Jump to content

Fuel MPG in the 6.0 engine?


Recommended Posts

While I realize that it is more comfortable to be dismissive than deal with mpg with a 6.0 3/4 ton, but depending on ones location, there might be a way to ease that suffering.

 

I filled with E85 today.  Price was $1.28 a gallon.  My 2500 has been on the stuff for about 1.5 years consistently. It averages 10-11 mpg on the stuff.  That makes the cost per mile about 12.5 cents.

 

Regular E10 is going for about $2.11 in my area.  The pickup averages about 13-14 mpg on that stuff.  If I used it, that would play out to be just under 16 cents a mile fuel cost.

 

Regular ethanol free gas is about $2.50 a gallon in my area.  No real change from E10 on mpg, but I will use 14 mpg for the calculation.  that comes out at just under 18 cents a mile.

 

So, the choice.... 12.5 cents a mile, 15.7 cents a mile, or 17.8 cents a mile.  No brainer.  I fill up with E85. Even with the lower mpg, I am still saving a grip of money over the long haul by choosing the fuel that provides the lowest cost per mile to use.  The beauty of a motor that will run on a smorgasbord of fuel choices.  

 

And how would that work with a Dmax and current price of $3.15 a gallon for diesel in my area?  it would have to average 25 mpg just to break even on fuel cost per mile of 12.5 cents.  I have yet to see a Dmax 3/4 ton average 25 mpg or better for all miles (city, highway, hauling, etc) .

Edited by Cowpie
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well we don't have E85 up here in Canada, but I believe our fuel is all e10 unless we choose premium fuel which it way to pricey to put through the truck.  I did some rough calculations and currently I am paying $3.25 US a Gallon for E10.  And the last trip with the sled deck on with 2 sleds and the cruise set to 65mph I was averaging 9mpg.  Its definitely not great.  I was hoping for 12-13 so I may have to look at a tune or some work but it is what it is.  I could probably get  better mileage with a diesel and diesel costs the same as gas up here, within a couple cents, but the initial purchase price was about 10 grand more.  I can buy a lot of fuel for 10 grand.  Not to mention the cheaper oil changes, and maintenance requirements of the gas job.  So am I still happy with my truck, you bet, its a truck, its big, its in your face, environmentalists nightmare and it does what I wanted my truck to do.  But that's just my opinion.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/25/2018 at 10:16 PM, Colossus said:

Very nice looking truck but NEVER trade a vehicle in.  Sell it privately. 

It was a Time Issue,

 

This truck would have not sat a week or two at my purchase price so had to just pull the trigger.  Also drove 700 miles round trip to pick it up!

 

DS

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/27/2018 at 9:20 PM, Cowpie said:

While I realize that it is more comfortable to be dismissive than deal with mpg with a 6.0 3/4 ton, but depending on ones location, there might be a way to ease that suffering.

 

I filled with E85 today.  Price was $1.28 a gallon.  My 2500 has been on the stuff for about 1.5 years consistently. It averages 10-11 mpg on the stuff.  That makes the cost per mile about 12.5 cents.

 

Regular E10 is going for about $2.11 in my area.  The pickup averages about 13-14 mpg on that stuff.  If I used it, that would play out to be just under 16 cents a mile fuel cost.

 

Regular ethanol free gas is about $2.50 a gallon in my area.  No real change from E10 on mpg, but I will use 14 mpg for the calculation.  that comes out at just under 18 cents a mile.

 

So, the choice.... 12.5 cents a mile, 15.7 cents a mile, or 17.8 cents a mile.  No brainer.  I fill up with E85. Even with the lower mpg, I am still saving a grip of money over the long haul by choosing the fuel that provides the lowest cost per mile to use.  The beauty of a motor that will run on a smorgasbord of fuel choices.  

 

And how would that work with a Dmax and current price of $3.15 a gallon for diesel in my area?  it would have to average 25 mpg just to break even on fuel cost per mile of 12.5 cents.  I have yet to see a Dmax 3/4 ton average 25 mpg or better for all miles (city, highway, hauling, etc) .

Cowpie, this is great information.  One needs to do the math because even though they are getting lower mpg, the cost could be less to use it as you have proven.  Not all areas have E85 at $1.28 a gallon.  Here in eastern NC it is $1.98 and regular is $2.17.  But there was a time that it was $1.63 and regular was $2.50.  Making it worth while to run E85.

 

Plus you have the added benefit of burning cleaner inside the engine and not as much carbon build up, as well as a very small performance gain and to me the exhaust smell is a plus. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just some info for anybody that is interested. I bought a 2018 silverado 1500 LT crew cab standard bed about this time last year. After reading many of the posts on this forum I decided the 5.3 with 3:42 gears is all I needed right now vs the 2500HD 6.0 just based on gas mileage and that I do not tow everyday. My old 03 1/2 ton got about 15 mpg on the highway and struggled towing anything over 6,000 lbs. Since having my 2018 1/2 ton I have put a 2" level on the front 3" blocks in the back and some Mickey Thompson ATZ P3's 275/65R20 on the truck and about 20,000 miles on all the level and tires. The funny thing is that with the above setup most people that are not super familiar with these trucks mistake it for a 2500 all the time. Unloaded going down the freeway at this current setup around 60-65mph without traffic I get about 19 mpg sometimes 20 pretty consistently. Even with slight traffic a few stops over I still get about 17-18. Recently I took my first long distance loaded trip in the truck where I traveled from Western WA to Central Idaho with a car trailer to pick up a load of post's and beams for a new home project. On the way over with an unloaded double axle car trailer I averaged 16 mpg pulling probably a 3,000 lbs trailer; which I was pretty impressed by. On the way back hauling 6,000lbs total (trailer + beams) I hand calculated 11.9 mpg over 400 miles. What impressed me the most was that with these new trucks and manual shift selection going over two passes in the winter time I cruised very comfortably with that load. I believe my truck is rated for about 9,100 lbs towing max, and I think with some rear bags up to 8,000lbs would be an easy tow. I know this is not as much as the 3/4 ton 6.0  but if you are on the fence like I was between the two and are just looking for a semi daily driver and towing the family travel trailer occasionally the new half tons are more than adequate and provide a little better gas mileage during the week. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/25/2018 at 7:16 PM, Colossus said:

Very nice looking truck but NEVER trade a vehicle in.  Sell it privately. 

Depends.  I live in a state with high sales tax (9%), and you only pay sales tax on the difference between the trade-in and the new vehicle.  If you sell privately, you pay sales tax on the entire price of the new vehicle.  I traded in a Jeep, got 30k for it and bought a new 35k 2500HD.  

 

So I paid 9% x 5k in sales tax, or $450.  Had I sold my Jeep privately, I would have paid 9% x 35k, or $3150 in sales tax - $2700 more than I paid by trading in.  So I would have needed to get at least 32.7k for my Jeep on the private market to break even, not to mention all the hassle.    

 

If I had it to do over again, I'd trade in the Jeep again.  I definitely would not want to deal with selling privately. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/30/2018 at 11:12 AM, dtaxdahl26 said:

The funny thing is that with the above setup most people that are not super familiar with these trucks mistake it for a 2500 all the time. Unloaded going down the freeway at this current setup around 60-65mph without traffic I get about 19 mpg sometimes 20 pretty consistently. Even with slight traffic a few stops over I still get about 17-18.

I suppose it is cool to look like a 2500, but if we put 2500 lb of material in the back end would it still look like a 2500 to everyone that a true 2500 would look like with 2500 lb of material in the back?  And I just filled up my 2015 2500 with E85 for $1.11 a gallon.  I typically average (all miles) about 10 mpg on E85. That makes my cost per mile about 11 cents.  Gas is going for $1.94 in my area.  That would mean, just to break even on cost per mile, a similar pickup would have to average 17-18 mpg.  Oh... what you are getting with the 1/2 ton.  So our fuel costs per mile are identical!  

 

Oh... and that $1.11 a gallon for E85 was not with any of that fuel card or fuel reward discount stuff. That it full pump price.  Didn't want someone to think I was not playing on a level field.

Edited by Cowpie
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, dodge stomper said:

I get about 14 average highway on my 3500....  Sweet spot is cruise on running at 77 mph.   Wander has anyone found any worth while tweeks to boost these beasts a few MPG's?

I just remind myself of all the money I will save when I am still driving the same truck in 20 years.  You can't hurt these things.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I get about 14 average highway on my 3500....  Sweet spot is cruise on running at 77 mph.   Wander has anyone found any worth while tweeks to boost these beasts a few MPG's?
Only thing i did was modify the stock air box. Took it out and added some more holes for more air rather than just the bottom snorkle.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/6/2018 at 8:39 PM, Cowpie said:

I suppose it is cool to look like a 2500, but if we put 2500 lb of material in the back end would it still look like a 2500 to everyone that a true 2500 would look like with 2500 lb of material in the back?  And I just filled up my 2015 2500 with E85 for $1.11 a gallon.  I typically average (all miles) about 10 mpg on E85. That makes my cost per mile about 11 cents.  Gas is going for $1.94 in my area.  That would mean, just to break even on cost per mile, a similar pickup would have to average 17-18 mpg.  Oh... what you are getting with the 1/2 ton.  So our fuel costs per mile are identical!  

 

Oh... and that $1.11 a gallon for E85 was not with any of that fuel card or fuel reward discount stuff. That it full pump price.  Didn't want someone to think I was not playing on a level field.

Well that all fine and dandy for you in a world where gas is 1.11 a gallon. Drive out west to where people pay $3/gal and 6 mpg difference on avg adds up pretty quick. The point of the post was if you haul under  8,000 lbs the new half tons workout just fine for some people. But I guess if you have 2,500 post on a forum you might do more typing than driving 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, dtaxdahl26 said:

Well that all fine and dandy for you in a world where gas is 1.11 a gallon. Drive out west to where people pay $3/gal and 6 mpg difference on avg adds up pretty quick. The point of the post was if you haul under  8,000 lbs the new half tons workout just fine for some people. But I guess if you have 2,500 post on a forum you might do more typing than driving 

Yeah, I suppose.  That averaging 135,000 miles a year of driving really isn’t all that much and leaves me a lot of time to type.   My semi truck doesn’t get driven much either.  It is a 2013 that I bought in August 2012 and it just turned over 914,000 miles the other day.  

 

Over 5 million documented miles driving commercially, 49 states and most of the Canadian provinces.  10 years commercial driving in Alaska.  

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/10/2018 at 1:18 PM, dtaxdahl26 said:

Well that all fine and dandy for you in a world where gas is 1.11 a gallon. Drive out west to where people pay $3/gal and 6 mpg difference on avg adds up pretty quick. The point of the post was if you haul under  8,000 lbs the new half tons workout just fine for some people. But I guess if you have 2,500 post on a forum you might do more typing than driving 

Did you see the HD caption on the forum?   It is only normal we thought (I Thought)  you had a 2500/3500HD.  I towed an 8000 pound RV for two years before I upgraded because my 1500 5.3 WOULD tow my RV it for sure did not like it and when you arrive at your destination your 1/2 ton's tongue is hanging out!  Also I would advise against going though the Rockies since your out west.  Maybe you should do a bit more reading and less typing...  You seem such a nice person!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember many years ago needing a drill.  And I went to the store and there were all kinds of drills, lots of corded and cordless versions of different sizes, different amperages, etc.  I grabbed this gigantic heavy duty milwaukee corded drill, under the theory that if I bought that one, there would never be a time when I would come across something I couldn't drill with that one drill.   And you know what?  I was right.  I still have that big heavy mutha, and I still use it for tough jobs.  Sure, I've got a nice, compact cordless now that I use for most things, but once in a while I need the big dog and I'm always glad I have it.  

 

When I found out we had another kid coming and the Jeep wasn't going to cut it any longer.  I was looking at Tahoes and 1500 crew short beds.  But then I thought about that drill ... and now I have a 2500HD gasser.  

 

20 years from now, I'll have a nice Tahoe or 1500 or Jeep or whatever, and I'll use it for most things.  But once in awhile, I'll need the big dog and I'll be glad I have it.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, i82much said:

I remember many years ago needing a drill.  And I went to the store and there were all kinds of drills, lots of corded and cordless versions of different sizes, different amperages, etc.  I grabbed this gigantic heavy duty milwaukee corded drill, under the theory that if I bought that one, there would never be a time when I would come across something I couldn't drill with that one drill.   And you know what?  I was right.  I still have that big heavy mutha, and I still use it for tough jobs.  Sure, I've got a nice, compact cordless now that I use for most things, but once in a while I need the big dog and I'm always glad I have it.  

 

When I found out we had another kid coming and the Jeep wasn't going to cut it any longer.  I was looking at Tahoes and 1500 crew short beds.  But then I thought about that drill ... and now I have a 2500HD gasser.  

 

20 years from now, I'll have a nice Tahoe or 1500 or Jeep or whatever, and I'll use it for most things.  But once in awhile, I'll need the big dog and I'll be glad I have it.  

Exactly my friend... And just why I have a 3500HD

 

Happy Trails....

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.




×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.