Mpg?

[Old Jeeper]

You'll get results all over the map as far as mpg. If it is mostly cruising around 25-35mph for long durations I'd say it's on the low end, but if it's a lot of stop, accelerate up to speed just to stop again, I'd say that is an expected average. We average 13-15mpg in our stock XR with 3.6 wether city/country roads or freeway as the former involves a lot of stop and go and the later usually means cruise control set a 80mph. Sure if I set the cruise control at 60mph on roadtrips I'd probably see close to 20mpg, but driving that slow would add 3+ hours drive time to a 10 hour roadtrip. I'd rather get where I'm going and spend more on gas. Time is money.

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[Jeepeto]

Picked up a 2021 JLU rubicon with a 3.5" lift. running 37x13.5x20r tires. I have had it for just over a week now and It's getting around 11MPG based on searched on here this seems pretty low.
I live in Alaska so it's been pretty cold but I've tried to not let it just sit and idle.
Habnt had it on the highway much either. It's been mostly just on base. So 25-35mph typical driving speeds.

3.5” lift, 5.13 gears, RTT and 37x12.5”s; I average around 11-12.5” mpg. Usually getting much better MPG at lower speeds and much worse at highway speed. You seem a bit low to me. Wind resistance is usually what kills my mileage.

 

[Yawnie'sPapa]

Picked up a 2021 JLU rubicon with a 3.5" lift. running 37x13.5x20r tires. I have had it for just over a week now and It's getting around 11MPG based on searched on here this seems pretty low.
I live in Alaska so it's been pretty cold but I've tried to not let it just sit and idle.
Habnt had it on the highway much either. It's been mostly just on base. So 25-35mph typical driving speeds.

You lift a brick higher into the air and add a lot of weight to be spun by the engine (tire are mpg killers!!) and wonder about mpg?
The tires alone will kill your mpg by a fair amount. Going from stock tires to just a bit wider and more aggressive and much heavier than stock can drop you over 2 mpg.

 

[Deleted User 38384]

I have the diesel..23 mpg average, but $4.95 a gallon for diesel here in Michigan. ??

(Buc-ee's - Melissa, TX)
That was the price this morning when I filled up.

 

[Old Jeeper]

TJR, 37s, 4:88...26.1 MPG!!!

There I was working on TJR and cutting off the sport bars, getting ready to weld up a real cage from ChroMo. The top is off, the windshield is down and a couple more cuts with my cutoff wheel cage is gone.

Phone rings and it a machine shop that I had make up some exotic parts for my TJR. They tell me the job is finished and can I pick up and they are going to close at noon. I said I leave out of here in about 10 min. I finish the cuts on the sports bar and lift it off.

I am in Ft Worth, Tx, machine shop is on the Oklahoma borderline, its a straight shot up I 35 W. I pull into a Gas station at the corner of I 35 W and the main drag not far from my home. I top tank to the lip of the fuel filler spout.

Windshield down, no top, no sports bar no door and its late Sept and a cool day. About 55 mph is all I do, wind is beating me hard and my eyes are watering.

I get to the machine shop, get my components and pull out on I 35 heading S and note there are some ominous Grey clouds and the wind is picking up. I am getting a tail wind that if I did not need to steer I would sail on in.

I get to my exit and I look down at my fuel gauge to see how it cost me...WTH, WHOA, its barely moved, that cannot be. So I pull into the gas station barely ahead of the rain and stop at the same pump and top off my tank. I run the numbers on my phone calculator and 26.1 mpg, OMG.

TAKE AWAY: Jeep is a shoe box with a barn door on top, no matter if you have CJ 2 or a JLUR XR and every model in between. Jeeps on the big pic will range from 10 mpg out to 19 mpg. My JKR, Stick shift would get 19.1 on the way to San Antonio on I 35. Then after I done my business in San Antonio I had to go back, I got about 16. WHY. San Antonio was DOWNHILL, I went from about 16XX ft above sea level to 5XX sea level.

 

[Zandcwhite]

TJR, 37s, 4:88...26.1 MPG!!!

There I was working on TJR and cutting off the sport bars, getting ready to weld up a real cage from ChroMo. The top is off, the windshield is down and a couple more cuts with my cutoff wheel cage is gone.

Phone rings and it a machine shop that I had make up some exotic parts for my TJR. They tell me the job is finished and can I pick up and they are going to close at noon. I said I leave out of here in about 10 min. I finish the cuts on the sports bar and lift it off.

I am in Ft Worth, Tx, machine shop is on the Oklahoma borderline, its a straight shot up I 35 W. I pull into a Gas station at the corner of I 35 W and the main drag not far from my home. I top tank to the lip of the fuel filler spout.

Windshield down, no top, no sports bar no door and its late Sept and a cool day. About 55 mph is all I do, wind is beating me hard and my eyes are watering.

I get to the machine shop, get my components and pull out on I 35 heading S and note there are some ominous Grey clouds and the wind is picking up. I am getting a tail wind that if I did not need to steer I would sail on in.

I get to my exit and I look down at my fuel gauge to see how it cost me...WTH, WHOA, its barely moved, that cannot be. So I pull into the gas station barely ahead of the rain and stop at the same pump and top off my tank. I run the numbers on my phone calculator and 26.1 mpg, OMG.

TAKE AWAY: Jeep is a shoe box with a barn door on top, no matter if you have CJ 2 or a JLUR XR and every model in between. Jeeps on the big pic will range from 10 mpg out to 19 mpg. My JKR, Stick shift would get 19.1 on the way to San Antonio on I 35. Then after I done my business in San Antonio I had to go back, I got about 16. WHY. San Antonio was DOWNHILL, I went from about 16XX ft above sea level to 5XX sea level.

On our cross country roadtrip in May we averaged 12mpg overall. That was in our lifted 2019, 38's, and 5.38 gears with the cruise set at 88mph. Our best tank? 23mpg. Somewhere between NM and AZ I set the adaptive cruise control to the shortest following distance and tucked in behind a semi that was cruising at 80mph. A couple small grades he dipped bellow 70 (even below 60 on a longer grade), but I fought the urge to go around. I can only assume those averaging in the 20's do a lot of drafting as there's just no way to push a tall brick into the wind efficiently in my experience. Even my ecodiesel buddies that drive on the faster side like I do only average 15mpg.

 

[ajkitebrder40]

JLU Rubicon, 3.6/manual, mostly driving 35-40 mph, quick trips, or 30 mile Interstate trips. Averaging around 19mph, dropped roughly 1 mpg adding steel bumper, winch, skids. Assume I'll lose another 2-3 when/if I add 35's.

 

[chadk77]

My stock 21 Rubicon got 19-21 mpg

3.5" lift and 37x12.50x17s on stock wheels with wheel spacers and stock gears dropped it to 16-17mpg

Aftermarket 17X9 wheels dropped it to 14-15 mpg

Regear to 4.88s and now I get 15-17 depending on how and where I drive. If I keep my foot out of it and knowingly try to get better mpg I can get 18. The other 99% of the time it's usually 15-16mpg. ?

 

[Old Jeeper]

Discussion on MPGs in these boxes on wheels is about as useful as having another bunghole on my elbow. Aside from that, I’d say the lower-than-normal MPG might have to do with the quality and temperature of the fuel. Report back with updated mileage once the temps increase to compare.


I’ve seen you claim this on two separate threads. Mind me asking which forums/ BBs? I’d assume to be asking those that were around in the 80/90s. What kind of member traffic would you see on those forums?

I don't 'claim, those are FACTS, when you are on the down slope to 80, you just might have a rodeo or 2 under your saddle.

The early 80s, AOL (America On Line) and local BBs. Not a lot of folks because 1 you needed a computer and who had those?

Member traffic was sporadic. A lot of was the lack of places to wheel and the lack of products to build with. There were not a lot of companies around. Jeep TJ Rubicon launched off-roading in America. Up till then, Jeeping was us good ole boys mostly using Jeeps to play some and get to our hunting grounds. A lift was some extended spring hangers and tires were either Snow tires or if you lived down south head over to the Army Surplus Store and score some Jeep tires. We fabbed our own. I built a CAI for my Jeep. It was a number 10 can and I cut a hole in the bottom and my Jeep had some rubber hoses for the intake and I got some of those and pieced them together and mounted the #10 can on my fender. It did work well., ugly but worked.

The YJ was a small step for Jeep world, but you could get AC in it and I think that was a big thing, now you could drive it to work and then Auto trans was an option, we picked up a few more folks and GIRLS. Then the TJ was launched and THAT really was a game changer. WHY? Coil springs! I remember selling my YJ and said that its, no more Jeeps...I was getting old, and retired from the Army as an Infantry soldier. Combat load 150 lb +/- 5 lbs, training load 110 lbs +/- 5lbs. LOL carry that on your back half your life and the Jeep with those flat leaf springs was a buckboard ride.

I had a gap of a few years and then I read that the new TJ would have coil springs all the way around and I bought one as soon as they showed up. The dealer had a TJ Sahara, with FACTORY Air, none of the aftermarket air the CJs and YJs had the TJ had comfy seats and a decent radio to.

Over the years I led runs in Moab. I post up I am going to Moab for a week or at times 2 and will be running the 7++ trails. I limited the runs to 10 Jeeps including myself. What I noticed was almost everyone was an Engineer, IT, Mech, Elec, you name it but all but 1 or 2 was working engineer. Rocks are an engineering exercise. I am. an engineer and rocks are my game.

There were also a few other majors, IIRC IBM had a site fairly large, nothing like AOL, which was huge and then as the late 80s and 90s came along there a few pop-ups here and there as the internet took off and companies like VBullentin and other companies selling cheap. I had a Site with about 1800 users and I was also the Sr Mod on a 13000 daily users Jeep site, WOW what a friggin headache that was. IIRC we had about 30 sub-mods and I had to keep them under control which was not easy, often they were the problem.

I had a Jeep shop and I was about a dozen forums across the US and very active in the Jeep world up till about 2010 when I retired, sold my shop, and was BURNT OUT! Folks knew me from all over the US. My trail runs on the 7+ I would get folks to show up for a week from Seattle and Maine, FL, Tx etc in Moab. The runs fun 7+ brings out seriously built Jeeps and drivers who can drive.

Jeep has come a long way and I do think the Rock world has got smaller. Overlanding is low impact and really any current Jeep can do it, lifts are not needed all you need is good tires. Off-road market is booming, lift sales are thru the roof, but most of that is show & tell at the Sonic drive-in, that is OK, you do not need to wheel in Moab or another place, your Jeep is a showpiece and bragging rights at the Jeep club meet monthly. Some great rigs, they never see rocks or dirt and that is how they keep them looking so good.

Sorry, I got sideways and reminiscing...on ya, but just an old Jeeper...

 

[Old Jeeper]

(Buc-ee's - Melissa, TX)
That was the price this morning when I filled up.

HOPE it stays that way or get cheaper as I got a 6 week Texas business trip coming up, gonna be about 3XXX mi in my F 450.

 

[ArcadeTracks]

If my "investor" (aka spouse) asks, Wranglers get 35+ MPG. ?

 

[Old Jeeper]

If my "investor" (aka spouse) asks, Wranglers get 35+ MPG. ?

you lie I will swear it the truth...

 

[azwjowner]

People underestimate the impact of external conditions on mileage. For example, Phoenix to Tucson is an elevation difference of 1300' and 150 miles of interstate. The road appears flat the whole way, but every time I drive my sedan I get 5 MPG lower going to Tucson than on the way back. Every time. It averages out of course. The point is, unless you're on a perfectly flat road or can otherwise account for all these variables, comparison is nearly impossible.

 

[Huntinwild88]

You lift a brick higher into the air and add a lot of weight to be spun by the engine (tire are mpg killers!!) and wonder about mpg?
The tires alone will kill your mpg by a fair amount. Going from stock tires to just a bit wider and more aggressive and much heavier than stock can drop you over 2 mpg.

I fully understand aerodynamics and why the MPG is I lower than what uis advertised.
I was more looking to see what normal for jeep in a similar build spec to make sure something else isn't going on.

 

[grimmjeeper]

Best MPG I ever saw on the display on my JK was over 900 MPG.

Of course, I had just crested Vail pass and was engine braking down a healthy grade. I also reset the counter at the top of the pass.

Real world mileage in that JK was mid to low teens around town and maybe 18 on the highway. 3.6, manual, 4.56 gears, 315/70R17 tires.

My current Jeep gets pretty good mileage. Worst around town is a dip into the 19.x range if it’s all short trips. Typically low 20s. On the freeway I'll see 25+. If I run 65 on the back roads with not a lot of slowing down for towns with summer blend fuel I can touch 30s. Thats with the 3.0 diesel, automatic, 3.73 gears, and 35x12.5R17 tires.


One factor for getting closer to accurate mileage on the dash display is to make sure the speedometer is properly calibrated. If you put bigger tires on but don't adjust your speedometer your calculated mileage will be way low.

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