Driving is like eating. If it tastes good, it's fattening. If you're having fun in your car, you're wasting gas. It's up to you: pleasure or responsibility.

 

A comment on the axle-back for you. While the axle-back technically doesn't do anything to help fuel economy, I've found it's really helped me out a lot.

Why?

'Cause with my Roush axle-backs it now sounds like my car is rocket at ANY speed, even when I'm driving slowly. Used to be that I'd run at a lower gear/higher RPM's to hear that sweet Deeee-troit muscle sound, whereas now even if I'm cruising at <2K RPM it sounds like I'm rocketing around - no need to waste gas to make it sound nice.

 

Do not add any additives to your oil. NEVER.

 

Boys. I rate my car in smiles per gallon....I get 24 mpg highway with 3.90s out back. I have a 99 chev 4x4 that gets 14. The mustang makes me much happier. Now if I could get my nitrous for less than 9 bucks a pound I would be giddy. Drive em boys.

 

Aluminum driveshaft. Rotating mass> normal mass by alot. Plus quicker acceleration

 

At bob is the oil guy the only stuff they seem to agree on that works is that restore stuff and if your motor is that far gone that you need that you should be planning on a rebuild or trade in. A good quality oil like red line or AMSOIL will do it's job. You don't need anything else. Just get over using 5w20 and use 5 w30 and your motor will last a good long time....5w20 is a joke and is only recommended because ford avoids big financial penalties by recommending it. The same cars in Australia ford recommends 5w30. Why,CAFE LAWS. do what you want but I will never put 5w20 in my car. Ford contradicts themselves hoping the general public won't educate themselves. Check it out. Google is your friend

 

Another reason axle backs can improve mpg is the weight they offset. It's marginal, but when I took the stock ones off for the Stingers- the Borla setup was a good 25lbs less total weight.

which brings up another point- you can lose the spare. (if equipped) and perhaps some other weight elements.

 

I've read some of that stuff recently. As I remember the improvement with 5w-20 over 5w-30 was .25 mpg.

I ain't buying that Ford would risk their engine reputation & warranty budget - especially after investing many millions with the new engines (incl back to the 3v) - for .25 mpg.
That's nowhere near enough mpg gain to offset any (alleged) risk to engine longevity from using 5w-20.
IMO

 

Much truth spoken here, I was able to improve fuel mileage on the work one day by 6-8 mpg just by changing my driving habits. My dad easily eclipsed that number by just being an old fart that wouldn't let economy the gauge dip lower than 5 bars all the time (my apologies to anybody having been stuck behind a blue GT in a triangle that extended from Va to Pa to NY )

 

Let's refer back to Coyote durability testing. According to the 5.0 Super Fords article:

Running the equivalent of 62 Daytona 500's, in addition to other tests, and still seeing cylinder cross-hatching, acceptable ring wear and leak down figures, I think its safe to assume that 5W-20 is perfectly fine.

 

Are you serious? I know that car companies are doing that, but with all the junk that goes onto the roads from badly packed cars and trucks, I just will not be without a spare. There is some damage that a repair kit cannot fix.

 

Then why the discrepancy from australia to here.... 0.25 mpg gain on a million cars is significant.....believe what you want...no 5w20 for me

 

I would say there could be a variety of reasons - not necessarily .25/CAFE.
And if it is for an increase in mileage to meet a US reg, then why didn't my '10 Chrysler change? It recommends the exact same weight oil as 2000 when that engine first came out.
But to assume it's a CAFE issue just because AU doesn't use it is making a big leap. IMO

 

0W-20 Mobil 1 is all I use in my Ford vehicles. 170K on my GT, 150K on my Explorer #1, 120K on Explorer #2.

On the MPG, it's the hills that really hurt. Once you find the sweet spot you can max your MPG climbing hills. Releasing the gas pedal as you climb makes a big difference.

 

Um, yes I'm serious. I'm not the first person to come up with such an earth shattering idea.

 

It's a conspiracy theory... Ford wants you to buy another car (or at least another engine) when the engine wears out because of the 5W20 oil.

 

It might not be an earth shattering idea, but I have seen enough situations where they come in handy to where I will not want to do without one. No matter how good you keep your tires and your suspension/alignment, things can happen. I would rather deal with the very small amount of extra weight, and have the piece of mind that I won't be stuck if some yokel in a pickup drops a load of stuff in the road. Granted if you keep your car good, you will usually not need it, but it is only good to be safe. Did you know that people actually still do die here in AZ because they break down in the middle of nowhere? A few years ago a lady started a massive forest fire by accident when starting a signal fire (no cell reception). Every year people die either because their motorcycles or atvs break down and they did not think to bring water (or one of many other reasons why they find themselves alone in the desert). I am not saying that will happen to everyone, but even in the city, a few hours waiting for a tow can seem like an eternity in this extreme heat. I never go anywhere without a spare, a small tool set, and jumper cables. When going out of the city, I take water. In this part of the country, it is wise to do so.

 

Yawza....Its hard to imagine living somewhere like that. Here in Miami, there's nowhere where you can drive and be in trouble if stranded. Evian everywhere. Lol

 

Sounds like it would be a good idea to cary two or three spares. Ya just never know

 

Okay, maybe it sounds like I am over-prepared, but anyone who has had to walk from the parking lot in 120 heat knows that it is not fun to be out in the heat. If you have an ambient temp of say 115 to 118 in the shade, then when you add sun and radiant heat from asphalt, it gets much hotter. 120 is a full 30 degrees hotter than 90, a temp many others might consider to be hot. Here it is deceptive how hot you are getting because the dry air makes your sweat evaporate so quickly that you do not realize how much water you are losing. I would much rather be called an over-prepared nut than wait long though. I will admit though that of the hundreds of people that die here every year in the desert, very few, if any, were traveling by car. The vast majority are illegals coming from Mexico, followed by some hikers or ATV riders every few years.

But really, I do not want to scare anyone from visiting AZ in the summer. It is a really nice place. One spare, a toolkit, jumper cables and water is all you should need though. If you do have to wait several hours in the heat, it will not be fun, but the water will reduce your chances of heat stroke. You can't prepare for everything, but those items are very compact and not at all unreasonable to take. (Heat kills batteries fast so do not forget the cables)

And if anyone is wondering, yes I have driven old beaters all my life that have actually regularly needed the toolkit I bring. This will be my first new car. I am looking forward to that.

Arizona really is much more fun though than what I have been describing, so do come visit.