The myth of MPG

[Lefty]

Car entusiast Jay Leno drives a little Fiat, the cheapest model. Jay could drive whatever he wants, but there is something to be said for smaller European cars. They handle well, park like a dream, look good, and are just plain fun to drive.

 

[pentode]

Car entusiast Jay Leno drives a little Fiat, the cheapest model. Jay could drive whatever he wants, but there is something to be said for smaller European cars. They handle well, park like a dream, look good, and are just plain fun to drive.

James May famously drove a Fiat Panda for years too. They're great cars.

 

[Jtrussell1890]

Oh, I'm a huge fan of small European cars, especially the cheap ones. They have so many interesting options that we don't get... I think a lot more people would be tempted to buy smaller cars if there were fun affordable options. They get this:

View attachment 138391

We get the Chevy Sonic.

Yeah those are way better than what we get. For a number of years I've wanted a Fiat Spyder Abarth edition, but my big ass doesn't fit in it, I've tried. Lol. Probably the best bang for your buck as far as inexpensive sports cars go.

 

[Lefty]

That little Fiat 500 is very cose to the old fashioned VW bug: four cylinders, only more peppy, air conditioned, front wheel drive, and a beefier suspension with a range of nice little interior options, including leather, and yes, all for the same MPH.

I bought one, a demo, with a trade-in and offered to pay cash. They gave me another ten percent off, I paid eleven thou.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Having owned and driven a Fiat 500L a few years ago (and being a larger guy) I feel the need to contribute my own experiences. The Fiat was excellent on mileage and I'm a heavy foot. At 95 mph I would consistently get about 35mpg on the highway and average about 30mpg in town. The turbo sure made that little motor sing. Space wise it's was way more room than it looked, but it's the roomiest version of the Fiat 500 series. Compared to my current '96 XLT Supercab Ranger is night and day. The little 2.3l Lima engine is gutless and most of the time won't get out of it ts own way lol. Currently I'm averaging about 17 - 19 mpg, but I'm also religious as "F" about painting tire press, oil levels, filter changes and such. It's a night and day between the two vehicles for sure, but as far as the advertised mpg, that figure is a trick for sales and for the EPA regulations manufacturers have to meet. Unless you're going down hill with the wind at your back and following another larger vehicle to break the wind resistance, you will almost never get the "advertised" mileage.

I can't speak for other stuff but I can speak for my '97 2.3L ranger... I've toyed with 3 different tire sizes and a couple different tread styles, mine's extended cab manual with 4.10 gears... I got it with 27" tires, more of a winter pattern not quite A/T's, got 19-21mpg, jumped up to 235 75 15's trying to get the engine turning slower for mpg, it didn't care, got a steady 21mpg but had to downshift more... then I went to a 225 70 15 in passenger tread and it'll get 21-25mpg (more miles and years with this setup) depending on use. If I'm stuck in traffic more or use it around the property idling a lot or a lot of startups it goes down, summer blend and all highway it goes up... One of the biggest things for mileage was driving style, I toyed with it, for the most part I shift at 3k and try to cruise at 2000-3000, if I'm merging I stop at 4000, that alone gained me at least 1mpg. Of course I don't always follow that but had to retrain myself...

The Geo tracker I had for a while got a steady 26mpg, was a cool rig, the Justy I had got 32... those things (both) were geared too low for constant freeway driving... wore everything out.

 

[Jtrussell1890]

I can't speak for other stuff but I can speak for my '97 2.3L ranger... I've toyed with 3 different tire sizes and a couple different tread styles, mine's extended cab manual with 4.10 gears... I got it with 27" tires, more of a winter pattern not quite A/T's, got 19-21mpg, jumped up to 235 75 15's trying to get the engine turning slower for mpg, it didn't care, got a steady 21mpg but had to downshift more... then I went to a 225 70 15 in passenger tread and it'll get 21-25mpg (more miles and years with this setup) depending on use. If I'm stuck in traffic more or use it around the property idling a lot or a lot of startups it goes down, summer blend and all highway it goes up... One of the biggest things for mileage was driving style, I toyed with it, for the most part I shift at 3k and try to cruise at 2000-3000, if I'm merging I stop at 4000, that alone gained me at least 1mpg. Of course I don't always follow that but had to retrain myself...

The Geo tracker I had for a while got a steady 26mpg, was a cool rig, the Justy I had got 32... those things (both) were geared too low for constant freeway driving... wore everything out.

I just got back home after having visited Discount Tire and got some new shoes for the Danger Ranger. BFG K03's in a 235/75R15. It had some old Michelin highway tires, but they were dry rotted pretty fair and were having a tough time keeping up with air pressures. Was having to fill then about once a week. Looks and feels much better now. They're the same size as the Michelin's, but the tread is obviously more aggressive so I need to reevaluate my current mileage.

 

[Lefty]

Different vehicles seem to be more highly responsive, different enginegs too.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I just got back home after having visited Discount Tire and got some new shoes for the Danger Ranger. BFG K03's in a 235/75R15. It had some old Michelin highway tires, but they were dry rotted pretty fair and were having a tough time keeping up with air pressures. Was having to fill then about once a week. Looks and feels much better now. They're the same size as the Michelin's, but the tread is obviously more aggressive so I need to reevaluate my current mileage.

If you are running that big of tire, is your speedo correct? 4x2's didn't come with that big of tire, even to jump from the stock 27" tire to a 28" I had to go to go one less tooth on the speedo gear...

 

[Jtrussell1890]

If you are running that big of tire, is your speedo correct? 4x2's didn't come with that big of tire, even to jump from the stock 27" tire to a 28" I had to go to go one less tooth on the speedo gear...

My speedo is about 4 to 5% off and has been since I got the truck. I use an app to monitor my speed and have since I got the truck. Not really a bother honestly.

 

[19Walt93]

Interesting. I do not burn the cheapest stuff. I moved up to the next octane rating and I'm pretty sure I'm burning all gasoline. Is higher octane worth it? Chances are it helps mileage, but, like most other things with the Vulcan, not so much.

Higher octane gas only helps if you have enough compression to need it, otherwise it's extra money out the tailpipe. Lower octane gas has more BTUs so mileage should improve over unneeded high octane fuel. From my experience, E10 hurts mileage at least 5%.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Around here all three normal grades of gas have 10% ethanol. Some stations also offer E15 and E85 and there are a couple stations that offer non-ethanol but you pay premium gas price or higher often so it’s really only worth it for small engines.

I’ve experimented with different grades before, most of my stuff there’s little to no difference in performance. Dad’s 89 F-350 with a 460 though was an interesting one, 89 octane or higher would give it 1-1.5 extra mpg over normal, which was just enough to make it worth it if the spread was less than 10 cents per gallon over 87. Didn’t seem to make a difference in anything other than mileage though. The motor was rebuilt by Ford at 30k though and rumor has it that Ford was experimenting with RV cams in that vintage and that truck definitely acted like it had a bit of a cam. The 94 F-350 that was essentially the identical truck had a smoother idle, less available power, and fuel grade made no difference.