Mpg Increase

hbl5078 · January 23, 2008

Hello from Houston,

I just purchased a 2005 GMC 2500HD 2wd. ext. cab short bed with the 6.0 gas engine and 4.10 axle. Currently I am averaging 11.5-12.0 MPG in the city. I haven't taken it on a road trip yet. I am wondering if anyone has suggestions on how I can increase my gas mileage 1-3 mpg using aftermarket products. I commute at least 70 miles per day when I have to drive to the office so anything would help.

Thanks

Zembonez · January 23, 2008

Hello from Houston,

I just purchased a 2005 GMC 2500HD 2wd. ext. cab short bed with the 6.0 gas engine and 4.10 axle. Currently I am averaging 11.5-12.0 MPG in the city. I haven't taken it on a road trip yet. I am wondering if anyone has suggestions on how I can increase my gas mileage 1-3 mpg using aftermarket products. I commute at least 70 miles per day when I have to drive to the office so anything would help.

Thanks

It is what it is.

Not much is going to improve the mileage. Keep the tires aired up and go easy on the gas when you take off. 12-14 is probably going to be your range.

You got a great truck though!

EDIT: Oh yeah... WELCOME TO THE SITE!

vranasaurus · January 24, 2008

Hello from Houston,

I just purchased a 2005 GMC 2500HD 2wd. ext. cab short bed with the 6.0 gas engine and 4.10 axle. Currently I am averaging 11.5-12.0 MPG in the city. I haven't taken it on a road trip yet. I am wondering if anyone has suggestions on how I can increase my gas mileage 1-3 mpg using aftermarket products. I commute at least 70 miles per day when I have to drive to the office so anything would help.

Thanks

Drive it less. I would get a beater car for your commutes. Seriuosly. I currently live in Louisville and my duty station may change form Louisville to Ft. Knox in 2 years and since I don't want to sell my house I plan on buying a small car for the 70 mile daily round trip. Spending $1500-2000 on a car that will save me about $180 a month, which would pay for itself in a year.

There are no magic bullets for fuel economy. Otherwise GM would have used them. As was already said it is what it is.

From what I can gather a custom tune might give you a little better MPG but not much.

Fortune50 · January 24, 2008

Many will argue that a tune will give better mileage. I have seen about a 0.5 mpg gain so far w/ my Hypertech on the 87 octane setting. The best you could do for mpg is to drive the truck sensibly and with the strategy in mind for mpg. But, given it's a big 'ol truck, I doubt you'll be seeing anything spectacular for gains. Did you buy the truck as a commuter vehicle w/ the hope of getting good mpg? I hope not...

hbl5078 · January 24, 2008

Many will argue that a tune will give better mileage. I have seen about a 0.5 mpg gain so far w/ my Hypertech on the 87 octane setting. The best you could do for mpg is to drive the truck sensibly and with the strategy in mind for mpg. But, given it's a big 'ol truck, I doubt you'll be seeing anything spectacular for gains. Did you buy the truck as a commuter vehicle w/ the hope of getting good mpg? I hope not...

Yes, I did buy the truck as a daily driver because I like the comfort and ride of a 3/4 ton. But I didn't expect good mpg from a truck of this size. I work from home often so it isn't going to kill me. Its a great truck!!! I have received advice from "armchair quarterbacks" on how to increase mpg from exhaust systems and cold intake systems to changing the axle to 3.73. Not to mention the chips. I know chips are supposed to do wonders for diesel engines but don't know anyone who has used one on a gas engine. Did you notice increased HP with your Hypertech?

Fortune50 · January 24, 2008

Yes, I did buy the truck as a daily driver because I like the comfort and ride of a 3/4 ton. But I didn't expect good mpg from a truck of this size. I work from home often so it isn't going to kill me. Its a great truck!!! I have received advice from "armchair quarterbacks" on how to increase mpg from exhaust systems and cold intake systems to changing the axle to 3.73. Not to mention the chips. I know chips are supposed to do wonders for diesel engines but don't know anyone who has used one on a gas engine. Did you notice increased HP with your Hypertech?

Yes I have noticed extra oomph from it. But it's nothing dramatic, even if I've gained 20hp at the motor, it still has to push 6000 lbs, so it isn't going to give a huge drop in acceleration times.

bobcat5544 · January 24, 2008

There are ways to get beter gas mileage, the easiest is to reprogram the ecu/pcm and not with that cheap piece of crap hypertech.

The best program out there that some can get that dose not work at GM Design and Development center is from jegs. This program gives the the ability to custum tune everything. Bad part is you have some type of under standing and training in advance engine performance.

I have the jegs program and with one tune I can get 17 mpg city on the 496 8.1L which normal you get 8-10 mpg, but I loose 100 hp

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/serv...762010_-1_10373

But for those that dont have that type of knowlege the Diablo Sport Predator is the one for you. after loading up the tune stored in the predator you can go back in adjust fuel trim. By doing this you can lowwer that amount of fuel being put into the engine, thus useing less gas. Downside loss of power, but when you need that power you can reload the other tune. A 5-10% change in fuel trip will give you about 4-8 mpg more. Any more than 10% with out knowing what you are doing can cause damages...

http://diablosport.com/

hbl5078 · January 24, 2008

There are ways to get beter gas mileage, the easiest is to reprogram the ecu/pcm and not with that cheap piece of crap hypertech.

The best program out there that some can get that dose not work at GM Design and Development center is from jegs. This program gives the the ability to custum tune everything. Bad part is you have some type of under standing and training in advance engine performance.

I have the jegs program and with one tune I can get 17 mpg city on the 496 8.1L which normal you get 8-10 mpg, but I loose 100 hp

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/serv...762010_-1_10373

But for those that dont have that type of knowlege the Diablo Sport Predator is the one for you. after loading up the tune stored in the predator you can go back in adjust fuel trim. By doing this you can lowwer that amount of fuel being put into the engine, thus useing less gas. Downside loss of power, but when you need that power you can reload the other tune. A 5-10% change in fuel trip will give you about 4-8 mpg more. Any more than 10% with out knowing what you are doing can cause damages...

http://diablosport.com/

This sounds interesting. I don't mind a loss of power for a 4-8 mpg increase on my long commutes. My only concern is I don't want to compromise my engine life. I like to keep my trucks to 150-200k miles.

Hulk1999 · January 24, 2008

Has anyone every tried what bobcat is saying. I'd be happy if i could get 12mpg in the city with my big block. I have a 95 dodge ram 4x4 with a 318 that used to get 12mpg at best in city, i put a slew of parts on it and it was getting about 18 on the highway, until the tranny went to crap. Don't know how much power i got out of it though. Did perform a lot better. A lot better

ak63 · January 24, 2008

The Jegs does not support 2007 NBS trucks yet while the DiabloSport Predator model U7194 does (http://diablosport.com/index.php?module=ht...play&pid=83). I'd be interested to hear comments from anyone who has used the Predator and tuned for economy on a NBS 2500HD.

Fortune50 · January 24, 2008

There are ways to get beter gas mileage, the easiest is to reprogram the ecu/pcm and not with that cheap piece of crap hypertech.

The best program out there that some can get that dose not work at GM Design and Development center is from jegs. This program gives the the ability to custum tune everything. Bad part is you have some type of under standing and training in advance engine performance.

I have the jegs program and with one tune I can get 17 mpg city on the 496 8.1L which normal you get 8-10 mpg, but I loose 100 hp

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/serv...762010_-1_10373

I got the hypertech as a test, it's an eBay find I got for cheap. Does that Jet program offer a "preloaded" performance enhancement program or do you have to come up with your own?

Bruce03Silverado · January 24, 2008

Like you I work from home most days excpet when going to customer sites which, when I do, is at least 50mi each way. I bought my 07 Classic 2500HD knowing I work form home most of the time. I get paid mileage when I go to customer sites so it's not that bad. I have 285/75/16 BFG's on the truck as well as an S&B drop in air filter and Superchips Flashpaq tuning with the 87 tune. Around town I get 11-12mpg and the best I've gotten on the highway is 14.5 so everyone is about spot on for the mileage you can expect. I have the 6.0 with 4.10's as well. If you were really looking for a truck for gas mileage you may have been better off with a 1500. If I was going to be driving mine everyday I would have gotten a 1500 instead of the HD. I really don't need the 2500HD, but the price was hard to beat given I bought it when the NBS trucks were coming out and the classics were being discounted heavily plus my GM Supplier Discount.

vranasaurus · January 24, 2008

There are ways to get beter gas mileage, the easiest is to reprogram the ecu/pcm and not with that cheap piece of crap hypertech.

The best program out there that some can get that dose not work at GM Design and Development center is from jegs. This program gives the the ability to custum tune everything. Bad part is you have some type of under standing and training in advance engine performance.

I have the jegs program and with one tune I can get 17 mpg city on the 496 8.1L which normal you get 8-10 mpg, but I loose 100 hp

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/serv...762010_-1_10373

But for those that dont have that type of knowlege the Diablo Sport Predator is the one for you. after loading up the tune stored in the predator you can go back in adjust fuel trim. By doing this you can lowwer that amount of fuel being put into the engine, thus useing less gas. Downside loss of power, but when you need that power you can reload the other tune. A 5-10% change in fuel trip will give you about 4-8 mpg more. Any more than 10% with out knowing what you are doing can cause damages...

http://diablosport.com/

Is it possible to damage the engine by reducing the fuel so much? Just curious.

I wouldn't think it would be good for an engine to run that lean.

bobcat5544 · January 24, 2008

There are ways to get beter gas mileage, the easiest is to reprogram the ecu/pcm and not with that cheap piece of crap hypertech.

The best program out there that some can get that dose not work at GM Design and Development center is from jegs. This program gives the the ability to custum tune everything. Bad part is you have some type of under standing and training in advance engine performance.

I have the jegs program and with one tune I can get 17 mpg city on the 496 8.1L which normal you get 8-10 mpg, but I loose 100 hp

http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/serv...762010_-1_10373

But for those that dont have that type of knowlege the Diablo Sport Predator is the one for you. after loading up the tune stored in the predator you can go back in adjust fuel trim. By doing this you can lowwer that amount of fuel being put into the engine, thus useing less gas. Downside loss of power, but when you need that power you can reload the other tune. A 5-10% change in fuel trip will give you about 4-8 mpg more. Any more than 10% with out knowing what you are doing can cause damages...

http://diablosport.com/

Is it possible to damage the engine by reducing the fuel so much? Just curious.

I wouldn't think it would be good for an engine to run that lean.

Yes you can damage the engine by leaning out the fuel mix to much, fuel cools and lubicates the cylinders before it is ignited.

Using the Jegs software requires you to have a traing in advance engine performance, like my self I was a programer/problem solver for GM. So I know what I can and can't do.

That is why I reconmmend the diablo sport programer for any one that is unsure about making adjustments because the book tells you what you are about to do and give you warnings what can happen, also the programer is desinged not to let you over tune your vehicle.