Ford Freestyle Real World MPG

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  • trevisgardnertrevisgardner Member Posts: 1
    I just returned from 900 mile road trip through Kentucky and West Tennessee. I initially doubted the accuracy of the built in mpg computer on my 06 FWD Limitied but it checks within about .18 mpg vs manual calculations.

    I got a solid 26.7 with my average interstate speed at about 72 mph. (w/ cruise w/AC/ w/ 6 PAX-tires at 46 psi)

    I got 31.8 with my average state highway speed at 55 mph.

    As checked by a GPS unit-my speedo did indicate about 1.5 mph to 2 mph too fast (i.e. 70 mph was actually about 68 mph)
  • heltonhelton Member Posts: 56
    It has taken a little longer than most, but at just short of 10,000 miles I finally managed to hit 27 MPG with my 2006 FWD Freestyle :) It was a 380-mile trip with cruise set at 70 MPH. I never thought it would happen.
  • dcwestbydcwestby Member Posts: 29
    I got my freestyle SE [05] used at 7500 miles. It did not come with a message center. Over the course of adding 13000 more miles, I've had fair gas mileage. I can't tell you exactly what kind of mileage I've gotten tho, at least not yet. I'm one of those people who generally try to fill up the tank at about half.

    Which brings me to the question...

    I realize this is about MPG, but has anyone noticed any fuel gauge quirks? What I mean is... If the gauge reads half a tank but on filling it, the amount of gallons put in reads over 10 gallons?

    Has anyone noticed that sort of thing happening?

    Not withstanding the way I drive, the only way I have to really ascertain mpg results is the fuel gauge, which has a tendency to either stick or "crashmove"[suddenly drop unexplainedly a few notches]. Has anyone noticed this type of behaviour?

    Also, is the message center measurement based on the data the sending unit part of the gas gauge transmits or is it a different measuring system?

    The reason I ask is cause I had a old 92 Dodge dakota that I had to replace the fuel gauge sending unit, and after that was replaced, apparently several months later, acted like it needed replacing again. That truck had 160+k miles when I got it. there were some other problems that caused me to sell it.. But I digress.

    I suppose its fairly apparent that I dont completely trust the fuel gauge of the Freestyle I have. I've asked the dealer to look at it several times and they've never found a problem. But I think there is one... Mostly in cooler weather, the fuel gauge seems to drop faster then the amount of gas actually in the tank. But dealer says theres no problem... :confuse:

    Someone mentioned about the brakes... on the freestyle I have, because it was used when I got it, though I'm not sure why. The dealer never informed me about the rear brakes being recalled or anything. And according to the dealer, they were good for free replacement under 12000 miles. I already had over 17kmiles when I was informed of this. I had to pay... the customer service of the dealer though is granting me a free oil change this next time I go in...

    Another thing I've noticed.. With my freestyle [SE/FWD], on occasion the front end will make a sort of swishing? noise? I've particularly noticed this at speeds over 35mph and I've also noticed, but am not sure of, a reduction in MPG when this occurs [because the gas gauge drops faster with this odd noise going on]. As to what I speculate the noise to be...

    It could be the design of the drivetrain system, or likely a possible quirk in the cvt itself. I'm not sure.

    Because my freestyle lacks a message center, its hard for me to determine mpg. That, and I really dislike empty-lining the gas tank. All I know is the fuel gauge drops fairly fast from full to 3/4s, then usually drops at normal to half or 1/4th/E. It also tends to stick around at the halfway mark way past what is appropriate for a half tank amount at times. But then again, it might be that, in my head, I've divided the gauge into 4 gallon segments, treating it like a 16 gallon tank even though its a 19 gallon tank.

    Anyway, I've rambled on enough.
  • stevedebistevedebi Member Posts: 4,098
    "I realize this is about MPG, but has anyone noticed any fuel gauge quirks? What I mean is... If the gauge reads half a tank but on filling it, the amount of gallons put in reads over 10 gallons?"

    My 2006 SEL has the trip computer, but I use the MPG listing there only for reference.

    You can obtain your MPG by dividing the mileage used by the number of gallons used. This is how I do it. If you are filling up at 1/2 a tank, I'd suggest that you add up the total miles over several tanks and divide that by the total gallons of the fill ups.

    The gas gauge on every Ford I have ever owned operates such that it goes down to 1/2 a tank fairly slowly, then goes rapidly down to empty. My (non scientific) estimate is that the gauge showed about 2/3 of the tank when it read 1/2, the the last 1/3 of the fuel capacity was indicated on the last 1/2 of the gauge. I think the FS is not quite that bad. However, filling up 10 gallons at 1/2 on the gauge is about right - the FS holds 19 gallons. My experience is that there is a 3 gallon reserve left in the tank when the gauge reads "E".

    I don't really notice much. The trip computer also has a function to tell how many miles are remaining on the tank. When I get low on gas I use this feature to determine how much further I can travel.
  • mschmalmschmal Member Posts: 1,757
    First if you don't shut the engine off when you fill, the readings will be squirrly for about 20 mins.

    2nd. If things seem really messed up, there may be sulfer contamination in the sender, try using a bottle of fuel system cleaner.

    Mark
  • bobw3bobw3 Member Posts: 2,989
    I’m now driving our ’05 FWD Freestyle miles to work every day. My commute is about 75% highway and 25% suburbs and round trip is 30 miles. As an experiment on the last tank, I drove easy in the suburbs and kept the speed at 65mph on the highways. My low-fuel light came on at just over 400 miles and I got 25.0mpg when filling up the tank. That’s really good mpg for mixed driving. And that’s been with the AC on pretty much all the time because it’s been hot lately.

    On this tank I’m keeping the speed at a little over 70mph on the highway and I won’t pay attention to my suburb driving speed so much. I just want to see the difference.

    Our other car is a Honda Fit and I did the same experiment as above. The mpg range was from about 34-37mpg depending on highway mpg and suburb driving style, so it was about 10% difference. We’ll see if the FS difference is also about 10%. If so, then I should expect to see about 22-23mpg.
  • dcwestbydcwestby Member Posts: 29
    Huh, sounds similar in the trip aspect. For me its about a total of 25 miles one way to work... 15 miles of that city driving if I go the slower way and probably about the same if I go freeway, however, my hours are changing so not sure. And too is the fact that I tend to refill the tank at half empty whenever possible.

    Because I don't have a estimated fuel usage computer, I cant really give any estimates for mileage...

    Wednesday at work, I met a carburator specialist.. he Said he could improve my mileage with some tinker to the computer and stuff for 100$ or so... But, I dunno.

    A friend suggested I get a cold air filter but do they make them for freestyles? Has anyone ever tried alternate air filters or the like?

    And the fuel system cleaner did help... I'm thinking I should probably do the cleaner every 3 months or so...
  • bobw3bobw3 Member Posts: 2,989
    Even if you fill up the tank at the 1/2 way point, you can still calculate the MPG manually. Just divide the miles you've driven (200 for example) by the gallons you put in (10 for example) to get 20mpg in this example. I don't have a trip computer either, but manual calculation is more accurate anyway.
  • bobw3bobw3 Member Posts: 2,989
    So I just finished another tank of my daily commute (% highway and 25% suburbs and round trip is 30 miles). Last time I kept the highway speed at 65mph and got 25.0mpg. This time I kept the highway speed at 70mph or a little higher and got 23.7mpg. I didn't have to use the AC as much, so the 25.0mpg at 65mph probably would have been a little higher, since I used the AC 100% of the time on my previous tank. Still pretty good considering my commute is only 75% highway.

    I filled up at a station with zero percent ethanol added, because I wanted to see if the normal 10% ethanol in most stations affects the MPG. So for this next tank I'll drive at 70mph on this type of gas to see the difference.

    The fact that the Freestyle gets 23-24mpg in mixed use driving is better than most vehicles of this size, especially considering the fact that I'm getting this while not "babying" the car.
  • dcwestbydcwestby Member Posts: 29
    The car is just a bit heavy for its engine... gas gauge is certainly working now, but it seems the car goes a bit quickly thru the first 4 gallons of gas... And I drive as normally as I usually do.

    Of course, that is when I'm not having to take my mom to Colfax/Pullman area and even maybe to Lewiston on occasion.
    Hills, headwinds, grades, curves, slower vehicles, passing situations.

    It came out that I used 5 gallons or so down and 5 gallons getting back. Its about 70 miles from here to Pullman with another 35 to Lewiston. The grade out of Lewiston is about 5 miles or so of 5-7% grade and I hovered aaround 3000-3500rpm [65-69mph uphill].

    It should be noted that I really enjoy the cvt's ability to stay relatively close to the speed limit without needing to cater to gravity's pull too much.

    But still, in my opinion, the freestyle has too much weight for the engine it has, tending to drink a bit more fuel then it should. With gas prices as high as they are, likely to go higher.... Well, its my opinion anyway...
  • bobw3bobw3 Member Posts: 2,989
    So if you're using 5 gallons to drive 105 miles, that's 21mpg. How are you calculating that it's 5 gallons for one way?

    Also, have you tried using the cruise control going up the grade? Just set it for 68mph and you may find the RPMs actually go below 3000 after a few seconds on cruise, unless you have to start passing other folks. Same on the downhill back home. I drove through the Smokey Mountains several times on steep grades and found that the cruise going uphill works good at minimizing the RPMs.
  • simplymesimplyme Member Posts: 4
    we have a 2005 ford freestyle awd limited , great car love the spaciousness the gas mileage is just odd when we first got it in the city it was averaging 16.0-17.4 in the city and like 18.0 in the highway i was like oh my god thats terrible well we drove it for a while couple tanks later, well a few weeks ago i made the discovery that if u hit the gas more often your gas mileage will go up i know sounds weird doesnt it thats why i said weird gas gauge lol well now after having it for a little over 4 months just about the gas mileage went down again i think one of the problems for people who drive where there is snow its gonna be worse i live in Michigan and oh yea there is some snow well the automatic 4 wheel drive kicks in like all the time on and off on and off that uses alot of gas when it doesnt need too so
    (hey ford put on a button for the awd) thanks :surprise:
  • simplymesimplyme Member Posts: 4
    yea i use cruise alot like on the high way and just cruising down a main road and i wish five gallons gave me 105 miles i filled up today i drove for a while im down to 3/4 of a tank and it says trip 66.5 miles 212 to empty whats with that i think they need to put a bigger engine in it a 3.0 liter isn't enough for that big of a car that size . oh more news im making my 4th trip back to the dealer i just got it out not even 3 weeks ago when im at a complete stop and go to take off ( no i don't gun it ) it will start to shake and vibrate vigorously and once i get at a higher speed it will slowly stop but then when you stop it goes pop pop in the back like something just popped out of place on the wheel ( its scary) lol :cry:
  • bnielsenbnielsen Member Posts: 2
    I've had my Freestyle for two and a half years now, with no repair issues at all. We live in the hills of Los Angeles, so the AC is almost always on. We're very happy with the car, and really appreciate the extra few miles the CVT brings us over the new version.
  • freestylephilfreestylephil Member Posts: 7
    Took the 2007 Freestyle FWD CVT for a short 350 mile trip and averaged 30.8mpg. 55 to 75 mph(mostly 65 to 75) and AC on about half the trip. Elevation was from 4500ft to 6500ft. Vehicle has 23K on it with original Continentals with suggested air pressure. I am VERY pleased! :) Around town driving has ranged from 17.5 to 22.5 with the average closer to 21mpg. My wife loves it and I try to drive it every chance I get. ;)
  • carstenbcarstenb Member Posts: 37
    cross post from maintanace and repair

    a few weeks ago the right front wheel bearing on our 05 FS Ltd. (47kmls) started to make a loud klicking noise when turning. It was replaced under the extended warranty. Car is less noisy now (i thought the noise came only from the tires which are noisy too) and to my surprise the mpg went up significantly. Initially we had the usual 21-22mpg in mixed driving and 25-28mpg highway. In the last say half year it dropped down to 18-19 and 23-25mpg, respectively. I wondered about that and cleaned the air flow sensor a few times. That boosted the mpg by about 1mpg but only for a short time. Now with the new bearing it's back again where it was, monitored over 3 tank fills. Obviously the bearing caused alot of drag. Surprising to me because the car still rolled easily in neutral out of the garage from standstill. I am monitoring that behaviour because the car once had the dragging rear brake pads which i noticed that way. Anyways, maybe something to inspect if mpg is unusually low.
  • coldcrankercoldcranker Member Posts: 877
    carstenb,
    Could that have actually been the CV joint's bearings instead of the wheel bearing which went bad? They click when turning, when they are going bad.

    I like your comment about the brakes dragging because I think its the cause of some people's complaints of bad fuel economy on these forums.

    How did you clean the air flow sensor? I think thats a pressure sensor, so I'm wondering if I can just spray some Gumout on the sensor. I've got a big set of real Service Manuals from Helm (official Ford set), so I'll take a look at that later myself.
  • coldcrankercoldcranker Member Posts: 877
    freestylephil said: "Took the 2007 Freestyle FWD CVT for a short 350 mile trip and averaged 30.8mpg. 55 to 75 mph(mostly 65 to 75) and AC on about half the trip. Elevation was from 4500ft to 6500ft. Vehicle has 23K on it with original Continentals with suggested air pressure. I am VERY pleased! Around town driving has ranged from 17.5 to 22.5 with the average closer to 21mpg. My wife loves it and I try to drive it every chance I get. "

    Nothing beats a Freestyle's combination of roominess and fuel economy. Except maybe a Ford500/Montego, the car version of this crossover, and of course it doesn't have the rear spaciousness.

    In fact, I've never seen any other vehicle, I mean NO OTHER vehicle out there, that exceeds the Freestyle's fuel economy in a crossover that size. Some large sedans are only slightly better. I'm talking about something (crossover or minivan) that is at least as big as the Freestyle, or maybe only slightly smaller, that exceeds its fuel economy. Does anyone reading tthis know of anything that is better? I've found the Honda Odyssey minivan and Dodge Journey 4-cylinder crossover are about even with the Freestyle, but not really better.
  • njmom91njmom91 Member Posts: 21
    Well I must have had a lemon or drive poorly because I routinely got 16 mpg city (and that's even after I got in the habit of coasting down hills!) on my 06 fwd Freestyle, and it DROVE ME NUTS. I do 90% stop-and-go city driving (going half a mile with out hitting a light is very rare).
    I got tired of being repeatedly told it was how I drove it, not the car.
    I loved the roominess but just traded it in for a smaller and (hopefully!) more fuel efficient car which still seats six (not seven).
    Kudos to you all for getting better mileage, it's a great car if you can get those kinds of numbers!

    p.s. for the person looking for a Freestyle with a middle row bench (25K miles) - there is one coming off lease in NJ - Carney Ford. But again, maybe it was just me, I never got the good gas mileage most everyone else seems to get.
  • bobw3bobw3 Member Posts: 2,989
    I'd be curious to see what the MPG is for the new car you're going to buy...
  • focusowner2focusowner2 Member Posts: 9
    We have had our 2006 Ford Freestyle for about a year and a half. City mileage is around 14 mpg while highway is 29-30. I've actually driven straight highway between fillups and achieved 30 mpg on flat land. With our combination of driving, normal is 19-21 mpg which isn't bad for a 2 ton vehicle.

    Pickup trucks that size are lucky to get 16 highway.

    I find light acceleration inefficient in the CVT. It feels as if the gear isn't catching until 2500 rpm and then the programming brings it down to 2000 rpm with your foot in the same accelerator position when you hit 35 mph. Coasting is where the CVT excels which at the same time requires increased brake use in heavy traffic. You can take your foot off the gas and slow down 2 mph while an automatic transmission would slow you down 10 mph in the same time.

    I'd like to see mpg with a 4-speed automatic (geared for a car) and a 4.6L V8.
  • dominicano51dominicano51 Member Posts: 11
    my 06 frestyle FWD sucks lots of gas but my ford 500 with the same engine and trans gets up to 24 miles per gallon. anyone can help here since i am clueless.
  • heltonhelton Member Posts: 56
    I have the same Freestyle. Bought it new and it just turned 20,000 miles. It gets very poor mileage – nothing like the 27 MPG that was advertised by Ford. Other people say they get great mileage, so go figure. Welcome to the club.
  • coldcrankercoldcranker Member Posts: 877
    I get great MPGs in my '05 front drive Freestyle, a high of 31 one time, and usually about 19 in city driving. However, after hearing about chronic low MPG in some Freestyles, I wonder if those owners having that problem have some internal calibration problem or a part out of tolerance which causes excess friction and drag in some.
  • stevedebistevedebi Member Posts: 4,098
    "I get great MPGs in my '05 front drive Freestyle, a high of 31 one time, and usually about 19 in city driving. However, after hearing about chronic low MPG in some Freestyles, I wonder if those owners having that problem have some internal calibration problem or a part out of tolerance which causes excess friction and drag in some. "

    The highest I got in my 06 SEL was 35, all LA freeways.
  • bobw3bobw3 Member Posts: 2,989
    I get in the low 20's MPG for normal driving and around 26mpg on the highway. One thing around town is that with the CVT if you constantly floor it after stop signs and traffic lights the MPG really goes down. The only time I hit 30mpg was when I kept the highway speed under 65mph the whole time.
  • dairedaire Member Posts: 35
    WE have an '06 limited that we have always gotten great gas mileage on. It currently has 128,000 miles on it, and I still get 24 MPG in mixed driving and over 30 MPG on highway trips.
  • coldcrankercoldcranker Member Posts: 877
    Yep, because the Freestyle is shaped like a box, keeping the speed down is extremely important, as it really is on just about any vehicle. My best was when cruising on the low-speed-limit semi-rural highways near Jackson Hole, WY, where the speed limits are a low 55 (so I did about 59 or so), where I got, if I remember right, about 31 MPG. I remember it was over thirty anyway.
  • focusowner2focusowner2 Member Posts: 9
    edited April 2011
    After now owning a 2006 Freestyle for three years, here are my thoughts.

    City MPG is horrendous due to its weight.
    We average traffic lights every 1/3 of a mile on main roads and unnecessary stop signs every 3 blocks on back streets. 14 MPG.

    Highway MPG (60-65MPH with little or no braking) is wonderful at 30+.

    Mathematically, even 15% city will KILL overall MPG.

    At 15/85, 14mpg and 30mpg equal <26mpg.
  • stevedebistevedebi Member Posts: 4,098
    "City MPG is horrendous due to its weight.
    We average traffic lights every 1/3 of a mile on main roads and unnecessary stop signs every 3 blocks on back streets. 14 MPG. "

    I owned a 2006 FWD SEL. I regularly got 18-21 in town with careful acceleration, not speeding towards lights, and staying off the brakes. However the best I did on the highway was about 26-27 (at 75 MPH). I seldom had it on the road, and mine is one of the worst possible driving scenarios - short trips of less than 10 miles each way.

    It is difficult, but possible.
  • heltonhelton Member Posts: 56
    The mileage on these cars is all over the chart. Some owners claim fantastic MPG and others get very poor performance. I own an 06 and one time, and one time only, I got 27 MPG on the highway by driving 60-65 MPH with no AC and no passengers. I usually get around 21 MPG driving at the speed limit with a passenger or two and the AC on. Local driving gets me between 16-18 MPG. My opinion is that some FreeStyles are better made than others. I think that translates to poor quality control by Ford.
  • stevedebistevedebi Member Posts: 4,098
    "The mileage on these cars is all over the chart. Some owners claim fantastic MPG and others get very poor performance. I own an 06 and one time, and one time only, I got 27 MPG on the highway by driving 60-65 MPH with no AC and no passengers. I usually get around 21 MPG driving at the speed limit with a passenger or two and the AC on. Local driving gets me between 16-18 MPG. My opinion is that some FreeStyles are better made than others. I think that translates to poor quality control by Ford. "

    I don't think it is quality control. There are simply a lot of variables. Keep the extra weight out of the car (which I did not do), keep the tires at or above 35 PSI, go very easy on the acceleration, use of the "fake shift" (remove foot from pedal at intervals while accelerating), and try not to speed to lights, but rather time the lights so that you don't have to stop. The huge MPG hit is in accelerating.

    Also, winter is bad for MPG on any vehicle. I live in SoCal, so it is relatively warm here.
  • bobw3bobw3 Member Posts: 2,989
    I owned a Freestyle for 5 years for 85,000 miles and go in the mid-20s mpg HWY and low 20's MPG suburb, and in the high teens during winter driving in the suburbs. I agree that keeping the revs down by letting off the gas momentarily while accelerating helps, as does using cruise control on the highways.

    If you read these forums, you'll find that ALL cars have folks posting really low and really high MPG, not just the Freestyle. One reason is due to driver differences, and the other is due to mechanical variations in each car, so this is nothing unique with the Freestyle.
  • dbrickerdbricker Member Posts: 1
    Bought a 2005 a couple weeks ago.
    1st tank of fuel 24.3 mpg
    did an air filter change (was very dirty) pumped up the tire pressure to 44psi and learned to keep the foot out of the pedal.
    2nd tank of fuel 27.55 mpg
    Combo of city 35% and highway 65%
  • heltonhelton Member Posts: 56
    So what&#146;s your point, BobW? This part of the forum is about &#147;Ford Freestyle Real World MPG&#148; and almost 400 people, including you, have had something to say about the subject. Maybe there is nothing unique about the Freestyle gas mileage, but lots of folks want to talk about it because they own a Freestyle. It sounds like you would rather that people not write about their experience. Maybe it would be better if you didn&#146;t read this part of the forum.
  • bobw3bobw3 Member Posts: 2,989
    edited June 2011
    My point is that wide mpg variance isn't specific with the Freestyle. There are reasons for it that can be both mechanical and human. It's not a unique Ford "poor quality control issue" as suggested, if so, then that claim could be made on all vehicles.
  • heltonhelton Member Posts: 56
    My car has a window sticker that says, &#147;Built with Pride, UAW/Ford, Quality is Job #1&#148;. What a joke this is. The car came from the factory with mismatched outside door handles &#150; three were black and one was painted the color of the car. I found a wadded up parts list stuffed behind the manifold just before it ignited. The middle seat mechanism had to be replaced because the seat back could not be lowered. The plastic trim parts on the interior are always falling off.

    We just returned from a round trip between Kentucky and Washington state. The MPG ranged from 21 to 28 on the same terrain and driving style. Yes, I do believe there was a quality control problem with the Freestyle. Maybe that is why they don&#146;t make them anymore
  • haulthault Member Posts: 130
    I have a 2005 FWD since new. Had the usual brake,tire wear problems until I changed to ceramic pads. MPG was 19/22. Then this year I switched to Castrol Edge 5w30 and saw a 1 mpg improvement over other synthetic oils. Then I switched from Goodyear Triple treads which wore out fast (40,000 miles) to Michelin Energy savers and now get 20/24. I drive 70-75 on freeway, but use good mpg tactics in city driving.
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