Fuel consumption for the Raptor has been discussed frequently here, but I haven't seen anyone post information from a designed study. I don't have the resources to conduct a true scientific study, but did just complete a 3,700 mile road trip from Boston to Kansas and back for Thanksgiving and decided to take the opportunity to do a "semi-scientific" study.
My 6.2 Raptor had logged just over 4,700 miles when I began my trip, so probably wasn't completely broken in, but should be getting there. I started by "research" while driving through Indiana (yep, I was really bored
) with about 6,200 miles on the odometer.
Experiment #1 - Miles per Gallon vs. Miles per Hour
Objective: Determine relationship between ground speed and fuel consumption.
Conditions: Overcast, 41 degrees, wind light and variable
Method: For this "experiment" I recorded the MPG estimated by the Raptor's onboard computer at a given speed over a distance of 5 miles. Thanks to multiple construction zones I was able to evaluate speeds as low as 40 mph, and went as high as 75 mph on stretches of open road with light traffic. I completed multiple 5-mile sections at all speeds between 40 and 75 mph.
I determined my speed using my Garmin 755T GPS (my speedometer reads about 2 mph low, so I relied on the Garmin for a more accurate measurement), and maintained desired speed during the experiment using cruise control.
Results: View attachment 1326
Miles per Gallon for the Raptor decreased with increasing speed (DUH), ranging from 24.6 MPG at 40 MPH to 14.3 at 75 MPH. I had expected that MPG would decrease faster as speed increased, but the onboard computer indicated otherwise. Whether this is real, or results from the way the computer calculates mileage I can't tell. Using linear regression analysis of the observed MPG/MPH data, I would estimate the fuel consumption of my Raptor at various speeds to be:
MPH Estimated MPG
40 24.6
45 23.1
50 21.6
55 20.2
60 18.7
65 17.2
70 15.7
75 14.3
The question now is, "how accurate is the Raptor's computer's estimate of MPG?" To answer this, I compared the MPG reported by the computer to what I would get by manually calculating mileage at each fill up based on gallons used divided by distance traveled.
Experiment #2 - Computer MPG vs Hand Calculated MPG
Objective: Determine relationship between the Raptors computer estimated MPG and hand calculated MPG.
Conditions: Temps from 16 to 46 degrees, winds variable
Method: For this "experiment" I reset the MPG reading on the Raptor's computer each time I filled it with gas, and then at the next fill up compared the computer's estimated MPG for that tank of gas to what I calculated using miles traveled (from the odometer) to gallons consumed (from the fuel pump reading). This data was collected while driving on 2 lane and interstate highways in IA, NE, KS, IL, IN, OH, MO, PA, CT and MA with very little city driving. Now that I am back in Boston I will collect data to compare MPG in stop and go city driving, and will report that later.
Actual Computer
MPG MPG
15.7 15.6
15.1 15.9
15.9 16.2
14.7 15.2
15.8 16.1
17.0 17.3
16.2 16.5
16.1 16.8
16.4 16.9
17.8 17.8
16.1 16.4 Average
As you can see, the computer tended to over estimate MPG by an average of about 0.3 MPG compared to "hand" calculated mileage. Much closer than I was expecting, and pretty darned good. The MPG I obtained given the speeds I was driving during these long runs compares closely to what I observed in "Experiment 1" over the 5 mile segments, so I am confident that the mileage reported in "Experiment 1" is pretty close to accurate.
As they say, "your mileage may vary", but hopefully this will provide some perspective on what fuel consumption to expect from the Raptor.
My 6.2 Raptor had logged just over 4,700 miles when I began my trip, so probably wasn't completely broken in, but should be getting there. I started by "research" while driving through Indiana (yep, I was really bored
) with about 6,200 miles on the odometer.Experiment #1 - Miles per Gallon vs. Miles per Hour
Objective: Determine relationship between ground speed and fuel consumption.
Conditions: Overcast, 41 degrees, wind light and variable
Method: For this "experiment" I recorded the MPG estimated by the Raptor's onboard computer at a given speed over a distance of 5 miles. Thanks to multiple construction zones I was able to evaluate speeds as low as 40 mph, and went as high as 75 mph on stretches of open road with light traffic. I completed multiple 5-mile sections at all speeds between 40 and 75 mph.
I determined my speed using my Garmin 755T GPS (my speedometer reads about 2 mph low, so I relied on the Garmin for a more accurate measurement), and maintained desired speed during the experiment using cruise control.
Results: View attachment 1326
Miles per Gallon for the Raptor decreased with increasing speed (DUH), ranging from 24.6 MPG at 40 MPH to 14.3 at 75 MPH. I had expected that MPG would decrease faster as speed increased, but the onboard computer indicated otherwise. Whether this is real, or results from the way the computer calculates mileage I can't tell. Using linear regression analysis of the observed MPG/MPH data, I would estimate the fuel consumption of my Raptor at various speeds to be:
MPH Estimated MPG
40 24.6
45 23.1
50 21.6
55 20.2
60 18.7
65 17.2
70 15.7
75 14.3
The question now is, "how accurate is the Raptor's computer's estimate of MPG?" To answer this, I compared the MPG reported by the computer to what I would get by manually calculating mileage at each fill up based on gallons used divided by distance traveled.
Experiment #2 - Computer MPG vs Hand Calculated MPG
Objective: Determine relationship between the Raptors computer estimated MPG and hand calculated MPG.
Conditions: Temps from 16 to 46 degrees, winds variable
Method: For this "experiment" I reset the MPG reading on the Raptor's computer each time I filled it with gas, and then at the next fill up compared the computer's estimated MPG for that tank of gas to what I calculated using miles traveled (from the odometer) to gallons consumed (from the fuel pump reading). This data was collected while driving on 2 lane and interstate highways in IA, NE, KS, IL, IN, OH, MO, PA, CT and MA with very little city driving. Now that I am back in Boston I will collect data to compare MPG in stop and go city driving, and will report that later.
Actual Computer
MPG MPG
15.7 15.6
15.1 15.9
15.9 16.2
14.7 15.2
15.8 16.1
17.0 17.3
16.2 16.5
16.1 16.8
16.4 16.9
17.8 17.8
16.1 16.4 Average
As you can see, the computer tended to over estimate MPG by an average of about 0.3 MPG compared to "hand" calculated mileage. Much closer than I was expecting, and pretty darned good. The MPG I obtained given the speeds I was driving during these long runs compares closely to what I observed in "Experiment 1" over the 5 mile segments, so I am confident that the mileage reported in "Experiment 1" is pretty close to accurate.
As they say, "your mileage may vary", but hopefully this will provide some perspective on what fuel consumption to expect from the Raptor.
