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Comments
And Brutus: It's 26.93 mpg, not 33mpg.
Here is the point once again. It is "possible" to come up with some real gas mileage wonders, depending on how you check mileage. But it also possible that a V6 can get very good gas mileage, although I don't think that you will ever be convinced of it.
I just recounted what I actually did and the actual result to illustrate the difference between city and highway mileage.
It looks like a touched some nerve so I will stay off this topic.
Note, I'm not saying 27 is impossible with a V6 (especially if it's driven conservatively), I've gotten 21 several times with my big Vortec 5.7L, but you really need to go a full tank to get anywhere near a repeatable precision.
-powerisfun
I'm also not saying that a V-6 won't get better mpg. I just wanted to make the point that some of the heavier full size trucks won't get significantly better mpg with a six cylinder.
I think that your mpg info will be very useful in this topic area, especially if you can get out on the hwy for a few hundred mile trip. If you live in Tuscon, a RT to Phoenix would give us some firm numbers that we could compare to owners of the same setup as you with the V-8. That's a pretty wide open run on I-10.
I made a trip through that area in 1995 when I lived in Southern CA and went to visit my brother when he was stationed at Ft. Huachuca. I drove through AZ again in late 1997 when I moved from CA to Dallas, but I took I-40 that trip and stopped at the Grand Canyon. Personally, I think one of the most scenic stretches of hwy in AZ is the 30-40 miles I-15 goes through the state.
Off topic,,,but if I remember right Ft. Huachuca is prononced,,,Ft. Sneeze (Wa-choo-ka).
I'm certainly not going to complain about that kind of mpg with that kind of load. The 4.30 axle ratio keeps me in OD quite a bit until I get to a pretty good climb. For me personally, the 4.30 with my camper is well worth the mpg sacrifice.
gtt, the 11.9 is a mix of city/hwy, right? Like I said, with the 4.30 and duallys, I get that kind of mpg on the hwy. My commute to work is 15 miles one way, so I'm logging 30 miles per day in a mix of city/hwy. I average 9.5+ for that trip. Even in the winter with winter fuel and 4wd locked in most of the time, I'm getting 9ish. I'd suspect with the 3.73, your mpg would be 1.5-2mpg better than me, especially if you have a SRW instead of a dually.
Keep in mind that because of the bigger tires on trucks the effective-axle-ratio-compared-to-a-car is quite a bit less than 3.73, in fact, you can calculate it in comparison to a car as follows:
Reff = (Dcar/Dtruck)*3.73
where Reff = effective axle ratio
Dcar = tire diameter of average car
Dtruck = tire diameter of your truck
For my truck, the tire diameter is 31 inches (P265/75R-16's) and for my wife's car the tire diameter is 26 inches
That makes my truck's Reff = 3.12. Most non-performance cars have axle ratios around 2.8-2.9, so you can see 3.12 not all that gas-piggish, and besides because of the added weight, trucks need a little lower gearing for good acceleration.
-powerisfun
'97 C1500 Ex.cab SB 5.7 Auto,3.42 15 local 20 highway
'99 silverado 1500,Ex cab,SB, 5.3 Auto, LS, 3.73 14 local 19 highway
The '99 would pull my 34' TT with the'97 hooked to I beleve. Go with the 3.73.
By the way, diesel at the station up the street was only $.03 more per gallon than 87 octane, or so the sign advertised. It doesn't appear that we have some of the big discrepencies up here in Anchroage between the cost of diesel and gas.
Regards,
Dan
(note: I am not a lawyer, nor do I, or have I played one on TV. The following statements are not intended to be legal advise in any way)
As for collecting data to go after Ford, don't waste your time. Mpg is not a covered warranty issue with Ford. It is also not something that you can use most state lemon laws to pursue. ( As a note on Ford's concern for quality: oil use in a new vehicle is not considered to be significant until the vehicle is using a quart of oil every 800 miles)
If you do decide to pursue this legally with Ford you need to know that Ford, like many other major auto manufacturers, has been bidding out their warranty legal work. That means that law firms bid to contract with Ford to handle all their legal work associated with warranty issues over a certain period of time. ( i.e. $500,000 to do all of Ford's warranty work in the midwest region for 1 year) This is important to you because any action you may choose to take against Ford has no financial impact, as associated with legal costs, on Ford at all. Depressing isn't it!
I wish I had some other information for you , but I don't. Just tell anyone who asks, what you think of your vehicle. Also try to ignore all those great comments from people saying that you could get the same milage in a V8. They seem to forget that the only information available on mpg, for this vehicle was mistakenly inaccurate, in the most gracious of worlds.
But really, tell me nobody buys a full size pickup (or any other type of vehicle) with mpg as a deciding factor without first going out and doing a little mpg research of their own to get real world figures, do they?
The top priority for my purchase of my current truck was GVWR and how the truck handled at the max. Before I trusted the GVWR rating of the truck that was provided by the manufacturer, I did a little research to find out if it really could handle the weight I wanted it to carry.
When you buy anything, you really need to do at least a little research beyond what the sellers (aka manufacturers) claim. Their info may be legally correct, but that doesn't mean it applies to your intended use, in your intended location.
please continue these discussions in Topic 1593 Gas Mileage - II.
Front Porch Philosopher
SUV, Pickups, & Aftermarket and Accessories Host