I read the thread in the 3.0 Vulcan forum but was hoping for more information for our 2.3's. IIRC, the SOHC engines really liked rpm's but I'm not so sure about the DOHC.

What RPM range do you all find you get better gas mileage at in the 2002+ Rangers? I'm mainly looking at highway speeds (about 55-65 mph) not freeway speeds. I don't drive the interstate much in this truck.

Where's the "sweet spot"?

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Little Black Ranger: R.I.P Born-1997 Died-2018. 297k miles of good times. You will be missed.

Oh Deer: 2003 XL 2.3L 5-speed stick w/OD. Current mods: Body work after hitting a deer 12 hours after I bought it. Averaging 32 MPG on the highway.

Basically everything made in the past 2 decades is tuned to get the best fuel economy at 65mph which in an automatic duratec is about 2,400-2600rpm. Lower on the 5 speed because they usually have higher diff gears. That has nothing to do with where the engine makes good power, i.e the vulcan sucks below 3,500rpm but you're not gonna get good highway mileage in that range.

That's about what I'm running at 65 mph but I know I'm getting better mileage around 2000 rpm at 55 mph. I lose nearly 3 mpg running at 65.

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Little Black Ranger: R.I.P Born-1997 Died-2018. 297k miles of good times. You will be missed.

Oh Deer: 2003 XL 2.3L 5-speed stick w/OD. Current mods: Body work after hitting a deer 12 hours after I bought it. Averaging 32 MPG on the highway.

Its hard to say for sure. Just finished a fresh rebuild and even after hogging on it to get it up to speed in a few situations, I got around 23 MPG. Just filled up yesterday and got 24.1 ish.

I have a 2001 with the IMRC and all the other snake oil components ford eliminated in the 2.3 in 2004. So YMMV. I also run a 5 spd. It sits right around 22-2500 hitting 60-65. 55 is 2k right on the dot I believe.

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2001.5 2.3 213xxx and counting
M501-HD L154 Manual
Don't bother looking for 1st gear synchros, I bought the last one