Winter gas milage with my 14 vs my 04

[Silver space ship]

So before winter began I was averaging 20 mpg since the day it rolled of the lot. It has now dropped to around 13 mpg for the last few months, no big surprise, it's winter and winter fuel etc. What I did find surprising is I looked at Fuely for what I was getting for the same months of the year, last year with my 04. Both trucks are getting the same milage! Both 5.3 4x4 z71 my last truck being a extended cab with topper and this one being a crew with a tonneau. I even bought the same tires in the same hight as my last truck. Gearing on the 04 was the 3.74, 14 is 3.43.

 

So no big deal they get the same winter milage but the 14 gets about 4 more mpg in the summer as my old truck but here's the kicker. I keep my 14 in a heated garage and almost never use the remote start (temps have been in the -30F last few nights just to give an idea of my winters). The 04 was always outside and I used the remote start every morning for at least 17 min a morning and probably 1/2 the mornings I would restart it again after the 17 min run time timed out, so I would say it ran closer to 25 min a morning those days. I truly think if I left my 14 outside and used the remote start for the same amount of time I would be around 11 to 11.5 mpg. And the 04 had a 225lb fiberglass topper on it too that would take away from the milage.

 

With the cold weather the v4 mode doesn't get used much where in the summer it was in v4 more then V8. It's obviously the v4 mode is what gets these trucks the milage they get. But what surprised me is without it's actually worse then my 10 year old truck! And it's not like it never goes into v4 in the winter but for me it's maybe 5% of the time. maybe it's a trade off for the more hp and torque. Maybe getting rid of the low rolling resistance tire too. I should add, same driving route, speeds distance, habits other then mentioned above. I'm not complaining,I know the over all milage for the year will be better with the 14 I just found it surprising.

[Cap'n Pete]

I think right now I'm getting similar mileage as my Dad gets with his 2000 Sierra (5.3L, 4x4, 3.73's) ..... but that's "winter mileage" for my truck.

 

The thing to keep in mind is the newer trucks are inherently heavier than the older models, with all the added air bags, beefed up structure for 5-star crash rating, etc.

 

I believe the curb weight of my '14 is ~5200lbs. I think a truck like my Dad's '00 is only ~4600lbs (and your '04 would be similar to that, since they're pretty much the same platform). Weight is weight, and obviously doesn't help. That's the only justification I can see for the mileage being so close between trucks that are so many years apart.

 

However, like you said, the warm/summer mileage of the '14 seems incredible, and should hand the older models their ass.

[crushNchowda]

My 14 CC standars bed 4x4 5.3 weighs 5,950 lbs give or take w/ 1/2 tank of gas and me in it (160 lbs) its a heavy fng rig

[KMGZ400]

My 14 CC standars bed 4x4 5.3 weighs 5,950 lbs give or take w/ 1/2 tank of gas and me in it (160 lbs) its a heavy fng rig

Damn that is pretty heavy for a half.. My old 01 ecsb 1500 only weighed 4950.

 

Amazing that even after 10 years the trucks are getting the same MPG.

[pm26]

My 14 CC standars bed 4x4 5.3 weighs 5,950 lbs give or take w/ 1/2 tank of gas and me in it (160 lbs) its a heavy fng rig

The weight of my '06 crew cab Z71 4x4 is stated as 5999 lbs on my vehicle registration card. That's about the same as yours.

[KMGZ400]

The weight of my '06 crew cab Z71 4x4 is stated as 5999 lbs on my vehicle registration card. That's about the same as yours.

 

I didn't think crew cabs were that much heavier then extended cabs.. Surprising

[kstruckcountry]

My 2006 is 5400 per elevator scale.

[youcantkeepup!]

its not a true apples to apples figure to 10 years got though, lots of stations were not e10 at that point.. man do i wish we didnt have such crap gasoline these days