Interesting notes on fuel economy

[Patamaran]

I just started to drive my new 2021 bighorn, and since it's new and I've never owned a V8 before, I've been paying close attention to its fuel economy. I can usually keep it in eco (mds) for about half my commute to work, but today was the first day I drove in reasonably heavy rain. What a difference! Couldn't get into cylinder deactivation for about 90% of my drive, and lost about ~ 15% in fuel economy.

This isn't a knock on the truck or its fuel economy, it's been pretty damn good actually, just something interesting that I would never have thought could kill the mpgs like that.

 

[RAM Patriot]

I just started to drive my new 2021 bighorn, and since it's new and I've never owned a V8 before, I've been paying close attention to its fuel economy. I can usually keep it in eco (mds) for about half my commute to work, but today was the first day I drove in reasonably heavy rain. What a difference! Couldn't get into cylinder deactivation for about 90% of my drive, and lost about ~ 15% in fuel economy.

This isn't a knock on the truck or its fuel economy, it's been pretty damn good actually, just something interesting that I would never have thought could kill the mpgs like that.

I constantly monitor my fuel economy as well and have found that the increased rolling resistance and drive-train friction in just a light rain can increase fuel consumption by 1-2 mpg.

 

[Neurobit]

I have a stupid-short commute, so in my case, MPG will never be even close to ok, so I’ve stopped worrying about it.

 

[Neurobit]

The offset is that I only fill up every three weeks or so.…

 

[RSConsulting]

Poor mileage - great performance. Kind of surprised based on some reports I've seen here.

Probably be out of this truck by weeks end - have a 21 Yukon XL Denali I6 Diesel that was ordered the beginning of January, that was finally born 4/15 - expected delivery date 4/29. Truck is at the Ram Dealer getting a "Gold Detail" that they owed me as an apology for screwing me over TWO WEEKS on my dash replacement. I'm sure they will be MOST HAPPY TO NEVER SEE ME AGAIN.

The new Duramax I6 is "reportedly" getting 23/28 in the 1500 Sierra Pickups - If I get even to close to that I'll be happy.



And it ain't gonna get better, it's gonna get worse (I have sheets of these on stickers that go on every gas pump I roll up to)...

If I don't post again - been nice being here. If I had to choose a PICKUP TRUCK again - it would STILL BE A RAM 1500 LIMITED

Rick

 

[bpwj76]

I am pretty impressed with the mileage I've been getting. When I bought the truck in January, it had 14,800 miles on it and the AVG MPG for the life of the truck was only 14.7. I've managed to get it up to around 19. I use 89 octane and I don't know if that makes much, if any difference. I do 50/50 highway/city driving and pull a 30' travel trailer once a month somewhere (farthest we've gone is about 200 miles one way) and get about 9mpg towing. I don't try to keep it in Eco or drive super conservatively, I just drive it.

Edit: I realized after posting this that my average mpg in the bottom right hand corner of the instrument cluster does not jive with my Fuelly average. I never reset that mpg, only the trip each time I fill up. I wonder why it's calculating so high in the truck.

 

[Neurobit]

I am pretty impressed with the mileage I've been getting. When I bought the truck in January, it had 14,800 miles on it and the AVG MPG for the life of the truck was only 14.7. I've managed to get it up to around 19. I use 89 octane and I don't know if that makes much, if any difference. I do 50/50 highway/city driving and pull a 30' travel trailer once a month somewhere (farthest we've gone is about 200 miles one way) and get about 9mpg towing. I don't try to keep it in Eco or drive super conservatively, I just drive it.

I realized after posting this that my average mpg in the bottom right hand corner of the instrument cluster does not jive with my Fuelly average. I never reset that mpg, only the trip each time I fill up. I wonder why it's calculating so high in the truck.

Yeah, that's pretty good. I'm usually in the 8-10 MPG range during work week, and it goes up to ~12-12.5 MPG if I do in a couple of freeway drives around town during the weekend. On long trips I do get up to ~18-19 MPG. Details on Fuelly link in sig.

 

[bpwj76]

Yeah, that's pretty good. I'm usually in the 8-10 MPG range during work week, and it goes up to ~12-12.5 MPG if I do in a couple of freeway drives around town during the weekend. On long trips I do get up to ~18-19 MPG. Details on Fuelly link in sig.

My in-town driving has a lot of traffic circles, so there's not all that much stop-n-go type driving. When I do stop, the eTorque system shuts the engine off. My long trip freeway driving usually gets me about 19-20mpg at 75-80mph.

 

[RAM Patriot]

Yeah, that's pretty good. I'm usually in the 8-10 MPG range during work week, and it goes up to ~12-12.5 MPG if I do in a couple of freeway drives around town during the weekend. On long trips I do get up to ~18-19 MPG. Details on Fuelly link in sig.

Stop & Go traffic will kill your fuel economy.

 

[Neurobit]

Stop & Go traffic will kill your fuel economy.

Yep. Specially <1 mile stop & go, which is my commute (if you can call it that) ea. way.
Actually, I have almost no stop & go other then a couple of stop signs and two lights. It's just the short trip that kills it for me.

 

[Fatherof3]

Poor mileage - great performance. Kind of surprised based on some reports I've seen here.

Probably be out of this truck by weeks end - have a 21 Yukon XL Denali I6 Diesel that was ordered the beginning of January, that was finally born 4/15 - expected delivery date 4/29. Truck is at the Ram Dealer getting a "Gold Detail" that they owed me as an apology for screwing me over TWO WEEKS on my dash replacement. I'm sure they will be MOST HAPPY TO NEVER SEE ME AGAIN.

The new Duramax I6 is "reportedly" getting 23/28 in the 1500 Sierra Pickups - If I get even to close to that I'll be happy.

View attachment 91514

And it ain't gonna get better, it's gonna get worse (I have sheets of these on stickers that go on every gas pump I roll up to)...

If I don't post again - been nice being here. If I had to choose a PICKUP TRUCK again - it would STILL BE A RAM 1500 LIMITED

Rick

I hope you stick around . It would be nice hearing about another make both pros and cons .

 

[Drewster]

And it ain't gonna get better, it's gonna get worse (I have sheets of these on stickers that go on every gas pump I roll up to)...

If I don't post again - been nice being here. If I had to choose a PICKUP TRUCK again - it would STILL BE A RAM 1500 LIMITED

Rick

Farewell, Florida Man

 

[Malodave]

Poor mileage - great performance. Kind of surprised based on some reports I've seen here.

Probably be out of this truck by weeks end - have a 21 Yukon XL Denali I6 Diesel that was ordered the beginning of January, that was finally born 4/15 - expected delivery date 4/29. Truck is at the Ram Dealer getting a "Gold Detail" that they owed me as an apology for screwing me over TWO WEEKS on my dash replacement. I'm sure they will be MOST HAPPY TO NEVER SEE ME AGAIN.

The new Duramax I6 is "reportedly" getting 23/28 in the 1500 Sierra Pickups - If I get even to close to that I'll be happy.

View attachment 91514

And it ain't gonna get better, it's gonna get worse (I have sheets of these on stickers that go on every gas pump I roll up to)...

If I don't post again - been nice being here. If I had to choose a PICKUP TRUCK again - it would STILL BE A RAM 1500 LIMITED

Rick

Can I get a copy of the print file? I want to do this myself around here.

Thanks,

Malodave

 

[brian42]

Edit: I realized after posting this that my average mpg in the bottom right hand corner of the instrument cluster does not jive with my Fuelly average. I never reset that mpg, only the trip each time I fill up. I wonder why it's calculating so high in the truck.

When you fill up you take the miles driven then divide by the gallons pumped into the tank. Easy and accurate.

The computer has to use all the parameters to calculate what it thinks you are getting and then keeps a tally until you reset it. For a live calculation it's pretty close but is usually a little higher than what the actual is.

I constantly monitor my fuel economy as well and have found that the increased rolling resistance and drive-train friction in just a light rain can increase fuel consumption by 1-2 mpg.

The fuel economy is very sensitive to a small change in environmental conditions or driving habits.

It doesn't take much city driving, bad weather, or heavier foot for my economy to take a noticeable nose dive. Steady and conservative driving will bring it back up but it takes some time to "build" the number back up.

This generation of the HEMI has been around for awhile (2013?) so, as much fun as it is, it is an aged powerplant. While I'd love some better numbers I know that I have a reliable powerplant that has had years of in-service use for development.

My last truck was a 3/4 ton diesel that got 14.9 mpg in the city, 15.1 mpg on the highway, 15 mpg with bigger tires, and 15 mpg overall.

 

[RAM Patriot]

When you fill up you take the miles driven then divide by the gallons pumped into the tank. Easy and accurate.

The computer has to use all the parameters to calculate what it thinks you are getting and then keeps a tally until you reset it. For a live calculation it's pretty close but is usually a little higher than what the actual is.


The fuel economy is very sensitive to a small change in environmental conditions or driving habits.

It doesn't take much city driving, bad weather, or heavier foot for my economy to take a noticeable nose dive. Steady and conservative driving will bring it back up but it takes some time to "build" the number back up.

This generation of the HEMI has been around for awhile (2013?) so, as much fun as it is, it is an aged powerplant. While I'd love some better numbers I know that I have a reliable powerplant that has had years of in-service use for development.

My last truck was a 3/4 ton diesel that got 14.9 mpg in the city, 15.1 mpg on the highway, 15 mpg with bigger tires, and 15 mpg overall.

It doesn't take much city driving, bad weather, or heavier foot for my economy to take a noticeable nose dive. Steady and conservative driving will bring it back up but it takes some time to "build" the number back up.

That is a very accurate statement...

I have noticed since the weather has warmed up and the windows have gone down. The music volume has gone up and my right foot has gotten a little heavier.

My fuel economy is fading away but my enthusiasm for the HEMI powerplant is renewed once again as I listen to my 5" exhaust tips rumble.

 

[Drewster]

Yep. Specially <1 mile stop & go, which is my commute (if you can call it that) ea. way.
Actually, I have almost no stop & go other then a couple of stop signs and two lights. It's just the short trip that kills it for me.

E-Torque really really helps with start/ stop commutes like that. When I got a new job that was much closer, my old (non MDS, non e-torque) Hemi was getting 12 mpg with even my most gentle hypermiling. The new Ram gets about 17.5 mpg on the exact same commute.

Granted, based on the picture you posted of stopped traffic on that <1 mi commute, wouldn't it be faster to walk or get a scooter?

 

[Neurobit]

E-Torque really really helps with start/ stop commutes like that. When I got a new job that was much closer, my old (non MDS, non e-torque) Hemi was getting 12 mpg with even my most gentle hypermiling. The new Ram gets about 17.5 mpg on the exact same commute.

Granted, based on the picture you posted of stopped traffic on that <1 mi commute, wouldn't it be faster to walk or get a scooter?

That's just the stop light by my office. The rest of the way is easy going.
I'd love to walk or ride a bike, but with the Houston humidity that's not feasible (I'd be dripping wet by the time I get to work). Yeah, it's that muggy down here.

 

[Thekidcasual]

I have a stupid-short commute, so in my case, MPG will never be even close to ok, so I’ve stopped worrying about it.

View attachment 91513

Damn I thought mine was bad.. I hope you have the 33gal tank so you’re not constantly pumping gas

 

[Neurobit]

Damn I thought mine was bad.. I hope you have the 33gal tank so you’re not constantly pumping gas

Not bad at all, I don't drive a whole lot so I only need to fill up every three weeks, so really no complaints.
On this same routine my BMW X5 Diesel used to get around 14 MPG, and my MB GL550 ~ 12, so yeah, this one's the worst of the bunch.

 

[Buz]

Yep. Specially <1 mile stop & go, which is my commute (if you can call it that) ea. way.
Actually, I have almost no stop & go other then a couple of stop signs and two lights. It's just the short trip that kills it for me.

I have a 5 mile commute, so almost all of my driving is the Hemi getting up to (but not at) full operating temperature. If I can eeek 12MPG out of a tank I had a good run.