New 2022 Ram 1500 with Underperforming MPG

[BowDown]

Wow! What you are seeing is unheard of (until now). My lie-o-meter averages more than 0.5 mpg high (over 30K+ miles, hand-checking every tank).

Here's a 5400 mile average



I had a 7700 mile average taken later that was 18.1 but my 80/20 city/highway driving always averages about this, 17-18 mpg per tank. I drive in North Dallas in stop and go traffic. Doing the math, you can see that's about 45 mph average speed.

Right now I'm refiling at 1/2 tank so that I can fill up without using my debit card twice, that average hand calc is 18.2 or 210 miles and 11.5 gallons (1/2 tank).
FYI, my truck does have the 26 gallon tank but I don't let it go down that far. 25.5 gallons (drove a bit past E till it said range low, took 25.5 to refill) is as far as I've pushed it and that was 450 miles.

 

[SpeedyV]

Here's a 5400 mile average

View attachment 141656

I had a 7700 mile average taken later that was 18.1 but my 80/20 city/highway driving always averages about this, 17-18 mpg per tank. I drive in North Dallas in stop and go traffic. Doing the math, you can see that's about 45 mph average speed.

Right now I'm refiling at 1/2 tank so that I can fill up without using my debit card twice, that average hand calc is 18.2 or 210 miles and 11.5 gallons (1/2 tank).
FYI, my truck does have the 26 gallon tank but I don't let it go down that far. 25.5 gallons (drove a bit past E till it said range low, took 25.5 to refill) is as far as I've pushed it and that was 450 miles.

I was referring to the claimed accuracy of your fuel economy display. Mine is rarely closer than 0.5 mpg from reality, and sometimes closer to 1 mpg optimistic.

 

[BowDown]

I was referring to the claimed accuracy of your fuel economy display. Mine is rarely closer than 0.5 mpg from reality, and sometimes closer to 1 mpg optimistic.

Ahh, got it. Could be my math too, I dropped outta skool in kinneygarten and went to work on the railroad with my pa, cousin, uncle , broder

 

[Idahoktm]

The Lie-O-Meter club isn't buying the accurate fuel computer "claims". If our computers are wrong, by gawd, yours is too.

 

[Jako]

some more reading material

MPG!!

Until Trip B is reset, it should match Trip A as both should be reading MPG since new. I reset trip A every time I top off the tank. I will reset Trip B when performing oil changes. They should not be the same.

5thgenrams.com

Broken MPG Calculator?

Like many of you, I've kept my Trip A as a running total of the vehicles total miles. Prior to my most recent fill, my average across all tanks was under 15 mpg. 33 miles into this tank, which is at 18.9 mpg (finally), I watched my cumulative mpg increase to 16.2. That seemed crazy to me...

5thgenrams.com

 

[BowDown]

some more reading material

MPG!!

Until Trip B is reset, it should match Trip A as both should be reading MPG since new. I reset trip A every time I top off the tank. I will reset Trip B when performing oil changes. They should not be the same.

5thgenrams.com

Broken MPG Calculator?

Like many of you, I've kept my Trip A as a running total of the vehicles total miles. Prior to my most recent fill, my average across all tanks was under 15 mpg. 33 miles into this tank, which is at 18.9 mpg (finally), I watched my cumulative mpg increase to 16.2. That seemed crazy to me...

5thgenrams.com

I don't think that's right, both will reset at 10K miles

 

[sppb32]

I get 19mpg and up to 21 with my 2020 5.7, not much city driving but taking it easy, stay under 75mph, it cost less to drive this truck than my 2011 Hyundai Genesis coupe 2.0T 4 cylinder (modified to run premium) and i have the 22's and a throttle controller, remember: idle time kills mpg.

 

[Mountain Whiskey]

I wonder how many gas milage threads there are.

Compared to days of old, these are gas sipping trucks. My old '77 got 8 mpg and would go 0 to 60 in about 5 minutes.

I have a lift, 35 tires, 3.92 gears (you know, actual truck gears) and I drive pretty hard. Now that it is past 20k miles, it hovers around 16 to 17. When it was new it stayed at 13 to 14.

 

[Rupp]

Yes, these truck like gas Mine is driven in town 99% of the time and she's currently showing 15.8 and that's about as good as she'll do. I've seen 19 on an interstate trip once. It is what it is and very typical of these Ram trucks.

 

[jmt8706]

It's brand new still, give it some time to get some miles, and it will improve. I'm averaging almost 19mpg combined since I got mine last December. Highway, rural, and city driving.

 

[eawill1216]

Maybe requires some break-in period. Just turned over 12K miles in my 2021 Laramie, have been getting 18+ miles in City & on long hwy runs get 22-24mpg all on regular gas (not high octane). The On board computers these days adjust & make allowances for what ever type of fuel you put in it. I do run SHELL gas as much as possible, for better performance & fuel economy. My dad told me that a long time ago, and it does help. My go to fuel in order is Shell, Exxon, Mobile. Shell & Exxon cc offer 10-cents off every gallon you buy too. Have saved over $200 this year alone using these in all our cars (3).

I just bought a 2021 1500 5.7L etorque and am getting 12mpg... when I tow, when I baby it, when I put 87 or 89 in it, same 12MPG. I bought it two weeks ago with 57xxx miles on it and one owner, so it should be well broken in. I took it back to the dealer a week ago to have them look at it and of course, they say nothing is wrong.. So they suggest a Star Case which means I drop it off for a week or more at $150/diag hour if FCA doesn't cover the cost. What do you guys think?

Knoxville, TN

 

[eawill1216]

1. The EPA rating is based on a similar configuration RAM (i.e. crewcab 4x4 w/ short bed), using 18" street tires and likely a 3.21 rear axle. Then RAM blanket states all variants, including OFP and Rebels with 3.92 and 33" tires. They aren't going to come close to the EPA rating.

This is a common complaint of how RAM does their EPA window stickers. It's been brought up by TFL truck for example on their Rebel. You are allowed exceptions to lower mpg based on variants, like GM does with the Trail Boss. But RAM decided not to do that, which I think is a bit shady by them.

2. Hemis break-in, but not close to enough for your truck to get in the window of the EPA rating.

3. Yes, for the best performance and mpg, you should use 89 octane.

However, you can kinda get close to the EPA rating is you drive really easy. I mean like an old person who isn't afraid of pissing off all the driver's behind them. If you drive like that, including the slow lane on the freeway, you can get surprising good mpg.

If I drive my Rebel like normal, I get 13 mpg, if I hypermile it, I can get 18 mpg combined, but it's zero fun that way. The other option is to get small all-season road specific tires, you will see a nice jump in mpg as well.

Ahh ok, I did not realize those numbers were based on 18" tires and 3.21.. I have the 20" with 3.92 ratio and am getting 12MPG in my 2021 Big Horn 5.7L eTorque

 

[SD Rebel]

Ahh ok, I did not realize those numbers were based on 18" tires and 3.21.. I have the 20" with 3.92 ratio and am getting 12MPG in my 2021 Big Horn 5.7L eTorque

Sucks right? TFL Truck mentions this specifically when they were comparing the mpg of the Raptor, Rebel and Trail Boss episode, they talk about the window sticker on the Rebel specifically for this "blanket" mpg rating on all 1500s Crew Cab 4x4s, regardless of trim.

GM actually did the right thing and lowered the mpg rating on their Trail Bosses because they knew the 32" Duratracs weren't going to match the mpg rating of their street tired trucks. RAM could have done the same thing, but didn't.

Again, I knew what I was getting into. But lots of first time truck buyers to the brand these last few years who probably were in for a shock after buying a Rebel or ORP truck at the pump.

 

[Wire4money]

Ahh ok, I did not realize those numbers were based on 18" tires and 3.21.. I have the 20" with 3.92 ratio and am getting 12MPG in my 2021 Big Horn 5.7L eTorque

I have the non etorque big horn 20” 3.92 and get considerably better. Usually 16ish 90% city.

 

[6of36]

You can't compare apples and oranges. Different cities, mean different mileage. City traffic is different in Nashville, than Chicago, than New York. I consider suburbs my city driving. Some cities you sit in traffic, some you stop every block, and some you drive a mile between stops. Even highway driving, elevation matters. All you can do is compare the epa estimates to see if a vehicle gets better mileage than another one, and if you got 2 mpg less than the estimate driving one, you will get 2 mpg less than the estimate on the other.

 

[StuartV]

Ahh ok, I did not realize those numbers were based on 18" tires and 3.21.. I have the 20" with 3.92 ratio and am getting 12MPG in my 2021 Big Horn 5.7L eTorque

I had pretty much the same truck you do. My average, over 72K miles was 14.1 MPG.

2 things:

If you are basing your statement of 12MPG on the onboard computer, forget that. They are notorious for being off - though they usually say you are doing better than you really are, not worse. Regardless, to really know what you're getting you need to hand calculate it. I use the Fuelly app (called aCar on Android). I have logged every single fill-up since June of '19.

Second, you no doubt do not have the original, stock tires. So, what tires do you have? Anything bigger or heavier than the original, stock tires is going to put a hurtin' on mileage. Stock are 32" (IIRC) and I've been running 33s ever since I wore out the OEM tires. Looking at my log data of stock tires versus 33s, the 33s give me about 1 MPG lower.

 

[FLiPMaRC]

This is my average for the first 9k miles. I currently have over 18k miles.

 

[StuartV]

This is my average for the first 9k miles. I currently have over 18k miles.

Based on my experience with 1 x 4th Gen and 2 x 5th Gen, I would say that means you got somewhere between 14 and 19 MPG.

 

[23RAM]

A lot of people forget that the mpg rating shown in their dash is an average which includes gas consumed while idling so it's not indicative of actual on-road mpg - you get 0 mpg warming up in the driveway or sitting at a traffic light and that is not part of the EPA calculation. I don't care what the average calculation shows, I want to know what I'm really getting when on a trip. You can use the trip meter to get a realistic reading of mpg for any trip you take, short or long. I reset the trip when I pull out of the driveway and check it when I stop at my destination (see pic below). Today on a mixed city/hwy (30/70) two hour drive over hilly terrain I got 17.8 combined (97.2 km = 60.4 miles). On the highway I get 21+ cruising at 68 mph (110 km/h). This is on regular 87 fuel non-eTorque 5.7L with cruise control active at highway speeds. That's at 1521 km (945 miles) so I'm hoping it'll go up a bit as the engine/tranny loosens up a bit more. The pic was taken idling in the parking lot and dropped from 17.8 to 17.7 before I could snap it.

 

[Idahoktm]

A lot of people forget that the mpg rating shown in their dash is an average which includes gas consumed while idling so it's not indicative of actual on-road mpg - you get 0 mpg warming up in the driveway or sitting at a traffic light and that is not part of the EPA calculation. I don't care what the average calculation shows, I want to know what I'm really getting when on a trip. You can use the trip meter to get a realistic reading of mpg for any trip you take, short or long. I reset the trip when I pull out of the driveway and check it when I stop at my destination (see pic below). Today on a mixed city/hwy (30/70) two hour drive over hilly terrain I got 17.8 combined (97.2 km = 60.4 miles). On the highway I get 21+ cruising at 68 mph (110 km/h). This is on regular 87 fuel non-eTorque 5.7L with cruise control active at highway speeds. That's at 1521 km (945 miles) so I'm hoping it'll go up a bit as the engine/tranny loosens up a bit more. The pic was taken idling in the parking lot and dropped from 17.8 to 17.7 before I could snap it.

There are a lot of stupid people in this world, but most know that the computer continually measures fuel consumption.

The EPA does simulate stop and go traffic, as well as a few more parameters.