Motor Trend puts Cummins MPG below Duramax

[PKitchen]

MotorTrend has an online article where they tested Dodge, GMC, and Ford diesel trucks. They tested the MPG on a 100-mile loop at a steady 70 MPH. Their results are 18. 6 MPG for the GMC, 17. 4 MPG for the Dodge, and 16. 6 for the Ford. What gives with the Duramax having better MPG than the Cummins? I thought Cummins was tops for efficiency.



The article also says the Dodge is louder than the Ford at idle, inside or outside the truck. And they say that Ford uses pilot injection to quiet the engine at idle. I thought Ford changed their programming to do away with their pilot injection. Is it possible that the Dodge is noisier at idle with pilot injection than the Ford is without it?



Anyway, here's the link to the article:

MotorTrend article

 

[EEdmondson]

GMC is lower and narrower than Dodge... takes more power to move dodge 70 mph than gm. This is just off the top of my head, so take it for what's it's worth.

 

[JDerbedrossian]

how often do you see dodge ram ads in motortrend, chevy and ford pay their bills. get my drift...

 

[Yo Hoot]

So how does MT explain the fact that I had a Dmax... got 19-20 on the highway stock... . 4x4 crew cab.



Now have a Cummins 4x4 crew cab and get the exact mileage.



1 mpg is nothing to write about... every truck is slightly differernt. They could pull two more trucks and get the opposite results.

 

[Alan Reagan]

My wife and daughter say they can no longer hear me leave in the mornings. She also says (and I agree) that my 05 is as quieter than most gassers. The 05 is quieter and I believe fuel economy is better. With 952 miles on the odometer, I'm getting right at 19 mpg. That's combined city and highway. It's too early to tell what an average will be because I've only fueled up three times. Time will tell. But my first tank, I was doing about 15. 5. Scared me. And I haven't had the reflash yet. That's tomorrow morning.



The water cooled turbo on the Duramax. Hmmmm. Sounds like they reached a limit when they added horsepower. The turbo must have been running pretty hot. I don't have a gauge on this one yet, but my 01 was turning about 325 HP. I managed to hit a peak of 1300 one time but my cruise temps were between 500*-600*.



Let them run that test again after break in. My BIL's Ford doesn't get 16 running empty.



Last comment on the noise. When I meet a Duramax now at 55, I can hear his engine. Same with a Ford. I don't think they can hear mine anymore. The passing of an era. I don't know what the writer was talking about when he made the comment about the quarters in a washer (or something to that effect). The 04 Dodges are quieter than that.

 

[DPKetchum]

The FORDS(03/04) have had so many reflashes(seems like dozens)and the first thing it looses is pilot injection. From what I've read the 05 6. 0s do NOT have pilot injection. They have acheived QUIET through the EGR. Opens sooner?? i believe. Might be wrong. Buts it through the EGR system. The Duramax sites are posting some about being TOO much heat issues also.

 

[tobaccogrower]

lets invite motor trend to repete the same tests on the same vehicles say when they reach 110,000 miles. i bet dodge is the only one to show :-laf

and those results are on non broken in motors. they might as well compare apples to oranges. JMO... ... james

 

[Alan Reagan]

They should do the test at 10 K and then again at 50 K. The dealer where I've bought all three of my Dodges said that they are getting a high number of Duramax's on trade. He's selling them at auction. He said the owners are taking quite a beating but they are tired of the expensive parts for the Duramax. I've got to admit that overall the Duramax is doing better than I thought it would. I was a nay sayer on the aluminum heads and still am. Ford certainly has some good ideas, especially that braking transmission. According to the MT article, the 48RE has that (albeit limited) now. I can tell it on mine. In tow/haul it does provide a lot more braking than I expected it would. Overall, I just like the big iron in line six. It is and has always been a workhorse.

 

[NickSullivan]

Ok, I don't know quite what to think. My 04. 5 with 4. 10's is maybe getting 16 mpg at 70. I kind of expected this. I would expect the trucks with 3. 73's to get 18 maybe 19 mpg. However after riding in a 05 Duramax all weekend I can say I saw it get 19. 5 MPG and it does seem quieter and rides a heck of a lot smoother than my 2500 even though the chev was a 3500 SRW. None the less as my wife said, "I like our truck mutch better, especially the interior" and keep in mind she was a Chevy fan and was pushing me very hard to go with the Chevy. I don't regret buying the big Dodge one bit and I don't need a magazine to tell me what a good truck is.

 

[Alan Reagan]

Sullivan, Have you had the 18-037-04 TSB reflash done on yours? That may help your mileage.



Sorry, had to edit the correct TSB #.

 

[bighammer]

I haven't read the article, but a lot of those will compare unequal trucks-- Some have an auto and compare it to another brand with a stick, etc. I don't bother reading stuff like that.

 

[Alan Reagan]

These were all autos.

 

[tractorseller]

I just put 31,000 miles on a Duramax/Allison with a lot of towing and I'm averaging just short of 14 mpg. And I don't care what anyone says, the Duramax is much noisier than my 05 Dodge. I test drove the Fords and couldn't see where they were any quieter than the Dodge either.



The base price and "as tested" price of the Ford and Chevy are thousands higher than the Dodge. Even if you take their 100 mile drive mpg figures seriously, they don't mean much in the big picture when you're paying thousands more up front for a comparable truck. You could buy a lot of fuel with that money.



I've pulled a lot of equipment and a fifth-wheel with the Duramax. It pulls fine. But pulling with this Cummins is better. Rolling down the freeway at 70 mph with a big load - I'll take the Dodge/Cummins any day. These short 100 mile tests don't mean much to me. Take them on a 1,000 mile trip pulling the same loads and see what happens.



I think the Ford people must have been happy just getting out of a 100 mile test drive without that 6. 0 POS taking a dump on them . I wouldn't touch one of them .

 

[Alan Reagan]

Tractorseller, I'm with you on the quietness of the 05. I'm very impressed with how quiet this truck is, both inside and out. They tested the 04s. The 05s are a different ballgame altogether.

 

[caryain]

how often do you see dodge ram ads in motortrend, chevy and ford pay their bills. get my drift...





BINGO!! You can clearly see who puts the food on the table for the magazine editors!

 

[lschultz]

I might look at the MT mag if somebody gave me one but I want spend no $$ for it. I quit reading them a long time ago and never did take anything they said serious. :-laf

 

[Bertram65]

My buddys Duramax extended cab 4X4 dually always gets a couple MPG better than my SRW, towing or empty, I range from 12 to 17. What's the big deal the Duramax gets better mileage?

 

[Edgemann55]

Big deal-Ask a Duramax owner at 300,000mi what his fuel milage is. Oh yea there are none. Cummins is king milage or not.

 

[NickSullivan]

Sullivan, Have you had the 18-037-04 TSB reflash done on yours? That may help your mileage.



Sorry, had to edit the correct TSB #.

No I have not. I am planning on taking the truck in once I get 3,000 miles on it to have the oil changed and have the rearend checked out. There seems to be a vibration comming from it when I am on the freeway. What does will the ECM flash do?



As for everyone saying the 05 is much quieter than the 04. 5, what's this all about. I drove an 05 right after test driving the 04. 5 that I ended up buying and did not notice a single difference. Maybe I was not paying enough attention. Thanks.

 

[Eric_77]

Couple things I noticed

100 mile trip is nothing 1000 miles may give you an accurate mileage comparsion but needs to be same driver under same conditions temp, humidity, wind, load, not really going to happen on 100mile trip but over 1000 miles it should work itself out. The difference in fuel between all three vehicles is ~2 quarts (Chevy 5. 4 Dodge 5. 7 and Ford 6. 0) I doubt anyone can be that accurate when filling tanks in the 35 gallon range, that is less than 1% difference.



Other thing they kept aplaulding the Ford towing mirrors and complain about Dodge mirrors well if you are going to tow get the TOW mirrors on both vehicles.