Honest Fuel Economy Comparison - Raptor vs TRX

[GordoJay]

What am I doing wrong here...my trip computer on the truck says 12 - 14.5 mpg (city/highway) regardless of how I'm driving. Just drove home for Thanksgiving, Dallas Texas to Ashburn Virginia, and I averaged 14 mpg according to the trip.

Stock tires, Eibach springs up front and maybe 400lbs in the bed. Tires are at 37/35 psi on the truck. Adaptive cruise at 80mph mostly throughout the drive. Premium fuel.

I don't really pay attention to the fuel economy but....every little bit counts, so any advice? lol

You could try airing up some. With 400lb in the bed and passengers in the front, I'd try 38 all around.
One problem is that you raised the front with the Eibachs. Then you lowered the back with weight. That's going to completely change the wind profile. Imagine a boat below planing speed plowing through the water. You could replace the crap rear springs with Deaver +4s to regain the rake and go back to something like the original profile. You'll still be taller, which will hurt some, but a lot of the air will go cleanly under the truck.

 

[Donovan]

You must drive like I do. I get a bit better in the summer at altitude and high temperatures because thin air. But you can't be putting your foot in it. It doesn't take much of that to really lower the mileage. Even when I run around town in Tow/Haul I get quite a bit less. With the manual on my last truck, I routinely beat the EPA estimates in town by 20%, 18mpg vs 15mpg estimated. My sense is that Normal Mode is as good as I was with the manual at wringing out the mileage. With a light foot and Normal mode, I can get an honest, calibrated 17 around town in the summer.


Well, it's a challenge. I'm old, I have no one I care to impress, it's a truck so it will never truly be fast, so why not entertain myself? It's a matter of listening to the engine. Anyone can do it. I can no more bounce off the rev limiter if I accidentally end up in manual mode than I can fly. Why? Because I can't not listen to the engine. If you drive without paying attention, you won't get good mileage. So poor mileage is a clue that you can improve your driving skill. I see it more as telling people what's possible than of boasting. But if you want to call it boasting, I'm fine with that.

Yeah dude, I just dont go over 73mph on the highways most of the time..

 

[CenTexRaptor]

Yeah dude, I just dont go over 73mph on the highways most of the time..

Clearly you are not in Texas where 75mph speed limit is "really more of a guideline" and if you want to get anywhere, 85 just is normal....

 

[melvimbe]

Well, it's a challenge. I'm old, I have no one I care to impress, it's a truck so it will never truly be fast, so why not entertain myself? It's a matter of listening to the engine. Anyone can do it. I can no more bounce off the rev limiter if I accidentally end up in manual mode than I can fly. Why? Because I can't not listen to the engine. If you drive without paying attention, you won't get good mileage. So poor mileage is a clue that you can improve your driving skill. I see it more as telling people what's possible than of boasting. But if you want to call it boasting, I'm fine with that.

I've never thought of mpg as a reflection of driving skill. I do recognize that how a person drives has an impact on mpg, but that doesn't mean that you're good at avoiding accidents, dealing with heavy traffic, navigating tight spots etc.

Sure, if I change up my driving habits to accelerate softer, drive at slower speeds, reducing braking time, etc, I have no doubt I could improve mpg....but I really don't want to put more thought into my driving to saving a bit of money. That doesn't mean I'm not paying attention, I'm just paying attention to increasing the distance between me and other vehicles, and what other vehicles might do around me, rather than whether I'm as efficient as possible.

 

[GordoJay]

Yeah dude, I just dont go over 73mph on the highways most of the time..

I go 80. But when the speed limit goes up to 80 ... I go 80. That's fast enough in a top-heavy 6000lb steel crate on soft springs.

 

[kishorejoseph]

You could try airing up some. With 400lb in the bed and passengers in the front, I'd try 38 all around.
One problem is that you raised the front with the Eibachs. Then you lowered the back with weight. That's going to completely change the wind profile. Imagine a boat below planing speed plowing through the water. You could replace the crap rear springs with Deaver +4s to regain the rake and go back to something like the original profile. You'll still be taller, which will hurt some, but a lot of the air will go cleanly under the truck.

Yeah I'll try airing up to 38 on the trip back to see what I get.

I have the Deavers +3HD in the back actually and the truck is dead level with the weight in the back right now...slight rake if any actually.

 

[Donovan]

Clearly you are not in Texas where 75mph speed limit is "really more of a guideline" and if you want to get anywhere, 85 just is normal....

I love Texas, I was there when their speed limit in some areas when to 85.

I also like filling up once a week...

 

[MrLiou168]

Went from 2019 Raptor (18200 miles driven at an average of 17.8 MPG in NJ) to a 2021 TRX. Drove the TRX across the country to CA and averaged 14.7, with a best of 16.1 in the flat middle portion of the drive. Sold the TRX after 3800 miles for $20k over what I paid for it and now waiting for my 2022 Raptor. But yes - those numbers are definitely along what I saw owning both trucks.

 

[MRV99]

What am I doing wrong here...my trip computer on the truck says 12 - 14.5 mpg (city/highway) regardless of how I'm driving. Just drove home for Thanksgiving, Dallas Texas to Ashburn Virginia, and I averaged 14 mpg according to the trip.

Stock tires, Eibach springs up front and maybe 400lbs in the bed. Tires are at 37/35 psi on the truck. Adaptive cruise at 80mph mostly throughout the drive. Premium fuel.

I don't really pay attention to the fuel economy but....every little bit counts, so any advice? lol

I just did a IL to IA trip. It was only 300 each direction and we were driving from IL to IA at night so I had time to observe. Everyone was face deep in electronics and I was basically driving solo The route was 289 highway miles and 11 off highway. For those who care. 780 elevations start, 951 elevation destination.

So I selected the "Measurements" on the Dash and scrolled to the second screen. This gave me the Boost/Vacuum readout. The road is pretty much flat but since I had 300 miles, I had plenty of variations to test. So what did I find, exactly what I knew, boost equals bad MPG... Yea we all knew that but how did boost relate to MPG AND speed.

If I was cruise at 70mph, the boost bounced from Vacuum to 1-2 lbs and 16's was pretty easy. I would then set the cruise on 75 and the boost would stay pretty constant 2-3lbs with spikes to 4lbs... I saw pretty constant 15's. I then 80mph and I saw 4-7lbs of boost which the MPG dropped to low 14's. This was the drive out.

I also did some gear lockout to try and remove boost to see if that would help with MPG. I did not really see much MPG change by driving in a lower gear, higher RPM and lower to no boost.

On the way home, same highway, similar mileage changes. I did the same tests yet had similar results. We had a good tail wind so I was able to drive faster and saw lower boost numbers.

I had a 2015 3.5 Lariat with 205/55/20's with a level and made this same trip same trip close to 20 previous times. The Lariat and the MPG was even worse like 80 was 12mpg. I chalked that up to the 6speed, E-rated tires and the level.


I did adjusted the MPG counter on the dash, (other forums called it the "Lie-o-meter") by the figuring out the actually MPG and adjusting the computer(in the hidden screens) so my MPG is pretty dam close to what the actually numbers are.

Yes speed kills MPG on these square chunks of heavy metal driving down the highway.

 

[Southocplumber]

I got mine for 4% under invoice... Now time to wait for a build again

What is 4% under invoice ? What is invoice vs msrp? How would 4% under invoice compare to 10k off msrp?