02 Ford Explorer..any tips

[GasSavers_Ryland]

I say sell the exploder, and ride the horse, I would imagine that if you can aford horses that you can aford a comuter car, take as many compact cars as you can for a test drive, if they have a sun roof they will have less head room, I know a number of people who are close to 6' 7" who fit just fine in Honda's and VW's, and love them because of the head room, check out something like a VW TDI gulf.

[Telco]

Originally Posted by theclencher

If that fan is pulling 30 hp there isn't much left for going forward!

My Tahoe had 210HP and 275 ft lbs of torque at the rear wheels before the electric fans per a local dyno. High RPM power is where the fans really made a difference, because with the clutch fan on WOT I'd get a nice, crisp shift, with the electric fan I'd get a hard jerky shift. RPM rise was so fast that the engine would hit the RPM limiter before the trans could shift, so a 1-2 shift would hit twice. When I put the clutch fan back on to sell it, the shifting cleaned up. Torque management was removed.

Originally Posted by theclencher

Headers and such really come into their own as the rpms rise, so "a lot more low end hp"- I don't think so.

I don't know much about the little engines and their headers, but this is the effect of LONG TUBE headers on a V8. Long tube headers build more to the low end, short tube headers build more to the high end. The closer the collector to the engine, the higher the RPM band for the headers is. I imagine that since the little engines make power with high RPMs, their available headers are tuned to boost power on the upper side, but domestic V8s typically redline at 5000 to 5500, with power building as low as 1500RPM, where long tube headers rule the world.

Originally Posted by theclencher

"Exploder"- LOL

What can I say? I'm a GM man at heart.

[Snax]

Let's just do a fuel consumption comparison between varying fuel economies for your daily commute of 140 miles round trip assuming $3/gal:

MPG | Gal. Used | Cost
--------- ------------ ------
20 | 7 | $21
30 | 4.6 | $14
40 | 3.5 | $10.50
50 | 2.8 | $8.40

Looking at just those numbers, you could pocket an average of $7/day by finding something that gets a fairly average economy of just 30 mpg. Multiplied by 20 or so work days per month, that's $140 per month saved. At 40 mpg, it's $230 saved. 50 mpg nets $250 saved.

So ask yourself, can you afford the payment or maintenance on a car and insurance that would put you at or hopefully under those savings figures for the kind of economy they return?

My bet is that when you throw in the cost of maintaining the Explorer, that becomes a clear yes if you shop around for something reasonable.

[Bill in Houston]

Then, the Explorer would last a lot longer, and you wouldn't have to replace it so soon. Same reason we try to put miles on my Element vs our more expensive Odyssey.

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Originally Posted by Telco

My Tahoe had 210HP and 275 ft lbs of torque at the rear wheels before the electric fans per a local dyno.

I think theclencher's referring to how much you gain compared to daily use.

[Telco]

Originally Posted by omgwtfbyobbq

I think theclencher's referring to how much you gain compared to daily use.

Well, I just wanted to point out how much I had to work with. A 30HP drain would make quite a bit more difference to a 100HP engine than a 275HP engine, which is roughly what mine would have been making at the crank once driveline loss was taken into account. And it does. My S15's 2.8L is only rated at 100HP and is stock, aside from a Crane cam I put in to help boost mileage (really wanted a Comp cam, but they were out everywhere I called, even Comp said 1 month wait) and the difference between electric and mechanical was astounding. With the mechanical my top speed was 70MPH and my mileage was 17 city 14 highway, just switching the fan boosted my highway mileage 5MPG to 19, and now the truck is far more drivable. Having to floor it for 30 seconds to reach highway speed was unsafe, and now I can reach highway speeds by the time I reach the end of the exit. I'm thinking Clencher may have forgotten the difference in scale, seeing as most of the folks here work with 50-100HP engines that already have electrics to begin with.

[omgwtfbyobbq]

But it wouldn't be a 30hp drain on a 100hp engine... Probably a percentage drain at whatever load. I mean, every bit helps, I've been debating going boosterless for this reason, but it's not like your S15 would go from 60bhp to 90bhp just from upgrading to an electric fan.

[repete86]

Originally Posted by Brettchuck

Hello, I've got a 2002 Ford Explorer XLT 157K highway miles. I drive about 70 miles one way to work all on the highway..70mph. I've added an open air filter system, throttle body ext, use synt oil. I keep it up to par. I average 20 mpg now and was wondering if there are any other tips out there to improve my mpg?
Thanks,

Brett

Replace it with a smaller car. Having a big SUV hauling one person 70 miles per day seems ike a bit much.

[Bill in Houston]

Use "highway" tires instead of offroad tires...