Tips on getting better fuel economy on a 2011 town car?

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Towncarguyxyz

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Due to some unforeseen events, my town car is the main “work” car and since where I live it’s 90% city you can imagine what’s been happening to my wallet when I drive about almost 400 miles a week! Now I’m a new town car owner, cant complain its comfortable, looks wonderful and I love it but everywhere online it’s suggested that the town car gets 15MPG in the city. But what I’m seeing, is more like 11.5MPG. What gives? I’m 24 but believe me when I tell you I have been driving it like an old man, no wild accelerations, no sudden braking, rpm doesn’t dare go over 2000, and yet I’m getting worse fuel economy than I researched about.

My main question is, if I replace the spark plugs will the MPG rise atleast to 15MPG? Considering ofc that my tires are brand new and good to go. Due to work I’m forced to drive in the city 90% of the time, I usually have a Camry for that and I’m not expecting Camry level fuel economy but I hate having to Start my mornings in a gas station only to be back there before going home.


Btw, I am going to replace the air filter aswell. Also would the replacing of the fuel injector with the spark plugs be even better? Is what I’m suggesting a reality? To go from 11.5 MPG to at least 15MPG


I’d like to thank all of you for reading this ebook, I would really appreciate any replies, I am not a car guy and I often have no idea what would work and what wouldnt so any help is awesome. Thankyou

(oh and another thing, I got the car basically a week ago. So I can’t really compare what it was like back whenever)
 
Towncarguyxyz said:
Due to some unforeseen events, my town car is the main “work” car and since where I live it’s 90% city you can imagine what’s been happening to my wallet when I drive about almost 400 miles a week! Now I’m a new town car owner, cant complain its comfortable, looks wonderful and I love it but everywhere online it’s suggested that the town car gets 15MPG in the city. But what I’m seeing, is more like 11.5MPG. What gives? I’m 24 but believe me when I tell you I have been driving it like an old man, no wild accelerations, no sudden braking, rpm doesn’t dare go over 2000, and yet I’m getting worse fuel economy than I researched about.

My main question is, if I replace the spark plugs will the MPG rise atleast to 15MPG? Considering ofc that my tires are brand new and good to go. Due to work I’m forced to drive in the city 90% of the time, I usually have a Camry for that and I’m not expecting Camry level fuel economy but I hate having to Start my mornings in a gas station only to be back there before going home.


Btw, I am going to replace the air filter aswell. Also would the replacing of the fuel injector with the spark plugs be even better? Is what I’m suggesting a reality? To go from 11.5 MPG to at least 15MPG


I’d like to thank all of you for reading this ebook, I would really appreciate any replies, I am not a car guy and I often have no idea what would work and what wouldnt so any help is awesome. Thankyou

(oh and another thing, I got the car basically a week ago. So I can’t really compare what it was like back whenever)
Click to expand...
Here's what I do to get better mileage, get a air intake tube without all the extra pieces or just cut off and cap them so it's a straight shot from the airfilter box to throttlebody. Cut a way bigger hole in the piece of air box that's bolted to fender as the lil air horn is maybe 2.5 inches and that's not enuff air for a weed eater. I actually cut the whole bottom off right below the filter. Engines are air pumps more air in, burnt and better flowing out makes more efficient. Cut off rear cats and factory mufflers. Pipe in missing pieces and just use resonators as mufflers if your state will allow. This gave me the best mileage on my 07 and 99. But I live in Pa and a county with no emissions. Youtube will help you see what I mean. Let us know how you fare. You can do alot to help it out with mileage cheaply.
 
Jaskim06 said:
Here's what I do to get better mileage, get a air intake tube without all the extra pieces or just cut off and cap them so it's a straight shot from the airfilter box to throttlebody. Cut a way bigger hole in the piece of air box that's bolted to fender as the lil air horn is maybe 2.5 inches and that's not enuff air for a weed eater. I actually cut the whole bottom off right below the filter. Engines are air pumps more air in, burnt and better flowing out makes more efficient. Cut off rear cats and factory mufflers. Pipe in missing pieces and just use resonators as mufflers if your state will allow. This gave me the best mileage on my 07 and 99. But I live in Pa and a county with no emissions. Youtube will help you see what I mean. Let us know how you fare. You can do alot to help it out with mileage cheaply.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the reply, I’m very tempted to try these, although I have no idea what any of that means haha. I will YouTube and google them to get a better understanding. What about the spark plug way? I mean if your Way is cheaper by all means will I do it, but I don’t mind spending money on spark plugs and possible a fuel injector. I’ve bought the car used with 95K miles on it and I have to do these replacements eventually, my question is will they have a significant impact?
 
FWIW I get 19 avg driving around Oklahoma City with my 243K 2004.
Bout 23 cruising on the interstate.
Driving style is always a question with such stuff but under 15 would make me wonder
about mechanical stuff.
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A complete tune up is the best way to go at that mileage. PLugs, air filter, oil change, and other recomended maintenance as specified in the manual. Keep the tires at the proper pressure.
 
Clean the airflow meter too. I'm not positive this isn't placebo but the couple I've done the results seemed positive, and the special spray can cleaner is cheap enough. 02 sensors are that way too, they get lazy and slower to respond with age but don't often outright fail.
 
@wolf_walker okay, see. I see you guys saying that about your cars but it’s just not making sense here, there are no check engine lights or anything. As I stated, I have turned to almost city driving exclusively and the type of traffic I get are somewhat hectic but not that bad. Im really not a fast race car type of a driver in my Lincoln, I drive it very calmly because that’s actually the main reason this car has a place in my garage.

I have Noticed that the MPG meter goes WAY down if I’m idling or moving very slow, not a rough idle by any means but one time it went to 2MPG.
 
@jkeaton Im definitely planning on all of those, I just honestly haven’t had the time, I got the car barely a week ago and if it hadn’t been for my Camry breaking down, I wouldn’t have used the Lincoln to do this much city driving, some but not at this capacity. I guess if I didn’t I wouldn’t have noticed the lower than normal fuel economy.

what I’m interested in is finding out, realistically speaking, full tune up. Air filter, oil, plugs, the works. How much of a difference are we talking about? calm driving.


oh and I’m sorry for the child-like bombardmen but my tire pressure is all 4 on 37PSI
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The clusters MPG meter is usually +/-2mpg accurate, but it needs a loooong time of data to be right, and if you reset it and then only do around town it'll be super low for ages. Same for highway. Do the math at the pump, don't trust the meter.
 
As wolf_walker says calculate your MPG manually not by using the in car meter.
I can go as low as 14 in the city in the summer with A/C on.

These are not economy cars.

As far as the MPG going way down when idling or going slow that's will happen.
If you're not moving then you're using fuel and not putting miles on.
All cars will behave this way.

I'd ignore the built in meter.
 
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Hell I'm surprised they are as good as they are, especially on the highway. Some people get 25 or a little
better with excellent examples. 75mph with the cruise set and AC on is clearly the use case they had in mind
for these things lol...
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Well, I’ll be damned. My Camry will be out of the shop next week, it’ll be my main “work” car. Honestly, I didn’t buy this car for the MPGs, I just came back from a relaxing cruise on the highway (i live by the sea) and I can tell you that MPGs were the last thing on my mind. My father was the one who described a town car to me as the most comfortable car he’d ever sat in. I’ve heard his story about that “one time” many times during my childhood, and so far the man is right!

Well, thankyou guys for replying as fast as you did, with a lot more information than I expected. I really appreciate this.

Not many people understand why I bought a car takes has such bad MPGs. Almost everyone thinks I’m an idiot. What a bunch of idiots 😂😂

Ill hopefully have many more questions in the future, it seems I have a lot to learn about cars.

cheers!
 
Glad to hear it. I really don't consider this bad, my first was a 78 and it got 11mpg, day in, day out, highway, byway, didn't matter.
 
To add to the other posts above, the MPG indicator doesn't show instant MPG. It shows average MPG since the last reset. If you reset it while the car is idling, it will forever show 0 MPG unless the car starts moving. A lot of extended idling and the MPGs will be really low, the city rating of 17 is based on (IIRC) driving in an area with stoplights, with the only idling being at red lights or stop signs. But like others have said, the dash indicator can be somewhat inaccurate so to calculate the MPGs manually would be more accurate. Congratulations on your purchase!!!
 
I'll be completely honest with all you guys here, my Town Car with the 4.6 V8 gets better mileage than my 4 cylinder 2.7 Tacoma around town and on the highway.

Town Car getting 19 city/24 highway

Tacoma getting 15 city/19 highway
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@wolf_walker well, see now this just makes me think there’s something wrong mechanically wrong with my car. I’d think there would be better mileage between a 78 and 11 model. I mean, at this point I’d celebrate getting 14 MPG in the city! I don’t even have any added weight to my car, trunk is empty. I’m just trying to get the best mileage out of my car and from what I’m seeing I’ve got the worst mileage out of you guys. Time to visit the mechanic I think.

@04TC I calculated manually today. I topped it up and calculated it. I’m still going strong on 11.8MPG or 20l/100km (I'm on a metric system). I mean there has to be something wrong with the car that I don’t know, otherwise I’d expect a better mileage I mean 15MPG would be peachy. Im still going to have to top it up in a day with the amount of driving I’m putting into it but those few bucks can really add up over time. Im still loving the car I just want the same average as everyone else. Thankyou! There aren’t many town cars here where I live and I’m definitely standing out!
 
@Norms1stTC okay, you and I need to talk 😂 what are you doing? Have you put sails on your car? How’s this possible? My Camry needs 2 top ups a week. I’m literally topping the Town Car everyday. I mean thankgod this is only a temporary arrangement, but id still take any tips? Ive recently bought the car and at this point I’m sure there is something wrong that needs to be addressed. Im just trying to find out what.
 
@wolf_walker Yep, there’s something definitely wrong with my car. What Im getting just isn’t normal for my car. What bad luck. I think I’m going to need to upgrade some stuff, plugs, wires and so on. One question, when people say we need to change the wiring. What wires are they referencing?
 
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