The fuel milage war!

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06-21-2011, 03:02 PM

#11

conejo172

4th Gear Member

Join Date: Jan 2010

Location: Arlington, Virginia

Posts: 1,305

Quote:

Originally Posted by rocket fuel

Hello all,
So i recently got back from deployment and was trying to decide whether to go with CAI or a high flow air filter for my 05 V6. I only drive it a few times a week but I would like to keep my gas mileage decent. With my indecision i bought BOTH... I wanted to settle this once and for all so i am going to be doing common driving on both and i will post the stats up here as i go. If anybody has any special requests please let me know.

High Flow air filer:
Miles driven:
Fuel used(G):

CAI:
Miles driven:
Fuel used:

*This is a working thread*

When my car hit 15,000 miles I went to the local Advance Auto to buy another filter but they were fresh out. I ended up buying a K&N Drop in filter, because I have used them before and it wasn't so much for better performance, but saves money because they are washable, re-oilable. The factory replacement was around $25 and the K&N was around $50.
Didn't notice a change in miles per gallon/tank whatsoever.

For the past 24 years I have hand calculated every tank of gas in every vehicle I have owned (so I think I know)

Around 20,000 miles I got a SCT Tuner from AM, and started to notice a slight increase in mpg aprox 1-2 more, despite a heavy foot with the new found power.

at 30,000 miles a friend of mine who had promised to give me his old JLT CAI for the 4.0 finally did. So now with the JLT & SCT I am averaging 35 miles per tank(majority 85% city, 15% highway)more then Stock airbox/stock tune. (a little over 6,000 miles with the combo on the car)

06-21-2011, 07:44 PM

#12

Nuke

6th Gear Member

Join Date: Jun 2007

Location: PA to KY ('07) to IL ('09) to MS ('10) to FL ('11)

Posts: 16,182

Unless you have your own fuel storage tank, you'll see variances of up to 4 MPG from tank to tank even if you drive the exact same stretch of road with fuel from the same stations (as I did for almost every 2 weeks, 410 miles one way, for almost 2 years). The ethanol content variance alone is enough to skew your results so you can't tell what's actually causing the gain or drop.

I've been hand calculating my fuel mileage on all my vehicles also and for the past 33 years.

07-05-2011, 01:45 PM

#13

rocket fuel

1st Gear Member

Thread Starter

Join Date: Nov 2010

Location: connecticut

Posts: 71

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nuke

Good luck. First of all, you could make ZERO changes to your intakes and see about 2-4 MPG variance in your fuel mileage even with driving the exact same roads over a period of 1-2 years and 50-100 datapoints. Second, you spent more on even just the useless drop-in then what you're payback would be over that 1-2 year period. Third, WTF did you buy a Mustang for if a lousy MPG or 2 is such a concern?

Hopefully, you're simply bored and are using this "experiment" as an excuse to do what you BOUGHT the STang for in the first place: drive the living chit out of it and get as much wood as possible.

Just because i bought one doesn't mean i want to destroy it.. I still have fun but when i go up to Maine(300 miles away) or something gas mileage is helpful.

This is an experiment, I have always been curious as to which was better. and since i already had the CAI and a High flow then its a good time to find out.