I have an '92 E250 with the 5.8 motor. I'm a contractor and I use this for work, so it probabley has from 1200 to 1600 lbs of tools and materials in it at any given time. I get about 9 miles per gallon driving mostly city. Is this about all I should expect for this van ? Would a newer van with the 5.4 motor get a decent amount more gas mileage ? What are you getting in your E250 ?

 

my e-350 gets 10 to 11 mpg
only driven around town
about 2000 lbs. in back
I'm a carpenter
my previos e-250 with 351 was the same
took on a 600 mile round trip and got 10.5
over a 4 day weekend

 

9 mpg....not too bad in my book, considering I'm getting about 9.5 in my E-250 extended cargo with the V-6 ('99). The van is carrying exterior aluminum glass racks on both sides of the van, plus a bunch of tools inside. I know I'm working that little motor pretty hard, but it's holding up fine!
Jim

 

I just calculated what mpg I was getting on my last tank of gas - 9.9 mpg. That was doing about 75% city 25% highway driving. The van weighs 6500 lbs with the tools I have in it now plus me in it.

The van is rated 10 city 13 highway so I'm pretty happy that I got 9.9 mpg on a van with 116k on it.

 

My 97 E-250 extended van w/4.2 ltr V-6 just got 16.5 on a trip to Atlanta and back to Orlando. I turned the air off and watched my speed, being careful to not get over 75 mph.It normally gets around 11 mpg around town. This van has 229,000 miles and still runs strong and looks new.

 

Just my .02 on the whole thing :

I think regardless of make a large V8 van wont do to well. Sad fact is gas prices are through the roof and guys like you need a large vehicle to haul your equipment around and from what my friend tells me (hes a contractor also ) its really hitting his wallet.

 

Skiall6,

How much weight did/do you carry around in your van ?

 

I am a Tile and Marble Contractor. There is usually 1000 lbs of tools in my van at any given time. I also have a 2005 F-250 diesel King Ranch that I use to haul my materials. Pallets of tile and stone are too much weight for the V-6.

 

Well I just cracked the 14 mpg barrier on our '06 E-350 extended diesel. Up to this point, it was getting about 13.5 mpg. It's only now got 15k miles on it, so it might improve, or so they tell me. I try to keep my foot out of it, but the power is addictive, especially after driving my '99 E-250 v-6 extended around! I don't even think about passing people with the v-6; it barely holds 55 in overdrive, but it's loaded pretty much all the time, with wind resistance to boot (glass racks, ladders up top, etc.).
Jim

 

My last 3 tanks I averaged 10 mpg, so I'm pretty happy.

Until I put a new timing chain on it I was only getting 5-7 mpg. The timing chain was so loose the timing was retarded 18 degrees from what it should have been. It was like that when I bought it.

 

2005 E250 4.6L w/4.10 gears & 187000 miles.
I run 500 miles every Tuesday with 1000-1500+ lb load. Interstate @70 - 75 gets 17.4 +/- . Last two trips I went 4 lane state roads, 55 mph and under, 18.0 mpg both times.
Got my new '08 yesterday 5.4L w/3.73's. Curious how it will do......

 

my old but tried and true 95 Sportsmobile E250, auto. 5.8 3.73 posi., w/134,000 mi. gets 11-12 mpg pretty much anywhere I go. Put it on the scales last month, and the total weight with all tanks full was 7,546 lbs. It still looks and runs like new, so I'm OK with it considering all factors. Thanks Ford.

 

Ha mine is more tried and true- '87 Sportsmobile E150! 5.0 302. So that's before Ford smoothed out the front end to make it a bit more aero. Mine's got the Sportsmobile "Penthouse" popup top that only raises the roof like 3" or so while driving. It's got all the great stuff (water tank, fridge, batt, propane system, stove, beds, etc and I keep tons of crap in the back on top of that. I get a bit over 13 mpg on the highway if I keep it around 65-70. Trying to keep 75 mph is tough and eats gas. Around town's definitely more like 10.

 

'06 E-350, V-10, 5-sp, Quigley 4x4, 3.73's, almost 24,000 mi., scales at about 6,900 as driven. I average about 13 m. p. g. mixed country 2-lane (55-60) and expressway 65-70) driving, some city, mid-12's if I push it a little harder.

On trip recently towing tandem axle trailer weighing just shy of 3,000 empty, on US 20 across central New York state still got over 10 m. p. g.

The only load I moved was about 3,000 lbs over 45 miles, so I couldn't get a good m. p. g. read from that.

The '89 E-250 w/ 351 got 15 m. p. g. consistently, not loaded heavily.

The '95 E-250 w/ 300 I-6 got 16 m. p. g. at best, loaded the same.

 

My 01 E-350 15 passenger filled and hauling a car on a trailer did about 12 mpg over the highway.

Not loaded and highway driven it does about 15 mpg or so. It actually depends on the weather. Wind speed on this large van really plays a big factor in mileage.

City and empty or lightly loaded it rumbles around 12-14 mpg.

Jim