Suburban Mpg

[TroyDairy]

I know, I know if I want mpg getta TDi Jetta. I just bought a 02 1500 suburban. 3.73, a/t, 5.3, k&N af, 42k miles and mint. It has 22 inch wheels which aren't helping mpg any I realize. So we took it home last week, 200 miles freeway and 130 miles mixed local driving after we were home and it got 14.5mpg. It seems a bit low I was expecting 16-18 since my Dad's Z71-1500 P/U gets that all day. I promply ordered a Blackbear tune! Can anyone recommend a muffler system that will help or CAI? My 2000 1500 gained 1.5 mpg across the range with a CAI. Hard to believe but it worked! Wow what a nice driving rig this Suburban is! So much more ...refined compared to my 05 2500HD. Just smooth and tight. Thanks guys for the info...

[rhett121]

I know, I know if I want mpg getta TDi Jetta. I just bought a 02 1500 suburban. 3.73, a/t, 5.3, k&N af, 42k miles and mint. It has 22 inch wheels which aren't helping mpg any I realize. So we took it home last week, 200 miles freeway and 130 miles mixed local driving after we were home and it got 14.5mpg. It seems a bit low I was expecting 16-18 since my Dad's Z71-1500 P/U gets that all day. I promply ordered a Blackbear tune! Can anyone recommend a muffler system that will help or CAI? My 2000 1500 gained 1.5 mpg across the range with a CAI. Hard to believe but it worked! Wow what a nice driving rig this Suburban is! So much more ...refined compared to my 05 2500HD. Just smooth and tight. Thanks guys for the info...

 

My 2000 Suburban has the same specs and gets about the same mileage. It might be the winter gas because I did a cross country trip and when I left I got about 16-17 and as it got closer to Christmas my mileage went down to 14's and has stayed there (even when towing a trailer). The only exception was a couple hundred miles of mountain driving in Colorado where I had filled up with NON-Ethanol "enriched" gas and I got just over 18MPG! That was in heavy footed steep mountain driving IN 4WD! Ethanol is the KILLER in fuel mileage.

Hopefully as it warms up the ethanol content will drop a little and I can have some more real gas in my gas. (I bought 93 Octane and towed a trailer in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas all the way back to New England and got 16.5MPG until I got to Ohio and the crap gas which followed me the rest of the way back to New England, as did the 14'sMPG)

 

BTW- I have a SuperChips Cortex and have tried a few different setting from Mileage, 87 Octane, Performance (91 octane) and Tow Mode (91 Octane) There are differences in the shifting and power but the mileage was about the same until I started buying the better fuel in the southern states. I'd like to get a BlackBear tune but I do like to have the option of changing my tune to suit my needs. I don't always want to run Premium @ $3+ a gallon.

 

I also have a K&N drop in, AirRaid tube (to stock box) and Perma-Cool electric fans. Run Mobile1 filter and Castrol EDGE 5-30.

 

p.s. My dads 98 Z71 gets about 16ish also when it's in tune.

[GeneratorPower]

I have a 2004 Suburban 2WD with 95,000 miles on it. I was averaging 15.2 mpg mixed hwy/city driving. I changed the plugs to Bosch Platinum 2's and went up to 16.2 mpg. It is shocking what a difference it makes (almost 10% better economy). I also changed the wires when I did the plugs. That may have something to do with it.

[TroyDairy]

Thanks Rehtt. FYI Blackbear could tune you truck to run on water! My 05 2500HD is tuned for 87 then I run 92 during heavy towing. WORKS GREAT. The bad mileage could be from the gas since I noticed a good amt of water from the tail pipe after idling a bit. 10% crapenol blended Shell gas.

[jro909]

ok for one, its a fullsize suv..essentially a steel box on wheel...and two yes the dubz are murdering some of your mpg, your going the right route with a tune, if your going for a full cai get an exhaust kit so it flows better, not just a muffler..a muffler does nothing but make or take sound...other options include headers, smaller rims,lighter foot...you should already have platiunums in it, mine came stock with them..the bottom line is its a fullsize suv, they are made for power and comfort so the mpg is part of the sacrifice...theres other basic things you could try like changing the fuel filter,running synthetic but all those probably won't generate enough gains to be noticed...

[TroyDairy]

I know it is a brick! Like I said I just expexted more then my HD mpg. I hear dynomax is the good pipe compay now so I think I'll will price them out. Thanks for the tips!

[jro909]

they are a pain to milk mpg out of, thats why the market took such a big hit...paying big bucks right off the bat to end up paying about the same to keep gas in it...i'd get a tune man

[msm10301]

FWIW , I have an '09 with the 22" and my mileage varies quite a bit based on how fast I drive. If I set the cruise on 70, I can get around 19-20. At 80 it drops to about 16. Mike