Mpg for new gas 2500

[TX.45]

I installed a Wix air filter, truck seems to like it. I have a new high for 50 mile trip which was 19.3, with the ac delco filter i got a high of 18.9. I understand this isn't a scientific and road conditions change constantly. I'm not claiming Wix is magic, I'm just saying I'm seeing immediate changes that I did not expect. Truck feels like it's a little more eager to get moving as well. My driving habits didn't change. Still ride the slow lane going between 50 and 65, still have to go WOT at least twice a trip to pass. I am running a tank of half 87 octane and half 89. I rewarded the truck with 89 octane for driving so well the past few weeks.

 

I'll report back in a few weeks after I make more trips and see if it's MPGs continuing to improve. I'll just run regular from now on to take gas out of the equation.

 

As the miles rack up, I'm more and more impressed with the Vortec HD.

[SMiller]

Yeah, I compared my stock and next size up to two different GPS's. The stock had me going actually 1 mph less than what the speedometer said and the next size up matched the speedo to the GPS exactly.

Every GM truck I have had read fast on stock tires, installing 285's always puts the speed dead on.

 

 

All three of my 6.0's get 12.2 regardless of what vehicle, driving, or conditions.

 

Used to live in Indiana, lots of deep snow and idling, got 7.7mpg for a few months of each winter, not fun.

[Cowpie]

Yeah, I did 275/70R18 as opposed to the stock 265/70R18 that came on the vehicle.

[WiscoZ71]

I recently made a trip from Milwaukee, to Green Bay... From Green Bay, to Eagle River... Eagle River to Paulding, Michigan in the U.P. and back to Milwaukee. Averaged about 16.8 with a best of 18.4 mpg in my 6.0. That's according to the dash. I was pleasantly surprised!

[Cowpie]

That is a fun loop. Just did the same area as you did, only with my semi truck about a week ago. Your mpg is similar to what I got with my new 2015 2500 back when I did a loop from central Iowa, to St. Louis, down to Memphis, back thru the central Missouri, to central Iowa again. I averaged just over 17 mpg on that loop. And I hand checked the entire trip and the DIC was only about a tenth high compared to actual usage. That was using E10 regular fuel for the entire trip. These 2500 6.0's don't really do to bad if you drive them right.

[i82much]

i get about 16 at 55 mph, but i have a mid-rise canopy that probably costs me a little fuel economy.

[SierraHD17]

Not great.... same as 2007 through present haha. I think I get around 14-15 mpg average as I am all rural highway but its been so windy lately its tough to be accurate. One incorrect statement I see is 4.10 is the only available axle ratio and that's wrong actually. Take my 2017.... it's 3.73 with it's whopping 9700 lb tow rating haha. Some weirdo even optioned the truck with the fifth wheel prep package to boot lol. My truck was ordered through GM's fleet order program but none the less it has 3.73 gears in it. It also has dual power heated cloth bucket seats, console with wireless charger, Bose with the sub, power pedals, rear slider and home link..... but manual single zone climate control.. and no fog lights lol. It's strange and I like it lol.

[sdeeter19555]

Not great.... same as 2007 through present haha. I think I get around 14-15 mpg average as I am all rural highway but its been so windy lately its tough to be accurate. One incorrect statement I see is 4.10 is the only available axle ratio and that's wrong actually. Take my 2017.... it's 3.73 with it's whopping 9700 lb tow rating haha. Some weirdo even optioned the truck with the fifth wheel prep package to boot lol. My truck was ordered through GM's fleet order program but none the less it has 3.73 gears in it. It also has dual power heated cloth bucket seats, console with wireless charger, Bose with the sub, power pedals, rear slider and home link..... but manual single zone climate control.. and no fog lights lol. It's strange and I like it lol.

It has 3.73s because of the fleet order...a typical truck on the lot will likely have 4.10s. I essentially have the same truck, only a 2012 when the 3.73s were the norm.

 

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[SierraHD17]

It has 3.73s because of the fleet order...a typical truck on the lot will likely have 4.10s. I essentially have the same truck, only a 2012 when the 3.73s were the norm.

 

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Doesn't matter lol... the point is saying you can't get 3.73 is incorrect.. It's just 4.10 is the standard gear but it's not like 3.73 is unavailable...

[sdeeter19555]

Doesn't matter lol... the point is saying you can't get 3.73 is incorrect.. It's just 4.10 is the standard gear but it's not like 3.73 is unavailable...

Does matter, the average guy doesn't have access to fleet deals...4.10 is going to be their "option".

 

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[SierraHD17]

Does matter, the average guy doesn't have access to fleet deals...4.10 is going to be their "option".

 

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You can still order 3.73... Just like you could 4.10 before... jeez lol.

[carkhz316]

My brother's '11 is a LT with LTZ 20's and 3.73s (as per the RPO code) and was a one owner, regular guy owner. So definitely not fleet exclusive in any way.

[SierraHD17]

In the newer ones... 15 for sure 4.10 is the standard gear and 3.73 is optional. Previous was the other way around... my that it matters lol.

[mrailing]

I did my trip...

 

4415 miles in 11 days. Really 3900 of those miles were only 4 of the days, as it was right at 2000 miles of driving out, and 1900 of driving back. Louisville, KY to Glacier National Park, MT and back, with a stop at Mt. Rushmore on the way out, and more direct on the way back. Roughly 500 miles of driving while out there.

 

In terms of weight, I was pulling a 33’ (tip to tail) bumper pull toy hauler with a dry weight of 5900#, two motorcycles, food/beverage, dog supplies, generators, 20 gallons of spare fuel, ramps, dog crates/fencing, chairs, ½ tank water (30 gallons), and a bit more. Between the trailer and the bed of the truck, I would estimate around 9000# of total cargo, people and dogs included.

 

On the way out, we averaged 7.4 MPG. Average speed was probably close to 65 MPH moving speed. We did the drive in two days, and it took 32 hours and change with stops. On the way home, we averaged 7.1 MPG (how I don’t know because I saw 5-6 MPG the majority of the time due to a massive head wind). Average speed was 62 MPH.

 

I continually played with my speed on the way home to keep my instant MPG reading above 5 MPG, and listening to the engine and trying to regulate speed to offset for MPG. I kept in mind that MPG is a tradeoff for stops versus total distance driven on a tank of fuel. I don’t like letting the fuel get too low, so I tried not to get below an 1/8 of a tank, but on two occasions we stretched it with the light on trying to find fuel, one time finally stopping and putting in 15 gallons of the emergency fuel, with a gas station “appearing” just 10 miles later (doubt we could have actually made the 10 miles because of estimates that I had maybe 2 gallons left, and it wasn't on Google Maps).

 

With the headwind, if I ran 70-75 MPG I was getting 4-5 MPG. If I ran 65-70, I was 5-6 MPG, and 62-65, I was getting closer to 7-8 MPG. 60-62 didn’t show much difference, but would stay at 7-8 MPG more consistently. Of course, if you figure on 30 gallons of usage, that’s only 150-240 miles per tank. With a 20 minute minimum stop (that was our best with getting the dogs out, using the bathroom ourselves, fueling the truck; from leaving the interstate/highway, to getting back on). I figured that with time lost on a stop, in that 20 minutes, we could go 25 miles, so getting every MPG really helped, since stopping every 150 miles would really added up. I was shooting for 200 miles between stops, trying to limit it to 5 stops a day, which would end up adding 2 hours to the daily drive time. 200 miles at 70 MPH is about my wife’s bladder limit, so that is a consideration too… If we had to stop early for the dogs' or wife's bladder, then I would fill up just to use time better, only two times did we stop at a rest stop or side of the road for a short break.

 

Power, I really never noticed that I needed more power except to pass on a two lane highway, uphill on a vehicle not really moving horribly slow… Other than that, 9000# was easy for the truck, just let the motor sing and any time I put my foot in it, it moved decent enough.

 

So overall, 4415 miles, averaging 7.2 MPG with the truck computer, and 7.4 MPG with hand figuring. This includes non-trailer miles between places we visited, with one day averaging 18 MPG over 50 miles…. All pretty much downhill LOL... I put in, including the “spare gas” a total of 596 gallons of fuel, average cost was $2.62, so $1561.52.

 

 

 

So many people complain about the gas vs. diesel and lower MPG. I'm currently at 15,000 miles with my 2016 (having it for 8 months). Average (hand calculated) life is 11.7 MPG, with towing, city, empty driving, and the dash shows me at 11.3 MPG. I drive downtown Louisville daily, 6 miles to work, and 6 miles home. I was taking surface streets but have switched to the interstate, and am getting 1 MPG better average on my commute. I have adjusted tire pressure as well, run 50 in the front and 60 in the rear, and have gotten 1 MPG better, increasing when I tow. This is playing with pressure and speeds, and a LOT of my driving hasn't been very conservative, so my overall average should increase.

 

I have now towed my toy hauler (7500 pounds fully loaded) 3 times, a total of maybe 2000 miles out of the 15,000 I have driven (average fuel consumption has been 7-8 MPG). I have hauled roughly 1,100 pounds (two motorcycles, two bicycles, restraints) 2500 miles. So roughly 10,000 miles of my driving has been unloaded travel. I typically average 20,000 miles a year driving. I typically drive the speed limit to 5 MPH over unloaded, and when towing, usually 65 MPH max, which gives me 1-2 MPG better than 70-75 MPH.

 

Later this summer I will be towing the toy hauler from here to Montana and back, so that will be roughly 4,000 miles of driving when done. I'll be curious of my consumption, and I plan to run 65 MPH most of the time to save a bit of fuel.

 

I wanted the diesel, but it just didn't pay off to get it. Diesel here is still more expensive than gas. I tried to do a lot of math to determine my cost and which might be better, and it did not pay off to buy the diesel. Here is what I used to compare my math. Being that I do mostly unloaded driving, I feel I have to look at that first (although it really doesn't matter, seems the spread for loaded/unloaded is 4 MPG across the board)

 

Diesel 14 MPG city/18 MPG highway (this is what I searched, and I realize some people get better, but this is what I was seeing as average, and I will give it the benefit of the doubt and give it an average of 16 MPG over city/highway)

Gas 10 MPG city/14 MPG highway (this was what was reported, and since owning the gas, what I experience as the average, so I will say 12 MPG average, since I was close to that above)

 

4 MPG spread

 

DEF Fluid is 1.25 gallons/100 gallons of diesel. Def Fluid is $6/gallon, so $7.50/100 gallons of diesel.

 

For simple math and figuring out the difference, we will use these average nationwide prices, and 100 gallons to figure out the cost difference.

 

$2.25/gallon for gas

$2.50/gallon of diesel

 

Gas = $225 for 1200 miles = $0.19/mile

Diesel 4MPG spread (plus DEF) = $257.50 for 1600 miles = $0.16/mile

 

$.03/mile = $3000/100,000 miles

 

This is again, quick easy math, and rough figuring, and ONLY looking at fuel cost difference. Average cost savings with diesel is $0.03/mile, so $3000 per 100,000 miles. I realize there are a TON of other ways to figure this, but for me, this is unloaded "average" driving. Cost increase between the trucks was over $8000 increase for diesel, with similar options, but we will figure $8000 just to figure mileage.

 

So $8000 would require 260,000 miles (@ $0.03/mile) to break even, just at "standard fuel costs". Towing rates, aren't much different from what I have been reading, still roughly a 4 MPG difference, so that still equates to $0.03/mile. I have had 0 issues pulling my trailer, and the power is adequate for what I need. If I averaged 26,000 miles/year, which I would say I will be under, then it would take me 10 years to break even on the vehicle. Being I haven't owned a vehicle longer than 7 years, I won't reach the break-even point, even keeping this 10 years.

 

With all this said, if I towed over 15,000 miles/year, or my trailer was 9,000+ pounds, I would have been even more interested in the diesel vs gas, or if diesel was consistently lower per gallon than gas. You have to look at your individual needs to really see the difference between the two, but that's a LOT of miles to just break even, without considering maintenance OR if you having something really go wrong, diesel parts cost more.

 

So, right now, I'm ok with my 11.7 MPG, and I'll get it over 12 MPG average for unloaded driving with tire pressure changes, and just running a MPH less.

 

So, roughly $0.03/mile difference at the current national average of fuel.

 

[sdeeter19555]

In the newer ones... 15 for sure 4.10 is the standard gear and 3.73 is optional. Previous was the other way around... my that it matters lol.

You, as a one-off consumer, cannot build a truck with 3.73s...I know, I tried. Fleets can get 3.73s still, but that's a fleet order. In 2014, they started with 4.10 only. Been down this road...unless they changed in the past year, I tried building a 2017 and 3.73s were not an option.

 

The point is that 4.10s are standard...talking about 3.73s in a vehicle that most consumers cannot purchase is meaningless.

 

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