Fuel Milage on Dodge 2500 Cummins HO Diesel

wheels1

I'm looking at an '04 2500 w/ Cummins, Auto. Dealer swore I'd get 22 MPG on the highway. What kind of MPGs have you guys been seeing on this truck, highway speeds, no towing. Is there any difference with the 6 spd manual?

hemidudeaz

In regards to your question about fuel mileage for the Cummins, I'm a homebuilding super so I do a lot of stop and go from house to house at a tract that is on a mountainside in Mesa, Arizona. I drive about 17 miles to get to work that is mostly freeway driving at about 65 to 70 mph. During the day I put on another 20 miles of the slow, stop and go, up hill and down stuff. Then it's back home again. Also there is about 6 miles each way on the freeway that is congested with traffic and is always slow and go. So I guess it's really only about 10-11 miles of actual freeway cruising. I almost always average 13 to 13.5 mpg. I once drove up to the mountains and back and I got 16.5 on that trip. I'm sure that on the flats it would do better but realistically I will probably never do that. My guess is that the 22 that the dealer quoted is quite a bit better than you will ever see. I could believe 18-19 maybe. I have the Automatic and my guess is that the manual transmission will do better because it's got a taller top gear but who wants to be shifting all the time. Buy it for the power for when you are towing, IT'S AWESOME! Also, previously, I made the mistake of buying an 03 2500 Hemi and under the same conditions I only got about 10 mpg and more importantly didn't have enough power to get up the hills at a reasonable speed while towing my travel trailer. I bought my Diesel in July and have 7000 miles on it with no problems of any kind so far. I hope that I didn't scare you off with the numbers I quoted you. I have friends that I work with with the diesel Fords and Chevys and they are reportiong similar mileages. I saved about $3-5000 by buying the Dodge and I don't know what the Chevys go for since I couldn't bring myself to even go to a Chevy dealership. Thanks, HemidudeAz.

mullins87

I can't say that I know anyone with one of the newer Cummins engines. I do know of several with the older engine - the noisy ones. They all tell me they get anywhere from 19 to 22 mpg on the highway. Most of them get around 11 to 13 mpg towing. I have a F-350 7.3 liter Powerstroke. I get around 18.5 mpg empty and 11.25 mpg towing. I figure the difference in mileage is due to the Ford engine being larger and having two more cylinders to feed.

2manytoys

It depends, in the second half of 2004 production they upped the power and added some emissions controls. If it is an early '04 with the 305 hp engine you very well can get 20+ mpg on the highway assuming 3.73 gears and keeping it under about 70 mph. The 325hp versions from '04.5 on lose about 2-3 mpg. Higher speeds also rapidly kill the milage. I don't see the 6-speed guys getting any better milage than the autos. I think that realisitc milage is about 17 average and when you consider how big a truck you are getting, that is pretty remarkable.

hemidudeaz

I agree with your mileage estimates. I have the Quadcab 4x4, slightly larger tires and the 325 hp, 600 ft. lb. engine, automatic tranny with 3.73 gears. I rechecked my mileage again this past week and after correcting for my tires I averaged 14.75 mpg. That's not bad considering the type of driving that I do and also right foot factor which is hard to resist with 600 ft. lbs. on tap. I can't tell you how nice it is when you're towing a trailer full of Quads or a large travel trailer up a hill without any fuss.