Turbo newbie question - mpg and boost

[tock13]

Warnings from who? And what do you mean the turbo shut down?

He got a warning on the dash when he ran it too hard, it said power loss or something and the car would coast. The engine was still running but it had zero power. He told me the dealer said him the turbo overheated and shut everything down. What that means exactly I have no clue but I do know it put the car in some kind of limp mode when it happened.

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[CarmeloS]

THANK YOU! Two over in the left lane doesn't cut it. In NM we speed for real.

When you come, I'll buy you guys a beer. My brother did about 10 years in the Marine Corps, so I try to look out for Marines.

I drove from Alamoghetto to Roswell in my exes ‘18 golf TSI ages ago, 2hr trip

Whole time was doing 100+, 10 mins away dropped down to 91 and got pinched, cop was nice enough to drop the speed on the ticket to 81 or so

Fun times

 

[Fly by Nite]

Your definitely right with the “gentle in the vertical pedal”. My partner in crime drives like Nikki Lauda in her GLK and SLK and only slightly less so in her 4dr BD SAS with a 2.3 auto. She gets between 16 and 17.5 mpg hand calculated. She had to go across the state and I drove to see what I could get MPG wise because she swears she takes it really easy in the Bronco.

Ride was twisty hilly country roads and over and back on a mountain pass. We filled up a couple times and averaged 23.3 MPG. She doesn’t have the boost gauge showing so I didn’t mess with the screen but I eased the truck up to speed from stop lights and anticipated the rises out of rolling hills and generally drove like grandpa. I said “see, you need to slow down”. She said F that, I want to have fun.

But, yeah. Vertical pedal matters. I just never knew the rules around turbo boost so appreciate all the feedback.

Haha!
Yeah, turbos are fun! The power gets very addictive. Had an old Buick turbo V6 and a Saab 900 turbo. It's tough to stay out of boost just because the turbo rush is sooo addictive. It's not as noticeable on the Bronco unless you really get on it. But it does feel soooo good!
I also have a (very) old school '66 Buick GS with dual quad carbs.... the dash display doesn't keep track of mpg's, so I can have more fun without being reminded of the consequences.

 

[Brian_B]

It's not as noticeable on the Bronco unless you really get on it. But it does feel soooo good!

Second gear on the 7MT with Ford Performance Tune is going to get my license suspended one of these days.

 

[WestVirginia]

While stopped. Engine off I see this on my dash. Turbo fluctuating. Is this normal? I’ve also notice almost 0 turbo when accelerating in first or second. I have the 2.3 manual transmission.

 

[lapazleo]

If I keep it under 80 with no headwind I get 20, BD 7M. Unfortunately I need to drive the IL Tollway from WI to damn near IN which means 85+. (PSA: If the ISP sees a first digit of “9” in the 70 zone you will get a ticket but 25+ over is where real trouble begins.)

I've driven that stretch of road thousands of times over the last 40 years and never once over 70 mph. And no ISP doesn't allow up to 25 over. And no 6g Bronco is getting 20mph at 80mph.

 

[HPNQ420]

I've driven that stretch of road thousands of times over the last 40 years and never once over 70 mph. And no ISP doesn't allow up to 25 over. And no 6g Bronco is getting 20mph at 80mph.

Hell the trucks are going 70+. Hope You aren’t sitting in the left two lanes. Read the post again. In the 70 zone tickets pretty much start when they see a “9” in the first digit. 14 over is safe if you are driving safe.. Source: Whisper from the trooper who nabbed me at 92 last year and multiple IL LE clients. Up to 25 over you can take online traffic school. Over 25 and big fine plus mandatory court appearance. Over 35 and you are committing a crime.

And yes, I have seen 20 mpg at 80 on corn free gas with only light crosswinds. Heavy crosswinds or headwinds kill you. Tailwinds don’t help as much as headwinds hurt. Over the first 5000 miles I kept a mileage/fuel log and then calibrated my mileage gauge. Stock it was 5-10% optimistic. Now it is +/- 2.5%.

 

[Ninjak]

I just drive my Bronco. I stay out of long turbo spools, but also I enjoy driving it. I already understand I am not going to be seeing 20MPG or more, I am on 37's and 4.46 gearing Lol.

That said I am going to enjoy the ride and I have done mods for the power, CAI, Exhaust, and my new charge pipes will be here on the 4th. Yeah, it's not a race car. I am well aware of that, but that does not mean it cannot be fun to drive.

 

[VailBronco]

Having put over 30,000 miles on a 2.3 automatic Bronco 4-door, I can speak to this one. Twice I got 510 miles on a tank with BFG KO2 33's....so 24.5 MPG. That was lots of driving on roads with 55 mph speed limit with some stop and go traffic.

IMO, that mileage is only attainable because the 2.3 engine is able to "lump" along at such low RPM. It is tuned for optimal efficiency by momentarily increasing boost when needed while still keeping the RPM's low. The Eco GOAT mode further enhances this by keeping engine revs as low as possible, but yes those benefits can easily be negated with a heavy right foot. From my experience you could save 1-1.2 MPG in Eco mode but only if you are actually driving like you are trying to save gas.

Sport mode always keeps the engine revs higher. For instance at highway speeds it may not even go into 10th gear. So no way that is the most efficient mode for most drivers, but I suppose there may be 'spirited' drivers who see benefit from that somehow. As some others have said, lower speeds, lowest RPM, and least amount of boost equals the best fuel economy.

 

[tock13]

Having put over 30,000 miles on a 2.3 automatic Bronco 4-door, I can speak to this one. Twice I got 510 miles on a tank with BFG KO2 33's....so 24.5 MPG. That was lots of driving on roads with 55 mph speed limit with some stop and go traffic.

Dang, 510 miles a tank is fantastic. When I had my Bronco the gauge would say I had a range of 370ish miles to empty. I only put gas in it a couple times and never because it was empty so no real experience with that one.

My replacement Bronco should be here next week so I am definitely going to try Eco mode out. I don’t care about going fast, for me it’s what is between point a and point b that is the enjoyable part.

Thanks for the input!!

 

[Dan-O]

Big wheels and tires are more of a hit on mpg than boost.

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