.1. I seem to get some consistency of 19.5mpg. I measure by actual gallons used and miles driven. This range is over a couple of years now. Why the variance? Please no WAG's!

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[Skapan]

Tire pressure/headwind/actual fuel octane variation?

 

[rtf150]

Weather, wind, temperature, traffic, tire pressure, fuel, payload

 

[madsend81]

In traffic and with hills, I find I get better and more consistent mileage when I turn adaptive cruise control off. I assume Blue Cruise is the same. The reason being that ACC and BC are reactive by nature. They cannot see the hill ahead and end up downshifting later that you or I might, or it gives it more gas after it feels the increased load from the incline whereas you or I would give it a bit of gas before we start up the hill so we have more momentum to help us up the hill.

 

[Gros Ventre]

You need to pay attention to headwinds. In my experience in Wyoming when you have a headwind mpg drops significantly.

 

[Snakebitten]

As others have stated......

80mph on the speedometer in a pickup truck is an interesting condition. If you had air-speed indicators like an aircraft, you might find that the ICE was pushing that brick through anywhere from 65-100mph.

Some roads are in geographic areas where wind is consistent. But most interstates are wide open to mother nature's whims.

 

[mxwrk]

I drove from Vegas back to SoCal at 70mph once (mostly downhill back to sea level) and got 14mpg average due to headwinds. Huge factor

 

[LRscott]

Thanks everyone. Along that stretch of Interstate wind conditions are minimal for the most part. Even though it's an even number highway this section runs NE to SW. When there are higher winds, they are rarely direct headwinds or tailwinds.
Other info- Running at 80mph I turn 2000 rpm in #10 and get some boost on overpasses and a few short inclines.
What about fuel and how the system adjusts for it? Running with 87 octane usually the 'Kroger blend' if there is such a thing.

 

[dafish]

I concur completly with snake and others who have said "wind". Let me add these things for consideration:

1) Since aero resistance squares to speeds 2X, we know without question that your high traveling speed is a large factor. What you may not be considering is that as a result of the high baseline speed the implication to wind components are amplified.

2) We also know boost eats fuel efficiency in these things alive re IRL results.

The compound affect of those two is the bottom line, and of course that's reciprocol. A good tailwind will give you marked improvements. Ergo the deviation range should be expected to be considerable. As it is.

IMO of course.

 

[Gros Ventre]

Note: Wind resistance is a cubic function... eg triple the truck speed from 25 to 75, the aerodynamic drag goes up by a factor of 9. So add in wind, say 15 mph to that and 75 beomes the same as 90 as far as aerodynamic drag goes... That big brick like front end just doesn't like a headwind...

 

[Shane150]

I think you will see improvement in mpg if you stay close to speed limit.

 

[Snakebitten]

He could actually be traveling below the speed limit.

 

[powerboatr]

i know that route well
wind YES, going down hill from ar to dallas yes
that stretch from mt pleasant to texarkana is windy as heck, but its never from same direction IMO.
i will say return trips always seem faster than the run up trip, even though its pretty close time wise
my mpg hangs right at 19 and a smidgen when i run up to benton from sulphur springs

 

[Shane150]

He could actually be traveling below the speed limit.

I didn't know you could travel at that speed in North America! I think 65-70 is the sweet spot to achieve good mpg with PB.

 

[Snakebitten]

I didn't know you could travel at that speed in North America! I think 65-70 is the sweet spot to achieve good mpg with PB.

Probably thousands of miles of Texas roads with 80mph or higher speed limits. And even the sections of interstate posted 75mph, you have to be in the right lane if you desire to travel at less than 80mph.

The Powerboost is a magnificent high speed cruiser. But it's pretty much a 3.5 Ecoboost at those speeds. I do get about 2mpg better than I did on my 2018 3.5 F150 at that pace. But that truck was leveled and had heavier KO2's.

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