MPG Diesel vs HEMI

[J&LRam]

erobb

something to keep in mind if your looking at used trucks is the '03/'04 2500 305/555 HO CUMMINS with 3. 73 six speed ,STOCK TRUCK, are getting 20-22 on long commutes. Mine will average 22+ on my 110 mile a day commute. Also has a 7500/15000 mile oil change schedule for the '03 and up Cummins. With diesel fuel in my area about the same as gas its a lot cheaper to run the Cummins if you have a long daily drive.



JIM

 

[CMusgrove]

I see you have already pretty well made your decisioin but since the title is MPG Hemi vs CTD I wanted to put my two cents worth in. Nephew bought 05 2500 auto. Hemi. Gets 10-11 in city and 13-14 on highway. My 06 CTD Megacab auto. 2500 gets 15-16 city and 21-22 highway. It has 6K miles on it and according to the things I've read on this forum it should get even better later on. Nepher says he has to run unleaded plus to keep the pinging away which is about what our diesel is running price-wise. When I ordered mine I figured that the 5K extra for CTD could be recouped in about 80-90K because of the saving in fuel cost. I still have my old 87 Mazda pickup and use it to pick up limbs around the property and it has 250K+ on it. Plan to put at least that much on the 06 and should recoup my initial investment in the CTD many times over.

 

[JamesCohen]

Man I wanna know how the he** you guys get that MPG. .

22mpg @ 70mph.

- Bully Dog PP on "Performance"

- RPM's at about 1,850 (295/70/17 Nittos).

- My speedo HAS been corrected & overhead is accurate.



I see about 16mpg around town, but being near Philadelphia the traffic is pretty heavy and moves a lot quicker than I'd prefer to drive.



P. S. I am SOOOOOO glad that I didn't get a Hemi. I was very close because the prices of the CTD's up here are a lot higher (new and used). I was finally able to find a used CTD out of state for a great deal. I don't regret is one bit. In the last 6-8 months I've talked to 3-4 Hemi 4x4 owners about their trucks. They all love them EXCEPT for the fuel mileage. The all say the same: 11mpg around town, 15mpg highway, 9mpg towing small trailers. They're all amazed at the milage my CTD gets!





Good luck with your truck,

-Banning.

 

[KParsons]

600.6miles-34.387gal=17.46mpg.

my 2ed. tank of fuel inc 200miles of light towing ,not bad. a little to close to bone dry. reserve came on at 465miles. kp

 

[MRFost]

Why would you want something with SPARK PLUGS? Nasty.

 

[klenger]

Why would you want something with SPARK PLUGS? Nasty.

Not just spark plugs, but 16 of them.



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[ilovetrains]

Man I wanna know how the he** you guys get that MPG. .

They put a raw egg between the pedal and floor.

 

[brods]

Man I wanna know how the he** you guys get that MPG. .

1. they are fibbing

2. they are using inaccurate overhead numbers

3. they just plain suck at math

4. they have modified trucks with boxes that advance the timing (and void their warranty)

5. they live in a flat rural areas with straight roads, no stop signs or stop lights and no traffic

6. they are the ones who cause accidents and traffic tie ups by driving slower than your grandma

7. cause their buddy told em they'd get 24 mpg



any combination of the above.



Oh yeah, don't worry, after... um... 300,000 miles it'll be broken in and you'll get 36 mpg..... sweet! :-laf :-laf

 

[Matt400]

8. They really do get that much and the rest just can't keep their foot out of it.

 

[barleysoda]

Man I wanna know how the he** you guys get that MPG. .

I second that! I keep getting 13. 8 mixed driving conditions and thats staying out of the pedal trying like heck to see if I can get better. The overhead says 15 but everytime I do the math I get 13. 8.

 

[DPKetchum]

16mpg at 55 or UNDER driving like its got a new baby head under the pedal. Some minor stop and go etc. Towing 10k about 11 to 12 staying UNDER 70. If I drive it without thinking about getting mileage its always in the 14. 5 to 15 ish range. I also wonder about this HIGH teens low 20s. My 93 W250 did NOT get that kind of mileage eaither. Was LOWER towing same weight by about 1 to 1. 5. My overhead is always withen . 5 or better then by hand.

 

[HowardC]

Man I wanna know how the he** you guys get that MPG. .

Hey Mark, Those numbers are very real. On average I get between 20 and 22. I had an 03 automatic and always averaged between 23 and 25 with it. Those numbers were taken when I was running empty of course.

 

[Nate]

My old roomate has an 03 hemi 2500 sitting on 35s. He got 10-12mpg.

 

[JStrasser]

I am at about 2700 mi on our '06 CTD, G56. HAND CALCULATED I am at 18. 1 mpg combined. I shift at low revs, keep it at or just a couple of mph over the speed limit, accelerate slowly, shift to neutral way before a stop.



But good mileage vs. feeling that boost- it is tough keeping my foot out of it, but after the big block (2002 GMC CC 4x4 8. 1L/Ally) the great fuel mileage is worth driving easy



And NO, I do NOT hold up traffic at the speeds that I drive at. But I do watch the rearviews when I am towing the travel trailer and do pull over if I am holding anyone up. Wish others did the same.



John

 

[Turbo1Ton]

I typically get a hand calculated 18mpg or so. I do a good mix of stop and go and highway driving and no performance mods. I don't always take off like a bat outta hell but sometimes I do. I typically have the exhaust brake on and use it to slow me down. I have seen a hand calculated best of 21. 6mpg on a leg of a trip from Tulsa, OK to Phoenix, AZ to Pahrump, NV back to Tulsa. 75mph the majority of the trip.



Jeff

 

[Truckie]

I just got rid of my 05 CTD. It was getting 11 to 12 mpg in the city, and if I really babied it I could hit 13 mpg. On the hwy. the few times I had it on the hwy. I would see 17 to 18 mpg.

I traded it in on a 06 quad cab swb gray, Hemi for the following reasons.

It was red and I could no longer stand the color.

It was wrecked 3 times with in a year.

It was a target truck, constantley getting hit. At the present time I really cant afford another CTD, with my rig payment, fuel, and all the other bills and having to help my grand mother. The money I saved will be better spent right now. I look at it this way, I can always get another CTD down the road.

Right now with the Hemi IM getting 10 to 11 mpg with only 300 miles on the truck. The CTD had in one year 8,120.

 

[klenger]

Why Use Half Throttle When They Give You The Option Of Full Throttle

It was getting 11 to 12 mpg in the city, and if I really babied it I could hit 13 mpg.

 

[Truckie]

Well klenger I know I got you confused on that statement.

When I first started drivening tractor trailers 11 years ago I had a high horse power Cummins and use to say that to the other drivers all the time. "Why use half throttle when they give you the option of full throttle. "

IM not *****en about the fuel mileage I got in my 05 Cummins I was just stating the numbers. I figured I got that kind of mileage because I never took the truck out on the hwy. It was all local drivening, city and stop and go. I only had 8,000 miles on it in one year. I spend most of my time in my tractor on the road.

If I did drive the truck hard in the city I would see about 9 mpg. Again IM not *****en. I love the Cummins.

I just could not stand the color red anymore, and like I said before the money I saved up front on the 06 is being better well spent right now helping my gran mother.

 

[ELK311]

Only at 17k but I've excel spreadsheeted every ounce of fuel since I bought it new. Overall average is 15. 07 and that includes city, highway, Pacific Northwest mountainous driving including elk hunts and forest service road driving. Best is open freeway with cruise set at 65-70 at 21mpg worst is forest service roads in first gear with foot off the pedal at 9. 1 MPG (no trailer, atv in back). My MPG just went up 1 MPG since last fuel filter change to 16. 9 city driving. Completely stock with exceptions noted below. I'm neither a "conservative" nor "phsychotic" driver and am very happy overall.



1994 F150 351 Windsor (stock) gets 10 MPG on it's best day unloaded, 8. 1 to Yellowstone in 2003.

 

[SBeretz]

I know my new MegaCab with 4K miles gets about 19. 5 with the overhead reading about 20. That was on the last tank and I would say that every tank is getting about . 5 better. Now, saying that, I don't drive over 65 very much. Pretty much here in NC the speed limit where I am in is 55. When I get out on the freeway, I drive 70, anything over that and you can watch the overhead slowly work its way down. Just my observations so far. The power is great, and I don't drive slow, but I rarely push it over 2K RPMS, Except on the freeway which for me, with the cruise set at 70mph I am running at 2250 or so. Extremely happy with the mileage and power. Almost as good as the more "effiecient" gasser SUV's. Scotty