Ekona's Great MPG Challenge Story

[Ekona]

My daily hack is a current-gen Ford Ranger Wildtrak, the one with the 3.0L lump. I drive my cars hard when possible, and this is no different: Despite weighing 2.5tons, she gets thrown around corners and nigh-on redlined when I'm trying to get the most out of her. In short, she's driven more like a fun car than a works vehicle.

 

 

As you can imagine, with the above driving style and the fact that the air con is delightful in the summer, I don't get the greatest MPG out of her. Ford reckon 29.7MPG on the combined cycle, and that mixed 50/50 highway/city driving is pretty much what I do day to day (28 miles on the dual carriageway commute, and then anywhere between 10-20 miles driving around the site depending on what I'm doing). In the last couple of fill ups I decided I would find out exactly what MPG I'm getting normally and what I could get out of her if I really, really tried. Results as follows...

 

 

 

FILL UP NUMBER ONE

I filled the ol' girl up with BP's regular diesel and proceeded to drive my usual way, so basically I thrashed the tits off her. Loads of aircon, loads of revs, lovely. After about 330 miles the fuel light came on and she needed a fill. A quick bit of maths later and I got the grand score of... 28MPG. I was shocked. That's almost spot-on for what Ford reckon, so if I can get that whilst nailing it what on earth can I get if I drive sensibly? Ooh, I did get a wee bit excited at this point in the challenge!

 

 

FILL UP NUMBER TWO

Right, I'm well up for this now. I must be able to near enough double that I reckon if I short shift everywhere, turn the aircon off and coast whenever possible. So I did. I was shifting as early as possible (we're talking between 1500-2000 RPM here), no foot-flat-to-the-florr acceleration, just use the torque to get her moving kind of thing. Pootle around everywhere granny-style, and just pretend I'm limping her home on every drive. I was really impressed at my own ability to change my driving style with such ease, and knew I was onto a winner. As the fuel gauge dropped I got more and more excited, knowing that the final numbers were just round the corner. Finally the time came, and once again I dropped into the welcoming arms of the BP garage and I proudly filled the tank, awaiting the eager numbers so I could do a proper calculation of what I'd got.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was sweating.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was now or never.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is it. My final MPG was...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

29.8MPG

 

 

And as such I will never, ever drive so boringly again. What a complete waste of time, much like you've spent looking forward to the awesome result of this post.

[M13KYF]

didnt they do a test on top gear or fifth gear where they prooved it was best to accerate as hard as you can then coast rather than driving like a granny

[Husky]

im glad there was a giggle at the end of that

[Madmarky]

Thtas the sort of thing i did in the Zed. I cant get anywhere near the figures some people talk about, I was averaging 34-26 MPG enjoying driving the zed and then being as careful as possible I only managed average of 28.

[H5]

The Zed seems to roll very well once going. On the runs I had over the last two weeks it averaged over 30 mpg, and if you get into a high gear when cruising at lower speeds it hardly uses any juice....

[Tarmac@TarmacSportz]

 

Loved reading that and the suspense at the end was priceless

 

I tried a similar thing with my STI a few years back... I though fook it for the extra couple of quid I will drive it how it was meant to drive..

 

Great thread Dan

[Ekona]

didnt they do a test on top gear or fifth gear where they prooved it was best to accerate as hard as you can then coast rather than driving like a granny

It was TG back in the day when it used to be good and it was Hammond in a Caterham IIRC with 1L of fuel. Well remembered though, sir!

 

Honestly though, I was so disappointed when I found out that I'd only gained a poxy 2MPG by driving dull. I really thought it might be worth my while driving like that all the time, especially with a diesel truck that shouldn't be fun in the first place, but t'was not to be.

[Husky]

such a shame, you will be forced to have fun now, pity