Hmmmmm, navichevy?

[KICK]

Diamond, I listen to my own experiences and numbers, not internet claims or assertions of others...

if you feel like you get the kinda fuel mileage you claim, good for you. sure makes for a happy camper, don't it.???

I don't particularly believe you, but my opinion is just as worthless as yours.

 

[Builder]

Diamond, I listen to my own experiences and numbers, not internet claims or assertions of others...

if you feel like you get the kinda fuel mileage you claim, good for you. sure makes for a happy camper, don't it.???

I don't particularly believe you, but my opinion is just as worthless as yours.

yep, the internet is way to easy to fabricate. One of the biggest fabrications I see on a consistent basis is MPG claims. There's no way to refute them, so they go on and on.

"They get great millage, 17 city, 24 highway and I have seen as good as 17 towing a 15,600# boat to Tenn in August."

"I have seen" .....I mean, what does that mean??? I saw it for 3 seconds on the computer readout? Or "I got 17MPG over the course of the whole trip pulling a 15,600# boat" ?

Big difference. I'd bet the average MPG over the trip was more like 12MPG.

My Volvo XC90 averages about 16MPG in stop & go driving, but when we take a trip on the highway, I'll see the instant MPG readout as much as 50 MPG on a flat spot or downhill with little pressure on the go pedal. So should I make a claim on the internet that "I have seen 50 MPG in my Volvo XC90". That sounds a bit misleading, since the average MPG is much lower than 50MPG, even though "I have seen 50MPG in my Volvo XC 90".

 

[KICK]

"I have seen 50 MPG in my Volvo XC90". That sounds a bit misleading, since the average MPG is much lower than 50MPGQUOTE]

most people are full of it.and that especially applies to internet forums where they can be and say just about anything they want with no fear of repercussion or shame

so some of the fuel economy claims are just as bad as some of the power claims you see from horsepower warriors....

to believe a Diesel Powered Pickup that weighs 3 1/2+ tons empty and is as aerodynamic as a barn door gets a steady 21 MPG is quite a stretch.

I'll leave it at that

 

[Diamondpilot]

OK, I will leave it alone. I don't feel like I am making outrageous claims. I just watch how I drive and listen to others and have learned a lot. I wanted to check my millage again so over the holiday I took my f-350 to the in laws and got 23.4 mpg on a 238 mile round trip. Yes, I know its not 24 but I let it idle to warm up and ran in 4 wheel high for about 5 miles due to the roads being covered in 6" of snow and ice. I asked my neighbor to do the same with his GM. He did a trip to Tom Raper RV's in Richmond Indiana took look at a 5th wheel, only 45 miles each way, and got 22 mpg. I also went back and rechecked my trip to Tennessee with my boat I do every year on mapquest and it was 299.1 miles each way door to door. I used 18 gallons of fuel which is 16.61 mpg or rounded to 17 mpg. I don't know what else to say.

I agree there is nothing you can do with a gas truck to get more mpg. I have tried and failed. I have bought programmers, intakes, exhaust systems, ect and have never seen a difference. The only thing they did was take money out of my pocket. I just leave them alone.

I am just curious what type of mpg others are getting with the diesel trucks? I hope others will please chime in. And why if its less than say 16 mpg or so why anyone would ever buy one? Looking at a F-350 for instance, the tow ratings are the same with the diesel or V-10. The V-10 cost $6000 less and the fuel is cheaper. I know the diesel makes more torque and so on but you can buy a lot of gas with that money. There will be the resale thing but is it $6000? I have looked at the new Ford 6.4's but think I will keep my 6.0's due to the low mpg on the "new clean diesels".

Builder, you are a guy who according to what you say have been around the block a few times. I am not sure about you KICK. I remember Builder saying you have a new GM and a older Ford diesel, what do you get for mpg on these trucks? I could never get better than 16 mpg with my 1999 F-350 4x4 7.3L PSD.

Like I said I am done. I have read most everything you guys post and believe it is good info for the most part. I will stay out of the truck talk since I don't know anything.

Chris

 

[Builder]

OK, I will leave it alone. I don't feel like I am making outrageous claims. I just watch how I drive and listen to others and have learned a lot. I wanted to check my millage again so over the holiday I took my f-350 to the in laws and got 23.4 mpg on a 238 mile round trip. Yes, I know its not 24 but I let it idle to warm up and ran in 4 wheel high for about 5 miles due to the roads being covered in 6" of snow and ice. I asked my neighbor to do the same with his GM. He did a trip to Tom Raper RV's in Richmond Indiana took look at a 5th wheel, only 45 miles each way, and got 22 mpg. I also went back and rechecked my trip to Tennessee with my boat I do every year on mapquest and it was 299.1 miles each way door to door. I used 18 gallons of fuel which is 16.61 mpg or rounded to 17 mpg. I don't know what else to say.

I agree there is nothing you can do with a gas truck to get more mpg. I have tried and failed. I have bought programmers, intakes, exhaust systems, ect and have never seen a difference. The only thing they did was take money out of my pocket. I just leave them alone.

I am just curious what type of mpg others are getting with the diesel trucks? I hope others will please chime in. And why if its less than say 16 mpg or so why anyone would ever buy one? Looking at a F-350 for instance, the tow ratings are the same with the diesel or V-10. The V-10 cost $6000 less and the fuel is cheaper. I know the diesel makes more torque and so on but you can buy a lot of gas with that money. There will be the resale thing but is it $6000? I have looked at the new Ford 6.4's but think I will keep my 6.0's due to the low mpg on the "new clean diesels"."

Edmunds last study on diesels had average resale value at $5,000 more than a comparable gas truck, so yes, the resale is there.

" Builder, you are a guy who according to what you say have been around the block a few times. I am not sure about you KICK. I remember Builder saying you have a new GM and a older Ford diesel, what do you get for mpg on these trucks? I could never get better than 16 mpg with my 1999 F-350 4x4 7.3L PSD.

Like I said I am done. I have read most everything you guys post and believe it is good info for the most part. I will stay out of the truck talk since I don't know anything.

Chris

I never got more than 13-14 with my '99 F-350 7.3L diesel in stop & go driving. Very little highway driving. My '99 F-450 only got ~11MPG in same conditions. When i sold them, I got terrific $$ for both trucks.

My '07 GMC gets 13-14 MPG in stop/go driving. Mileage goes up to maybe 18 MPG on short highway trips. How you get 24MPG is beyond my comprehension. Maybe where you live it's flat as a pancake, you have no weight on your truck, no redlights and you drive like there was an egg between your foot & the go pedal?

 

[jdbower]

Mileage is tricky. I'm supposed to be getting 12/14 in my truck if I remember correctly (old EPA numbers). I actually had a lifetime average of 18-19mpg before I dropped a blower in it (which brought the mileage down to 17). On individual trips I was well into the 20s a few times.

I think I have a superbly efficient engine, with so many parts each with their own tolerances the engines that come off the line have variations in them so some may be better than others. In my case not only is the truck more efficient, but I also had great acceleration compared to my friend's identical truck.

I followed a rigorous break-in procedure. I'm not convinced it did anything, but it may be a factor in how the engine components initially wore.

Local gas blends have a big factor, my wife's mileage is down 5% because we're on "winter gas". NJ also often has higher octane ratings than PA for mid and premium - but also sometimes for regular. I'm sure there are diesel variations as well, probably more ethanol in the corn belt and all sorts of well-intentioned "clean" additives that steal mileage along the coasts.

Subconscious habits also help. My wife tends to "surge", slow down and speed up without thinking of it. But she gets better mileage in her car than I do with her car so maybe it helps.

Comparing real-world numbers to EPA estimates are also tricky. A lot of cars are designed to pass tests, EPA mileage tests, crash tests, etc. This is fine, but a 5-star rating on a very precisely defined impact has no bearing on how you'll survive in a real-world collision. Some manufacturers tend to be more conservative with numbers, others stretch them.

I've found that an individual's mileage numbers can be dismissed as a random variation, it's useful to look at larger groups of numbers before you can gather anything meaningful and even then you have to compare how your numbers vary from previous averages. This is not to say that the individual is fudging the numbers or miscalculating them, but they are different than you and driving a different vehicle for different purposes. If you're very mileage conscious you can generally get consistently better mileage no matter what you drive.

Back slightly on topic, the main reason I'd like a diesel is the torque. I don't drive much so mileage isn't a concern, but having a torquey machine for towing, pulling, and off-the-line acceleration is fun.

 

[wushaw]

I had a 02 GMC 2500 DMAX/ZF6 that got 20mpg straight off the showroom floor.
I had to get a 3500 dually so I got a 03 DMAX/Allison that got 17 and 18 if I kept my foot out of it.
I don't have either pickup now.

My Pete with a C13 12spd gets 10.7 bobtail (17k) and 6.4 - 7.7 pulling my house (43k).

 

[Z-Michigan]

I posted separately with detailed records of fuel mileage for our 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 with the 5.9L Cummins turbodiesel. Long and short, we averaged 15.7mpg over 15k miles, with a lot of trailer towing in that. Most non-towing tanks were over 16mpg with freeway tanks in the 17.5-19mpg range. No mods or anything special. See the long post for details, and it's all based on the odometer and gas receipts, no optimistic or made-up numbers.

 

[Builder]

I posted separately with detailed records of fuel mileage for our 2006 Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 with the 5.9L Cummins turbodiesel. Long and short, we averaged 15.7mpg over 15k miles, with a lot of trailer towing in that. Most non-towing tanks were over 16mpg with freeway tanks in the 17.5-19mpg range. No mods or anything special. See the long post for details, and it's all based on the odometer and gas receipts, no optimistic or made-up numbers.

Sounds very realistic.