First long trip review + gas mileage/gas tank rant

[dickeldan]

So yesterday we drove the Mojave on its first long trip. Only had 400 miles to start. We drove from KC to Texas about 650 miles. The gladiator did great and was pretty comfortable for the drive. The seats in the Mojave are especially nice for support. Only issue driving was it was very windy all the way so took some getting used to driving it.

My previous truck was a 2013 f150 with a 23 gallon fuel tank. I could make this trip only having to stop once for gas. That was not the case in the gladiator. I had to stop twice to fill up. I was pushing it to get 300 miles to the tank. I also noticed on the last fill-up with gauges showing 20 miles to empty that the tank only took 18.6 gallons to fill up. Was averaging around 15 miles per gallon on the gauges.

I hope this will improve after break in period. Thoughts???

Sponsored

 

[hjdca]

So yesterday we drove the Mojave on its first long trip. Only had 400 miles to start. We drove from KC to Texas about 650 miles. The gladiator did great and was pretty comfortable for the drive. The seats in the Mojave are especially nice for support. Only issue driving was it was very windy all the way so took some getting used to driving it.

My previous truck was a 2013 f150 with a 23 gallon fuel tank. I could make this trip only having to stop once for gas. That was not the case in the gladiator. I had to stop twice to fill up. I was pushing it to get 300 miles to the tank. I also noticed on the last fill-up with gauges showing 20 miles to empty that the tank only took 18.6 gallons to fill up. Was averaging around 15 miles per gallon on the gauges.

I hope this will improve after break in period. Thoughts???

My JTR computer from the factory had my tire settings at 33.08 inches. The stock Falken M/T on my JTR is listed by the manufacturer as 32.88. If that setting is off on your Mojave computer, then, you are not registering 1 or 2 mpg... Only the dealer, or a device like a Tazer can fix that setting.
In addition, you will get an additional 1 or 2 mpg when the motor breaks in. Maybe around 6K-8K miles.

Note: I live in the hills and mountains, so, I am very heavy on the pedal and I have the manual transmission. I get around 15 mpg with the Stock Falken M/Ts.

 

[kevman65]

As was said above, PLUS

You already said it was very windy. You have the aerodynamics of a rolling brick. ANY head wind and your fuel mileage is going to suffer.

 

[Alan_Hepburn]

Not exactly apples to apples, but out stock Sport S with the 3.73 gears will give us about 26 mpg on a long freeway drive, such as San Jose to San Diego and back.

 

[volfo]

26 MPG on the freeway? I just took first long trip in my Mojave and averaging around 73 mph I was getting about 15.8 or so with the Falken A/T stock tires. that is just the trip computer so maybe not completely accurate but I can't imagine it improving 10mpg. I do have a tonneau cover also which may help with aerodynamics. Only thing I'm really disappointed in is the MPG (and I also would prefer a bigger tank so I can stop less). Overall still love the truck

 

[JCHGlad]

It will get significantly better, around 5,000 miles or working up to it, it’s been The case with my JLs and JTs

 

[Kevin_D]

Not exactly apples to apples, but out stock Sport S with the 3.73 gears will give us about 26 mpg on a long freeway drive, such as San Jose to San Diego and back.

I'm skeptical...
Driving across flat-land Texas at freeway speeds I only got about 19 with my Sport S with bone-stock running gear.

Kevin

 

[Mr._Bill]

I made a trip to Santa Clara last Monday (1250 miles round trip). The computer showed 21mpg. I usually run 3 to 5 miles over the posted limit, depending on traffic. I have a stock Overland with the street tires, and just over 15k miles on it.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

When someone says "freeway trip" that can mean ANYTHING -
Speed could be 55 (like around Indy) or 75 or anything between or above.
Our freeway speed limit is 55 for part and 60 for the other. The interstate around Des Moines area is 65, and it's 70 outside the metro. So saying freeway speeds is meaningless.
also
Can mean FLAT and level or like I80 here in eastern Iowa - HILLS, looong grades even semis have trouble with. Iowa isn't totally flat like some choose to believe. I get a lot better mpg in Indiana at 60 than I do in Iowa at 60.

As far as tire size - use a GPS and check your odo against a real GPS or an app on your phone (with phone NOT connected to truck)
I did compare and my JT's settings are 100% spot on exactly correct. In other words, after 17 miles of driving not only did my truck speedometer match both a Garmin and an app on my phone, the odometer lined up to the tenth of a mile to both. It was PERFECT. (you would use factory tire specs only as a starting point as rolling diameter will be different - if yours is off and needs adjusting)
I have not looked to see how my JT tire size was set from the factory, but after testing with a Garmin and my phone against what my truck said - doesn't much matter - no need to change a thing!

 

[lrtexasman]

fuelly gives pretty accurate fuel estimates. The Mojave is not going to get the FE of a Sport under similar driving conditions.

Fuelly averages
Mojave = Based on data from 7 vehicles, 71 fuel-ups and 16,474 miles of driving, the 2020 Jeep Gladiator gets a combined Avg MPG of 15.35 with a 0.50 MPG margin of error.

Rubicon = Based on data from 40 vehicles, 1,001 fuel-ups and 227,883 miles of driving, the 2020 Jeep Gladiator gets a combined Avg MPG of 15.35 with a 0.19 MPG margin of error

Overland = Based on data from 9 vehicles, 126 fuel-ups and 37,394 miles of driving, the 2020 Jeep Gladiator gets a combined Avg MPG of 17.93 with a 0.57 MPG margin of error.

Sport S = Based on data from 27 vehicles, 505 fuel-ups and 135,412 miles of driving, the 2020 Jeep Gladiator gets a combined Avg MPG of 17.47 with a 0.34 MPG margin of error.

Diesel Models = 1 Diesel at 19.4.
2021 Wrangler Diesel = Based on data from 32 vehicles, 220 fuel-ups and 62,359 miles of driving, the 2021 Jeep Wrangler gets a combined Avg MPG of 19.87 with a 0.50 MPG margin of error.

 

[TJDave]

fuelly gives pretty accurate fuel estimates. The Mojave is not going to get the FE of a Sport under similar driving conditions.

Fuelly averages
Mojave = Based on data from 7 vehicles, 71 fuel-ups and 16,474 miles of driving, the 2020 Jeep Gladiator gets a combined Avg MPG of 15.35 with a 0.50 MPG margin of error.

Rubicon = Based on data from 40 vehicles, 1,001 fuel-ups and 227,883 miles of driving, the 2020 Jeep Gladiator gets a combined Avg MPG of 15.35 with a 0.19 MPG margin of error

Overland = Based on data from 9 vehicles, 126 fuel-ups and 37,394 miles of driving, the 2020 Jeep Gladiator gets a combined Avg MPG of 17.93 with a 0.57 MPG margin of error.

Sport S = Based on data from 27 vehicles, 505 fuel-ups and 135,412 miles of driving, the 2020 Jeep Gladiator gets a combined Avg MPG of 17.47 with a 0.34 MPG margin of error.

Diesel Models = 1 Diesel at 19.4.
2021 Wrangler Diesel = Based on data from 32 vehicles, 220 fuel-ups and 62,359 miles of driving, the 2021 Jeep Wrangler gets a combined Avg MPG of 19.87 with a 0.50 MPG margin of error.

This is very accurate in my case. 2020 JTR, 4500 miles, 35" tires, and have not re-calibrated for the larger tires yet. Computer says I'm averaging 15 mpg. I have not re-set in months.

 

[Gadgetech]

fuelly gives pretty accurate fuel estimates. The Mojave is not going to get the FE of a Sport under similar driving conditions.

Fuelly averages
Rubicon = Based on data from 40 vehicles, 1,001 fuel-ups and 227,883 miles of driving, the 2020 Jeep Gladiator gets a combined Avg MPG of 15.35 with a 0.19 MPG margin of error

My Rubicon is in that number! I actually got 16.3 MPG (hand calculated with Fuelly) on my last fuel up which was 90% on HWY. I was mostly doing 70 - 75 mph. If I attempt to maintain 80 (which is easy to do if you want to keep up with the flow in GA), it goes way down. I think my last fuel up on a tank where the cruise was set to 80 and I had very little deviation in speed, I got 15.6 MPG.

 

[SuburbanGP88]

I'm not expecting much more than 20mpg if that with the aerodynamics of a brick wall along with a curb weight of over 2 tons. The Wrangler wasn't any better with only 5 speeds in the auto and even wrose aerodynamics, I think, than the Gladiator. There are enough tests showing a truck bed having little to do with efficiency with or without a tonneau as the pocket of air inside the bed doesn't move much while in motion and the air just flows over it out the back.

The video as I recalled, even drove with the tail gate up and down as there is also bro science saying leaving the tail gate down will let air flow out of it.

 

[brianinca]

I've checked mileage against the corrected odometer for almost 10,000 miles and the trip computer is ALWAYS higher than the calculated value I get from the pump. Swapped in 35's and corrected with a Tazer like week 2. I'm delighted to see instant 19 MPG on I5 and I don't hold my breath to see more than that.

I had a 3L Ranger with 3.73's and a 5 spd. the best calculated mileage I ever got EVER was three days of 150 mile round trip at freeway speeds - 17.8 MPG.

Compared to an H2 with 4.10's on 35's, the JTR gets enough better mileage on 35's that I'm OK with it. Would I take another 5 Gal capacity in the tank? SURE! Otherwise, my bladder is the limiting factor.

26 MPG on the freeway? I just took first long trip in my Mojave and averaging around 73 mph I was getting about 15.8 or so with the Falken A/T stock tires. that is just the trip computer so maybe not completely accurate but I can't imagine it improving 10mpg. I do have a tonneau cover also which may help with aerodynamics. Only thing I'm really disappointed in is the MPG (and I also would prefer a bigger tank so I can stop less). Overall still love the truck

 

[ShadowsPapa]

fuelly gives pretty accurate fuel estimates. The Mojave is not going to get the FE of a Sport under similar driving conditions.

Fuelly averages
Mojave = Based on data from 7 vehicles, 71 fuel-ups and 16,474 miles of driving, the 2020 Jeep Gladiator gets a combined Avg MPG of 15.35 with a 0.50 MPG margin of error.

Rubicon = Based on data from 40 vehicles, 1,001 fuel-ups and 227,883 miles of driving, the 2020 Jeep Gladiator gets a combined Avg MPG of 15.35 with a 0.19 MPG margin of error

Overland = Based on data from 9 vehicles, 126 fuel-ups and 37,394 miles of driving, the 2020 Jeep Gladiator gets a combined Avg MPG of 17.93 with a 0.57 MPG margin of error.

Sport S = Based on data from 27 vehicles, 505 fuel-ups and 135,412 miles of driving, the 2020 Jeep Gladiator gets a combined Avg MPG of 17.47 with a 0.34 MPG margin of error.

Diesel Models = 1 Diesel at 19.4.
2021 Wrangler Diesel = Based on data from 32 vehicles, 220 fuel-ups and 62,359 miles of driving, the 2021 Jeep Wrangler gets a combined Avg MPG of 19.87 with a 0.50 MPG margin of error.

Wow, I blow that out of the water with my Overland.
I wonder how fast those 9 Overland owners push their trucks - 85 mph? Loaded?
Even after the PCM reset and subsequent re-learning it's going through, I best that.
In fact from what I've seen, many forum Overland owners do better than that.
I'd also wonder - lifted with 35" tires or what?

Sponsored