MPG

[Duramax3oh]

34 minutes ago, It's Tim said:

Nobody buys a truck for "fuel economy". Regardless of price I'll continue to consume as much fuel as I please.

No and yes. It's far from the most important for me but it's a nice satisfaction feeling to get better mpg than worse. And it's always nice to "justify" things/purchases/etc in your head. 

 

It's not about fuel $ savings for me... what I really love is being able to drive further (especially while towing) and not have to stop and fill up with gas as much. Not having to stop at all... or stopping once instead of twice is what really pleases me. TIME IS MONEY baby. The catch with these Silverados/Sierras though is the freaking small fuel tank. While it doesn't necessarily "need" to be any bigger I really wish it was a 30 gallon instead of 24. 

 

I can make the 350 mile trip from Houston to New Orleans (which I frequently drive) on one tank of gas towing my trailer. No need to pull off and stop just put it in Drive, get there, crack open an Abita and relax 

Edited December 17, 2020 by Duramax3oh

[redwngr]

9 minutes ago, Duramax3oh said:

I don't like to use the instant mpg reading other than to get a vague idea of the general range we may be talking about.

 

I take a lot of long highway trips and prefer to set cruise control at different speeds and then see how the 25-mile avg and 50-mile avg readouts look. It's hard to get any more accurate than that IMO.  Particularly when you do that on I-10 in Texas and Louisiana... there is NO DOWNHILL 

As well as grade, it's also important to note/track any wind or traffic as the both also impact fuel economy.

 

Setting adaptive  cruise and following a smooth sided semi-truck/trailer can make a big different in the economy. Of course it depending on the trucks choice of speed, it might make the trip longer  

 

[Booger T]

7 minutes ago, redwngr said:

Setting adaptive  cruise and following a smooth sided semi-truck/trailer can make a big different in the economy

Go ahead and follow that smooth sided semi, if you have ever seen what a blown tire from one of them can do to a vehicle you might change your mind. I don't dally around tractor/trailers any longer than needed

[Jglew82]

12 minutes ago, Booger T said:

Go ahead and follow that smooth sided semi, if you have ever seen what a blown tire from one of them can do to a vehicle you might change your mind. I don't dally around tractor/trailers any longer than needed

This right here, especially if you saw how 95% of them "perform" their pre-trips. 

[MaverickZ71]

Don't necessarily trust the instant or average fuel economy numbers as shown on the screen, as they can be overoptimistic to give the owner that warm fuzzy feeling.  Hand calculate your fuel mileage for a few tanks and then you'll know exactly what you're getting.  

[redwngr]

50 minutes ago, Booger T said:

Go ahead and follow that smooth sided semi, if you have ever seen what a blown tire from one of them can do to a vehicle you might change your mind. I don't dally around tractor/trailers any longer than needed

Don't need to be THAT close...

 

 

[Duramax3oh]

2 hours ago, MaverickZ71 said:

Don't necessarily trust the instant or average fuel economy numbers as shown on the screen, as they can be overoptimistic to give the owner that warm fuzzy feeling.  Hand calculate your fuel mileage for a few tanks and then you'll know exactly what you're getting.  

This is extremely good advice. My Fords in the past have always been on the optimistic side when real mpg was lower. I've hand calculated at minimum 20-25 times with this Chevy though and only ONCE has the hand calc been lower than what the information center has displayed. I've been pleasantly surprised

Edited December 17, 2020 by Duramax3oh

[Cuongdyna]

3 hours ago, MaverickZ71 said:

Don't necessarily trust the instant or average fuel economy numbers as shown on the screen, as they can be overoptimistic to give the owner that warm fuzzy feeling.  Hand calculate your fuel mileage for a few tanks and then you'll know exactly what you're getting.  

On my truck I'm getting 2 to 3 mpg different then what it says on the economy numbers. My truck says I'm averaging is between 21 to 22 mpg and I hand Calculate is 22 to 25 mpg.

[f8l vnm]

one thing is for sure as I have said this before , GM really dropped the ball not only going smaller tank on the T1s and also at same time not offering a buy up bigger tank option like Ford, Dodge and Toyota do.  I cannot understand their reasoning. 

[71_340]

On 12/16/2020 at 10:05 PM, 71_340 said:

Mine is brand new.  DIC shows 24.5 MPG average for the first 180 miles, 50/50 highway/city.  It's cold here so I used the remote start twice.

 

Keep in mind that it take time for the engine to break in, it's cold and winter fuel (diesel or gas) carries less energy.

Update on my initial displayed MPG.

 

Today I filled the tank for the first time after putting a little bit over 500 miles on my new truck as follows.  The first 100 miles between 65 and 70 on the Interstate, then 150 miles local (city and secondary roads), yesterday 250 mile round trip with 3 passengers, adaptive cruise set to 75.

DIC showed 24.4 average, hand calculated it was 24.7 MPG.  Not bad for a new engine; I am not sure if the truck went through a DPF regeneration cycle or not.  On my list is a gage so I can monitor DPF soot level and when regeneration starts.