04 V6 AWD, the best we've ever got was 22 on a trip to the beach pretty much highway all the way. seems to average around 20 for us town/hwy, The saturn vue awd v6 250HPwith a Honda built engine (04's and up) get a rated 19city 25hwy, just alittle better than the tribute BUT...with 50 more HP, the Fwd's are close to 30mpg............Just cant figure where mazda went wrong ?

 

I have the same engine, drivetrain and model year as you do, Browntown3. I get almost 22 in my daily driving, which is 75% highway, 25% suburban. On a trip, going 70 mph, I regularly get 25-26 mpg. Of course, I drive with a light foot most of the time. I let the Trib upshift fairly quickly, with most gear changes occurring at 3000 rpm or less. I let it go into lockup at 45 mph, where the rpms drop to about 1200 rpm, and just slowly accelerate up to cruising speed. I live in an area that is not too populated, so I get away with this...maybe you can't be that leisurely with your acceleration habits where you live. Try it for a tankful and see if your mileage goes up. The worst mileage I have recorded is 20 mpg, same driving, but during the cold and snowy upstate NY winter...

 

One more thing...the VUE, with its Honda engine, is going to beat a Trib in gas mileage. I could probably get 24 in my normal driving with a VUE. The 3.0 V6 in our SUVs has been around since 1996, and is not exactly the model of efficiency...either is the four-speed automatic, especially when compared to the five-speed auto. in the VUE. Ford engines and powertrains, generally speaking, tend be less efficient than their GM and foreign counterparts.

 

Hey 04, what kind of tires do you have on your Tribute and size ? We have a pretty aggressive all terrain tire that i think might account for some of the lower milage than you? we are going to cleveland next week and im going to check the milage out good on that trip and see what we get.

 

I have the original crappy, loud Continental Contitracs. I am not sure of the rolling resistance of these tires, which can be detrimental to gas mileage. Your aggressive tires may indeed be leading to worse mileage. On your trip to Cleveland (not sure where you are leaving from), set the cruise to between 70-75 mph. If the transmission keeps unlocking (tach will jump from ~2000 rpm to ~3000 rpm, but with no shift felt), turn off the CC and drive with your foot. If possible, lose speed but keep the transmission locked up in top gear, with the tach around 2000 rpm. Don't let it unlock or downshift to 3rd. You should get 24-26 mpg. I have noticed a huge mpg drop at speeds 75+ mph. On a trip to Buffalo, I was cruising at 77 mph most of the way, and only got 23 mpg.

 

Well just got back from our trip........
First tank = no A/C on 100% hwy =25mpg
Second Tank = 25%hwy 75%city = 22mpg
3rd Tank=100%hwy A/C on= 24mpg


Overall its better than we've been getting i was pretty happy with it, i was alot more careful this trip about keeping it around the speed limit too. Seems to help!

 

Those numbers look pretty similar to what I get under those same conditions. I have been driving to Rochester, NY twice per week (40 miles each way), and, as a result, have seen my overall average mpg go up to 24 each week. A couple of weeks ago it was just under 25 (24.9, I think)!

The best way to increase your mileage is simple: drive with a light foot, plan ahead (like accelerating lightly before ascending a hill, so you can climb the hill without forcing a downshift or taking your off the gas way before getting a stoplight, etc). Furthermore, this powertrain is quick to unlock and downshift the transmission at cruising speeds even on the slightest hill. I let mine lose speed and stay locked up in top gear rather than forcing a gas-wasting downshift.

 

I've had my 2002 Tribute now for around 18 months.
Mileage when i got it was around 18/20 local and 22/23 motorway.
Best thing for me is when towing I still seem to get the same values!!.
Over the 18 months I've had it , I've found ways of increasing the mileage, so that now I am getting around 24/26 local and up to 29/31 motorway even when towing..
The main factor is how hard I drive.
Accelerate reasonably, brake gently, anticipate well ahead and it all adds to the increase in mpg.
6 months ago I fitted one of those water4gas kits and that also gave me about 10% extra. Not a lot but enough to make a difference.
With fuel prices in the UK at around £5.00 a gallon, I've now had LPG fitted and that (up to now) is running great, and reduced my fuel costs by around half.

 

Cool, glad to hear you found some things to save you some petro $$. Europe's high gas prices have forced people to diesel for years, as you know. Using a gas/propane combo is something new to me. Here in the states a multi-billionaire named T. Boone Pickens has commercials running that propose switching to wind and solar for electrical power, and switching to natural gas to power our autos. Federal and state governments are not on-board...nothing will happen until after the election here for sure. The ads claim that the natural gas is cleaner (true) and about 40% cheaper than petro (not sure).

As for the Trib, the best I have ever recorded was 27, on a trip last month on highways where the speed limit is less than 100 kmh. There's a big difference between 100 kmh and 120 kmh in these vehicles when it comes to gas mileage.

I get 23 mpg most of the time, but I live in a rural area and drive at highway speeds nearly all the time.

As for your trailer, if it is small and does not present a lot of wind resistance, it will not affect your mileage that much. I have a small aluminum boat (only weighs about 500 lbs) that I tow sometimes on trips, and it affects my mpg very little.

 

The LPG I had fitted is far better than I expected.
I was told to expect around 10% less mpg per gall than petrol.
I,m actually getting around 5% better for some reason and no one seems to know why. Im not complaing though.
The trailer BTW cant be described as small, its a 1 1/2 ton caravan and the Tribute is brilliant for towing it, thats why Im keeping it.