Gained an extra .1 (perhaps more) mpg by locking out 10th gear

[jabroni619]

I've had my Raptor since mid October and the vast majority of that time my average MPG as been rock solid at 16.8. Over the last week or two, I've made a slight alteration to my driving habits. When I'm cruising on the freeway, if I notice i'm under boost in 10th gear, I lock it out and drop to 9th. I gain a couple hundred RPM and boost levels drop. The truck as a whole feels a lot happier in 9th. If i'm going down hill, I re-engage 10th and remain under vacuum.

I only started doing this because I've been using adaptive cruise control more often lately and didn't like how labored the truck felt in 10th especially if it's going up a slight hill. Wasn't expecting an MPG gain. Now it feels like a game to see if I can hit 17mpg though I had a set back this weekend when I went off-roading and it dropped back down to 16.8.


I know none of us got these trucks for their economy, but I'll take the extra tenth mile especially if the truck actually feels better topping out in 9th.

 

[Higgs Boson]

try cruising in sport instead and see if it downshifts a little more readily and achieves the same effect and that way you can carry on singing to your bluetooth instead of watching the boost gauge.

 

[xrocket21]

Tow mode also will drop a gear

 

[jabroni619]

try cruising in sport instead and see if it downshifts a little more readily and achieves the same effect and that way you can carry on singing to your bluetooth instead of watching the boost gauge.

To be honest I don't really watch the gauge. I can feel when the car is under boost and depending how loud my singing is, I can hear the turbos also.

 

[Turk10mm]

man, i'm lucky to get 14 in mine. the only thing i've done to mine is disable the autoengineshutoff.

 

[TXRaptor]

I was seeing 16.2 very consistently on my stock Gen 2. Since adding the 37s and MPT tune, it has dropped down to the mid 14s, but I have not been driving it too much on the highway, so time will tell if it stays lower.

 

[carguyohio]

Interesting thought. With that said there are way too many variables to measure .1 MPG and attribute that to any change. Wind speed and direction being the biggest along with temps and humidity.

 

[overpropped]

Mine is all stock. 8,500 miles. I get 17.3 on 93 octane and I don't really baby it.

Got 17.2 on 87.

 

[jabroni619]

Interesting thought. With that said there are way too many variables to measure .1 MPG and attribute that to any change. Wind speed and direction being the biggest along with temps and humidity.

I'd agree, but it's been at 16.8 for the 8 months I've owned it and went to 16.9 the same week I started manually dropping down to 9th. The odds that the direction of the wind was suddenly in my favor that same week is unlikely enough for it to be safely ruled out as a variable.

 

[Jake17]

16.8 to 16.9 manually droppin' to 9