A trip to the Florida Keys! What a blast! (PICS)

[UltimateSVT]

Guys, it was time I put my Mark on the road. I bought the car with 96,000 miles last June & all 4,000 miles placed on my car these last few months are all city driving. I partially have to blame the lack of trust towards the air ride/bags, etc... 2 weeks ago I replaced the rear leaky bags & the car sits up & stays up now permanently (FINALLY!). Since most of you saw, it hit 100,000 miles this past week so I decided this was it. I own 2 timeshares down in Islamorada in the Fl. Keys & I wanted to show the Keys to my g/f who had never been down there. Took the Mark out on the open road today. Not much but definitely put about 300 miles on the baby in less than 10 hours to/from the Fl. Keys & the car behaved absolutely beautiful. Gas economy isn't this car's highlight but other than that, it performed PERFECT! Below are some pictures of the trip! Enjoy!

 

[kustomizingkid]

Nice!!!

What economy numbers did you turn?

 

[UltimateSVT]

Havent counted yet but I will tomorrow. Don't think I did more than 14 mpg... Traveled between 55-65mph. Need to see the exact amount of gallons I spent.

 

[1bad4.6l]

Beautiful pics man!

 

[02LS8Lincoln]

awsome pics dude.

 

[Kstills]

Havent counted yet but I will tomorrow. Don't think I did more than 14 mpg... Traveled between 55-65mph. Need to see the exact amount of gallons I spent.

Nice pics, but whoa, 14mpg?

I get 20 on my commute, and none of that is highway driving.

 

[Calabrio]

14mpg? Either your math is bad or something is very wrong with your car.
You should be pulling low-to-mid twenties on the highway, easy.

 

[Screw-Rice]

I averaged about 20-21 on my last couple highway trips, and that's with 4.10's.

 

[UltimateSVT]

I have to look into it & see where my car is going wrong. My truck's regluar 4.6l SOHC does about 12-13mpg's. I did the math & the fuel needle on my Mark doesn't lie. I'm doing about 16-17mpg. Definitely no more than that. The speed was constant & there were no reasons to floor it at any time. My car has never been fuel efficient since the moment I purchased it but concidering the car it is, I never bought it to save gas anyway! lol

 

[MediumD]

You're not even running gears are you? My old 3.08 94 just about doubled that mileage, something's not right...

 

[UltimateSVT]

Well, never the less, I loved the trip & I plan on going to Palm Harbor, Fl. in June to Jamie's Mark VIII meet as well & I don't care about the gas mileage!

 

[DieselDan]

What did the message center say your average economy was? And nice crocs man

 

[UltimateSVT]

What did the message center say your average economy was? And nice crocs man

Before departing my message center read 12.6. However it was on 13.7 by the end of the trip on Sunday evening... Now it's back down to 12.9. During the trip it read 22-27mpg on "CURRENT" mpg display but I don't go by my message center. I've done the math before & compared it to my message center & it's definitely off. It's really hot in South Florida as well. On Sunday it was 89-90. Today it's 90 degrees out here. Defenitely NOT economic weather!

 

[02LS8Lincoln]

Alex your car needs a serious tune up....did you already change the plugs and cables? if so you probably need to change your fuel filter.

 

[UltimateSVT]

I have to admit... I know that fuel filter & fuel pump need to be replaced ASAP!

 

[chicken]

nice pics

 

[Staffamerica74]

Are you running 93 octane in it?

 

[02LS8Lincoln]

My 97 does 16.5 and thats on stop and go traffic. I still havent tested on the highway but it might get up to the 20's.

 

[UltimateSVT]

Are you running 93 octane in it?

Nope, I run midgrade. I can't afford 93 but I won't feed my car regular either.

My 97 does 16.5 and thats on stop and go traffic. I still havent tested on the highway but it might get up to the 20's.

Your above stated numbers is approx. what I do in my F-150 w/the SOHC 4.6 liter in it.

 

[Kstills]

I looked at your pics again, and I have to say that the third one is a beautiful shot of your car.

 

[UltimateSVT]

I looked at your pics again, and I have to say that the third one is a beautiful shot of your car.

Yeah dude, that's one of my favorites. I took way more pics but only posted those 4. I have yet another picture that I currently have as my computer wallpaper that kicks ass! I'll probably upload it tonight for you guys to see.

 

[normohl]

i get 21 mpg going 50 miles highway and 50 miles city a day, on my crap 98 with low fuel pressure also (20psi), something is wrong that needs to be be fixed if you averaged that low on the highway, i would not be shrugging it off.