fuel economy problems

[4.6vertGT]

i purchased a '96 gt vert a few weeks ago and it is my daily driver. however, i seem to have one problem... it seems to be getting very poor gas milage. i filled up and i have only driven 95 (city miles) and it is already at halfway.(calculated it to be aronnd 14 mpg) ive been driving it VERY conservatively as well. is this normal? and if not, what do you think the problem is?

 

[jstreet0204]

Fill it back up and see how many gallons you've actually used. The guage is not very accurate when try to determine gas mileage, ther than telling you when it is almost empty.

 

[04GTMustang]

Fill it back up and see how many gallons you've actually used. The guage is not very accurate when try to determine gas mileage, ther than telling you when it is almost empty.

yea i agree fill it back up and see where it really is

But on another note i got 13mpg this weekend i got 80 mpg and filled up with 6 gallons so it averaged to 13. Dang gears causing me to floor my car all the time

 

[4.6vertGT]

haha im planning to get gears soon so i hope i dont run into the same problem.. but thanks for the input. i will fill it up soon and get back to here.

 

[4.6vertGT]

but if it does turn out that i get 14 mpg, what would you say the problem is?

 

[40th GT]

but if it does turn out that i get 14 mpg, what would you say the problem is?

If the mpg is down there, your car needs a tune up. I easily get 17-19 around town in my 04. If you decide to do a tune-up, start out by changing the:
-air filter
-fuel filter
-plugs and wires
There are other things too but those 3 affect your mpg the most.

 

[sgarlic]

My '04 gets 14mpg in the city, and has since the day I drove it off the lot. Regardless of when I shift, or what gear I cruise in.

First of all, I wouldn't consider 14mpg a problem. I would say if you're concerned about getting better gas mileage than 14, (which I can't really comprehend since NOBODY buys a Mustang for the good gas mileage,) that you should:

Replace the plugs, properly gap the new ones, wires, clean the MAF, replace the air filter, clean the o2 sensors (or possibly replace if they are old,) make sure you're running the thinnest oil you can still maintain good hot idle pressure with, change to synthetic trans/axle fluids, and insure your tires are inflated to the recommended pressure.

 

[squares98]

I got avg. 240 miles per tank with my 98 engine and avg. 290 with my 04 engine(Both with 1 gallon remaining), with the same driving habits. Basically went from 16mpg to 20mpg mixed. oh yeah the guage should not be used for its sweeping motion to measure gas use.

 

[Roger_4.6_96]

Could be number of things. I noticed maf only last 8 - 10 years.

 

[04GTMustang]

yea back on stock gears in my 04 i got an average of 17 to 18 around town and 28highway and the gear killed me cause i cant keep my foot out of it. They are just way too much fun.

 

[4.6vertGT]

well just filled up.. 13.25 mpg... i was also wondering something else. i ride witht he top down pretty often, so would that cause any drag that would make the gas effiency worse? and of course i didnt buy the stang for its gas milage but i was looking at edmunds.com and they said that the car should get 18 city mpg. so i am way below taht... but thanks for all the tips sgarlic.. if i have time, i will work on those. thanks for the responses!

 

[4.6vertGT]

anybody?

 

[04GTMustang]

well just filled up.. 13.25 mpg... i was also wondering something else. i ride witht he top down pretty often, so would that cause any drag that would make the gas effiency worse? and of course i didnt buy the stang for its gas milage but i was looking at edmunds.com and they said that the car should get 18 city mpg. so i am way below taht... but thanks for all the tips sgarlic.. if i have time, i will work on those. thanks for the responses!

i wouldnt think having the top down would cause ur gas mileage to suffer that bad. But yes the drag will be greater with it down and you will lose gas mileage but that would probably be more of a highway drop in gas mileage of 1-2 i would say.