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Mileage Report

57K views 79 replies 36 participants last post by  PeteK 
#1 ·
So...I have just over 250 miles on my Lariat 4x4 and thought I would give a mileage run down for those interested.
First 50 miles was pathetic, didn't hit 20 mpg, I was a bit concerned. Don't judge it by that first trip.
After fifty miles was like some kind of break through, I started seeing the gauge regularity over 30 mpg and the average steadily picking up.
By 150 miles I was averaging 22.1. I reset my trip gauge.
Next 100 miles put me at 26.2 average, it seems to keep climbing.
Mind you I drive conservatively. I typically have it in sport mode as I like to get to speed at a decent rate, but don't mash on it. After I am at speed I typically hang there.
I also live in the country and do limited inner city driving, but the 250 is about a 35/65 city/hwy mix.
First 10 miles can be a bit low, but it seems to warm up and really improve after that, looking forward to putting a few long trips on it, really I have only done about 35 mi max.
Super quiet in the cabin and out considering it's a diesel. Ride is nice and there is plenty of pickup if you want it.
Now I need to get my boat behind it and see how she does. Was trying to break in some easy miles on it first.
 
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#3 ·
Mileage updates

Thanks for the update Johnny Blues...my truck is set to go to production July 31st and was debating on a F-250 leftover diesel at this point vs the F150 new diesel based on if pricing was going to come in similar since they are not offering rebates on the diesel version of F150...my buddy has a newer f-250 that gets awesome fuel mileage pulling a thirty some foot goose neck trailer....will be nice to hear you report your boat towing mileage ratings....
 
#5 ·
Lower than expected mileage

I purchased an '18 Lariat SuperCrew 4x4 with the 3.0 powerstroke just before christmas and have not achieved the expected mpg or numbers similar to what you guys are reporting.
So far I have about 1200 miles on the truck with an average of 20.9mpg. I'd say 80% of my commute is highway not during rush hour and I travel 75-80mph. Daily commute is 20miles each way.

My average has plateaued at 20.9 despite resetting the trip computer. I use cruise control when I can and don't live in a hilly area. I have had a soft tonneau cover on the bed for the past 500miles. No other mods to the truck.

Any thoughts?
 
#76 ·
Lower than expected mileage

I purchased an '18 Lariat SuperCrew 4x4 with the 3.0 powerstroke just before christmas and have not achieved the expected mpg or numbers similar to what you guys are reporting.
So far I have about 1200 miles on the truck with an average of 20.9mpg. I'd say 80% of my commute is highway not during rush hour and I travel 75-80mph. Daily commute is 20miles each way.

My average has plateaued at 20.9 despite resetting the trip computer. I use cruise control when I can and don't live in a hilly area. I have had a soft tonneau cover on the bed for the past 500miles. No other mods to the truck.

Any thoughts?
Put a K&N stock replacement filter in and run Fords cetane booster in it I have just cracked 10k and its running better and better
 
#9 ·
What kind of driving do you do that only get 10MPG?
 
G
#10 ·
I pull trailers every weekend. The 8mpg and 10mpg runs were pulling my center console boat into a 30mph headwind at 75mph for 260 miles. Notice that the def consumption is pretty high, apparently it is affected by the stress put on the engine too. I've put in 12.5 gallons of def in just under 8000 miles (not counting the full tank of just over 5 gallons from the factory).
The good news is that the new engine was able to hold the speed (flat land, no hills). I stepped down from a F350 dually with 3.73 gears and the 6.7l Powerstroke and was very concerned about being able to pull the boat at the speed I'm accustomed to.
I used to have a hot shot business and had 11 trailers, 3 big goosenecks that I would haul steel out of Houston on with gross weights of over 40,000lbs. That 6.7 is an amazing engine but I really didn't need it anymore but like the pulling characteristics of diesels. The 3.0 came out just as I was considering downsizing but didn't want a gasser.
So far the engine is doing everything I need it to, its not a 6.7 but for what I'm doing it is 95% just right. I drive in Austin and San Antonio quite a bit so the adaptive cruise control and stop and go are the greatest things ever. Takes a lot of stress out of the drive knowing that if I happen to look away from the road for a few seconds that the truck is watching the road for me and if you drive on I35 you know how much the speeds vary so that adaptive cruise control is amazing.
 
#11 · (Edited)
I love the adaptive cruise control as well.

My hand calculated mpg is 19.94 in my first 3706.1 miles (truck computer reporting 21.1). My best has been in my first 700 miles I hand calculated 23.29 on a 1/2 tank fill up. After my most recent fill up I drove home about 18 miles from that and truck computer said 28.6 mpg, and there have been times in the Fuel History graphs where I have been 30 mpg for several consecutive bars, so I know the truck is capable. I just think the winter blend diesel up here is killing the mpg's.

I look at it this way, my 2010 F150 King Ranch would be getting me about 13.5-14 mpg right now on winter gas, so I am happy right now averaging about 20 with the Diesel.

I am looking forward to having the engine break in period complete (but not sure anyone knows the time or mileage duration on that) and getting past winter blend diesel. I did find one station that specifically said on the pump #2 diesel and to go to the big rig pumps to get winter blend diesel. So once this Polar Vortex passes I am going to go try that fuel (with some Power Service additive for anti-gel protection) and see if my mpg's improve on that tank.

I have also noticed that my best mpg on the Fuel History graph appears once the engine is fully warmed up after a fair amount of driving.

Bottom line is that I love this truck, and have trust that once I get into summer diesel fuel that my mpg's will improve into the expected range. I do have 3.55 gears and the big tow mirrors on mine, and have been thinking they are probably costing me 1.0-1.5 mpg's as I would suspect the EPA ratings were on standard mirrors with 3.31 gears in the rear axle. (Those tow mirrors sure look like they would create a lot of wind drag).

One other thing worth mentioning is that my DFF regens have been happening about every 325 miles (+/-) like clockwork since I started paying attention to them, so that means that every tank I am calculating mpg's on includes at least 1 if not 2 twenty mile regen cycles at 17-18 mpg's during those miles.
 
#12 ·
@kdjasper - thanks for the mileage value for what you are seeing for your DPF regen cycle, so I have a rough idea when it should be...

One other thing worth mentioning is that my DFF regens have been happening about every 325 miles (+/-) like clockwork since I started paying attention to them, so that means that every tank I am calculating mpg's on includes at least 1 if not 2 twenty mile regen cycles at 17-18 mpg's during those miles.
I'm starting to worry with my short daily commute that I'm never completing a full regen cycle, so last week I took it out on the highway for an uninterrupted 40 mile drive.

Waiting for things to warm up a bit around here to play with my new ODBLink MX+ to get the DPF Full % up on the display.
 
#13 ·
Yeah, the DPF Full % up on the display is very helpful to know when you are in regen mode, as the % will drop down to 0% in 5% increments once a regen gets underway--providing you don't stop your highway speed driving during the regen cycle as that will end it (you will go back to 5% up increments again without getting a full soot purge completed from that regen cycle). After I first added it to the display, my first regen after that started once I reached 100% full, but I have noticed since that I have entered regen as soon as 80-85% full at times. I also have a short 10 mile commute to work, so I watch my DPF % Full and I try to time it so that when I am at 70-75% I have a 40 mile drive either to my Monday night pool league location or to my Friday/Saturday occasional run up to play at a poker room. Ever since I used FORScan to get DPF Full % in my IPC display I have been able to avoid the every other day regen event from the short drive to work that I was experiencing 2-3 different times.

By the way, With just over 4,000 miles now I have not yet added any DEF. My DEF gauge reads between 1/4 and 3/8 full right now.
 
#16 ·
Yeah, the DPF Full % up on the display is very helpful to know when you are in regen mode, as the % will drop down to 0% in 5% increments once a regen gets underway--providing you don't stop your highway speed driving during the regen cycle as that will end it (you will go back to 5% up increments again without getting a full soot purge completed from that regen cycle).
Not sure anyone has every quoted themselves before (prior post), but I need to post an update to what I stated in the above quote...

So, my last regen got underway just before I pulled into my garage. I thought, okay, it will start counting back up again on % Full and then re-trigger the regen...nope, next time I started up the truck it was 5% lower than when I shut it off and it immediately went back into regen all the way down to 0% (I had enough driving distance for this to happen before I was parking).

This just goes to show that we are learning more together about our trucks as time moves along.
 
#14 ·
2018 4x4 Lariat F-150 with Moon Roof and Technology package. This is a trip from Gainesville to Palm Beach with average of 66mph. I use ECO-Mode on the driving mode for the highway. If your truck's manufacturer gives you an economy driving mode for mileage, definitely worth the use. I could have gone higher with the mpg if I had started the measurement in gainesville. this is actually just for the miles shown on the dash for this part of the trip after I fueled up. I would imagine 28 or 29 would be possible. My actual mileage was 27.4mpg. This is with a tonneau cover (hard) and a truck full of luggage for the trip.
 

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#15 ·
@jabrier - Is it all downhill from Gainesville to Palm Beach...? :wink2:
 
#18 ·
My mileage is starting to climb. Just filled up and hand calculated at 21.73MPG with 3.55 gears, long bed, trailer tow mirrors--and I was running 4A a bunch on that tank for winter driving road conditions along with Snow/Wet Drive Mode. That was my second best MPG calculation in the first 4,700 miles now. My best so far has been 23.29MPG, but that was only a partial fill of 10.524 gallons and 245.1 miles so likely did not have a DPF regen cycle in that partial tank fill. This recent tank 21.73MPG was also achieved with straight up #2--not a winter diesel blend which I am starting to avoid because I know that has been taking down my MPG's. I have been adding Power Service white additive for anti gel and cetane boost, so with that, feel like winter diesel is unnecessary unless during a Polar Vortex.

In fact, this recent tank I had an entire 30 minutes averaging 30MPG as you will see in the attached photo below, so our trucks are still breaking in and definitely capable of attaining some nice fuel economy.
 

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#19 ·
I just did @ 100 mile test to see what she would do. Truck had less than 200 mikes on her. 18 Lariat 6.5 Fx4 w/3.55 gears. DIC Showed 24.8 hand calculated was 21.99. Temperature was 39 degrees and I assume Connecticut is still using winter blend. I tried to simulate what TFL Truck does for there mileage loop. Cruise control was set at 70 and I waited 30 seconds to top off tank. I’m going to try again in another month when the temperature gets warmer. I was in eco mode for the entire trip and only used the HVAC for maybe a quarter of the trip.
 

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#20 ·
I also follow TFL Truck approach to waiting 30 seconds after the pump clicks off and then topping off until it clicks again. I've never seen a 2.8 mpg spread between truck computer and hand calculated, but I have not really ran much in ECO Mode either, so perhaps ECO Mode causes the larger spread, or it could be since it was only 4.579 gallons you filled and perhaps on a full tank the 2.8 mpg spread would narrow down to ~1 mpg which is more typically what I have been seeing.

Fuelly.com is showing 20.4 mpg average for 24 trucks having 491 fuel ups and 200,196 miles tracked.
 
#22 ·
Did your dealer send you away from your purchase with your first tank full? I told my dealer all the new vehicles I had in the past were provided to me with a full tank, so they went and filled it up before I took possession. My point is that if the salesman did your first fill up, he may not have given you a completely full tank, or at least not filled it up with the same fill technique as you, and that could account for inaccurate mpg.
 
#23 ·
Here is an article worth reading to see if any of it applies to your particular situation or driving habits --> https://www.bellperformance.com/bell-performs-blog/winter-diesel-fuel-mileage

The "Speed Is The Biggest Factor" section in the above article is very true. If I set my cruise control at 49-50 mph in an extended 45 mph highway zone my Fuel History Graph readout in the dash display has reported as high as 30-38 mpg.

I know up here in the north country from October-April we sacrifice some mpg's due to winterized diesel (where they mix in a percentage of #1 with the #2). I bought my truck day before Thanksgiving, so I have yet to operate on summer diesel. Those down south where they don't have winterized diesel have been seeing better mpg's than those of us driving around up here in the Polar Vortex of the north. I have been starting to see improvement in mpg's lately as the mix % of #1 is being faded out in the transition from winterized diesel to summer diesel.
 
#24 ·
My last tank was 31 mpg imperial (26 US) which was hand calculated. I think it's still breaking in though.
 
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#25 ·
I was at my dealer this morning to follow-up on them ordering me a 48 gallon Titan Tank to replace the OEM 26 gallon tank, and in conversation with the aftermarket guy he asked if I had any problems with fuel gelling up over the winter. I told him no, because I was doing Power Service white bottle additive with every fuel up. He then told me that they had a heck of a time moving around the F150 diesels on their sales lot this winter because they shipped from the factory with summer diesel without any anti gel additives; he then stated that was his reason for asking me that question.

So it seems the dealers up in the north country had some lessons to learn about the new F150 diesels as well; although, you would think they would have learned this by now with Super Duty diesels on their lots.
 
#26 ·
@kdjasper - [sarcasm]but, but, but the Ford F150 Owners manual says not to use any fuel additives::surprise:[/sarcasm]
Diesel Fuel Additives
  • It should not be necessary to add any aftermarket additives to your fuel if you use a high quality diesel fuel that conforms to ASTM industry specifications. Aftermarket additives can damage the fuel injector system or engine.
  • Use Motorcraft® cetane booster or an equivalent cetane booster additive if you suspect fuel has low cetane. Use Motorcraft® anti-gel & performance improver or an equivalent additive if there is fuel gelling.
  • Do not use alcohol-based additives to improve cetane quality, to prevent fuel gelling or any other use. The use of alcohol additives may result in damage to the fuel injectors and system. See Engine Specifications.
  • Your warranty may not cover repairs needed to correct the effects of using an aftermarket product that does not meet Ford specifications in your fuel.
Sure glad I ran Stanadyne Performance Formula all winter...
 
#27 ·
@jmperlik yeah, I get the sarcasm. Interesting is that my Ford dealer sells Power Service additive on their shelves right next to the Motorcraft OEM, and they recommend using additive up here in MN to prevent fuel gelling because even the winterized diesel being sold has less protection than adding Power Service or Stanadyne (or name your additive with anti gel protection). I wouldn't want to rely solely on winterized diesel preventing a gel up in feels like -55F Polar Vortex conditions. Also, some guys that are even farther north may be filling up their tanks with a partial fill of straight #1 and finishing the fill up with winterized diesel (a buddy of mine told me a buddy of his did that with a Duramax when they went up ice fishing at Lake of the Woods during the Polar Vortex when the daytime highs were -25F without the windchill factor).

I think an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure when it comes to gelling up your diesel.

I have switched over to filling my truck with Kwik Trip Premium Diesel which is 5 cents more over #2 but has the additives already included.
 
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#29 · (Edited)
Okay, so I am suspecting that the Biodiesel Blend Mandate requirements in Minnesota may be partially impacting my mpg --> https://afdc.energy.gov/laws/5452

Here is the top level link to search for any Biodiesel Blend Mandate requirements for your state --> https://afdc.energy.gov/laws/search
***See the attached screenshot below illustrating the search for Minnesota and the results

I have also included some photos below that I have taken at a few diesel pumps in MN as well as one this morning from WI. I don't live that far from the WI border, so this morning I decided to drive over there and filled up #2 at the Flying J which appears to not be a biodiesel blend as we are mandated to have in MN (from the link above it does not appear that Wisconsin mandates fuel stations dispense a biodiesel blend). I have read that biodiesel blend lowers mpg's, possibly as much as 2 mpg. Interestingly enough, the truck computer reported 28.3 mpg parked in my driveway after the 38.1 mile drive back from the Flying J.

Are there any forum members in NW Ontario, specifically in the Dryden area that can report on the diesel being offered there? I make a couple week long trips each summer where I pass through Dryden, so would like to know about the diesel being dispensed up there so that I know whether or not I want to bring a full tank up from MN or fill up with higher quality diesel (yeah, I know it will be more expensive than MN diesel) while in the Dryden area--thanks!
 

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#31 · (Edited)
Had to run upstate to pick something up which required a 110 mile trip (one-way) on NYS Rt 28 thru the Catskill mountains. Outbound leg was on a partial tank so it was hard to gauge a realistic MPG, plus this was my first highway driving in a few weeks, so I am pretty sure I was in regen on the leg out. I knew the return leg would be a better test, as I had to fuel up at my destination because I was near empty, but ran into the Rapid Fill "big" nozzle issue until I found a Speedway with the smaller nozzle that fits our capless fuel tanks.

On the way back I averaged 29.5 MPG on the trip computer in weather conditions just above freezing but below 40 degrees F. Considering this was mostly 55 MPH roads winding thru the mountains and 20-30 MPH in the small towns in between, I didn't think this was too shabby at all, considering I have a Platinum with AWD and the 25 MPG highway EPA-mandated window sticker average. I started out in Normal Driving Mode and switched to Eco mode about halfway thru on the leg home, so I am convinced I could have broken 30 MPG average if I had switched it into Eco from the start.

I have ~6500 miles on the odometer now and I am running Stanadyne Performance Formula as an additive, so maybe my engine is starting to loosen up.

I've got a bunch of trips back home to Massachusetts in the next 6 weeks, so I am interested to see what I can get for MPGs in Eco Mode on Summer Diesel -- I would be ecstatic if I can average over 30 MPG on trips to Boston...
 
#33 ·
@Dijit - Here let me fix this for you since what I said is so controversial..?

Had to run upstate to pick something up which required a 110 mile trip (one-way) on NYS Rt 28 thru the Catskill mountains. Outbound leg was on a partial tank so it was hard to gauge a realistic MPG, plus this was my first highway driving in a few weeks, so I am pretty sure I was in regen on the leg out. I knew the return leg would be a better test, as I had to fuel up at my destination because I was near empty, but ran into the Rapid Fill "big" nozzle issue until I found a Speedway with the smaller nozzle that fits our capless fuel tanks.

On the way back I averaged 29.5 MPG on the trip computer in weather conditions just above freezing but below 40 degrees F. Considering this was mostly 55 MPH roads winding thru the mountains and 20-30 MPH in the small towns in between, I didn't think this was too shabby at all, considering I have a Platinum with AWD and the 25 MPG highway EPA-mandated window sticker average. I started out in Normal Driving Mode and switched to Eco mode about halfway thru on the leg home, so I am convinced I could have broken 30 MPG average if I had switched it into Eco from the start.

I have ~6500 miles on the odometer now and I am running Stanadyne Performance Formula as an additive, so maybe my engine is starting to loosen up.

I've got a bunch of trips back home to Massachusetts in the next 6 weeks, so I am interested to see what I can get for MPGs in Eco Mode on Summer Diesel -- I would be ecstatic if I can average over 30 MPG on trips to Boston...
The point of I was trying to make was I got pretty darn good MPG on windy mountain (not flat) roads in sub-optimal weather conditions, and that maybe? my average MPG is improving due to diesel engine "break in"

Disclaimer: YMMV (You Mileage May Vary)

I apologize for not being verbose enough (not something I get criticized very often for) in spelling out this subtlety...
 
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