Hypermiling in a Braptor

[Ape Factory]

I knew that would get your attention. In a dilemma that I could not have foreseen coming and was sprung on me Monday. This is more of a "thanks for listening" but if you have a creative idea, I'm all ears.

I currently commute about 18 miles one way four days a week. I find driving the Braptor daily to be liberating even if it only sees pavement with the occasional curb jump or crushing of a small Toyota that cuts me off. It does get exercised properly on weekends with the occasional camping road trip as life allows. It was one of the top two reasons I purchased a Bronco in the first place and we're trying to make the great outdoors a larger part of our life outside of work.

I'm about to take on an "opportunity" to work more hours for more pay but unfortunately, it'll also have me traveling between two cities. The one way commute is 85 miles and I'm working on logistics and how many days I'll be driving up there. My best guess is about 10 days a month.

I've run the numbers and although I'm salary, I'll be reimbursed for mileage at the Federal rate and they'll even pay for me to take a very expensive toll road all the way up. Problem is, that actually adds 20 minutes each way and time is money. Worst toll road placement ever. For those in the area between San Antonio and Austin, it's damned if you do, damned if you don't as I-35 can be Dante's 10 levels of hell. It can make those extra 40 minutes seem like nothing.

Working out the math, I'd go from traveling 8K miles a year on average to about 20K. Not horrible and I've gone much higher but again, completely unexpected and had I known in December, I might have purchased a different vehicle. I've also spent a considerable amount of time modifying with little things to make it better overall for my needs so selling it is just not an option. And I love it. I'm a "car guy" through and through and my last daily commuter was a 500hp AWD "RS" with an 8800rpm redline and a V8. But I wasn't traveling 170 miles a day either.

Maintenance isn't overkill on the Bronco and I'll be doing the wrenching myself as time permits so there's a cost savings there. I don't believe 70 cents a mile will cover wear and depreciation on something like the Bronco. I do have an extended warranty which is nice. I'm wondering if there's something I can negotiate or have integrated into my salary that I'm not thinking of.

We do own four vehicles, one being a pickup truck and another being a Jeep which is going to my nephew shortly. Neither would be better than the Braptor for commuting. I've thought about swapping into my wife's SUV for those 10 days as it likely gets double the gas mileage but she doesnt' take very good care of her cars and the thought of her in the Braptor for 10 days a month haunts me. At least she'd have a hard time curbing the wheels. Side note, if you're single and dating, and want to know something about her, just look at how she keeps the interior of her car. It's telling.

Anyway, she does only drive about five miles to work but there may be issues with her parking garage. Need to check it out first. It's an option, just not a very pleasant one.

Right now, I plan on pulling off the roof rack, side racks and likely the light bar. Maybe even remove the pillar lights and stick strictly to 70mph and see where we're at. Run the tires at 40psi cold. Keep the windows up. Clench. Maybe it'll be enough. It's just rough putting that sort of mileage on the car.

 

[Ape Factory]

Took my first test commute today. I averaged 15.8mpg although I could likely do better if I really held my feet to the flame and never went WOT. Wasn't as bad as I thought it was from a mental standpoint but it might get tiresome a year in.

I'm now debating selling the other vehicles and purchasing an electric truck. The smart move would be to just drive the SUV which is paid off and dead reliable.

 

[Helipilot]

My other vehicle is the Hummer EV. I rotate between the Braptor and the EV. Commuting the Braptor does not get tiresome, even after a year. And daily life with the Hummer is just easy. I do enjoy going between the two vehicles. I recommend the EV as a second choice!!

 

[Ape Factory]

I think my wife would go for it if it were a pickup truck. I've really not kept up with EV's in general so not sure what's hot and what's not. Driving back from Austin I saw a transport with the facelift Model 3. I literally had no idea Tesla had done an update.

 

[95BK9]

I'm actually getting 19 mi mi per gallon in my Raptor with a tune intercooler forced air introduction and hot and cold turbo pipes

 

[Ape Factory]

Damn. I'd have to drive 60mph everywhere to get that sort of number! I think with the highway traffic being stop and go numerous times between point A and point B has a large, detrimental effect on my overall numbers.

Generally speaking, anything done to improve VE (volumetric efficiency) will decrease gas mileage. More air in=more fuel in so I'm surprised you're seeing better mileage. Then again, when cruising, you're open loop and relying on 02 sensor feedback to hit stoich or even leaner.

 

[95BK9]

Damn. I'd have to drive 60mph everywhere to get that sort of number! I think with the highway traffic being stop and go numerous times between point A and point B has a large, detrimental effect on my overall numbers.

Generally speaking, anything done to improve VE (volumetric efficiency) will decrease gas mileage. More air in=more fuel in so I'm surprised you're seeing better mileage. Then again, when cruising, you're open loop and relying on 02 sensor feedback to hit stoich or even leaner.

True that was open highway traveling, I was doing about 17.5 before I put the hot and cold pipes on. And that's also with the exhaust on Baja mode

 

[Ape Factory]

Interesting, I may have to experiment a bit and see if I can improve. It's not even a done deal yet so I'm hesitant to pull off the rack and lights until it is.

 

[Ape Factory]

I've begun my "mega" commutes and today I managed over 19mpg on the way to Austin. I've removed the roof rack but left all the lights in place. The weather was in the high 60's. Gas was Shell 93 octane and my cruise was set to 70mph. The total distance is in the 170 mile range, round trip.

I believe it comes down to not turning on the a/c which seems to have significant parasitic drag on the engine. Normally I'm seeing 14mpg, maybe mid 15's on the highway with it on. Tire pressure when hot was 42 psi.

I was pretty shocked as that is, by far, the best mileage I've seen. On the way back it dropped to the 17's but mostly because I gunned it a dozen times to get around left lane drivers. I also did a bunch of inner city driving while there. At one point, I launched it hard in 4A while leaving a stoplight so I could get past the car to my left and make the highway entrance ramp. She definitely scoots and I'll definitely need to fill the tank in the morning.

 

[Tye]

Ive never seen better than 12.5 mpg on my 30 mile each way commute which is primarily all highway. How are you guys averaging 17 + lol?

 

[Ape Factory]

Yeah complete mystery to me as normally I'm in the 14mpg range, maybe 15's if I don't hit a lot of traffic.

Day in and day out, I'm solidly in the 13-14mpg range with a mix of city/highway. I've never seen mileage anywhere close to 19mpg before. Only thing I did differently, other than removing all the racks was to use Shell 93 octane, Amsoil instead of Ford's OEM oil and the larger intercooler.

It was also nice enough out that no a/c was needed and it was just vented outside air. That has to be the reason why. Windows rolled up the whole time.

Generally engines tend to break in over the first 20K miles and gas mileage/volumetric efficiency improves but I can't believe my engine started sealing better all of a sudden. I'm at around 24K miles currently.

 

[Tye]

Yeah complete mystery to me as normally I'm in the 14mpg range, maybe 15's if I don't hit a lot of traffic.

Day in and day out, I'm solidly in the 13-14mpg range with a mix of city/highway. I've never seen mileage anywhere close to 19mpg before. Only thing I did differently, other than removing all the racks was to use Shell 93 octane, Amsoil instead of Ford's OEM oil and the larger intercooler.

It was also nice enough out that no a/c was needed and it was just vented outside air. That has to be the reason why. Windows rolled up the whole time.

Generally engines tend to break in over the first 20K miles and gas mileage/volumetric efficiency improves but I can't believe my engine started sealing better all of a sudden. I'm at around 24K miles currently.

Im at 24k miles as well, experimented with not running the AC, have K&N intake and larger IC, run 91 Octane (California) and have no roof rack or light bar up high. I am on 39s, but the weight is equivalent to stock setup as my wheels are much lighter. Even before I went on 39s, with the stock setup I never saw better than 13 mpg, that was even on long highway trips to Tahoe.

 

[RennWagen]

I think my wife would go for it if it were a pickup truck. I've really not kept up with EV's in general so not sure what's hot and what's not. Driving back from Austin I saw a transport with the facelift Model 3. I literally had no idea Tesla had done an update.

There’s little cheaper than a used luxury EV. ETron GT, Taycan, one of those EQS Mercedes. Consider one 2-3 years old coming off lease. The consumables are tires, that’s it. Used Model 3s are even cheaper but have miserable build quality and potential reputational impacts (model 3 drivers are observed to be the demon-spawn of flat-brimmed, vaping Subaru WRX drivers and Nissan Altima drivers). Anything you buy will depreciate like a stone but a Taycan, eTron or MQS will deliver luxury and economy for a price that will feel like you’re stealing it.

 

[Ape Factory]

I did see how cheap used Model 3's were and was tempted. They're paying my mileage so at least I have that covered. Funny, Altima drivers are usually pretty bad but it's the Corollas and Mustangs that are supreme dipshits in my neck of the woods. We manage to escape the WRX wrath as there isn't the same use case scenario for an AWD car like there is in the PNW.

The eTrons and Taycans have all depreciated significantly from new, at least here, perhaps they've stabilized. The BRaptors seem to be doing well in the depreciation department too.