Interesting mileage experiment.

[Jason B]

Seems about right. ECO mode would only make a difference in start/stop situations like city driving. Steady speed on the highway shouldn't make a difference no matter what mode you are in.

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[Gplassm]

I have the 2.3 engine. I started thinking about this because I took a 3000 trip to the Pacific Northwest where speeds ranged from 75 to 85 mph. 85 is 2300 RPMs. I averaged 25.5 mpg's and double checked it. Driving 65 in ECO has been less than hoped for.

Do you have the new 2025 MPC 2.3, or the older version? Just curious…

 

[purdyd]

Seems about right. ECO mode would only make a difference in start/stop situations like city driving. Steady speed on the highway shouldn't make a difference no matter what mode you are in.

Depends on the highway speed.

If sport mode gets into 10th gear yes I would think it would be the same.

But at 55 sport is not in 10th gear.

 

[mrmike7189]

I have the 2.3 engine. I started thinking about this because I took a 3000 trip to the Pacific Northwest where speeds ranged from 75 to 85 mph. 85 is 2300 RPMs. I averaged 25.5 mpg's and double checked it. Driving 65 in ECO has been less than hoped for.

ECO is a horrible driving experience . I took a trip from Boston to Maine and ECO was so sluggish going up grades, I thought that the engine had died. I had my foot on the accelerator going up hill and the the Ranger just chokes ,like its running on 2 cylinders or something? I will NOT use ECO ever again. Switched back to Normal and it ran great! I'v e been getting over 500 miles per tank on Normal and Sport mode.

 

[Gplassm]

ECO is a horrible driving experience . I took a trip from Boston to Maine and ECO was so sluggish going up grades, I thought that the engine had died. I had my foot on the accelerator going up hill and the the Ranger just chokes ,like its running on 2 cylinders or something? I will NOT use ECO ever again. I'v e been getting over 500 miles per tank on Normal and sport mode.

With only 3,000 miles on my ‘25 2.3 Ranger, I have been using Eco mode for most of my around town driving, and I like it. I am learning to manually down shift when I encounter any steep/long uphills. The transmission seems to respond well. I only wish that the vehicle would stay in the selected mode when shut off…

 

[Blowndodge]

Do you have the new 2025 MPC 2.3, or the older version? Just curious…

2024 lariat 2.3

 

[bigb]

I'v e been getting over 500 miles per tank on Normal and Sport mode.

 

[mjpjr45]

I’ve always only used sport mode in my Ranger and did the same in my Fusion Sport before. I noticed better mileage too. I think it’s mainly that the engine stays at or near its most efficient power and not lugging like it does in other modes because of upshifting instead of staying in a slightly lower gear.

 

[mrmike7189]

Compared to the 4.0Litre V-6 I had in my 2005 Ranger ...its a huuuge improvement!

 

[bigb]

Compared to the 4.0Litre V-6 I had in my 2005 Ranger ...its a huuuge improvement!

For real you're going 500 miles on an 18 gallon tank?

 

[purdyd]

For real you're going 500 miles on an 18 gallon tank?

28 mpg?

 

[mrmike7189]

28 mpg?

Yes...but I drive like an old man, no speeding, no passengers, no loads, 38psi in the tires, the 2.3 engine is really fuel efficient.
The worst mpg I ever got was 25. 4 mpg for the first 1500 miles or so during engine break in period .

 

[RANGER PRIDE]

i actually got worse mileage in eco mode.
but i drive like an asshole, so i guess thats not the purpose of eco.

 

[superj]

i drove around in sport after work yesterday, just for the fun of it. and turned traction control off so i could spin the tires.

it was fun but today i am back at work in normal mode with traction control on

 

[Blowndodge]

Okay, I drove to Vegas 135 miles each way on rolling hills and some soft mountain terrain. On the way there I averaged almost 75 mph (82 on the interstate and 70 in other areas) I averaged 25.5 mpg's.

Just got home today and did the same route in standard mode. Same speed. got home in almost the exact time. 21.9mpg's

I know this is not super scientific but......what the heck I kept the parameters as close to the same as possible. I noticed in sport mode on some the grades it would downshift to 9th gear keeping the RPMs above 2200. I made mental notes to look at the instant mpg bar graph. It stayed near 20 MPG's slightly climbing grades. Like I've posted earlier instead of getting in 10th gear as fast as possible with RPMs as low as 1400, Sport keeps the rpms 500 rpms higher.

I compared the same grades and when in standard mode the truck stayed in 10th and the instant mpg nosedived below the 10mpg's zone. In Sport mode it only dropped to just a tad under the 20 mpg line. Like I said a small experiment but enough to see that driving in Sport is certainly NOT hurting fuel economy but I'm getting 2-3 mpg's more than Standard mode.

Now I wish I could program my truck to always default to Sport mode. It's so much more responsive. It's nice because the auto shutoff is off all the time in that mode.

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