HEMI question

[Cobra]

I am thinking of trading my truck for a new RAM 1500. I like the HEMI with the MDS and I was wondering if anyone knows what I can expect in the way of fuel economy. Salesman claims 18 to 19 on the highway.



I am sure that many on this site will scoff at the idea of trading the great Cummins for a gasser but I have little need for a heavy duty truck and I hate paying forty to fifty cents per gallon more for the fuel.



I am seeking opinions on this so let it fly. Don't hold back. (I know you won't anyway).



Thanks



Bill

 

[Bertram65]

I would get a 2500 if you are going to get another Dodge, the heavier axles, solid front axle, and much better brakes are worth it alone. But if I was going to buy a new truck today I would get a new Ford with the new V10, susposed to be pretty awsome, 362HP I think, and it comes with the Torqshift 5 speed which should have all the bugs worked out by now.

As far as gas mileage I would not buy any full size truck with the expectation of getting better than 15mpg or even a small truck for that matter. My '05 Honda minivan has MDS works great, but really only makes a difference on long highway runs, the difference in mileage between everyday use and trips is about 7mpg.

 

[4xquadrod]

A freind of mine has a Hemi truck. He gets 15 mpg and around 7 mpg while towing.


My font seems large?

 

[Hohn]

I had a Dakota with the 4. 7L that got 16 hwy, about 13 in town.

Expect a larger, heavier, more powerful truck to get less than that for sure. The MDS only adds about 20% to the mpg, so it won't make a Hemi truck into a Corolla.

jh

 

[Learguy]

I had an '03 2500 4X4 Reg Cab Long Bed w/ the Hemi. Put 80K on the clock before trading in. I had a 5 speed and 3. 73 gears. I could get 15. 5 at the best. Towing my 10K 5'r, 6. 5. I had a cat -back, cai, superchips which all helped. I got the best mpg with the programmer in tow mode. It was a hell of a hot rod, lot's of fun. With stock programming ('03 to '05) in the ECM, you have to run 89 octane. Don't know about the newer ones.

 

[Byershome]

"I had a Dakota with the 4. 7L that got 16 hwy, about 13 in town. "



I had friend who owned both a DAkota 4. 7L and a 1500 with a 5. 2L . The fuel milage was almost identical. I think down here we use the AC so much that the 4. 7 L had to work a lot harder. My RamCharger with a 318 always hoovered around 17 city 20 hwy. My 1/2 ton swb Ford company truck with a V6 never does better than 17 Hwy.



That said my son has a Hemi and he is getting about 16 city and 19 hwy. He has lead foot getting up to speed.



WARNING WARNING the HEMI has 16 spark plugs and at least one is near impossible to get to.

 

[Rams-n-Hogs]

And I traded my Hemi for a Cummins last year. I put almost 30k on the clock of that one, and only saw 19 once, when I was trying to get good fuel mileage. Most of the time was high 16's, low 17's. It was fun to drive, but the Cummins is more fun to drive. You might be paying a little more for fuel, but you should also consider, (if you haven't already), the cost of the truck, (higher payments and ins), into the equation.



Jim

 

[kelly4463]

on a good day 19 if you hammer on it all the time 7 !!! good luck :-laf :-laf