Ford and CleanMPG.com owner Wayne Gerdes is doing a MPG Challenge with the FFH. Their looking for donations for a charity where Wayne is giving a new SGII to a person who donates and guesses how many miles on a single tank of gas. I guessed 20 guesses at a dollar each that the FFH would go 1312 - 1331 miles on a single tank of 17.5 gallons.

Read about the Ford drivers that work for Ford and Wayne who will be driving in the Challenge here:
http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showt...414#post201414

This will be a constant drive not like numberous cold starts you would normally have on a normal commute to work each day so I'm thinking they may average 75-76mpg my self. Let us know what your guess is.

GaryG

 

Does anyone know if the DC area has moved to E10? Last time I was in the area I got 100% gas. This could make a difference in the total tank distance, I know if I were doing this type of challenge, I'd do everything I could to get a tank full of 100% gas.

GaryG, with your experiences with your 2009 FEH extrapolated over to the 2010 FFH, how do you think this could affect the outcome?

 

Right now I'm getting close to 720 miles on my tanks over 14 gallons. On a constant trip without shutdowns or cold starts I estimated I could go 920 miles on a tank in my '09 FEH. I know Wayne could do better than me but it's a crap shoot with the other drivers. I would think however the clinics with Wayne and his team could bring out some great design information for Wayne to use to modify certain techniques. I know when Wayne and I got one on one in my '05 here in Florida we both benefited. It's all about driving skills and putting what you know about making them work. I think the race car driver Carl Edwards is going to be a real sleeper and do as good as Wayne. The other engineers are the big question and it depends on their driving skills.

Based on how wind effects my '09 FEH, I think myself with my '09 drivetrain I could get 1140 miles with the FFH body and lighter tires with 17.5 gallons of gas. The real question lies in the improvements such as the new battery chemistry and the more efficient Variable Voltage Converter. My '09 is loaded down with every electronic option available in the Limited and if the '10 FFH has all the goodies also, it could draw down the battery more than the plain FFH.

I'm hoping Wayne and Carl will push some 90mpg segments and balance out the other drivers to 75-76mpg overall.

GaryG

 

Here is the results so far:

bestmapman

"Re: 1,000 mile + weekend for charity has begun!
Just talked to Wayne. Last night they transitioned to the Northern Route which is at higher speeds and with higher terrain (more hill climbs see terrain profiles). Tank right now is at 79.2 MPG . at 532.7 total miles. Through the night they were holding between 75 to 80 MPG on Sg and 78-82 actual."
http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showt...t=21418&page=4

My guesstimate was 75 - 76mpg but I have up to 76.4mpg on the tank to win the new SGII. Wayne pulled a 88mpg first segment and my guess was a 90mpg 20 mile RT for the FFH.

GaryG

 

Hey guys I'm really interested in how this challenge is going. One thing I might be interested in knowing is what kind of roads are they on. IE: freeway/ back roads and what speeds they are averaging getting these mpg numbers.

 

I don't know that part of the woods but you have the map at:
http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?p=201414

It's hard to tell from their average speed because of stoplights and driver changes. One part of the trip I seen they average 19mph which is slow by my standards. My tank averages for my '05 FEH were around 22mph over 600 miles, but my '09 FEH tank average is 24mph over 700 miles. My '09 has a higher EV speed (solid 40mph) than the '05 (solid 30mph), but the FFH should have a solid EV speed of 47mph. At the higher EV speeds the battery drops faster of course and needs a charge much sooner from the ICE. The problem is dropping your speed and having to use the ICE to accelerate back to speed with a low MPG. There is a point when I drop below 20mph that I take a hit trying to maintain the best MPG average. As long as I can stay in EV at 40mph - 20mph on slower roads, highway driving can be averaged out over 50mpg in my '09 FEH. The FFH EPA highway is 36mpg and I'm getting better than that in my '09 FEH rated at 31mpg. This new 2.5L engine gets much better instant MPG charging the battery at a steady state speed than my '05 FEH. If I'm getting an instant MPG over 30mpg I let the ICE continue to stay On with a low SoC till I have a good charge for a longer EV segment. This is where the much more efficient 2.5L pulls ahead of the older models as far as MPG.

GaryG

 

thanks for that Gary. I'm so looking forward to getting back into a Ford. I got I hope 7 more weeks to wait. I have been getting about 57-64mpg in my prius so I feel like I should have no problem getting 50mpg or so in the FFH. This wait is killing me!