Will this give my SUV better mileage?

Power/Fuel
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41

Good point, Bassman. Unfortunately we get too many posts from those who THINK they need all that power and size and then want to increase the gas mileage. I too grew up on a farm and we had 2 family cars and a pickup truck, as well as tractors. We needed all those vehicles. Now that we live in a city, we don’t need anything that big.

There is a whole industry out there selling “stuff” to make your gas guzzler violate the laws of nature, all of it bogus.

Tom and Ray’s standard answer is that lumber yards, and department stores DELIVER that heavy stuff.

We have two compact cars with folding seats and over the last 3 years I have paid only $80 for deliveries which did not fit in the cars, and I could have carried in an Expedition or a small truck. Over those 3 years, we have saved abut $2500 in gas by not driving needlessly large vehicles!

42

After reading all the posts, my answer is you are doing about all you can do.

The best way to get the highest mpg from your truck is to replace the plugs at least as often as recommended by Ford. Not any fancy plug just the correct plug that matches what came from the factory.

Change your air filter at or before the mfg recommended interval.

Pay attention to the tires you put on the car, go for tires with the least rolling resistance sized properly. Michelin and Goodyear are now advertising tires to improve fuel economy.

Keep you tire pressures at or just slightly above the recommendations on the sticker on the door jam or gas filler. Don’t overinflate the tires too much, this can just make the vehicle less safe in emergency handling.

Finally, coast when possible, and reduce your highway speeds from 70 or 75 mph, down to 60 to 65. You’ll take a bit longer to arrive, but save about 10% of your fuel just by backing off the speed during the trip.

The money you spend maintaining your vehicle will pay off in better mpg. The money you spend on aftermarket gizmo’s will likely not improve you mpg much if at all and will not recoup the money you spent on them.

When I got my '01 Toyota Sequoia just over a year ago the fuel computer showed 14 mpg as the average. I went through the vehicle bringing all the maintenance up to date, timing belt, fluids, air filter, etc. I changed the plugs myself and found the plugs in the vehicle had very worn electrodes. The truck had just under 90K miles and these plugs were either the original, or perhaps had been in there since 30K service.

With the new air filter and new plugs the mpg immediately improved from the 14 mpg up to 18 mpg in average mixed highway/city driving. This is a big truck with a V8 so I’m pretty pleased with this kind of mpg from it. I have other cars to drive when mpg is important. But I can’t get a load of stuff from Home Depot in the Civic, and it won’t pull the horse trailer either. Sometimes you just need a truck, so keep it maintained and drive it easy to max out your mpg.

43

I wouldn’t count on 2 mpg better with this big vehicle. Unless you do the whole exhaust and intake (and you’re really only cutting into both systems, the restriction will remain at some point in either), you won’t really affect much. Try the standard mpg boosts like keeping the vehicle in tune, checking the tire pressure and watching your driving habits. Rocketman

44

Do what you want. After years of listening to car talk, my impression is that most of those who call in view their vehicles as another appliance so they cannot relate to CAI or high volume exhaust. The argument that if it worked the car dealers would do it is BOOOOGUS. There is that simple thing called cost vs return. The mileage on my 06 Pathfinder increased more than 3% just by adding a high volume air cleaner.

45

The argument that if it worked the car dealers would do it is BOOOOGUS.

No one ever said DEALERS…They said Manufacturers…BIG DIFFERENCE.

And it’s an extremely good argument. Manufacturers spend MILLIONS every year on R&D to meet the mandated Cafe’ numbers. If adding a high-volume air cleaner would increase gas mileage by 3% car manufacturers would JUMP at it…They’d save MILLIONS…The cost return would be ENORMOUS. Adding a simple and cheap part during manufacturing is far far far cheaper then the R&D needed to increase gas mileage.

Second…I know the Pathfinder fairly well. Owned a 90 for 300k miles and I kinda own a 98 (daughter drives it now) with over 340k miles…Sorry but I don’t believe the 3% increase in gas mileage.

46

I can relate to it because I’ve actually installed several of these things and told the people up front it would accomplish nothing; and of course these kits accomplished nothing.

As to your cost vs return, I said nothing about dealers doing this. I did state that the car manufacturers (NOT the dealers) would produce these things and install them during the car production process if it worked.
When it comes to car parts the car manufacturers can whittle the production costs down to a pittance because they would be manufacturing these items by the millions.

Add all of the high flow mufflers you want but the bulk of the exhaust restriction is in the catalytic converters. It’s restricted when new and after a 100k miles you can safely bet the converter has some degree of clogging.
(I say this because I’ve actually ripped apart some converters for a look-see, with said converters being removed from a good-running, no CEL, no codes set engine.)

47

BE HAPPY WITH YOUR MILEAGE, I HAD AN OLD SCHOOL SUV THAT I COULDNT GET MORE THAN 8 OR 9 MPG WITH. I DID ALL THE TRICKS DUEL EXHAUST NO CONVERTERS (PRE CONVERTER ERA).DIFF PLUGS WIRES REBUIT CARB,THEN REPLACED CARB.TIMING SPRINGS ADVANCE KIT ,DIFF OILS ,AIR CLEANERS ETC. ETC. ETC. IT DIDNT DO A THING FOR ME. OH I ALSO TRIED DIFF TIRES THEY LOOKED AND HANDLED GOOD BUT DID ZIP FOR MILEAGE.

48

Ford would have designed the IDEAL which cannot be improved.
They want to have the best fuel economy they can to attain CAFE and increase sales.
Any such expensive modifications will likely have no effect or not enough to have a possible payback.

49

Does this vehicle have an electric fan,if it doesnt ,you would probaly see an improvement of one mpg with one?-Kevin

50

Agree; Ford has to be competitive with other manufacturers. Only if the fuel efficiency standards dictate it or fuel prices skyrocket, will the company develop expensive technology to get the mileage up.

Back in the days when a new car sold for $3500, and gas was cheap, it was considered not cost-effective the put in a fan clutch/electric fan, lock-up 4 & 5 speed transmissions, fuel injection, platinum spark plugs, radial tires, and a host of other little things that make today’s cars so good on gas.

A manufacturer who puts in these much more costly items ahead of his time will lose sales and profitability. In the case of the exhaust, however, they make it as restriction-free as they can for the speed range that the CAFE standards dictate. That may not be wide open throttle, but I assume OP does not drive that way very often!

Manufacturers are now experimenting with ultra-strength steel, more aluminum components, and other weight-saving tricks to get the weight down and the mileage up.

51

I have been hiding information. My last highway trip with the GMC Sierra 4WD, extended cab automatic trans, cruise control, plastic bed cover, power steering, air conditioning and P245/75 R16 tires got 18.6 MPG on a 327 mile trip. I had 29 PSI in the tires because I was tired of thumping down thw road. The trip in June with the air conditioner on gave up 19.9 MPG with 35 PSI in the tires.

My oil was thicker this time with 5W50 instead of 5W30. Both oils were Castrol Syntec. I got the 5W50 for $3.96 a quart. Today, the oil change will be blended between 5W20 part synthetic and 5W50. I still have some 5W50 left over.

I still recommend the Mustang.