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View Full Version : 5.7,6.4 hemi and GM 6.2 gas fuel mileage


nesparky
03-02-2016, 04:12 AM
Kinda curious what kind of fuel mileage are you looking at when not towing? I assume they are putting a 6.2 in the 3/4 and 1 ton trucks.

XLite28SGS
03-02-2016, 04:45 AM
Gas engine in GM 3/4 & 1 ton is a 6.0 not 6.2.

When I had a 2011GMC - 6.0 - 3.73 gear -4X4EC, I would get 14/16 none towing - 9/9.5 towing 9000# fifth Wheel.

Allan:)

Laredo291OH
03-02-2016, 07:58 AM
I have a GMC gas, 6.0, 2500HD 4x4 with the 3.73 pulling a travel trailer that is about 8200 lbs loaded. I get 8 pulling, unloaded I get 12 in the winter, 14 or so in the summer. That's why I'm looking at a diesel, that and the Big Horn Mountains... :)

mfifield01
03-02-2016, 10:12 AM
I have the 5.7l Hemi in a 1500. Around town about 16. On the highway about 20.

I get just below 9 towing.

dcg9381
03-02-2016, 10:35 AM
I think the 1500 5.7 Hemi got cylinder-reduction functions in later release years, meaning newer may get better mileage...

mfifield01
03-02-2016, 10:37 AM
I think the 1500 5.7 Hemi got cylinder-reduction functions in later release years, meaning newer may get better mileage...
Yes the 1500 has cylinder deactivation, but not on the 2500. The 6.4l on the 2500 does have cylinder deactivation.

Also the 8-speed helped with the 1500 ratings after 2013. The 2013-on with 5.7l (and 8-speed) is rated 15 city and 21/22 highway.

T3/T4 Hybrid
03-02-2016, 05:24 PM
My previous model was a 2004 Ram 2500 with 3.73 gearing and 5 speed manual. It got 16 mpg highway, 13 mpg city and 8 mpg towing my VR1 TT loaded with a family of 4s junk. :D

sourdough
03-02-2016, 06:34 PM
5.7/3.55/6speed unloaded - 15/17; towing (9200-9400lbs) - 7-8 (1500)

6.4/3.73/6speed unloaded - 16/20; towing (9200-9400lbs) - 9

I don't do city/highway mpg because where I live I don't go thru a tank of gas without having a considerable amount of town or highway on it....think rural. Both engines have cylinder deactivation.

GaryWT
03-02-2016, 07:28 PM
I have a 6.2 in a 350 and get about 14 mpg.

GMcKenzie
03-04-2016, 05:46 AM
People on the GM-Trucks forum say they are getting 1-2 mpg better with the GM 6.2 than the 5.3.

The 6.2 is only in the 1/2 tons. The 6.0 in the 3/4 is in need of a refresh. Don't think it's direct injected.

The 6.2 requires premium and only comes in the higher trim levels. So costs a fair bit more to buy and somewhat more to run, even if it does get better mileage.

{tpc}
03-04-2016, 07:35 AM
I have a 5.3 with 3.73 gears and I get 15-16 not towing, 9-10 towing.

Pmedic4
03-06-2016, 09:12 PM
Had a 2012 5.7 in my 1500 (3.92), and got 14-15 in town, and 18-20 highway, and approximately 8-9 towing my 291RLS. This, truck was close to the limit for pin weight, just felt that I wanted some more 'margin'. Was always watching what I took, what it weighed, and checked my weight at the grain elevator.

Upgraded to a 2015 6.4 2500HD(3.73), and get 12-13 in town, and 16-18 highway, and surprisingly, 8-9 towing the 291RLS. With this truck, I can't express enough how much better it tows this 5ver, and I don't feel like I have to watch what I load into the 5ver.

Just took a 3000 mile trip to Florida, and on the way there, got on the high side of the MPG, more like 9.6 - 9.8, while on the way home, it dipped down to the 7.8-8.0 range. If anything, on the way home I probably went faster, since we were trying to outrun the winter storm that dumped the 20" of snow on DC, and ice and snow in TN. It was also warmer on the way down, mostly 40's, while on the way home it was in the 20 degree range, so assume the temperature made the bigger difference, and noticed the mpg was higher for the Florida miles, likely cause it's flatter than TN,KY.

The 291RLS has a 9000 GWR, and was approximately 1190 pin weight loaded, didn't really check when empty without propane/battery/'stuff' since it was the trip weight I was concerned with, and didn't check when I got the new truck - assumed I was covered in the 2500.

jamesmc321
03-07-2016, 06:22 AM
They get about the same junkie gas mileage, unless you are doing millions of miles a year a couple MPG isn't going to make a huge difference.

I don't know about all you, but I certainly didn't buy a truck for its gas mileage :D

sourdough
03-07-2016, 09:46 AM
I don't know about "junkie" mileage. I bought a new 1980 Ford F150 4x4 "off road" with a 351W. The BEST it could do was 12mpg and most of it ran about 10 most of the time. Today's mileages seem pretty great to that. I can't even imagine if I had tried to tow something.

As far as mileage/money; on a 4000 mile trip you would save $250 by getting 10mpg vs 8mpg @ 2.50 gallon. So, not a lot of money but enough savings to buy a "gizmo""bouncey:

As you said though, I don't really concern myself with mileage since I'm going to do what I'm going to do and that doesn't factor into it.

jamesmc321
03-07-2016, 01:11 PM
I don't know about "junkie" mileage. I bought a new 1980 Ford F150 4x4 "off road" with a 351W. The BEST it could do was 12mpg and most of it ran about 10 most of the time. Today's mileages seem pretty great to that. I can't even imagine if I had tried to tow something.

As far as mileage/money; on a 4000 mile trip you would save $250 by getting 10mpg vs 8mpg @ 2.50 gallon. So, not a lot of money but enough savings to buy a "gizmo""bouncey:

As you said though, I don't really concern myself with mileage since I'm going to do what I'm going to do and that doesn't factor into it.


"junkie" compared to a car :eek:

Not that many of us take those 4000 mile trips, however I have to agree with gizmo :) can never have enough of them

Pmedic4
03-07-2016, 05:18 PM
Definitely didn't consider gas mileage when I bought my truck 8 months ago. Knew the diesel got better mpg, but by the time I figured in the $9000+ for the Cummins (dealers also didn't deal as much on the diesel trucks in my experience!)

Just doing some quick calculations on what I'd tow my RV, the cost savings for diesel for me (estimate 4800-5000 miles per year towing), would save all of about $400-500 per year, or about a 16-18 year payback, and that is assuming price of diesel, DEF, and maintenance is the same as the gas truck for comparison. Wasn't a tough decision, but our 5ver is on the light side, where braking and mountains might make the choice different.

JRTJH
03-07-2016, 06:26 PM
I look at fuel consumption in a bit different light. The frontal area for most travel trailers is about 60 sqft and for fifth wheels is about 70 sqft. It takes a certain amount of energy to push the air (or to pull the trailer through that "air resistance"). The frontal area that is being moved through the air resistance seems to be a bigger factor than the "vehicle efficiency" when driving solo.

Using a gas engine, there's so much energy in a gallon of gas, it takes a certain amount of energy to develop the hp/torque to move the air while towing the trailer. Most of us (with a few exceptions I suppose) drive pretty much the same, so getting to speed is somewhat of a constant with all of us who drive at 65 MPH. So, regardless of what engine you have in your tow vehicle, the amount of energy it will use to push the air out of the way of the trailer will be essentially the same whether you're driving a GM, Ford or RAM.

Now, pushing the tow vehicle beyond 65, "sports car starts", headwinds, tail winds and other factors will change the fuel consumption for any rig, but essentially, it takes X hp, Y torque (the same regardless of which engine is in your truck), so, with all manufacturers pretty much "equal on mileage figures" the amount of gas used will reflect almost the same "MPG" regardless of truck manufacturer and, within reason, regardless of engine displacement/gearing ratio.

The above is, I believe, a fairly constant "energy consumed" for "work produced" in most modern tow vehicles. But, I think, trying to compare a 1989 Ford to a 2016 Ford with "close to the same cu in engine size" wouldn't be a comparable "efficiency size" because of the very different technology used in engine/fuel management.

I believe, regardless of what tow vehicle, engine size (within reason), or gearing ratio, towing a 30' travel trailer weighing somewhere between 5500 pounds and 10000 pounds, most gas engine vehicles will average between 8.5 and 9.5 MPG if driven the same speed and over the same road conditions (hills/winds).

Nagrompj
03-07-2016, 11:10 PM
I look at fuel consumption in a bit different light. The frontal area for most travel trailers is about 60 sqft and for fifth wheels is about 70 sqft. It takes a certain amount of energy to push the air (or to pull the trailer through that "air resistance"). The frontal area that is being moved through the air resistance seems to be a bigger factor than the "vehicle efficiency" when driving solo.

Using a gas engine, there's so much energy in a gallon of gas, it takes a certain amount of energy to develop the hp/torque to move the air while towing the trailer. Most of us (with a few exceptions I suppose) drive pretty much the same, so getting to speed is somewhat of a constant with all of us who drive at 65 MPH. So, regardless of what engine you have in your tow vehicle, the amount of energy it will use to push the air out of the way of the trailer will be essentially the same whether you're driving a GM, Ford or RAM.


Now, pushing the tow vehicle beyond 65, "sports car starts", headwinds, tail winds and other factors will change the fuel consumption for any rig, but essentially, it takes X hp, Y torque (the same regardless of which engine is in your truck), so, with all manufacturers pretty much "equal on mileage figures" the amount of gas used will reflect almost the same "MPG" regardless of truck manufacturer and, within reason, regardless of engine displacement/gearing ratio.

The above is, I believe, a fairly constant "energy consumed" for "work produced" in most modern tow vehicles. But, I think, trying to compare a 1989 Ford to a 2016 Ford with "close to the same cu in engine size" wouldn't be a comparable "efficiency size" because of the very different technology used in engine/fuel management.

I believe, regardless of what tow vehicle, engine size (within reason), or gearing ratio, towing a 30' travel trailer weighing somewhere between 5500 pounds and 10000 pounds, most gas engine vehicles will average between 8.5 and 9.5 MPG if driven the same speed and over the same road conditions (hills/winds).


Good points.

Most people think a lower gear ratio will lower their mileage. With in reason that's not true. I have a Jeep Wrangler with stock tires, I was tired of it constantly shifting gears so I changed the rear gears from 3.73 to 4.56. I still get the same or better gas mileage. At 65 mph the engine only runs 2000 rpm, it will still go 100 mph it just gets ther faster. Now it's much more pleasant to drive and has all the power you could ask for from a Jeep.

I also find from my experience towing with my F250 at 62 I get 10.5 mpg and at 65 I get 9.5 mpg. It may not seem like 3 mph is a big difference but when it comes to frontal area of the trailer 3 mph is a lot more pressure.

mfifield01
03-08-2016, 06:51 AM
I also find from my experience towing with my F250 at 62 I get 10.5 mpg and at 65 I get 9.5 mpg. It may not seem like 3 mph is a big difference but when it comes to frontal area of the trailer 3 mph is a lot more pressure. I see very similar results. It seems at 55 I get around 11 mpg, but at 65 it's around 9 mpg. It takes a great deal more energy to push that extra pressure.

Another thing I've noticed is roads. On interstates, I can get around 10 mpg. The highways, I get around 9 mpg. This is probably due to gradients and road conditions. Most of the campgrounds I go to are down highways.