I had a 04 5.3 with a 4 speed, then I bought an 11 5.3 with a 6 speed. On paper the 04 was supposed to get 18 mpg highway and the 11 on paper 21 mpg highway. In real life, the 04 got 20 mpg highway and the 11 got 21 mpg. I think the 1 mph came from the extra gears in the tranny. I don't feel AFM buys you much. City mileage is within 1 mpg of the two vehicles also.
One major difference in highway mileage I have seen in my trucks is the actual speed, anything over 73 mph, the gas mileage nose dives, at least several miles per gallon. Under that, they get reasonable mileage. When I refer to the 20-21 mpg averages, that is for a full tank, so a 550-600 mile average.