Mileage

Hi All-- I am curious as to some of the incredible mileage everybody claims to be geting on their Marks. I am on my second Gen 2 and it is an extremely low mileage car, 15K when I bought and now 18K. My first Mark would get around 21 plus on the readout on the highway and with this new one I get barely 20. Sometimes high 19's. What can I do or what might I need to do to increase the mileage I am currently getting. I am usually always easy on the pedal during take offs and am not a racer. I drive fast but not from the get go. Anything the dealer might scope and do? I don't think a chip is the answer, although I may look into one, but I just want to get some of the mileage that everyone else is getting.
thanks

RE: Mileage

I'm getting 25-26 MPG when driving to and from work (37 miles one way) at 65+ MPH being about 80% of the time. Car pooling with another adult, the MPG falls to about 22, depending on how much we idle to cool down while doing fast food, etc. We've never gotten less than 21MPG. The car has 210K miles on the odo.

For a car that tips the scales at 2 tons, I'm please with this mileage.

RE: Mileage

that sounds like what I am looking for but I still need suggestions, lol.

RE: Mileage

My '93 averages 19 mpg, including racing at the track. My '96 gets about 23 highway, 20-21 mixed.

RE: Mileage

That is exactly what I'm talkin about, lol. Great mileage and I don't seem to get that at all. Tires checked, fuel checked, I will check the air filter. Being raised in a beach climte I can't imagine it dirty but that will be my next stop.
thanks

RE: Mileage

Mine must be off or something. A stock geared car has to get better milage than mine. I'm currently getting 22 mpg around town. And from my trip from NY back to FL i was getting avg 24.7 going around 70-80. My car has 4:10 gears with the chip set to lockup the convertor at above 70 MPH in overdrive. Also im running a 3200 stall convertor. I kept resetting it and checking it in disbelief after about every 50 miles or so on way back and it read 23-24 point something every time. Maybee the higher elevation and denser cold air? As my car was tuned in FL humidity.
These cars like to fly on the highway. I found that i got my best milage by getting the car up to speed around 70 or 80 and then slowly letting off on the gas pedal again and again till car started slowing down then only LITTLE pressure on pedal just enough pressure to hold the current 70 MPH speed and no more. Try resting your foot and ankle against the tranny tunnel and then "rolling" your foot to the left onto the pedal to push it down slightly. Gives you more controll without bouncing onto the gas pedal when ya hit bumps. My gas pedal is supersensitive and goes down to the floor easy.

Maybee after all those dyno tunes it really is getting that milage. Im running a full freeflowing exhaust and no EGR. Before i did the gears and new transmission, i was getting 27-28 easy as i remember with the Mark VIII engine with all the emmissions working properly.

I'd say its your exhaust or something is gummed up. I dont think that with that low of milage your injectors are spraying instead of misting but it might be worth a look. My truck was spraying and wasting fuel at around only 64,000 miles. Take it to test and tune night at your favorite drag strip, and beat the carbon off the valves or use some fuel injection cleaner bottles in the tank and take a nice long road trip flooring and holding it WOT when no traffic is around several times.
Or Disconnect the battery for ten minutes and let the computer forget the commuter driving style. Then find a back road in the sticks and drive it hard at least once per day for a week and then the computer will relearn the new style of driving.
I do this when my car gets boggy and not crisp anymore from stop and go traffic and shutting it down. My work is less than 4 miles from place of residence and you cant go speeding around in 45 mph traffic.

1995 DK Blue Lincoln Mark VIII
1998 DK Blue Chevrolet 1500 P/U

RE: Mileage

I just thought of this too. Most of the chipped cars youre comparing to have a free flowing exhaust and dyno tunes for optimal fuel ratios and the shifts are firm and crisp. This takes out alot of slipping and granny slush feel out of the tranny that the car was built with for comfort at the expense of fuel. I noticed when i got my first chip that i didnt have to press down as far on gas pedal or as much to get up to speed or get through town as the stock factory setup.
I say get a chip even with stock gearing. You will love it, feels like a whole new car. Just tell the guy that burns your chip that your car has stock gearing and you want everything firmed up and more crisp and maybee a little more timing. Most are used to radical mods, and horsepower, but they can also make a docile profile too only optimizing the shift patterns and line pressure.

1995 DK Blue Lincoln Mark VIII
1998 DK Blue Chevrolet 1500 P/U

RE: Mileage

I get crappy mileage compared to everyone else. Sometimes I'll get up to 23 highway, but that's pretty much it.

I have a heavy foot, and I also know my car (98 Base Model) runs rich, so I just figure that goes with the territory. I keep hoping I'll get a dyno tune, but I just never seem to be able to get everything done to the car that I want.

Oh, I did get improved mileage when I replaced the exhaust, and I think my Blue Oval Chip may have increased my mileage a bit too.

RE: Mileage

I get 27.5 on the highway, with my '94 @ 186,000 miles. I have a K & N air filter, otherwise still a stock setup. Fresh plugs, wires, oil, and o2's.

Jeff

RE: Mileage

On a road trip today, my modded '93 upped the ante' to 22.8 mpg(no racing!:7).

I'm not complaining.

RE: Mileage

i was getting 22 avrage at best mostly freeway with new plugs wires and a chip removing the air silencer i got 27 this tank 500 miles on one tank go me

ohyea it has 210000 on it now

get all of the junk out of it whats in your trunk?

also how well is it aligned


check the throttle input system (drivers foot) this will make the biggest differnce pretend there is an egg on your gas pedal

RE: Mileage

Like others my 93 gets 23-28 MPG. 22 playing hard in town. Over 208,000 and runs like a dream.

Bought another one that was fixing to get parted. I'm going to strip about 1,200 lbs off and see what happens at the track. }(

RE: Mileage

This does seem really, really weird. I get around 30 mpg in my 93 doing pure freeway at about 57mph on flat ground and high twenties at seventy. Those freway numbers were before I fixed the AC so they have probably droped 1-2 mpg. In town, with AC, I drive total stop every other block sidestreets and get 15-19 mpg. Overall for me is about 19-20 mpg since I basically spend no time on the freeway in my average week.

My opinion, take it or leave it: Low milage car huh... they are notorious for having nasty carbon build up especially if they have been babied. Be sure not to forget that although streelight racing isn't maybe the best thing for it. Wide open throttle accelerations (with a rolling start rather than from a stop is easier on the car and tires) are absolutely necessary to the car's health long term health. I drive pretty conservatively so I usually punch it to the floor on a relatively empty on-ramp and then I slow down to something like the speed limit when I get to the bottom. Assuming that your car is in good health and doesn't smoke, if you see any smoke at all (that wasn't from the tires) when you punch it to the floor like this, you have carbon/crud build up.

Random thoughts/questions to consider: Have you seafoamed it to remove engine crud and then replaced the normal tune up stuff (plugs, filters, proper oil full synthetic 5w30 or similar (I use Mobil 1 despite not liking the company, it is a great product)? Does it idle smoothly? Is your overdrive lock up working? Have you manually checked your mileage as the mileage computer could be wrong especially if speedo is off. Are you running premium fuel? I don't think many of us (or maybe any of us) use 87 octane gas. Are the wheels stock size? Have you tried shutting off the climate control (or using vent or floor buttons)to see if the AC makes an unusual difference? Any belts squealing or pulley bearings making noise? If you come off the freeway at at over 60 and then stop at the light at the top of the exit and you do it aggressively (IE you barrel up the ramp and then stop somewhat quickly) can you hear or feel the compressor kick in to bring the car back up to normal ride height from the over 55 MPH trim height?

Timothy

PS Hawthorne, my 93, is 100% stock with no mods of any kind (except the heat resistant chrome tape inside the headlight and the aftermarket radio that some Jacka$$ previous owner put in (I am third owner))

PS on a long road trip (without AC) My record was I got 33 for a stretch of I-94. But then again I get the funny feeling that Hawthorne is on the leanest end of the stock spectrum (still goes like a demon when pushed tho so who cares). Also, I was specifically experimenting to get the best mileage possible. I was using the cruise at like 52mph or something absurd like that...

Peak mileage will on any Mark viii will be at whatever is the lowest speed you can slow back down to after getting the car to drop to it's 55 and above height without it raising up again. Usually somewhere around 50 I think. Needless to say after I got the 33MPG I was very happy and immediately went back to driving 75 or 80 since by then I was running like an hour late because of my lollygagging...

RE: Mileage

Maybe this is a no brainer but have you used the reset button to clear out the prevoius mileage data and started over from scratch. Not sure how to do this on Gen II but on gen I it is super easy (have done it by accident). T

Oh and once you have done everything you can think of drive with the Instant MPG readout on all the time for a few weeks and if you can drive safely while keeping half an eye on it, over time it will teach you exactly how to get the best mileage out of your particular Mark VIII.

I also wonder if the Gen 2 cars tend to be a tad less fuel efficient... They are so many difference that are minor to meaningless but make a difference in the whole experience of the car. I really wish I could get a gen one's minimalist lines and crisp drivetrain with a gen 2 interior and all of it's requisite poshness and goodies.

RE: Mileage

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Peak mileage will on any Mark viii will be at whatever is the lowest speed you can slow back down to after getting the car to drop to it's 55 and above height without it raising up again. Usually somewhere around 50 I think.
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Car raises when you drive below 45 mph for at least ten seconds.