Canyon Vs Silverado.....canyon Wins

sc4808 · May 4, 2009

OK, we made a trip home last weekend, from Pascagoula, MS to Charleston, SC across the panhandle of Florida, I10, pretty flat ground, we pushed it real hard (running double digits over the speed limit) and both trucks were loaded with around 600 to 700 LBS, we filled both trucks at the same station and with the same gas pump both times, here are the results.

Miles Driven (both trucks) 359 (average between both trucks and the GPS).

2006 GMC Canyon took 16.05 Gallons to refill, resulting in 22.4 MPG

2008 Silverado took 21.36 Gallons to refill, resulting in 16.8 MPG

Now both trucks usually give us better mileage, we were driving them hard at 80+ MPH (my GPS showed an average speed of 74.6 MPH even with construction zones)

But the main point is that the Canyon delivered almost 6 MPG better even when loaded and driven the exact same way.

I have more details and pictures if anyone wants it.

By the way as a side note, my DIC showed an average MPG of 17.6 instead of the actual 16.8.

And please don't think that I am bashing my Silverado, I love the comfort and the ride but so many people say that the fullsize trucks beat thye midsize trucks in fuel mileage and I just wanted to give real world data istead of hearsay from a "friend who owns one"

ursandal · May 4, 2009

I bet if you went the speed limit you'd get even better milage. Not sure why you would be suprised that a small truck would get better mpg's than a full size. Slow down, save a life (maybe your own?).

Zembonez · May 4, 2009

Not so sure I'd call that a "WIN" but to each his own. I wouldn't trade my Sierra for a Canyon if it got 40 mpg. They are just made for two different markets. I'm sure both are good vehicles.

bubba33 · May 4, 2009

apple's and orange's

Stevens03 · May 4, 2009

Nice test... but I agree with other... I'd take the Silverado any day over the Canyon regardless of mileage for most trips. If you had to do an emergency stop, I'd bet the Silverado would handle it alot better.

Cool comparison though and good info.

georgecdisc · May 4, 2009

At first I thought this was going to be a thread about which truck did/did not make the journey.

I bet if towing a large, heavy trailer the Silverado will eventually start to take the win ... in MPG comparisons.

Nick The Great · May 4, 2009

Of course the Canyon got better mileage. And I bet an Aveo would beat the Canyon.

No one here drives trucks to get good mileage. We need and/or like driving trucks.

sc4808 · May 4, 2009

Yep, I agree, the Canyon is supposed to get better mileage, but I also would not want to give up my Silverado, mainly for towing reasons though.

The test was simply to see how much better the Canyon would do, that to me was the big surprise, after reading post for a while now as to how the midsize trucks get horrible mileage, I just wanted to share exactly how much better the mileage is in the smaller trucks.

And by the way, when gas gets back up to $4 we will all be talking about mileage again. (Hopefully that won't happen)

Anyway, no comments on the DIC not being accurate?

brims · May 4, 2009

Yep, I agree, the Canyon is supposed to get better mileage, but I also would not want to give up my Silverado, mainly for towing reasons though.

The test was simply to see how much better the Canyon would do, that to me was the big surprise, after reading post for a while now as to how the midsize trucks get horrible mileage, I just wanted to share exactly how much better the mileage is in the smaller trucks.

And by the way, when gas gets back up to $4 we will all be talking about mileage again. (Hopefully that won't happen)

Anyway, no comments on the DIC not being accurate?

You averaged the miles driven between 3 items, that may have been it. Try recalculating based on the miles the truck says it drove.

Also, my truck says I average 15.4 mpg my calculations say 15.1 has always been about that much off from day 1.

bubba33 · May 4, 2009

My DIC is accurate

Zembonez · May 4, 2009

Anyway, no comments on the DIC not being accurate?

Both are good rigs. We're just giving you the business as usual.

The DIC on my truck currently shows an average of 16.4 over 12000 miles since new. (I think I reset it about 1000 miles or so) The only times I did compare DIC info to actual fuel calculations it was off by as much as .5 MPG. The DIC is only offering an educated guess based on calculations provided by the engine management system. Evaporation, temperature, and other external factors make it impossible to be 100% accurate. I'd say it's pretty darn close.

Shouldn't that be good enough?

66nova · May 4, 2009

Anyway, no comments on the DIC not being accurate?

To me that is not that big of deal. I don't think it is that far off. It is less than a mile per gallon off and that is assuming all the numbers you gave us are dead on, the fuel nozzle shut off at the same time as the previous fill up, and that you reset your DIC immediately after you started your truck after getting gas and not once you already started driving. All of these could play into the differences.

geektoad · May 4, 2009

Yep, I agree, the Canyon is supposed to get better mileage, but I also would not want to give up my Silverado, mainly for towing reasons though.

The test was simply to see how much better the Canyon would do, that to me was the big surprise, after reading post for a while now as to how the midsize trucks get horrible mileage, I just wanted to share exactly how much better the mileage is in the smaller trucks.

And by the way, when gas gets back up to $4 we will all be talking about mileage again. (Hopefully that won't happen)

Anyway, no comments on the DIC not being accurate?

You averaged the miles driven between 3 items, that may have been it. Try recalculating based on the miles the truck says it drove.

Also, my truck says I average 15.4 mpg my calculations say 15.1 has always been about that much off from day 1.

Actually, base it off the GPS. That's the most accurate of the three by a landslide. Your numbers for the vehicles relative to one another won't change, but you'll get a more accurate MPG. The mileage reported by the trucks themselves will be effected by whether you have the original tires on them or not. It can even be effected by how worn the tires are (shortened diameter).

Regardless, it's interesting data.

svensk · May 4, 2009

You haven't told us anything about the trucks. Canyon has which engine? Your truck has what gears? How many miles does yours have? Canyon also has far less wind resistance.

sc4808 · May 4, 2009

You haven't told us anything about the trucks. Canyon has which engine? Your truck has what gears? How many miles does yours have? Canyon also has far less wind resistance.

Excellent Questions, The Canyon is a 06 with the 3.7L I-5 and 3.73 Gears, it has stock LT265/75R15 Tires and the Truck has 42K Miles on it, Its a RCSB

The Silverado is a 08 CCSB with the 5.3 L Alum, and 3.73 Gears as well, It has the stock tires as well and currently has 14K Miles on the clock.

Both Trucks are 4 speed Autos.

Both trucks were driven the same speed, both with CC set.

I normally drive much slower, and did on the return trip, but needed to get home as quickly as possibe, driving that fast is not something I like to do at all.

Also My Silverado has a Hood Protector on it that cuts mileage some, I just would rather suffer a little mileage than to deal with all of the bugs on the hood this time of the year.

Oh and Both Trucks belong to me.