Mpg report

[klahanie]

^ 11mpg sounds pretty great to me, considering my 351W from the same era ('91) was lucky to get 10 and that was RC, 5sp with the same 3.54 highway gear.

Agreed, less worried about mpg - 'course wouldn't say no to better - but there are so many other costs associated with a truck and camper. No way around it vehicles are expensive.

I'd rather pay for truck fuel than not 'cause that means we're using it !

 

[Jeromelo]

2017 Chevy Colorado Diesel w/ATC shell and gear 1200lbs additional. I just did a trial run from my home at 7000ft. to Salt Lake City 4300ft. for a Costco run and some running around getting ready for a trip. 65 mph. on the x-way with a bit of city driving approx.. 100 total 23.9 mph...not bad...

 

[evansbigdayout]

I just completed a 2700 mile road trip and averaged 12.5 mpg. Most of the miles were highway 50-65mph, with a chunk of freeway 60-75mph and a bit of 4wd. 2012 Tundra 5.7 DC w/ Sun Valley Apache 6.5. I notice much more appetizing instant mpg readings if I stay under 60mph and under 2k rpms (as someone else mentioned here). I average 16mpg without my camper on.

 

[Vic Harder]

Re: MPG and costs and safety

I have a trip planned in May from Calgary to the Burr Trail in Utah. So plenty of 70+ mph highway on the way down, and then lots of 4x4 and gravel road once I am there.

I expect to get 12 mpg overall with my rig, which is a 2002 ¾ ton GMC with a big gas engine and a Hawk on the back, plus me and my spouse.

I estimated gas costs at $3.50/USgal. Cost of gas for the trip works out to $849.

I do maybe 2 such trips a year, plus in between some shorter trips. Total mileage per year is around 8000 miles per year. That’s about $2400 in gas. If I got 2x that (in a newer diesel Colorado for example) I would save $1200 in gas per year.

If I sold my truck today I could get $8k for it (maybe… Canadian funny money)

I’m seeing 2017 Colorado’s going for about $45K up here. The difference is $37k. Saving $1200/year would mean my break even would be 30.8 years.

I think I will keep my gas guzzler.

And my Hawk which would overload the Colorado.

 

[Jeromelo]

Vic, my declaration about my bare bonz Colorado set-up wasn't to dis big gassers as I own one myself a 2004 Chevy Silverado Crew Cab w/8ft bed. I wanted the mid size to fit in the garage and as a summer daily driver/small camper set-up with enough oomph to haul my 27' travel trailer. Since I also need a big truck I also wanted to stretch the time left on the Silverado as it would be about $55,000 to replace

 

[PackRat]

Vic....that is another very good point....if you get "lousy gas mileage" (that being over 10 but under 16 MPG) on your "old" truck but it has years of life left and many miles to go then you aren't making monthly payments or paying higher auto insurance payments.

 

[Vic Harder]

Vic, my declaration about my bare bonz Colorado set-up wasn't to dis big gassers as I own one myself a 2004 Chevy Silverado Crew Cab w/8ft bed. I wanted the mid size to fit in the garage and as a summer daily driver/small camper set-up with enough oomph to haul my 27' travel trailer. Since I also need a big truck I also wanted to stretch the time left on the Silverado as it would be $55,000 to replace.

No dis perceived nor intended. Your Colorado example was a good one... and about the only one I would consider switching to. So, that's why I used it. ;-)

 

[Jeromelo]

BTW the Silverado set-up gets 10 mpg give or take 70+ on the x-way.

 

[PackRat]

Remember that if you S-L-O-W D-O-W-N to 60-65 MPH or even a bit less...one most drives, that only adds a few minutes to about an hour to each days' drive if it's an all-day one.....its amazing how much more MPG you get by doing that.

I don't drive like an Old Man even though I am, but at about 65 MPH I'm happy to get where I'm going and maybe save a few bucks along the way....no offense intended but towing at 70-75 MPH seems to be pushing the envelope a bit for me. That includes a second vehicle, a boat or a trailer of any type. Once you go past a semi or two going the other way on a two-lane road and he's doing 65 and you are doing 70-75 MPH and your rig stars weaving around due to the air he's pushing you might find you are headed for a ditch. I've seen guys with a camper towing a boat in front of me do exactly that and it scares the pants off you until you regain control...or don't.

Just sayin'.....

 

[BillTheHiker]

I have not noticed anyone mentioning if they use cruise control and if they find it impacts mpg. Don't know if my CC is faulty(2008 Tacoma), but it seems like using CC costs me about 2 mpg highway driving and I drive 60-65 mph. When climbing a grade it does not adjust quickly when the road levels out so truck runs up to about 5 mph over the preset speed for a few seconds then adjusts. If I switch if off just before the top of a hill and then back on when road becomes level, I do a little better and the CC then costs me only 1 mpg, but that is a PITA so unless I am on a long stretch of level road I just leave the CC off.

 

[Vic Harder]

I think my cc saves me gas, not to mention making my driving more predictable for those around me, as it holds speed very consistently, even downhill (love the Allison transmission for that!).

And to Packrat's point, I have never noticed sway from a semi's wind impact. I am very happy with the handling on my rig.

To wit, we still have snow with deep ruts on our street, and I have to do a 180 to park. Unless I want to do a 3+ point, I just crank the wheel, boot it and let the back end swing around... voila, parking spot is now right in front of me. Try doing that with a top heavy rig!

 

[evansbigdayout]

Bill, the cruise control in my 2012 tundra does the same thing on even slightly hilly terrain so I don't use it. But I do notice 1-2mpg increase when I use it on level drives and freeway stretches. It's not a huge increase, so I don't try to use it religiously.

 

[klahanie]

Bill, back in the day (post oil crisis) all the tips to improve you fuel economy included the heavy use of CC. But I never really bought into it, in part because of what you mentioned and also because of the frequent delay sensing a hill climb where the controller would belatedly "step on it" to maintain speed. Unlike the driver who could cheat a bit by speeding up before the hill or better yet speed up going down the hill that proceeded it. (yah, I know you can still do that with CC on)

Nowadays the sensing and modulation is much improved so I'll use it on the flats or if there are lots of cars passing and I just want to stay out of speed race. Don't really use it for fuel economy.

---

Vic, I noticed you skipped over the "slow down" suggestion . Understandable from you neck of the woods. Don't know if its the cheap Alberta gas or the rush to get to BC but I know when it comes to driving fast you folks have a proud reputation to uphold.

 

[Vic Harder]

Vic, I noticed you skipped over the "slow down" suggestion . Understandable from you neck of the woods. Don't know if its the cheap Alberta gas or the rush to get to BC but I know when it comes to driving fast you folks have a proud reputation to uphold.

LOL! Unlike most Alberta folks, I love corners and usually speed up for those! And I don't generally speed on the straights! Maybe that's because I grew up on the wet coast and used to teach autocross driving.

My defensive driving training and skills have given me a preference for driving slightly faster than others, so that can "see" and anticipate what is coming up, rather than trying to see what's behind. That is true when I drive cars, and even more so with a camper on the truck.

Gas is not "cheap" in Alberta, at least not relative to the USA.

 

[BillTheHiker]

I just searched Tacomaworld.com to see if others have similar experience to mine with their Tacomas and sure enough, they do:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/effect-of-cruise-control-on-gas-mileage.510449/

 

[moveinon]

Between my Tacoma + Fleet (16 MPG) and my Prius (49 MPG) I average about 33 MPG which seams pretty good to me.

 

[BBZ]

14 F150 Super Crew 6.5 bed, 5.0 liter with 82 ish Fleet, two dog, two adults and full.. 16.3 for over 4500 miles down Baja and back..

Recent trip to Moab and Back (about 800 miles).. only one adult and not as full -19 mpg

Certainly keeping it under 70 is the key for my truck..

 

[kmcintyre]

2015 RAM 1500 EcoDiesel w/ 3.92 rear gears, Eagle camper. I get 20mph at about 75mph. If I drop it down to 55-65 it goes up to about 23 but I don't go that slow.

 

[Ramblinman]

Hi! This is one of my favourite threads. I am bumping it to the top to see if anyone would like to contribute further.

 

[JaSAn]

On my trip to Nebraska from Minnesota I was bucking 10 - 20 mph headwinds. And wouldn't you know it, I only had one day of tailwinds. Very hilly; I was in Tow/Haul mode for most of my highway driving in Nebraska and was controlling the throttle, so I was slowing on hills to avoid shifting. Also includes about 150 miles of gravel and two track driving at ~15 - 25 mph.

2012 Ram 2500 Hemi 4X4 & Grandby, 86 octane.
• 12.5 MPG average over trip (1957 miles, 156 gallons)
• 10.4 to 11.5 MPG will hills and 20 MPH headwinds
• 16.5 MPG (computer reported) my one day with tailwind.