400+ mile road trip... Have a few questions.

EPIK · Apr 4, 2010

I might be taking a 400+ mile road trip in the Fox down to Southern California. I know 5.0's are not known for having the greatest gas mileage, & H/C/I, 14 degrees timing, 24's, 255 lph pump, & gears don't help much. My speedo is currently off because I still need the correct speedo gear, but my car seems like it gets pretty horrible gas mileage. My question is, would it be worth it for me to turn the timing back down to 10 degrees, & would this improve my gas mileage? Also, would I be able to run 87 octane safely with my setup & stock timing?

Thanks in advance...

S&B · Apr 4, 2010

i bet you'll get 20+ mpg on the hwy at 65

tannerc91gt · Apr 4, 2010

You're Mileage will be better than you think, but probably still not that great (I get 10mpg) but IMO there won't be much of a difference if you retard the timing. Just throw it in 5th and keep your foot out of it

EPIK · Apr 4, 2010

S&B said:
i bet you'll get 20+ mpg on the hwy at 65

With the timing @14 degrees, or @ 10 degrees? I have yet to drive the car further than 60 miles at a time, & the speedo has been off since I did the gears, so I have yet to get an accurate reading on the gas mileage...

NIKwoaC · Apr 4, 2010

Theoretically, more timing advance should net you better mpg. Up to a point, advancing timing is just ensuring that you're getting the most amount of mechanical energy out of the A/F explosion as possible, so retarding your timing would (again, theoretically) be hurting your mpg to an extent.

In short, I would leave your timing where it is.

EPIK · Apr 4, 2010

NikwoaC said:
Theoretically, more timing advance should net you better mpg. Up to a point, advancing timing is just ensuring that you're getting the most amount of mechanical energy out of the A/F explosion as possible, so retarding your timing would (again, theoretically) be hurting your mpg to an extent.

In short, I would leave your timing where it is.

Thanks... A few others have also said to leave the timing where it is.

5.0Torx · Apr 4, 2010

I would leave it. And i bet youll get mid 20s mpg.

281pony · Apr 4, 2010

my coupe is very similar to yours. h/c/i and 4;10s. im at 13 degree's i think for timing. everytime i drive mine for more then 50 miles i calculate it.

i usually get 23-25 mpg doing 60ish.

EPIK · Apr 4, 2010

Thanks guys. I will most likely leave it as is. I hope to get at least 20 mpg, but I will most likely be driving 70-ish mph.

85_SS_302_Coupe · Apr 4, 2010

Supposedly you get better mpg with higher octane gas anyways. You'd be better off looking into taller tires for the rear end to cut down the gear ratio some.

EPIK · Apr 4, 2010

85_SS_302_Coupe said:
Supposedly you get better mpg with higher octane gas anyways. You'd be better off looking into taller tires for the rear end to cut down the gear ratio some.

HMMM, I never knew that. As far as the tires go, the 275/40/17's fit perfect & I really don't want to go that route...

281pony · Apr 4, 2010

you will get over 20 mpg if your car is running good. dont go out of your way to try and squeeze 1 more mpg out of it. not worth the hassle imo.

i get worse mileage now i think with my 18's honestly lol. well, nevermind.. now my car hooks up so im standing on it alot more

these cars will suprise you. it will get 20-22 easily.

just have faith in the white power bro

85_SS_302_Coupe · Apr 4, 2010

The key is maintaining your speed, even if you're going 70mph. Of course you'd do better going 60mph. My Festiva only gets around 30mpg at highway speeds because of the gearing...but if i slow down to 50mph i can knock down 43mpg. Of course i'd get ran over that way too...lol

EPIK · Apr 5, 2010

281pony said:
you will get over 20 mpg if your car is running good. dont go out of your way to try and squeeze 1 more mpg out of it. not worth the hassle imo.

i get worse mileage now i think with my 18's honestly lol. well, nevermind.. now my car hooks up so im standing on it alot more

these cars will suprise you. it will get 20-22 easily.

just have faith in the white power bro

We will see. The car runs great, just never took it on a trip yet... LOL about the faith in the white power, oxford white that is LOL...

85_SS_302_Coupe said:
The key is maintaining your speed, even if you're going 70mph. Of course you'd do better going 60mph. My Festiva only gets around 30mpg at highway speeds because of the gearing...but if i slow down to 50mph i can knock down 43mpg. Of course i'd get ran over that way too...lol

My buddy that I will be following will be trailering his stang, so I might have to drive a bit slower than 70 because the limit is lower for trailers.

My DD is the same way, my 86 Jetta gets great gas mileage at 50 mph, but anything higher, the mileage drops dramatically...

thanks for the info guys..

NIKwoaC · Apr 5, 2010

Really, the best free thing you can do is just make sure your tire pressure is at the upper limit. Tire pressure makes a huge difference in mpg. I regularly run my tires on my DD 4-5 psi over recommended pressure for my car (which is still well under the maximum rating for the tire itself), just to save a bit on gas. Lower rolling resistance FTW!

85_SS_302_Coupe · Apr 5, 2010

Skinnier tires will help as well but i'm sure that's not an option. Tread design is also a big contributor to mpg. If anyone has ever paid attention to the real drag front runner tires, they basically have no tread, just lines cut around them. This is to reduce rolling resistance. For example if you drove a truck that had offroad tires, you can kiss mpg goodbye. My Cherokee had TSL Super Swampers on it once...they were even stock size and fairly narrow, but the cleats where so aggressive that my mpg got even worse than normal. Those Rubicons only get around 10mpg if you can believe that.

S&B · Apr 5, 2010

where are you going to put your soda pop on such a long road trip?

66sprint6 · Apr 5, 2010

I ran mine on a similar road trip before the motor went south and was able to crack out right at 20mpg doin 70 the entire way. That was before i got it tuned too so it got better from there...then it went BOOM. Good luck with it, i wouldnt hesitate to take the trip, just load her up and rock n roll!!!
Matt

fivespeedsteed · Apr 5, 2010

get cha motor running, head out on the highway..

listen to steppin wolf. listen to steppin wolf...

EPIK · Apr 5, 2010

As much as I want to take the Fox on this trip, I am hoping that the mach 1 will be out of the shop before then, because the gas mileage will be better, & parking my fox out in the open at a hotel for 3 nights scares me...

BTW, the trip I am going on is for the largest Ford show on the west coast, "Fabulous Fords Forever" @ Knott's Berry Farm...

NikwoaC said:
Really, the best free thing you can do is just make sure your tire pressure is at the upper limit. Tire pressure makes a huge difference in mpg. I regularly run my tires on my DD 4-5 psi over recommended pressure for my car (which is still well under the maximum rating for the tire itself), just to save a bit on gas. Lower rolling resistance FTW!

Hmm, thats a good idea. I usually run 35 psi.

85_SS_302_Coupe said:
Skinnier tires will help as well but i'm sure that's not an option. Tread design is also a big contributor to mpg. If anyone has ever paid attention to the real drag front runner tires, they basically have no tread, just lines cut around them. This is to reduce rolling resistance. For example if you drove a truck that had offroad tires, you can kiss mpg goodbye. My Cherokee had TSL Super Swampers on it once...they were even stock size and fairly narrow, but the cleats where so aggressive that my mpg got even worse than normal. Those Rubicons only get around 10mpg if you can believe that.

I won't be changing tires, but that sounds like it could be a cool experiment to run my standard 255/40/17 front tires versus skinny tires & see what the difference would be...

S&B said:
where are you going to put your soda pop on such a long road trip?

No drinks in any of my stangs unless they have a screw on cap, don't want to damage that sexy porno red...

66sprint6 said:
I ran mine on a similar road trip before the motor went south and was able to crack out right at 20mpg doin 70 the entire way. That was before i got it tuned too so it got better from there...then it went BOOM. Good luck with it, i wouldnt hesitate to take the trip, just load her up and rock n roll!!!
Matt

20 mpg wouldn't be too bad I guess... Thanks.

fivespeedsteed said:
get cha motor running, head out on the highway..

listen to steppin wolf. listen to steppin wolf...

The funny thing is, I was just looking at my Steppenwolf greatest hits Vinyl just today LOL...

400+ mile road trip... Have a few questions.

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This last 25% is foreign territory at this point

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it sucks (I know) to be on the receiving end

I hate my CT. :(

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