GM with the 2.8 diesel

Diamondpilot · Aug 27, 2016

3930dave said:
The final official #'s on the 2.8 will be interesting. This 2.8 is based off the engine Jeep used in the 05 Liberty. Using those old #'s, it's about 2mpg better on the highway, and 3mpg better in the city than the '15 5.3. Not enough for short term justification for many folks, but enough of a gain that many drivetrain engineers would cut off personal body parts for. Fuel Economy While I love the low rpm torque of a diesel for general drive-ability, I definitely appreciate how little the mpg drops under cargo/towing load. Where I think DI gas motors have an advantage is that most have done away with the fuel filter (not my idea of a good move, but I wasn't asked ) so no filter service is required. Not that fuel filter service is a big deal IMO, but neglecting filter maintenance (average consumer behaviour today) is a really bad idea on a modern diesel. I'd say that is one distinction I'd make with diesels today, they require slightly more attention (fluid specs, fuel quality, maintenance intervals) than modern gas engines - although even some of those are also getting rather picky about engine oil specs.... Given just a bit of regular maintenance, I've seen a Jeep 2.8 and the Chrysler/Daimler 3.0 run to high miles - I expect the OP to do as well - enjoy it ! Rgds, D.

No fuel filters on gas vehicles is nothing new. I believe Nissan started with no filters in 2003, nearly 15 years ago.

Chris

dieselcrawler · Aug 27, 2016

No fuel filters? Seriously? First I've heard of that one...

3930dave · Aug 27, 2016

Diamondpilot said:
No fuel filters on gas vehicles is nothing new. I believe Nissan started with no filters in 2003, nearly 15 years ago.

Chris

Agreed. I think Dodge started before that.

While I like diesels a lot, I was being objective about a gas advantage in terms of general consumer tendency to do zero maintenance.

I don't view filter maintenance as onerous, and expect many TBN'ers/any gearhead wouldn't either. But, I recognize that I/we are outliers today :thumbsup: .

Rgds, D.

3930dave · Aug 27, 2016

dieselcrawler said:
No fuel filters? Seriously? First I've heard of that one...

Yep, on gas. Slightly upgraded filter sock in tank, and the stack'o'screens on the feed side of the injectors.

If you check the Fram site, or Rock Auto, you'll find that many late model gas engines list no filter. Lousy fuel and no quality injector cleaner used means these screens will eventually plug up, or at least flow less.

But, there is one less line item on the Factory Scheduled Maintenance list......

Rgds, D.

snowbelt geauga · Aug 28, 2016

Diesels mileage improves as the engine breaks in. Dad had 80 Chevy Chevelle diesel and was getting 60mpg when he got rid of it sometime in the early 90s.

snowbelt geauga · Aug 28, 2016

Chevette stupid autocorrect!

roadhunter · Aug 28, 2016

snowbelt geauga said:
Chevette stupid autocorrect!

You can go back and edit the post.

Although I was really looking forward to hearing bout the chevelle with a diesel engine that gets 60 mpg! LOL

nybirdman · Aug 28, 2016

When I ran the numbers for gas/diesel in the same vehicle the break even point was 150,000 miles.Just on mileage alone.Factor in the DEF,costly oil changes ,winter fuel problems;diesels don't make sense for the average user.Different story if you are going to "work" a HD truck,it may be justified.
I have two friends that just purchased the Ram "Eco-Diesel",time will tell if it works out for them.
I had two other friends that went from a Ford SuperDuty and a Chevy HD back to Chevy
gas half tons. My 2014 Silverado(5.3 liter) gets over 22 mph on the highway.

toddbailey · Aug 28, 2016

With my 2014 Silverado 2500 HD with the duramax last year I hand calculated over 11,000 miles of fuel usage averaged 18.5mpg with an average of highway and in town with lowest being 16 towing around 5,000 lbs.

3930dave · Aug 28, 2016

nybirdman said:
When I ran the numbers for gas/diesel in the same vehicle the break even point was 150,000 miles.Just on mileage alone.Factor in the DEF,costly oil changes ,winter fuel problems;diesels don't make sense for the average user.Different story if you are going to "work" a HD truck,it may be justified.
I have two friends that just purchased the Ram "Eco-Diesel",time will tell if it works out for them.
I had two other friends that went from a Ford SuperDuty and a Chevy HD back to Chevy
gas half tons. My 2014 Silverado(5.3 liter) gets over 22 mph on the highway.

toddbailey said:
With my 2014 Silverado 2500 HD with the duramax last year I hand calculated over 11,000 miles of fuel usage averaged 18.5mpg with an average of highway and in town with lowest being 16 towing around 5,000 lbs.

Long-term averages is what I look at. On Fuelly, the 5.3 group averages centre around 17mpg. The 2.8 in a Jeep Liberty centres around 21 mpg.

Some large gas vehicles do OK with highway mpg. Unfortunately, unless you spend most of your time driving the Great Plains most of us have to deal with more stopNgo than we'd like, so City mpg matters too.

Just counting beans, diesels have always made the most sense to high-mileage drivers. If you don't drive much, then most people don't want to wait that long for a payback.

An "advantage" I have here is that diesel fuel can and does price below gasoline at the pump. From all the posts I've read on here, that split appears to be rare in the USA, or effectively not allowed to happen.

Rgds, D.