Poolmanz Sport Bronco

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Hey Bronco Fans! So I did a little test that took some time for the results. I have 2.0L.
I drove to Albuquerque, NM on 91 oct.- I switch to 87 while I was there for about a week- drove back on 87.- I only have the MPG before I switch to 87.
Ford Bronco Sport RIP MPG - 1.5L Cross-Country Trip W/ Roof Basket KIMG5672.JPG

The 87 seems to do well coming back to CA- but when I got into CA- I lost MPG and the photo data.
I kept 87 for another month (Nov) back home before I switched back to 91 for a month (Dec).
Both months had similar driving runs. At the end of the Dec, we went to Monterey, CA for a day trip.
Ford Bronco Sport RIP MPG - 1.5L Cross-Country Trip W/ Roof Basket KIMG5851.JPG

NOV 2022 (87 oct)

Ford Bronco Sport RIP MPG - 1.5L Cross-Country Trip W/ Roof Basket KIMG6011.JPG

DEC 2022 (91 oct)

Ford Bronco Sport RIP MPG - 1.5L Cross-Country Trip W/ Roof Basket KIMG6010.JPG

DEC 2022 (overall avg. for the month)

Diving mode was NORMAL to ECO with very little SPORT. City and Freeways. No trials for both months. My conclusion : 91 does well on trips and less frequent fill ups around home.
But due to the small tank - going to New Mexico- I stopped every 3-4 hours to fill up around 1/4 of tank.- be nice to go a full day driving and fill up in the morning .
In NM, 87 was great and cheap-however, heading back West I was losing my MPG by CA.
Today, when I looked at my TRIP 1- I got 107 miles at 3/4 tank full with 91.
I know its not the best test- this was my experience with 91 vs 87.

Ford Bronco Sport RIP MPG - 1.5L Cross-Country Trip W/ Roof Basket KIMG5855.JPG

This was the set-up to New Mexico and back at home- Wife and Daughter are begging me to take it all off..LOL:crackup:
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Poolmanz Sport Bronco

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Assuming your truck has the standard 38 gallon fuel tank, 200 miles is around 5 mpg, and 280 miles is 7 mpg—a nearly 30% improvement. According to the owners manual I found online, the engine in your truck is designed to use 87 octane, and independent testing has shown that using premium in vehicles designed for regular offers no tangible advantage. Are the engines in your trucks fully stock?
Hey Mark, sorry for the really late reply.
Stock engines but under load all the time.
The 99 F250 is a regular cab with 30 gal tank.
I actually have the original manual. Ford recommends using the higher octane -91/92 when the truck is underload to keep the MPG and maintain/increase HP- the wording is in all my manuals, for 20 Ranger, 20 Transit Connect, 22 F250, 21 Bronco Sport.
However, we found 89 works best for the 99 F250.
91 works great in the Ranger (21 MPG) and Transit Connect (23 MPG)- when we switched to 87 as a test we got under 20 MPG- about 18.
Jury still out on the 22-F250, it has an ECO mode that may/mayn't make a difference since we are underload all the time.
 

V8 Yankee

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As many of you know, I traveled over 1800 miles this week from NC to my permanent home in AZ after a 4-month work assignment in my dream National Forest. I'm a federal employee hired via a competitive fellowship which requires me to take a detail assignment (different position and duty station) for 4-6 months. I'm a New Englander who found a great job in the desert of AZ - Not exactly the most ideal location for me personally. So, I used the detail assignment to work my tail off and secure a permanent position in NC, a spot where I've always wanted to plant roots and puts my boyfriend and I much closer to our families. However, the detail assignment involved packing up our 2 vehicles with everything we need to live for 4 months, our cat, our dog, and our gecko, then driving across the country and back. What better way to say goodbye to my Big Bend than to give it one final road trip before my Badlands is built?

What did I have on the roof?
I bought Thule Evo cross bars and a Thule Canyon XT roof basket while we were in NC since I bought some stuff and was coming back with a few extra pieces of luggage. I wanted to document the effects on the MPG of the 1.5L when hauling about 80 pounds of clothes and a 35 pound roof basket across the country. Spoiler alert - It was challenging to drive in certain conditions. Here's what we had up on the rack. We kept things dry by covering it with a tarp after this photo was taken and securing it with the Thule cargo net seen below.
Ford Bronco Sport RIP MPG - 1.5L Cross-Country Trip W/ Roof Basket 20220716_174554


Route Traveled
Here's the route we took to get back. On the way to NC, we drove through several Texas cities which wasn't the most fun even without a roof rack. So, we avoided it this time and took a calmer route mostly on interstate 40.
Ford Bronco Sport RIP MPG - 1.5L Cross-Country Trip W/ Roof Basket Screenshot_20220721-072044_Maps


Challenges Faced
With a loaded up cargo area and the rack, the 1.5L did not want to "giddy up." I was hitting over 3,000 RPM just getting up to highway speeds or passing slow trucks. I didnt feel overly "tippy" and the handling was still pretty normal, although I was cornering with extra caution and paying careful attention to not speed. I'd been driving between 65 and 75 mph the entire way through NC, TN, and AR. Once we got into Oklahoma and faced the Midwest winds, I couldn't even travel much over 70 mph. My boyfriend was in front of me leading in his vehicle and I could just no longer keep up. We were driving west into an easterly wind. The roof rack was legit acting as a sail. I checked the cargo position and tension of the basket at each gas stop, and none of it ever moved an inch. Very surprising since I was fighting the wheel the entire time. The Sport is already a literal box, but highway speeds with junk on the roof made things so much worse (and much more loud). My MPG up to this point was about 26 MPG, but it tanked in Oklahoma and beyond. Texas and New Mexico weren't much kinder in terms of wind. Here's my total MPG for the entire trip.
Ford Bronco Sport RIP MPG - 1.5L Cross-Country Trip W/ Roof Basket 20220721_070905


In Conclusion
Am I thrilled I bought it? Absolutely. Especially secondhand at less than half the MSRP of the cross bars alone. There was a full-size hard shell suitcase, an army duffel bag, and a carry-on up there instead of taking up precious cargo space. My MPG suffered a lot, but I feel like my new Badlands will help a bit with the lacking "giddy up" issue and round out the MPG a more since I'll be able to keep the RPMs lower. I love road trips and having the basket just makes me want to travel even more. Lucky for me, I get to do this all over again in 8 months when we relocate permanently. If you don't have one and are considering it, buy one. Just drive carefully and don't take corners too quickly. 🙂
Hi, nice write up. Your mpg really was not too bad considering your roof rack and all the cargo on top and inside. Trying to maintain 65-70 mph is what killed your mpg. Even without a cargo rack BS mpg is not so great at those speeds. 55 to 60 mph is the optimal range, sure it would have added hours but your mpg would have been much better. The same applies to any vehicle that is hauling, towing or fighting strong head winds. All things considered the trip seemed good, nice for you to write it up.
 
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Elegance

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As a heads up, I will be posting the sequel to this thread with a Badlands at the end of this month. We'll see if the 2.0L does any better to compensate for the added drag. My move to NC is here! I'm busting the roof rack back out and also using my new trailer hitch basket (which shouldn't affect MPG at all, but yay, more space). Will document MPG carefully just like I did last time for those who are curious. This will be another 1800+ mile trip over 3 days.
 


wessermgm

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Thank you Elegance. And I hope/assume you will do better with the wind behind you going east.
In my experience that is going to be a huge factor. Especially in the Spring.
 

Poolmanz Sport Bronco

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Hi Kris, nice you are sharing with us. I know we had past posts about 87 vs 91 . I have noticed a difference all around. You may already know this but I wanted to share with everyone here:
Bronco Sport manual page 155,156 "Fuel Quality" highlights
  • BS is designed to operate on min. 87 octane
  • For best overall engine performance- 91 or higher is recommended
  • Most noticeable in hot weather and towing/payload- see page 235
  • Page 236- Your BS "could have reduced performance when operating at high altitudes and when heavily loaded or towing a trailer."
I was wondering if you might be able to compare 87 / 91 on your trip? Maybe 1 or 2 tank fill ups on 91?
BTW - when I went from CA to NM- I hated having to fill up so often- a 30 gallon tank would of been nice. :wink:
 

Mark S.

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I was wondering if you might be able to compare 87 / 91 on your trip? Maybe 1 or 2 tank fill ups on 91?
I've conducted this experiment twice. Once with my Mustang EcoBoost, and once with my Badlands. You can view the data on my Badlands experiment on this thread. I didn't keep the data on my Mustang after I traded it. Although I ABSOLUTELY saw better performance (i.e. engine power) with premium fuel, fuel mileage never wavered from my long-term average.

I plan to retry this experiment with my Badlands over the summer months when it's hottest here. I'll post the data over at the original thread.
 
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Elegance

Elegance

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I was wondering if you might be able to compare 87 / 91 on your trip? Maybe 1 or 2 tank fill ups on 91?
BTW - when I went from CA to NM- I hated having to fill up so often- a 30 gallon tank would of been nice. :wink:
I will certainly try, but no promises. We've got 4 of us total to keep track of (parents are flying in to assist), 3 pets, 2 cars, and a U-Haul. My panic over those 3 days may or may not cause a bit of forgetfulness. As much as I love the Sport forum, it may not be the first thing on my mind in the heat of the moment.

Also, nobody warned me how much that 20% down payment plus closing costs on my first home would hurt! So excited to finally own a home after 27 years of upward struggle, but I may be eating ramen for a bit while I recover. 😂 Not sure if a couple tanks of 91 would be the smartest investment since the general consensus is that it does not improve MPG very much.
 

Winds of Change

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Beans and rice, rice and beans OH BOY. Congrats on the house. I hope to move to that NW corner of SC in a couple of years.
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