Badlands Sasquatch has terrible MPG

[broncobase1]

Just did two back to back road trips to St George Utah. About 300 miles each way.

After 8 months ownership My Badlands Sasquatch on 35’s gets about 18mpg around town.
But the 2 road trips had me averaging 13.6 mpg on the highway. One trip was loaded up with two adults and 2 children and luggage. The second trip was 1 adult 1 kid and minimal luggage. Difference was only .4 mpg for the “lighter” trip.
Is this normally what people are seeing?
It’s almost worth selling over.

I average 25+ on the highway with my Base on stock wheels, your huge tires and badlands build make a significant difference. High speed, wind, and driving style are also going to make a big difference.

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[JBKO]

Just did two back to back road trips to St George Utah. About 300 miles each way.

After 8 months ownership My Badlands Sasquatch on 35’s gets about 18mpg around town.
But the 2 road trips had me averaging 13.6 mpg on the highway. One trip was loaded up with two adults and 2 children and luggage. The second trip was 1 adult 1 kid and minimal luggage. Difference was only .4 mpg for the “lighter” trip.
Is this normally what people are seeing?
It’s almost worth selling over.

I just did a similar trip - from SLC to Mesquite, NV, about 40 miles past St. George. I averaged almost 21 MPG in my Badlands Sasquatch, with 3 people and luggage. In my case, I just set the adaptive cruise to 70, stayed in the right lane, and enjoyed the ride. Had a slight headwind on the way there, but letting the cruise sensors keep me a decent distance behind some trucks on the way down made a huge difference. In the cases where I sped up to 80, the boost would kick in and I could watch the MPG drop down to 15 or so.

Due to the nature of our trip, we had to take two separate cars, and my wife's Explorer got the same 20MPG cruising at 80MPH. She got home about an hour before me, but when you're driving a brick down the road, you can't really expect to fast without hearing those nickels shoot out the tailpipe.

For reference, I normally get around 17MPG in town. When I took the Bronco down to Moab for Off Roadeo, last Sept, I got a similar 20MPG, just by cruising around 70 the entire way.

 

[Cardboardbronco]

22 mpg avg with a 2.7 more door non sas. Always 91 octane. Freeway sees speeds of 75-80. I think it really depends on how your foot works the throttle. I try to cruise once I’m up to speed and make the most of my momentum when driving, if that makes sense. Also never use eco mode. Sport or normal. Sport can get me better mpg depending on driving conditions

 

[Scott R Nelson]

I average 25+ on the highway with my Base on stock wheels, your huge tires and badlands build make a significant difference. High speed, wind, and driving style are also going to make a big difference.

The "huge tires" only make a tiny difference if any. And I don't understand how being a Badlands is any difference at all from any of the other Bronco models. Would you care to explain what difference it would make?

 

[Shane78]

Doesn’t seem totally off base. It’s a high profile brick on wheels. I get about 18-19 around town and 19-21 on the highway. Smiles per gallon as they say..wouldn’t trade it for the world

 

[AZ_Liberty]

It is Eco or Boost - not both. Let off the skinny pedal and cruise below 65mph to keep it out of boost. Don't like going slower? Then bitch about the MPG of a rolling brick on B6G.

He's in Utah, not a silly east coast state. Average traffic is probably doing 85. Keeping 20 under traffic is a recipe for road rage.

 

[AZ_Liberty]

I average 25+ on the highway with my Base on stock wheels, your huge tires and badlands build make a significant difference. High speed, wind, and driving style are also going to make a big difference.

On my 2-door base with it's factory minivan tires, I get 24 in town, 21 on the freeway. Bronco is a brick, I got better MPG in my Mustang GT.

 

[harpo]

He's in Utah, not a silly east coast state. Average traffic is probably doing 85. Keeping 20 under traffic is a recipe for road rage.

Yes it would be tough to go less than 75 on i-15.

My worst tank was 13.5 mpg, 80+mph across north Dakota in a headwind.

Best tank was 26mpg cruising around Yellowstone at 45mph

Overall I'm ok with the mpg, it's the only car I've owned where I'm averaging better that the sticker. On other cars I get 10% less than sticker, on my bronco badlands 2 door 2.3 I'm averaging about 18.5mpg. better than the 16 I was expecting...

 

[JLC64UK]

2.3 or 2.7?
perhaps a prius instead of a rolling square brick on wheels JK
I have 2.7 Badlands non-sas and would love to get 18 around town. of course i also have a lead foot
I average 16 on trips with cruise on 75ish so urs really doesnt sound too bad

 

[ozark_stang]

Just did two back to back road trips to St George Utah. About 300 miles each way.

After 8 months ownership My Badlands Sasquatch on 35’s gets about 18mpg around town.
But the 2 road trips had me averaging 13.6 mpg on the highway. One trip was loaded up with two adults and 2 children and luggage. The second trip was 1 adult 1 kid and minimal luggage. Difference was only .4 mpg for the “lighter” trip.
Is this normally what people are seeing?
It’s almost worth selling over.

I have a 4-door Badlands, non-Sasquatch, high package soft top, equipped with the 2.7L engine, running on the factory wheels and tires. I appreciate the additional inch of travel in the suspension, especially with the 33" tires, so I haven't made any modifications. It's been incredible right out of the box, with almost 6,000 miles on it since delivery. Overall, it's been averaging a little over 16 mpg. On a good day during a road trip, I can manage 19 mpg, but on a windy day, it drops to 17 mpg or less. I've even seen it dip as low as 12 or 14 mpg.
Considering the overall trip since I've owned it, it's slightly under the rated fuel economy. I tend to remote start it every time it's driven, except when it's in the garage, and I always let the engine cycle and warm up for 3-5 minutes before driving, as well as allowing it to cycle down before shutting off. I don't use auto start/stop, although my wife does. I drive it similar to my 2017 GT Mustang, and it handles exceptionally well, with precise shift points. It doesn't take long to learn how to finesse the turbo and manage wind resistance, especially when accelerating downhill and allowing cruise control to work efficiently uphill.

I've primarily used the 4A/4H/4L off-road on completely snow/ice-covered roads or during monsoon rainstorms on backroads. I opted not to install Forscan, and I had the first oil change at Ford with the Motorcraft recommended at 1,700 miles, and the first tire rotation at 5,000 miles. The only issue I encountered was a warranty replacement for a door bungee, but otherwise, it's been flawless.

The only complaint I have is the lack of a power seat. While I love the MG vinyl and washout floors, my wife, who is much taller, finds adjusting the seat height challenging. If I don't start remembering to adjust it before getting in, it could become detrimental to my spirituality!
That being said, this is a Badlands bribe offer from an October 2021 Wildtrak order, and my wife's Wildtrak is currently being built and sits at the mod shop, likely getting the PPF before being shipped out, identical to her original 2021 WT order. I placed her order all over again after accepting the mod offer.
In addition to not towing for the first 500-1000 miles, I'll also refrain from using cruise control during that period. I've read recommendations about avoiding cruise control during towing for the first 500 miles, so I'll apply the same principle here. I plan to use Ford Pass points to purchase the Ford Performance rear differential cover and have it installed during the first oil change at 1,700 miles, along with changing the differential fluid. It can't hurt to drop the breakin on it to if I am doing the cover. I hope to achieve similar fuel economy in the Wildtrak, but I speculate that, like other Ford vehicles we've had in the family fleet with adaptive cruise, it may negatively impact fuel economy because we tend to get distracted and pass slower vehicles. You have to learn with adaptive cruise how to make it work for you rather than against you when it comes to MPG.


In the meantime, we've been patiently waiting 853 days for my wife's white Wildtrak 4-door with the luxury and tow packages to finally be put on something this afternoon or tomorrow and brought home.
We were a little disappointed that it didn't get picked up as a 2023 model. We fell in love with the MG vinyl and the capable bumper. For the 2024 model, we had to switch back to leather seats and a modified bumper. However, we did remove the hard top from our original order. We absolutely love the soft top and have found no need for a hard top, running all seasons in this thing.

 

[BadlandsA51]

Just did two back to back road trips to St George Utah. About 300 miles each way.

After 8 months ownership My Badlands Sasquatch on 35’s gets about 18mpg around town.
But the 2 road trips had me averaging 13.6 mpg on the highway. One trip was loaded up with two adults and 2 children and luggage. The second trip was 1 adult 1 kid and minimal luggage. Difference was only .4 mpg for the “lighter” trip.
Is this normally what people are seeing?
It’s almost worth selling over.

Yep, Broncos have the aerodynamics of one brick glued on top of another. The ride height, especially on a Squatch, also contributes. Took ours on a 2000 mile road trip las fall to Colorado. I was at 19.4 MPG average when we left and in the high 18s when we got back. We did 2 solid days of Off road, and I ran 70 to 75 on most of the highway miles. Back and forth to work it gets 19.6 to 19.8 on 55MPH 2 lanes. High speed really works the engine and kills MPG

 

[Owl]

Two of the reasons I didn't go to SAS (and I thought about it a lot):
1. I rarely go off-road.
2. I like decent mileage.

I have a Base 2DR V6/auto and slapped on OBX 32s. Works perfect for me.

MPG is between 22-24 between 65-70 on the highway, and my usual drive takes me up 1400 feet, and then down 1400 feet (90 miles round-trip).

Note: To calculate mileage I figure 32/30 X displayed_MPG (since I didn't do a Forscan modification for tire-size.

As others have said... you go over 70 and you pay in MPG.

 

[23_Badlands]

. . . My worst tank was 13.5 mpg, 80+mph across north Dakota in a headwind.

Best tank was 26mpg cruising around Yellowstone at 45mph

Overall I'm ok with the mpg, it's the only car I've owned where I'm averaging better that the sticker. On other cars I get 10% less than sticker, on my bronco badlands 2 door 2.3 I'm averaging about 18.5mpg. better than the 16 I was expecting...

Non SAS, right? Auto/7sp? Hand calculated or dash mpg?

Our Badlands 2dr SAS 2.3 7sp typically gets 16-17 around town and the same 16-17 at 70-75 mph. 80 mph it drops to 15-16. Surprisingly, it jumps up to 19-20 at 65. All hand calculated. Dash MPG tends to read 1.5 mpg higher.

EPA is 16 city/17 highway/17 combined.

Towed our 2500 lb. teardrop trailer on a cross-country trip last month. For the most part got 13.0 - 13.5 towing at 65 mph. On one stretch of highway we had a 20-25 mph tailwind. MPG's jumped to 16-17.

Slightly worse MPG's than we expected, but we can live with it.

 

[UtahGreg]

Doesn’t make much sense. What was your cruising speed?

78mph in “eco mode” had 15 mph head winds going down and 15mph tail winds coming back. Averaged mid 13mpg for that trip.
Second lighter trip had 3mph north wind down and back. Got 14.2mpg in eco mode on that trip

Seems low. Did you have strong headwinds on the "lighter" trip? Mine will average 18-20 mpg on road trips with two people and some luggage.

lighter trip had only 3mph winds.

 

[UtahGreg]

What speed were you doing most of the time? I noticed my base Sas will drop off once I get above 63-65 mph. I was getting around 21-22 mpg over the summer when running around 58-62 mph most of the drive (55 mph road, not 65 mph highway). Winter gas definitely hurts, I'm down 1.5-2 mpg since Oct.

Speed limit is 80mph on I-15 from SLC to Saint George Utah. I was at or below it the whole time. Get significantly better around 60mph but that’s not really doable on the highway when it’s 80mph limit.

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