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MPG in the Texas Heat

BrichJeepUtopia

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Looking for some input from my fellow Texans. Around Dallas, we've been in the upper 90s every day for about a month a more. I've had my jeep for a couple weeks now, a little over 350 miles on it. I have the max tow package (4.10's), the mopar 2" lift, 35's and an AFE cold air intake. I mostly drive around town, very little highway. I'm seeing an average mpg of 13.8 to 14.2 mpg. Question is, what you are all seeing with yours in this heat? I'm seeing people on the forum saying they're getting 16 to 20 with 35's, but most seem to be in cooler climates. I'm guessing i'll go up a little when it cools down some. I also might try going back to the factory air box to see if it makes a difference. Would love to hear your experiences!
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Pion

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I know that my mileage has improved after getting some miles on the clock. I started at around 14-15 up here in eastern Montana (maybe not Texas hot, but we were 94 degrees yesterday and can run in the 90's for stretches in the summer) but now am at 18mpg average. Maybe its the "adaptive" transmission? I have a Rubicon LE with the stock 33 AT tires.
 

Pat2Alaska

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Looking for some input from my fellow Texans. Around Dallas, we've been in the upper 90s every day for about a month a more. I've had my jeep for a couple weeks now, a little over 350 miles on it. I have the max tow package (4.10's), the mopar 2" lift, 35's and an AFE cold air intake. I mostly drive around town, very little highway. I'm seeing an average mpg of 13.8 to 14.2 mpg. Question is, what you are all seeing with yours in this heat? I'm seeing people on the forum saying they're getting 16 to 20 with 35's, but most seem to be in cooler climates. I'm guessing i'll go up a little when it cools down some. I also might try going back to the factory air box to see if it makes a difference. Would love to hear your experiences!
I don't think that is too far off for all city driving with the 4.10 gears, lift and 35s. You did have the computer recalibrated for the taller tires, right? What 35s do you have? If E-rated, then they are pretty heavy. I agree when you have more miles on it, you should see some improvement. I average over 17 with Rubicon, 2" lift, and 315 70R 17 BFG K02 tires (C Rated). For just in town, probably closer to 15.5 to 16. I have 6500 miles on mine. I wish I lived in Texas again but in Iowa for now!!
 

TTEChris

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I'm in Houston, and commute mostly outside of traffic hours.
With 41" tires, heavy beadlocks and 4.10s(Swapping axles soon) I am averaging 16mpg, but I rarely see speeds above 60-65mph. My daily commute is 19 miles each direction taking approximately 25-30 minutes.
 
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BrichJeepUtopia

BrichJeepUtopia

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I don't think that is too far off for all city driving with the 4.10 gears, lift and 35s. You did have the computer recalibrated for the taller tires, right? What 35s do you have? If E-rated, then they are pretty heavy. I agree when you have more miles on it, you should see some improvement. I average over 17 with Rubicon, 2" lift, and 315 70R 17 BFG K02 tires (C Rated). For just in town, probably closer to 15.5 to 16. I have 6500 miles on mine. I wish I lived in Texas again but in Iowa for now!!

yes, I used the tazer mini to recalibrate. I'm also running the BFG KO2's but I have the 35x12.5x17, these are E. Mine measure out to a little over 34", so I set the tazer to the lowest 34 setting which I believe was 34.08 or something like that.
 

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Pat2Alaska

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yes, I used the tazer mini to recalibrate. I'm also running the BFG KO2's but I have the 35x12.5x17, these are E. Mine measure out to a little over 34", so I set the tazer to the lowest 34 setting which I believe was 34.08 or something like that.
I used a speedometer app on my phone to check mine. I believe I ended up at 34.6 even with the Tazer though the tires don't measure exactly that. I'm also running them at 28.5lbs cold after doing a chaulk test. I believe the 35s weigh between 66.5 lbs each and 68 lbs each depending on if you went with 121s or 123s. Either way, it would only add a bit over 16lbs for five from the 315s! I think you're pretty close and will get better in less heat but also with more miles. You need to get it on the Farm Roads!!
 
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BrichJeepUtopia

BrichJeepUtopia

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I'm in Houston, and commute mostly outside of traffic hours.
With 41" tires, heavy beadlocks and 4.10s(Swapping axles soon) I am averaging 16mpg, but I rarely see speeds above 60-65mph. My daily commute is 19 miles each direction taking approximately 25-30 minutes.
yeah, this is what I'm talking about, you're running 41's and still getting a couple more mpg than me.....that's crazy to me. Makes me worry that something isn't right with mine if guys with 37's and up are doing that much better with the same gears. Even though mine are E rated, I would think they'd still be less rolling weight than 41's, engine break-in or not. My rims aren't beadlock either, they're the Black rhino overland 17x9.5. They come in at 31 lbs.
 
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BrichJeepUtopia

BrichJeepUtopia

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I used a speedometer app on my phone to check mine. I believe I ended up at 34.6 even with the Tazer though the tires don't measure exactly that. I'm also running them at 28.5lbs cold after doing a chaulk test. I believe the 35s weigh between 66.5 lbs each and 68 lbs each depending on if you went with 121s or 123s. Either way, it would only add a bit over 16lbs for five from the 315s! I think you're pretty close and will get better in less heat but also with more miles. You need to get it on the Farm Roads!!
sounds like I need to double check my tire measurement. Thanks for the opinions, hopefully you're right. I realize its a jeep, and its still better than the 11.5 I was getting in my 2007 JKU, I was just hoping to be pushing the 20 mpg barrier!
 

Pat2Alaska

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sounds like I need to double check my tire measurement. Thanks for the opinions, hopefully you're right. I realize its a jeep, and its still better than the 11.5 I was getting in my 2007 JKU, I was just hoping to be pushing the 20 mpg barrier!
I think you should realistically expect 18-19mpg with your setup if your highway/city mix is 70% or more to the highway (not interstate). Of course your's should be considerably lighter than mine that is tipping the scales at approx 5,700lbs now! I took a trip to Colorado, 2500+ miles total and wheeled for five days. Mix of wheeling, 65mph highways, and 80+mph Interstate and averaged 17.7MPG with that weight. I can see Overlands with stock street tires and no lift averaging over 20 consistently but not a Rubicon or Sport Max Tow if you build it a bit and actually have fun driving!!
 

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yeah, this is what I'm talking about, you're running 41's and still getting a couple more mpg than me.....that's crazy to me. Makes me worry that something isn't right with mine if guys with 37's and up are doing that much better with the same gears. Even though mine are E rated, I would think they'd still be less rolling weight than 41's, engine break-in or not. My rims aren't beadlock either, they're the Black rhino overland 17x9.5. They come in at 31 lbs.
eh, I don't know.
I'm running 37s and in the 14s.
Speedo calibrated by TazerJL and confirmed by GPS as spot on.
 

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TTEChris

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sounds like I need to double check my tire measurement. Thanks for the opinions, hopefully you're right. I realize its a jeep, and its still better than the 11.5 I was getting in my 2007 JKU, I was just hoping to be pushing the 20 mpg barrier!
It probably has a lot to do with how I drive. My buddy has a 2.0t JL with the same wheels/tires and is only getting 12mpg, but he drives fairly aggressive.

On my JK's (All 2012+ with the Pentastar) I always averaged better than 16mpg with 37's both in the manual and automatic.
 

JP1

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I think you should realistically expect 18-19mpg with your setup if your highway/city mix is 70% or more to the highway (not interstate). Of course your's should be considerably lighter than mine that is tipping the scales at approx 5,700lbs now! I took a trip to Colorado, 2500+ miles total and wheeled for five days. Mix of wheeling, 65mph highways, and 80+mph Interstate and averaged 17.7MPG with that weight. I can see Overlands with stock street tires and no lift averaging over 20 consistently but not a Rubicon or Sport Max Tow if you build it a bit and actually have fun driving!!
I could only WISH for that kind of mileage.
 

Ted Striker

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Hand calculated since day 1. First few weeks were without lift and tires. Everything after that has been with 2" Mopar lift, 37" Ridge Grapplers and Tazer JL Mini.

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I agree with posters above that say driving style has a lot to do with it. I drive my Jeep pretty conservatively because I realize it's a Jeep. My commute is mostly highway in Houston as well and against the flow of traffic so not much start/stop.
 
 



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