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Ford Freestyle Real World MPG

389 messages,  Last post on Dec 13, 2011 at 9:47 AM

You are in the Ford Freestyle Forum.

What is this discussion about? Ford Freestyle, Fuel Efficiency (MPG), SUV

Messages Page 37 of 39

#360 of 389 Re: experiment [bobw3] by bobw3

Oct 13, 2007 (7:15 am)

Replying to: bobw3 (Sep 26, 2007 6:28 am)
So I just finished another tank of my daily commute (% highway and 25% suburbs and round trip is 30 miles). Last time I kept the highway speed at 65mph and got 25.0mpg. This time I kept the highway speed at 70mph or a little higher and got 23.7mpg. I didn't have to use the AC as much, so the 25.0mpg at 65mph probably would have been a little higher, since I used the AC 100% of the time on my previous tank. Still pretty good considering my commute is only 75% highway.
 
I filled up at a station with zero percent ethanol added, because I wanted to see if the normal 10% ethanol in most stations affects the MPG. So for this next tank I'll drive at 70mph on this type of gas to see the difference.
 
The fact that the Freestyle gets 23-24mpg in mixed use driving is better than most vehicles of this size, especially considering the fact that I'm getting this while not "babying" the car.

#361 of 389 Conclusion, at least in my opinion by dcwestby

Oct 14, 2007 (3:27 am)

The car is just a bit heavy for its engine... gas gauge is certainly working now, but it seems the car goes a bit quickly thru the first 4 gallons of gas... And I drive as normally as I usually do.
 
Of course, that is when I'm not having to take my mom to Colfax/Pullman area and even maybe to Lewiston on occasion.
Hills, headwinds, grades, curves, slower vehicles, passing situations.
 
It came out that I used 5 gallons or so down and 5 gallons getting back. Its about 70 miles from here to Pullman with another 35 to Lewiston. The grade out of Lewiston is about 5 miles or so of 5-7% grade and I hovered aaround 3000-3500rpm [65-69mph uphill].
 
It should be noted that I really enjoy the cvt's ability to stay relatively close to the speed limit without needing to cater to gravity's pull too much.
 
But still, in my opinion, the freestyle has too much weight for the engine it has, tending to drink a bit more fuel then it should. With gas prices as high as they are, likely to go higher.... Well, its my opinion anyway...

#362 of 389 Re: Conclusion, at least in my opinion [dcwestby] by bobw3

Oct 14, 2007 (5:25 am)

Replying to: dcwestby (Oct 14, 2007 3:27 am)
So if you're using 5 gallons to drive 105 miles, that's 21mpg. How are you calculating that it's 5 gallons for one way?
 
Also, have you tried using the cruise control going up the grade? Just set it for 68mph and you may find the RPMs actually go below 3000 after a few seconds on cruise, unless you have to start passing other folks. Same on the downhill back home. I drove through the Smokey Mountains several times on steep grades and found that the cruise going uphill works good at minimizing the RPMs.

#363 of 389 very weird gas gauge by simplyme

Feb 10, 2008 (2:12 pm)

we have a 2005 ford freestyle awd limited , great car love the spaciousness the gas mileage is just odd when we first got it in the city it was averaging 16.0-17.4 in the city and like 18.0 in the highway i was like oh my god thats terrible well we drove it for a while couple tanks later, well a few weeks ago i made the discovery that if u hit the gas more often your gas mileage will go up i know sounds weird doesnt it thats why i said weird gas gauge lol well now after having it for a little over 4 months just about the gas mileage went down again i think one of the problems for people who drive where there is snow its gonna be worse i live in Michigan and oh yea there is some snow well the automatic 4 wheel drive kicks in like all the time on and off on and off that uses alot of gas when it doesnt need too so
(hey ford put on a button for the awd) thanks

#364 of 389 yes i use cruise by simplyme

Feb 14, 2008 (7:46 pm)

yea i use cruise alot like on the high way and just cruising down a main road and i wish five gallons gave me 105 miles i filled up today i drove for a while im down to 3/4 of a tank and it says trip 66.5 miles 212 to empty whats with that i think they need to put a bigger engine in it a 3.0 liter isn't enough for that big of a car that size . oh more news im making my 4th trip back to the dealer i just got it out not even 3 weeks ago when im at a complete stop and go to take off ( no i don't gun it ) it will start to shake and vibrate vigorously and once i get at a higher speed it will slowly stop but then when you stop it goes pop pop in the back like something just popped out of place on the wheel ( its scary) lol

#365 of 389 19 in mostly hilly, urban driving. 27 on highway. by bnielsen

Aug 07, 2008 (1:08 pm)

I've had my Freestyle for two and a half years now, with no repair issues at all. We live in the hills of Los Angeles, so the AC is almost always on. We're very happy with the car, and really appreciate the extra few miles the CVT brings us over the new version.

#366 of 389 Happy Camper!!!! by freestylephil

Nov 06, 2008 (5:08 pm)

Took the 2007 Freestyle FWD CVT for a short 350 mile trip and averaged 30.8mpg. 55 to 75 mph(mostly 65 to 75) and AC on about half the trip. Elevation was from 4500ft to 6500ft. Vehicle has 23K on it with original Continentals with suggested air pressure. I am VERY pleased! Around town driving has ranged from 17.5 to 22.5 with the average closer to 21mpg. My wife loves it and I try to drive it every chance I get.

#367 of 389 Worn out front wheel bearing and mpg by carstenb

Nov 15, 2008 (8:23 am)

cross post from maintanace and repair
 
a few weeks ago the right front wheel bearing on our 05 FS Ltd. (47kmls) started to make a loud klicking noise when turning. It was replaced under the extended warranty. Car is less noisy now (i thought the noise came only from the tires which are noisy too) and to my surprise the mpg went up significantly. Initially we had the usual 21-22mpg in mixed driving and 25-28mpg highway. In the last say half year it dropped down to 18-19 and 23-25mpg, respectively. I wondered about that and cleaned the air flow sensor a few times. That boosted the mpg by about 1mpg but only for a short time. Now with the new bearing it's back again where it was, monitored over 3 tank fills. Obviously the bearing caused alot of drag. Surprising to me because the car still rolled easily in neutral out of the garage from standstill. I am monitoring that behaviour because the car once had the dragging rear brake pads which i noticed that way. Anyways, maybe something to inspect if mpg is unusually low.

#368 of 389 Re: Worn out front wheel bearing and mpg [carstenb] by coldcranker

Dec 03, 2008 (9:56 am)

Replying to: carstenb (Nov 15, 2008 8:23 am)
carstenb,
Could that have actually been the CV joint's bearings instead of the wheel bearing which went bad? They click when turning, when they are going bad.
 
I like your comment about the brakes dragging because I think its the cause of some people's complaints of bad fuel economy on these forums.
 
How did you clean the air flow sensor? I think thats a pressure sensor, so I'm wondering if I can just spray some Gumout on the sensor. I've got a big set of real Service Manuals from Helm (official Ford set), so I'll take a look at that later myself.

#369 of 389 by coldcranker

Dec 03, 2008 (10:08 am)

freestylephil said: "Took the 2007 Freestyle FWD CVT for a short 350 mile trip and averaged 30.8mpg. 55 to 75 mph(mostly 65 to 75) and AC on about half the trip. Elevation was from 4500ft to 6500ft. Vehicle has 23K on it with original Continentals with suggested air pressure. I am VERY pleased! Around town driving has ranged from 17.5 to 22.5 with the average closer to 21mpg. My wife loves it and I try to drive it every chance I get. "
 
Nothing beats a Freestyle's combination of roominess and fuel economy. Except maybe a Ford500/Montego, the car version of this crossover, and of course it doesn't have the rear spaciousness.
 
In fact, I've never seen any other vehicle, I mean NO OTHER vehicle out there, that exceeds the Freestyle's fuel economy in a crossover that size. Some large sedans are only slightly better. I'm talking about something (crossover or minivan) that is at least as big as the Freestyle, or maybe only slightly smaller, that exceeds its fuel economy. Does anyone reading tthis know of anything that is better? I've found the Honda Odyssey minivan and Dodge Journey 4-cylinder crossover are about even with the Freestyle, but not really better.

Messages Page 37 of 39

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