On-Road Fuel Economy for 1978–1981 Ford Vehicles

Since 1978, Ford Motor Company (Ford) has been collecting and analyzing fuel economy data for Ford vehicles leased by Company employes. Survey results for 1978 through 1980 model vehicles were presented in three previous SAE papers, which dealt with the following: on–road mpg performance; comparison of on–road mpg performance to mpg values approved by EPA; and investigation of possible causes of differences between on–road performance and EPA values. Results from Ford's 1981 survey, plus comparisons to earlier surveys, are reported herein.

Vehicles driven under “summer” conditions and under “winter” conditions are evaluated separately to determine their relative contribution to an overall, seasonally-weighted difference between EPA and on-road fuel economy.