Depressing Stats....does the weather really matter that much

[jeffreymccoy]

Im very new at this, and was feeling great about the gains acheived with aero mods alone. My best tank has been just over 26mpg.

With all mods in place, I was testing at 25.5mpg on a test route.

Now, rain and cooler weather have set in and I only get 20-21 on that stretch of the test route, if I work really hard at it.

Does the weather really have that much to do with my FE? Im really down about the losses over the weather...its discouraging at best, and makes me wanna forget the whole thing at worst.

[2TonJellyBean]

How long is the test loop and are you up to temps when you start it?

[SVOboy]

Weather has a lot to do with it, , I am tempted to think more so on a big truck that's gotta move a ton of rain/water to get around.

[Hockey4mnhs]

Air temp matters and so does rain. I got my best tank when it was raining for 3 of the 5 days thought i wonder what it could have been if it was nice out.

[jeffreymccoy]

How long is the test loop and are you up to temps when you start it?

yep - up to temp, and the loop is 18 miles.

I even installed a quick hot air intake, restored the IAT to 120-130, and still only got 21. sad sad sad.

thanks for the input!

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Pull all the mods off and drive like everyone else ta put it in perspective.

[jeffreymccoy]

Pull all the mods off and drive like everyone else ta put it in perspective.

you know, I have thought of doing just that... i think i might, just to see what all this is doing for me under these conditions. Thanks for the nudge in that direction!

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Np. I have no mods on my pickup, but the *one time I decided to drive 55/65mph instead of the usual 40/55mph over a route I do every couple weeks, the difference was huge! Assuming 30mpg@50mph compared to 23mpg@60mph, I'm nearly paying an extra $10/hour to get there an extra ~17% faster.

*6/16/06

[GasSavers_Red]

On the flip side, if you hadn't done the aero mods you'd be getting 14-15 MPG in the rain

[jeffreymccoy]

Well, Im throwing in the towel on the F150 - complete waste of time to me at this point.

I removed the side mirrors in an effort to improve things, went on the test run, and got nill out of it. Very irritated, I decided to take the advice above and remove everything....

I took EVERYTHING OFF except the bed cover. NO airtabs (except on bed cover), NO grille blocks, NO well or wheel covers, deflated the tires to 40psi, reinstalled the wipers.

I used the SGII to drive the way I always do on these routes, cruise control on flats / coasting on the hills.

I got 21.0 / 21.3 / 17.8 / 21.5

So it appears that most all of my gains are from driver adjustments based on SGII - and everything else is negligible.

All mods are off and will remain off...disappointing reality, but they apparently dont help as much as I thought they did.

Will be interesting to see how the trip to baltimore next week goes. If I pull a 24-26mpg with no mods, just changed driving behavior - this will be confirmation for me.

Im seriously seriously considering dumping the F150 and getting a smaller car...but will see, the wife is concerned about safety reduction (and I tend to agree).

Take care all, its been fun.