Ford Trucks to Get 62 MPG?

[DIRTROAD]

I know of a local guy here that put a 3 cylinder Perkins diesel forklift engine in a 1965 Mustang and regularly gets 60+ MPG. If he can do that in a backyard garage, just imagine what technology is already available but kept quiet by oil companies.

I remember a story in a Hot Rod magazine back in the 1980's that featured a Carburetor that produced around 100 MPG. I'm sure it was bought up by the oil companies as well.

 

[PoorMansCat]

I think the author got a few medium duty truck facts mixed in with their light duty truck info. Alison, cummins? Not in the f-series!

same thing I was thinking.... and considering the F550 sitting in the driveway only gets 6mpg.... they have a LONG way to go..
The ECo-Boost truck is a farse also... since when did applying turbochargers to an engine make it ECO friendly.... we all know what it takes to make a turbocharger spin, and that exhaust pressure a.k.a. drive pressure.... and the only way to generate drive pressure is to burn fuel!. Burn a little fuel, get a little drive pressure, burn alot of fuel, get lots of drive pressure..... When you are buring lots of fuel to get lots of pulling power, you are NOT getting 18 mpg.... probably closer to 18FPG...
Its amazing to me how marketing people can make claims and nobody throws the B.S flag on them... when comparing the 1 ton pickups, every manufacturer claims to have " BEST IN CLASS TOWING" or torque above 1800rpm, or BELOW 1200RPM, or best in class horsepower, or best in class downhill braking.. etc..etc..etc..etc...
If all three manufacturers are claiming this, wouldnt it be fair to say two of them have got to be lying?????
In the end, these "CLASSES" are not some SAE certified impartial testing, its Mike Rowe for Ford, Howie Long for GM... and I dont know who Rams "clucking chicken" is, but I'm sure they have one...
Even the supposed rag-mag articles are F.O.S..... wanna know who's gonna win the "shootout" in the mag, just look at the advertisements for that issue, the one before and the one after.... whoever has the most advertising won the shootout.... These are the same mags that tell you to remove the 7K exhaust particulate system from your new truck and delete all the emissions stuff under the hood... dont worry, if anything goes wrong, the dealer HAS to cover it under the Magneuson act.... then do fully loaded "drag racing".... when did THIS become the measure of a working trucks worth???..

Wow... I sure typed alot... now my dang blood pressure is up... better go eat some ice cream and a beer or two and calm down...

I'll get off my soapbox now..

 

[davygp38]

So according to the article, Ford dumped Navistar for Cummins and Allison? Interesting...

I have been shopping the new F series Superduty real hard lately, and I can tell you that when you speak to a dealer they are bragging on how the new Ford Diesel, and Tranny are all in house designs. I would say that the Article is a little off. In fact, there was an interview with the project manager for the new Diesel Eng on You tube.

 

[dstig1]

Seems impossible but anything can be done.

Do any of you remember about 10 years ago Ford had a prototype F-150 that essentially was a stock 5.4L with modified tranny and basically a well bladder tank? The bed was 6" shallower and under it had what was essentially a big well bladder tank. It held something like 50 gallons of ATF.

On the highway it got the same MPG as any other F-150 but around town it was getting something like 60 mpg. As you drove the trannys pump simply charged the bladder tank. When you left a stop light its pressure was used to get you rolling. Once the stored pressure was used up it simply charged it again for the next start. The other cool thing was it produced something like 800 FT TQ for that start so pulling a load such as a 10,000# boat up a ramp would be a walk in the park.

The tank was Stainless Steel and I think the fluid change intervals were 200,000 miles due to the large volume it held.

I always thought this was a interesting approach compared to what the others were doing with electric motors, batteries, ect.

They are bringing it back again but using a hydrogen motor instead of a gas powerplant. They are claiming 40mpg with this current setup.

Non-electric Ford F-150 hydraulic hybrid could get 40 mpg - Drive On: A conversation about the cars and trucks we drive - USATODAY.com

Chris

It's been done from time to time - It's a "Hybrid" but not the type most people think of when they say that word. All a Hybrid car really means in this sense is multiple different power sources "Hybridized" together to propel the car with some characteristic improvement (could be better efficiency or more power, for example).

In this case it is an internal combustion-hydraulic hybrid, whereas most people think of IC-electric hybrids.

Anyone crowing about the massive mileage numbers that CAN be obtained but are being "suppressed" should know better. There are far more regulations the vehicles have to meet other than just raw mileage, and they are pretty much at cross-purposes with improved mileage (Emissions and safety standards being the biggies). Ain't nobody "hiding " anything... Heck, I can power a car with a 5hp Briggs and it will get great mileage....

 

[doall]

I just want to say that I think Poormanscat and Deerfan are pretty smart guys.
I agree.

 

[zmoz]

Around here Fedex has a pilot program with some of their delivery trucks being "hybrid" powered, not sure how it works or how much fuel it saves, but they invested a ton of money building just a few trucks for testing, I've seen them around town. They have no motive to satisfy the EPA or anything like that, they just are trying to save gas money. I would imagine a Fedex truck has a LOT of energy that can be stored up during braking....

That's the other issue with hybrids, they get their good gas mileage in the city, not the highway. Go on a long trip and your mileage gets cut in half.

I really don't buy into any of this "big oil is trying to hide it" theory for anything. We have full electric cars today. I can go down to a normal car dealer and buy one. Most people don't want them because they look like golf carts...

 

[Scooby074]

Around here Fedex has a pilot program with some of their delivery trucks being "hybrid" powered, not sure how it works or how much fuel it saves, but they invested a ton of money building just a few trucks for testing, I've seen them around town. They have no motive to satisfy the EPA or anything like that, they just are trying to save gas money. I would imagine a Fedex truck has a LOT of energy that can be stored up during braking....

That's the other issue with hybrids, they get their good gas mileage in the city, not the highway. Go on a long trip and your mileage gets cut in half.

I really don't buy into any of this "big oil is trying to hide it" theory for anything. We have full electric cars today. I can go down to a normal car dealer and buy one. Most people don't want them because they look like golf carts...

UPS has a "plastic" truck. 1000lbs lighter. 40% better mileage. Built by Utilimaster (the same guys that build the aluminum ones)

Could save 84 MILLION gallons/yr All with no fancy hybrids or batteries. To me, this is the better system when all is said and done.

Plastic UPS trucks could be the next big, brown thing

 

[deerefan]

Around here Fedex has a pilot program with some of their delivery trucks being "hybrid" powered, not sure how it works or how much fuel it saves, but they invested a ton of money building just a few trucks for testing, I've seen them around town. They have no motive to satisfy the EPA or anything like that, they just are trying to save gas money. I would imagine a Fedex truck has a LOT of energy that can be stored up during braking....

That's the other issue with hybrids, they get their good gas mileage in the city, not the highway. Go on a long trip and your mileage gets cut in half.

I really don't buy into any of this "big oil is trying to hide it" theory for anything. We have full electric cars today. I can go down to a normal car dealer and buy one. Most people don't want them because they look like golf carts...

Ok. And how many electric cars are there vs gas guzzling trucks and suvs? They let a little go to save face. Trust me, they have their hands deep into auto manufacturing and technology. If not, them give me one good reason why we do not have cars and trucks getting north of 40mpg.

 

[dstig1]

Ok. And how many electric cars are there vs gas guzzling trucks and suvs? They let a little go to save face. Trust me, they have their hands deep into auto manufacturing and technology. If not, them give me one good reason why we do not have cars and trucks getting north of 40mpg.

Sorry deerefan, but I have to say it: "Oh puh-leeze!" You want one good reason? What are you driving? What are your friends/family driving? I can find you a half dozen cars that get 40 mpg on the market today....why don't you own them? Because they sell like none of them because nobody wants them (until gas hits $4 like it has recently).

There is no secret beyond basic physics to get a lot better mileage. Lower weight. Lower aerodynamic drag (shape and frontal area). Lower rolling resistance (high pressure, narrow tires). Lower mechanical & standby losses in the drivetrain (like stop-start technology instead of idling, smaller engines, and better transmissions). Use more efficient engine technologies (diesels, turbos, direct injection, etc). And of course - much lower power/weight ratios. All of these cost money or create tradeoffs that people don't want to choose (simple fact - you REALLY need smaller vehicles with less power to get better mileage). Then there is the emissions bogey. In the US that ends up being a huge strike against diesels due to the EPA. That could be corrected by Congress or the EPA, but it is a reality right now.

If you really think there are vast conspiracies going on, then you haven't seen the collective intelligence of either the government or private industry in action.

But this is America and you are entitled to whatever opinion you like. Doesn't make it scientific or fact. Yes, I know this is a fruitless argument, but every now and then I have to say it...

 

[timswi]

If a manufacturer would come up with something that we would buy that gets 50 MPG, the potential profit margin (not that long of a term) could beat anything a "big oil" (hate that term, "big government"?) would be willing to pay. Honda had a CRX HF that got around 40MPG, couldn't insure it and couldn't fit in it, needed a kidney belt to drive it. It went the way of the buggy whip and "Big Oil" had nothing to do with it. I worked for Honda at the time.

Can you imagine a pickup with 300HP+ that gets 40MPG?...You'd have to order it and pay MSRP+ because of the demand...Big Oil?..Give me a break.

Electric cars are actually coal/nuke fired..Where do these tree huggers think the power comes from? Depending on where you live, electric supply rates are going through the roof. Mine are and I can see the nuke cooling towers from the pasture..Explaination please?

Plastic cars?...Without substantial steel framing within it, you can have it. I won't trade my life for a few MPG.

Trucks get the mileage that they get due mostly due to weight, not aerodynamics. A Z06 Corvette gets close to 30MPG hwy with close to 500HP..Why?...It weighs half what a truck does and can tow/haul virtually nothing.

My 2011 GMC 404HP 6.2 4x4 gets 20MPG on the open hwy at 75-80MPH...If I ran at 62 I could do better..Just the way it is. If I was going to complain about gas mileage, I wouldn't have bought it...I can afford the gas, so I don't care. I feel the same way about the wife's Hummer.

Guess I'm the typical "ugly American" to our non-US friends...So be it. My ancestors left Europe et.al. for a reason.