Winter Fuel Economy

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17022

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This has been my first winter with the Raptor and I’ve noticed the estimated MPG has been pretty bad lately.

I purchased this truck last April and averaged 18.5 mpg consistently on my commute to work. Lately (during these cold weeks, but that realization came to me only yesterday) my fuel economy has been horrid. 15 or even less miles per gallon when I’d expect to see 18+... sometimes 19+.

Thought it might be the cold air flattening out my tires so I filled them up. No change. Thought that the oil change that was due might bring it back. No change. Randomly came across the cold weather variable and I think this might be the culprit here actually. A 20% reduction in MPG is pretty extreme though... I’ve never noticed this in my other vehicles.

Other thing to note is the bad mileage is only in the first twenty minutes of driving. After it fully warms up I suppose it returns to normal. Wouldn’t think it would take every bit of twenty minutes though.

Anyone else experiencing this?
 

jabroni619

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My MPG stays pretty consistent year round around the mid 16's. But yes, cold weather will see worse fuel economy. Definitely wouldn't expect HIGHER mpg during the winter months, especially if you live in exceptionally cold climates. I'm in So Cal so our winters are relatively mild compared to most.
 

smurfslayer

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Man, let me just (sarcastically) say that the gen1 crew was driving this place into the ground with constant whining and complaining about EM PEE GEES One and ONLY gas mileage thread please until the Gen2 came around.

Fortunately most of the OG’s who made the EM PEE GEE threat great moved on so this place could get back to what it’s great at - being a community (for trolls) and offroad bench racing.

:p

If you live in or near some urban $hithole that has some bastardized “winter fuel blend” formula this could be a significant contributor. I definitely get less economy in every vehicle I have from the 10% ethanol blends. It’s probably not helping things that with S/C or turbo vehicles cold ambient air helps reclaim some lost ponies and it can be a little more... entertaining... to drive.

I wonder how many posts until kid ignoramus comes in and sasquatches this thread too?

A 20% reduction in MPG is pretty extreme though... I’ve never noticed this in my other vehicles.

Other thing to note is the bad mileage is only in the first twenty minutes of driving. After it fully warms up I suppose it returns to normal. Wouldn’t think it would take every bit of twenty minutes though.

so you haven’t noticed in other vehicles. Have you got another vehicle you can test out? No accompanying other symptoms, like a brake drag? This may sound dumb, but any chance you engage the parking brake and inadvertently depressed the pedal again partially? My wife did this in a previous vehicle, you could almost get half the parking brake pedal depressed until the light came on. it was enough to cause drag and make the car dog slow.

Are your expectations for economy realistic? A lot of folks in the Jenny community - you know who you are - loudly proclaim they’re getting 18+ MPG rolling across large central and western states at 80mph. Shyeah. Economy drops like a stone above about 68mph in the Rap. Are you in some sub-arctic tundra where humans shouldn’t live? Maybe the truck is trying to tell you to move.

it’s only the first ~20 minutes, are you warming the truck up first, even a little? if you do warm up the truck first, does that change things?
 

jabroni619

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Other thing to note is the bad mileage is only in the first twenty minutes of driving. After it fully warms up I suppose it returns to normal. Wouldn’t think it would take every bit of twenty minutes though.

Anyone else experiencing this?

Everyone is experiencing it. This is completely normal and happens to every gasoline powered vehicle out there. Cars will run rich until they are warmed up. Some more rich than others. Forced induction cars will run richer than NA cars.
 
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17022

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so you haven’t noticed in other vehicles. Have you got another vehicle you can test out? No accompanying other symptoms, like a brake drag? This may sound dumb, but any chance you engage the parking brake and inadvertently depressed the pedal again partially? My wife did this in a previous vehicle, you could almost get half the parking brake pedal depressed until the light came on. it was enough to cause drag and make the car dog slow.

Are your expectations for economy realistic? A lot of folks in the Jenny community - you know who you are - loudly proclaim they’re getting 18+ MPG rolling across large central and western states at 80mph. Shyeah. Economy drops like a stone above about 68mph in the Rap. Are you in some sub-arctic tundra where humans shouldn’t live? Maybe the truck is trying to tell you to move.

it’s only the first ~20 minutes, are you warming the truck up first, even a little? if you do warm up the truck first, does that change things?
1) Interesting idea about the parking brake. I’ll check it, but I highly doubt it. I’ve literally never used it.

2) My expectations are realistic. I consistently get the 18-19 on my drive to from work. Driving to from my parents house has changed as well. My first drive there with the raptor I averaged 22.5 on the highway (70 miles) on 64mph cruise control. All flat highway. Yesterday I got 19 on cruise control for (like I was saying) the first 20-30 minutes or so. Then it crept up to about 22. This is with me resetting the trip counter a bunch of times to refresh it and get accurate current read outs.

3) Typically I’ll warm it for 60 seconds. The transmission doesn’t really get any action just idling though. There’s no way it takes twenty minutes of driving to fully warm the engine. It must be something else that has to warm up indirectly wouldn’t you think?


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17022

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Everyone is experiencing it. This is completely normal and happens to every gasoline powered vehicle out there. Cars will run rich until they are warmed up. Some more rich than others. Forced induction cars will run richer than NA cars.
Interesting. My previous car was NA... maybe why the difference has never hit me over the head before.


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jaz13

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Raptor is a windsail. MPG falls like a rock over 60mph. 10-20 knot headwind will make a big difference. Makes sense to look at averages over 100s of miles, not just an instant reading that could be influenced by a lot of external factors.
 
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