Flat land fuel mileage results

[Eltaco]

Had a chance to take a 1600mi road trip over the past week and was very curious to see how the mileage would perform. This trip was round trip from KS to ND, so just about as flat of country as you can find in the US. I captured mileage only when winds were calm to remove that variable.

My truck is a pretty heavy Laramie with about 1200lbs payload on the sticker. We were loaded with 5 passengers and a truck bed full of suitcases and gear. I’m driving a 4x4 crew cab short bed, with the Hemi and 3.21 gears. This is a ORP truck and I’ve leveled it by lifting the front 2”. Ive removed the air dams and increased to 33” Duratracs.

With each state having a different speed limit and encountering quite a bit of road construction, I had a chance to take mileage at a few different speeds for long durations. It was intriguing how fast fuel economy drops off with speed.

63mph averaged 22mpg (ECO stayed on typically)
73mph averaged 18mpg
83mph averaged 14mpg

Overall I’m pretty well satisfied with those results, but definitely wonder how many “terrible mileage” posts are related to average speeds or driving conditions. If I ran over 80mph on freeways, I’d have a different outlook than staying at 60mph on local highways.

 

[PowerJrod]

Nice! I take it yours is the non Etorque..? I wonder how the Etorque in the same truck with same cargo would compare mpg wise. Those 33" tires probably dont help with the mpg but then again...most people are Rammin' for smiles, not miles hehe.

 

[SD Rebel]

Absolutely, its all about throttle application and speed. If I drive like a grandpa, easy throttle application and keep to the speed limit, I get great mpg. However, drive anything remotely normal and it drops like a rock.

I was driving at 2 am one day and really taking it easy since I didn't worry about pissing off other drivers being just a few of us on the road. I was getting almost 18 mpg city driving, normally it would be 12 mpg! On the highway, I was getting over 20 mpg, normally it's less than 17 mpg.

My highway mpg will always suck because I refuse to drive in the two slowest lane to avoid getting hit by rocks. Sticking to the two fastest lanes requires average speeds of 75-85 mph, which means low mpg.