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Comments
I must have had it FULL because it was slower coming up Saluda Mtn... just 56 mph today... and screaming..
Diesel in FL was $2.69+..... in Spartanburg $2.53 and in Fairview, NC $2.80... PHOOOEY I saw it on I 95 at $2.51 in SC..
I am currently on the hunt for a 07 GMT-900 2500 x-cab
to replace my 04 6.0 2500 x-cab, auto 4:10s.
I can get 12-14 city......17 highway.............
I note the new body style 2500s offer 3:73 rear gears so
possibly can expect 1 or 2 mpgs more.
Nice trucks but thirsty !!!! Since I need a 2500 for
snowplowing and heavy towing I have no other choice.
IMO a diesel for $7000 MORE and the possible few more
mpgs is not worth it............
I understand that the 6L has gotten better.. hope so for your sake.
On my Durmax diesel and Ford 7.3 diesel I get/got about 20 mpg with no load.
with a diesel than a 6.0 gasser..................
But its gonna take a LOOOOONG time to make up that $7000
difference on a every day commuter ride..........
I am not sure a 6L gas engine would go that far without engine work.. The diesels will probably go another 100K or better..
The diesel is messy to fillup ,, it smells if you get it on your hands etc.
Its just a personal decision.. the power and fuel efficiency is impressive with my new Chebby (as a friend calls it).
forums here. Diesels have many expensive issues.
Many owners call the Ford diesels "powerjokes" and
post on and on about injector issues among other things.
Not to mention the major expense of maintaining them.
Also note the new Ford 6.0 diesel and torqueshift trans.
issues posted around the net. Or the recent articles
of Ford withholding millions from their diesel supplier
over warranty issues...............
Yea I suppose you could get 300k miles from one. But at
what cost? Employ a inhouse mechanic by chance?
Heck the toyoyo owners brag that they get 300k (sic)
miles. Without ANY repairs of course ! LOL!!!!!!!!!
For the average buyer a diesel is a poor choice........
Now I could start on GMs diesels past and present.
But why bother..You get my point.................
The other had a 6 L gas engine in his Chevy and his mpg was less than the diesel AND his tank was smaller so I let him lead the procession from one gas station to another. He quit and got more fuel sometimes when I didn't. When we BOTH went from one station to another his consumption was much greater ie, he bought more fuel / liters or gallons depending on where we were. We traveled together for about 3.5 months.
The diesel Ford got 20 or a little better on the road by itself and a friend of mine with a 6L gas chevy 2500 model is good for about 13 or so.. I think the newer ones might do some better but still way off the 20mpg on the road that both the Ford and my new Chev get.
As far as starting both... the Ford you had to wait on a bit... but not the chevy but its newer... perhaps the Ford is quicker to start now.. they are both much quiter now then in 99.. The noise INSIDE the pu just isn't a problem or issue.. With the new Chev I actually ground the starter last year when I first got it because I couldn't hear it running. I have not done it since..
A friend and I pulled our 8-9K campers to Alaska two years ago beginning May 12th.... the difference in fuel mileage between the diesel and the gas PUs was truly something to see. Stop after Stop after stop he put in much more fuel and we HAD to use the same gas stations as that's all there is... about every 100 miles. Our two campers were the same weight... same model and make... Two trucks... a 99 Ford Diesel ... a 2002 Chevy 6L gas.. Between the two of us we drove about 28,000 miles on that trip just under 4 months and didn't have a single PU problem... either of us.. The 6L gas engine pulled the Canadian mtns and those in AK just fine... perhaps better than the 99 Ford. But it made it just fine.. Ford Motor Co didn't see fit to give me a transmission temp guage so when the Chevy would stop to cool down I did too. There were several times when the EGT got nearly too hot so I had to hold back on the throttle to keep the turbine from getting too hot.
We both NOW own 06 Chevy Duramax Diesel PUs.. We both bought larger campers .. more weight... and they pull the weight just fine.. 12000 lbs perhaps for me..less for him... 11.5mpg is the best I have gotten so far on flat land in FL pulling the camper... 10.5 on the interstate with big hills or NC mtns. OnStar just sent me an email sayhing I have 11,050 miles on it now so its still not broken in yet. Pulling my 21 ft bass boat (200 hp) it gets about 15-16.5mpg..and that's about the best you could hope for with a 6L gas engine with nothing in tow or onboard...
Inside the chevy the seats are nice ... leather... very comftrable and the wife's back doesn't hurt... The XM radio is neat and the ONSTAR is just there till July .. I have never had heated seats before and that was a nice surprise this winter.
Hope I answered your questions.
I certainly don't have anything against Ford... I liked mine... and would still own it but the tranny deal was expensive and based on my experience I thought I could expect more trouble.. Ford did nothing to help me with this by the way except to take my $2850 for the first one... the second one was under warranty. Ford Motor Co and the local dealer played the good cop : bad cop deal to the max.. It was nearly funny with each pointing to the other..
Something to also consider is the problem Ford is having NOW with their diesel engine manufacturer... I hear they are being sued by them.. or the other way around.. The two are not happy campers right now anyway. Can't remember what the problem was.. tardiness in production or something..
I don't know what the gross towing capacity of the 6 L engine is but it used to be around 10,000,,, the 06 Chev diesel is/was 15,500 lbs as I recall. I was told early in life to not operate equipment/machinery near the capacity of the unit but somewhere within the middle range of the equpment... WELL that's what I was told anyway so that's partly why I like the diesel.. I am several thousand pounds under what it is listed as its capacity to haul.
Got some questions, hope you guys and gals have some answers! :confuse:
Is there any type of indicator, such as a light, to let the driver know if the 5.3 is in 4 cylinder or 8 cylinder mode?
Does the engine switch to 4 cylinder mode only at "LIGHT" cruising applications, or will it also use 4 cyl when idling or driving around local and back roads with a very light foot?
Is there a "Real Time MPG" display as well as the "Average Mileage" one?
If so, are the above in a particular package or trim level?
Thanks,
Kip
Xtended cab LTZ - currently have little over 4000 mi.
Frustrated on the gas situation.
Respectfully'
dwyerchevy2007
Now the NBS seems to get 13-16 mpg?
What changed on the regular cab to drop the mileage? I'm aware the new EPA ratings changed, but again I'm looking at owner's report mpg.
After getting there, the wife and I naturally went for a long test drive and I placed the dash display in AFM readout mode. Once the vehicle got past about 62 MPH, AFM never engaged once. Never leaving V8 mode, the instantaneous mileage varied from 13-19mpg with the vehicle on cruise control about 68mph. Now, if you drop below about 62MPH, then the AFM would engage and you would see a noticeable instantaneous mpg difference when it would enter V4.
Question: How many people cruise down the highway below 62mph? :confuse:
The sales person called his GM certified tech who responded by saying especially the 4x4s require all 8 cylinders above about that speed. Sadly, I drove back home with my Canyon but at least I learned of this during the test drive instead of after the purchase. I personally find this to be false or certainly misleading advertising. My '99 Sierra 5.3 V8 would get 16 city 20 highway without AFM. The 2007 ranging between 13 and 19 mpg on cruise control at 68mph, there's no way it's ever going to get 20 highway without a BIG asterisk *Below 62mph only. And this was just a regular cab version that's 600 pounds lighter than the extended cab and 700 pounds lighter than the crew. I can't imagine what kind of mileage they're going to get.
Any chance GM would refund my trip expenses :mad: ?
Thought those of you in the market should keep this in mind so you don't learn the hard way. I've seen others on this forum and elsewhere complaining about horrible mileage and just attributed it to lead-foot syndrome. I think they're just unfortunately experiencing in ownership what I saw during my test drive. When you're on cruise control, it's hard to blame your right foot.
The truck frequently goes into afm mode below 70 mph, and occasionally between 70-75 mph. 74-75 mph seems to be the cutoff where the afm won't engage any more. I think it would easily meet (or exceed) the 19 mpg highway rating if I stayed at 65. BTW my trip was mostly in cruise control. That is key to getting good mpg. The trip also included about 10% mountain driving, but it is interstate thru those mtns. and the speeds were about 70 mph.
In lousy stop-n-go Los Angeles traffic I get 14-15, which is as good as I can expect.
AFM really works. As long as it is reliable, I am sold on it.
I recently bought a pop-up trailer, approx. 2400 lbs. empty. I am curious what my mpg will be while towing. Will post when I have some data.
1offroader
The bottom line is that there will always be some flat driving, downhill time, tail winds, etc where the AFM will engage and save fuel. I've actually seen it engage while pulling my 5000# Camper. There will also be times when you'll never see AFM engage - High speed highway driving, hot day - AC running all the time, head wind etc. Still, I'm sold on the technology.
One potential problem is that the system does not rotate the cylinders that it disengages... i.e. the same 4 cylinders always turn off. Over time, will the uneven wear cause problems? With the tight tolerances and better materials used in these new engines, it may never be an issue, but my instincts lead me to believe that it could be.... Time will tell
The issue of uneven cylinder wear should not be a problem. The pistons in those cylinders are still moving up and down - they have to, they're connected to the crank shaft. They just aren't drawing in fuel and firing because the valves are de-activated. I wouldn't worry about uneven wear, that's not going to be a problem IMO.
1offroader
Thanks!
My aluminum block with 310 hp gets average of 14.1 while my cast iron block 290hp will get 18mpg average and up to 21 mpg on the highway at 70 mph.
I have seen mine go into 4 cyl mode about 65 mph while on cruise control. If you are not on cruise control any pressure on the pedal will not allow it the select the V4 mode. If the rpm goes up 1 it will kick into V8.
About 5,000 mile on my truck. I was avg 18.3 mph till the winter weather hit and its dropped to about 17.6 but I have it in AUTO 4x4 mode all the time, snowing for 2 weeks straight and roads are mostly snow covered or slippery.
A recent 500 miles trip I average 19.7 mpg on relatively flat county on cruise control at 65mph. Coming back I was carrying about 700 lbs of cargo. I also changed all the lubricants in my truck to synthetic, the engine, both axles and the transmission.
My question for those who know, is if you have the truck without the DIC buttons, how would you know if AFM is active or not? The book says there is a display regardless of whether you have the DIC buttons or not, but fails to mention how one would know.
I drive many days from gas station to gas station only touching the brake pedal and ignition when I leave the first station, stopping at the next one. 60-65 mph, cruise on, all highway. I drove 948 miles this week and might have achieved 18 mpg if I rounded it up. I generally get about 400 - 420 miles per tank and my fill ups are between 22.5 - 24.5 gallons. My simple math tells me that if I were to get even 20mpg, I should go 440 miles on 22 gallons of gas.
No, I dont see any indication that AFM even exists. The serial number says it has it, the sticker says it has it, but other than that, there is no indication that it exsists or if it does, that it functions. Ive even driven 2 tank fulls with the trailer button depressed only to find the same exact milage.
I love the truck, dont get me wrong. It's not the most comfortable for 6 or 8 straight hours, but it's a truck. My question remains. How would one know when the engine goes to 4 cyl. My next question (assuming there is no way for joe truck owner to know) is how would the dealership test it? Can they hook a computer up to it and see it function, can they engage the EFI manually or however AFM works? How can they show me that it is doing what it says it is or for that matter, even show me that it's installed?
18 is ok? Thats 20% off the sticker. What if your wife was in the grocery store, bought $100 worth of groceries, and the store constantly failed to load more than 80% of those groceries in her trunk? What if you bought an air conditioner rated at 16 SEER only to find out it was a 13 SEER? What if the fuel stations only delivered 80% of the fuel the pump said it did?
All I want to know is... Is it there, and if so, does it work (show me). It's a shame a coworker who has the same truck except his is 4wd and he gets over 20 per gallon with the same monthly miles and same type of driving.