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2012 Ford Edge EcoBoost Poor Gas Mileage


fordedge12

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I just recently acquired a 2012 Ford Edge with the ecoboost 4 cylinder engine under the premise that it would deliver better fuel economy than our 05 Tahoe we traded in for it. I've only had the car for 11 days at this point and have had to refill the tank 3 times! It is being primarily used as a commuter vehicle traveling approx 77 miles a day round trip. The thing that blows my mind is that we drove it home from the dealership on a full tank to our house which is less than 30 miles from there and the car used a 1/4 of a tank. Our Tahoe would use a 1/4 of a tank for 150 miles. Is there someone who has a similar experience that can point me in the right direction to resolve this?

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Generally the cummute consists of 70highway/30city mixed and I'm maintaining an average speed of between 65 and 70 while on the highway. I have just begun logging my fuel consumption readings to give me a more accurate read of the actual MPG achieved. I will also check the tire pressures to make sure they are up to spec is there a number you recommend sticking to?

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At least what's on the door jamb - maybe a few pounds more. Newer vehicles are more sensitive to driving style. Short trips are a killer also.

 

I can get 26 on my commute to work in my 2.0L EB Fusion with no traffic but if I drive to a local fast food place for lunch it plummets to 20-22.

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Here are a few other things to consider: It's been observed in these discussions that initial fuel economy is often quite a bit lower than expected due to new owners spending a lot of time idling the vehicle in the driveway as they familiarize themselves with, and adjust all the settings. Also, others and I have noticed that the gas pump wants to kick 'off' during fill-ups when the tank is still quite a bit less than full. That has something to do with the capless tank I believe. I estimate that the fuel flow kicks off when there is room for another 2.5 gallons of fuel. Once that happens I have to trickle fill the gas into the tank. That's probably my only real complaint about the vehicle. If you're in California you've got those big evaporation capturing fuel nozzles so I imagine it even harder to get a truly full tank of fuel. If you're starting out 2.5 gallons short of full, you get to 3/4 of a tank on the gauge really quickly.

 

I've been documenting my fuel economy since I purchased my Edge and my lifetime average now stands at 25.8 MPG after 52,000 miles. (See the discussion thread "Ecoboost MPG Results at 35,000 Miles) From experience I can tell you that going much over 70 MPH on the highway starts to drag the fuel efficiency down very quickly, as does stop and go traffic. The optimal speed for fuel economy is closer to 55 MPH at a steady speed. (I suspect it's tuned to do best at about 50 MPH to get maximum results on the EPA highway fuel economy test, but who can drive at that speed.) I've also observed that my fuel efficiency drops badly when either my wife or daughter drive my Edge. They both like the feel of that turbo kicking in as they jack rabbit start from every single stop so they can get to the next red light ahead of everyone else. The Ecoboost engine has a lot of low end torque and that allows for very fast and satisfying acceleration from a stop. It's an aspect of the vehicle that made me choose it over the larger engine. But I also know from experience that doing it really lowers my MPG. Thus I drive a little more sedately, try to time the lights and endure the complaints about "driving like an old man".

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Regarding the frequently mentioned 5K break-in for max MPG: For my first 5,000 miles of driving the MPG averaged out at 25.376. At 45,000 and 50,000 miles I averaged 25.434 and 26.135 respectively, with my lifetime average now at 25.8. From my personal observation, there was nothing significant happening at or around 5,000 miles in terms of MPG improvement. While the MPG does seem to be improving very slightly, it's 1/10th of an MPG at a time over the long term. Perhaps someone else has had a different experience than this.

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The thing that blows my mind is that we drove it home from the dealership on a full tank to our house which is less than 30 miles from there and the car used a 1/4 of a tank.

 

I noticed the fuel gauge going down quickly as well. I have found that does drop to a quarter of a tank pretty quickly driving mixed driving or around town, but after a few hours sitting in the parking lot at work or at my apartment the fuel gauge will go back up a bit. I also noticed that the first half goes down a lot quicker than the second half of the tank. Mine is also a 2012.

Edited by tamugrad2013
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I have found that if I am using the cruise control, even in the city, I get considerably better MPG on the dash instrumentation. Whether it is the computer just thinking I am getting better mileage or I actually am, not sure. I took the Edge on a road trip, about 250 miles with the first half being 55 MPH two lane highway. I used cruise control the entire time, in that half of the trip, the computer said I got 36 mpg (though I have found I am getting about 2-3 less MPG than the trip computer calculates). With the perfect conditions, it is possible to get exceptional MPG.

 

However, I get about 24-27 MPG on the dash gage in my normal work commute, no cruise control...meh

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  • 2 weeks later...

Cruise control is fine on flat roads. But in hilly terrain the cruise tries to maintain speed uphill wasting fuel. Without cruise you can let the speed drop a little saving fuel.

The 120 miles or so I was able to get the 36 mpg on cruise actually has fair amount of hills, much more than my normal drive.

 

What I did not consider - maybe I started at a higher elevation than I ended my MPG test, and I only achieved this mileage because the net result was that I was driving downhill. I will be driving this trip again in the next week, I will try the cruise in the opposite direction, see if the results are drastically different?

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Cruise control is fine on flat roads. But in hilly terrain the cruise tries to maintain speed uphill wasting fuel. Without cruise you can let the speed drop a little saving fuel.

 

Actually, all but the most alert and careful drivers will achieve better mileage on cruise control than manual control regardless of terrain. A driver who is watching and anticipating changes in driving condition (grade, speed limit changes, traffic lights, etc.) can make those changes gradually to avoid braking and accelerating as much as possible thus beating cruise control which can't anticipate anything. But the average driver on the highway simply isn't that attentive (except maybe to their phone) so not only do they not adjust properly for grade changes, they don't even maintain a constant speed on level ground. We've all experienced those jackasses that are constantly passing and then slowing down until you go buy them on cruise control and they suddenly find the gas pedal again. Besides, the fuel used during acceleration (up a grade) is more than that saved by coasting (down the grade) so it takes a really good driver to beat the cruise control by any significant margin. Modern transmissions with six or more speeds can downshift only one speed (say 1,000 RPM) to go up the grade whereas older three and four speed transmissions (and most drivers trying to do it manually) would down shift to a gear maybe 2,000 or more RPM higher, using more fuel.

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First trip L.A. to San Jose taking Hwy 101 up the coast and I got 24.6mpg after topping off before and refueling after, both using the trickle method. I got about 1.5 gals added, both times after the first kick-off of the pump. One of the pumps didn't like going slow, it was kind of on or off, one speed, so the top off before the run might not have been filled completely. Feeling pretty good about the refueling as I put 16.5 gallons and hadn't seen a Low Fuel warning.

 

The Hwy 101 is lots of rolling hills along with two or three, descent little climbs, so I'm looking forward to seeing what see does next time on Interstate 5 which is mostly flat once you get to the Central Valley.

Edited by traxiii
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Update to my earlier mileage results: The elevation according to Google maps was working slightly against me when I got 36 mpg. I did the same trip both ways last weekend, but was a bit fatigued, and didn't want to set the cruise control on either the trip there or back (I wanted to keep my full attention on driving). I averaged 31-32 mpg without cruise. Other factors are in of course, play, wind, traffic, etc. but the car is capable of some excellent mileage in the right conditions, and cruise control does seem to help, even when I use it on my daily commute.

 

(The route I was recording was from Standish, MI to Alpena, MI along Lake Huron, and is only about 90 miles, a shorter distance and sample size than I thought)

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Mine has 1450 on the Odo, and so far I'm getting high 19s around town/short commute. I drive 13 miles each way, only half of which is freeway, so I consider it all city driving.

 

I've been having some fun with an add-on ScanGauge watching real time temps. and MAP. I've seen a maximum of 31psia (thats 16.3psi of boost) which is higher than I expected. I'm also surprised by the speed of coolant warmup. It's close to 150deg. by the end of my block after having backed out of the driveway, and up to 200deg. a couple blocks later.

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Just got 29 going from my house up to the orchards in Thurmont and back. Cruise control all the way (60, 65, and 55 mph). About 130 miles round trip.

 

Don't all EcoBoost Edges have active shutters?

That's what I thought too. You can't tell when sitting still looking from in front of the grill. Not really sure which openings get closed. Pretty impressed with floor pan, they finally sealed it up pretty good.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I just took a little getaway (400 miles round trip) and hit 28. I regularly get 22 in town. I'm totally pleased with these numbers. I suspect in order to get to 30, you'd have to really be driving on a flat piece of land for a good distance and be between 50-60 mph.

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  • 2 months later...

I'm at 7000 miles on the clock so far and I wish I could get 22 around town, lucky to get 20, though my highway milage is picking up a little, got 25.5 mpg on a 300 mile run @ 75 mph. There just aren't many places to run 50 to 60 mph for any length of time. It's either bumper to bumper or 70, or both. Long trips usually on Interstate 5 with 70 mph speed limit and traffic flowing at 75+

 

One thing I can't complain about is the power, it does get up and go for such a large vehicle.

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