Poor gas mileage

[User_3336]

I got the eTorque and LOVE it! Agreed that it is more expensive stuff to break, but I talked the dealer into giving me a 5 year bumper-bumper warranty and I’ll likely trade in prior to 5 years.

What kind of warranty was this specifically????

 

[Newramowner2021]

I've seen reports of others getting poor gas mileage in their 5th Generation Rams. Mine is horrible. Has anyone else gotten a dealer to figure out what's wrong with this truck?
I've had my truck in the shop twice now for this issue. The Ram technicians are not able to find anything wrong with the truck.

It is a 2019 ram 1500 limited 4x4 crew cab with eTorque engine. Fuel economy is supposed to be 17 city, 22 highway.
I have the active suspension, and every option imaginable. 12" touch screen (which I would not recommend after living with it).
I only get 12-13 mpg city and 15-16mpg highway.
I have the 3.92 rear axle with anti-spin diff.
Eco mode almost never turns on in this new truck.
I have no performance options other than what the truck came with.
I have 12,500 miles on it now.

My 2016 ram quad cab with 5.7 hemi 4x4 got 20mpg or better consistently on the highway thanks to the eco mode.
I should be getting at least within 1 to 2 mpg of what is stated. My 2016 truck promised 20mpg and I got better.
I drive conservatively. I drive mostly highway. I don't idle the truck.
I thought the eTorque would be the way to go. I would not recommend it.
I've owned 4 of these trucks, each one better than the last, until this latest one.

I was given a loaner 2019 Ram 1500 with the Hemi, crew cab, same as my truck, but no eTorque option. I towed a trailer with that loaner truck for 250 miles and averaged 19.5mpg in tow/haul mode. It was the same year as mine 4x4 with the crew cab and hemi, and it got much better gas mileage. The only difference is mine has the eTorque, and this loaner did not. I can't get gas mileage that good in my truck, when it's empty and riding steady at 65mph on the highway. When I tow, I get 12 on the highway.

Something is wrong with my truck that is not wrong with all of them. Has anyone else experienced this and have you gotten it properly fixed? I'm at the point where I'm fighting with my dealer and I need to tell him what it is. He has put the OBD tester on it and says it has no codes

 

[Newramowner2021]

I am facing the same poor gas mileage issues with my 2021 Limited with the eTorque engine.….around 14 with city/highway mix.

 

[Neurobit]

What kind of warranty was this specifically????

Was thinking the same thing…

 

[CrazyWorld]

You must drive like a Grandma to get that mileage.....

Nope....more like grandpa! We live rural....to get anywhere...we take two lane roads for at least 40 miles....we drive 55 to 60 most of the time....on a trip to Calif.....we drove I5 at 65mph...still got over 20mpg. I am retired...no need to go much faster.....I like looking around....enjoying the scenery......when we pull our small travel trailer.....we do about 62mph.....still get 17mpg......if you're behind me....I pull over and let you pass......life is good..

 

[VPI]

Second fill-up for me. This is all “suburban” driving. No traffic per se, just periodic stop lights.

 

[theblet]

Nope....more like grandpa! We live rural....to get anywhere...we take two lane roads for at least 40 miles....we drive 55 to 60 most of the time....on a trip to Calif.....we drove I5 at 65mph...still got over 20mpg. I am retired...no need to go much faster.....I like looking around....enjoying the scenery......when we pull our small travel trailer.....we do about 62mph.....still get 17mpg......if you're behind me....I pull over and let you pass......life is good..

This is very similar to what I’m seeing. Do you have the 3.92 or 3.21 rear end?

 

[Fantastipotamus]

My most recent tank, mixed driving. Hemi/eT/3.92, but honestly i think a good part of it is the Bridgestone Dueler tires. Decidedly non-offroad tires. I bet if i swapped over to Rebel tires, i’d immediately lose 2-3mpg just due to the off-road tread.

I didn’t hand calculate to verify, as I filled a gas can first and wasn’t thinking about it.

 

[Mountain Whiskey]

Nope....more like grandpa! We live rural....to get anywhere...we take two lane roads for at least 40 miles....we drive 55 to 60 most of the time....on a trip to Calif.....we drove I5 at 65mph...still got over 20mpg. I am retired...no need to go much faster.....I like looking around....enjoying the scenery......when we pull our small travel trailer.....we do about 62mph.....still get 17mpg......if you're behind me....I pull over and let you pass......life is good..

Glad to see you made it to enjoy some retirement time! Very considerate of you to let people pass. I know I usually drive fast. You know, not enough time to do what needs to be done in life sometimes. Drives me nuts on the 4 lanes of the DC beltway and the slowest guy on the road insists on being in the left lane. Everyone weaving in and out just slows everything down.

Anyway, I have to ask, if you enjoy just puttering around why would you get the gas hog Hemi? The V6 offered is pretty powerful on its own.

 

[Rlaf75]

Gas mileage advertised on your window stickers by the manufacturer is almost total ******** in real world conditions. The numbers they say the truck gets are under the most perfect of conditions imaginable and dont take into account the ****ty road conditions, idle time, inclines, payload and just your foot hitting the pedal like normal. I remember years ago I looked into these advertised numbers and found their results are almost impossible for a regular driver to achieve. If you're looking for fuel efficiency then a pickup truck wouldn't be my first choice. Just sayin

 

[wvinson]

I get about 13 on my limited non e-torque hemi -- terrible. My 18 Escalade ESV with the 6.2L gets better than what the sticker says -17 city and 24 highway and I drive it the same way. Wonder what's going on with these engines. This is my 3rd Ram hemi ('14 and '17, and '19) and they've all been the same.

 

[theblet]

I’m averaging 16.7 right now from idling so much. Drive thrus, working on my fourwheeler (jumper cables). Once on the highway 45 to 55 with the cruise set is the sweet spot.

 

[User_3336]

17.7 Just can't squeeze any more out of it. 3.92, 4x4, and off road tires don't help.

 

[UPSTrucker13]

My loaded Limited e-torque is getting 17mpg doing 75mph, it’s terrible. 12ish around town.

I owned 3 F150’s and they all got better. My last 2018 King Ranch got 20-22mpg doing 80mph.

Bought the RAM for the interior but the mileage is horrible.

Yes it’s a truck but there is absolutely no reason it shouldn't get 20 on the highway, Ford can do it, Chevy can do it.

Ram can do it too. It varies truck to truck. I had a F150 I couldn't even get 14 out of on the hwy(No matter how hard I tried, I went back to dealer because it was so bad, and just like the dealers have said to these Ram owners, couldn't find anything) and my last 2017 hemi Ram CC I could get 25 hwy (Yes 3.21,yes babied it, but it did it). My 2021 CC Laramie Sport eTorque 3.92 Hemi 18.7 hwy.

 

[woodey]

Nope....more like grandpa! We live rural....to get anywhere...we take two lane roads for at least 40 miles....we drive 55 to 60 most of the time....on a trip to Calif.....we drove I5 at 65mph...still got over 20mpg. I am retired...no need to go much faster.....I like looking around....enjoying the scenery......when we pull our small travel trailer.....we do about 62mph.....still get 17mpg......if you're behind me....I pull over and let you pass......life is good..

Just got home from a trip to NH. 115 miles of the ride was thru the mountains of VT. on I-89 with the cruise set at 73. Very impressed as I averaged 21 MPG.
This is the mileage from our ride home. I should have checked it on the ride there and may have been able to get 23 as we came home hauling a heavy load, 3 large coolers filled with Micro brewed beers on ice and a nice haul from Discount liquors.

 

[Rlaf75]

Just got home from a trip to NH. 115 miles of the ride was thru the mountains of VT. on I-89 with the cruise set at 73. Very impressed as I averaged 21 MPG with just over 2000 miles on the truck. View attachment 99587

I love that area up in VT. I get up there every year on the bike in late August early September

 

[brian42]

You're not going to win an fuel economy awards in a powerplant that was introduced 18 years ago (2003) with a refresh/revision 12 years ago (2009). How many people have a 5-, 10-, 15-, or 20-year-old computer/cell phone that competes with ones of today (or just a few years old)?

Advancements in technology, design, and forced induction all help smaller engines make the same power as this HEMI while surpassing it in fuel economy.

In the end it's a truck with a V-8 engine so you're never going to get "great" fuel economy. I've had trucks for 20+ years and have always had a personal benchmark of 15 mpg overall to be "happy" regardless of what is on the window sticker.

As Rlaf75 mentioned the fuel economy numbers posted on the window sticker are pipe dreams in real world conditions. There has to be a standard to make the window sticker comparable between manufacturers and each vehicle company will do the bare minimum to meet those standards while maximizing their numbers. I don't think it's as much to attract buyers (I'm sure there's some good advertising there) but it's more for calculating their overall fuel economy numbers to meet CAFE requirements. I know Stellantis buys a lot of emissions credits from Tesla as just about everything comes with a HEMI V-8. Don't think for a minute that Stellantis actually uses their own money to buy those credits...it's incorporated into the purchase price of the truck.

As an experiment I changed my EVIC display around. I normally have my fuel economy numbers staring me in the face (current and overall economy) so I can see how hard I'm pushing the truck and try to maximize my fuel economy at each fill-up. I always fill up at the same Costco with 91 octane and (usually) at the same pump since I do it early in the morning.

My baseline for normal driving and paying attention to my economy:

1. Cruise control @ 70 MPH on freeway.
2. Accelerate briskly (3000 RPM +/- 500 RPM) to speed limit.
3. Anticipate lights.
4. Minimize idle time.

This is currently netting me about 16.5 mpg per tank.

My experiment for "I've got a HEMI":

1. Cruise control @ 75 MPH on freeway.
2. Accelerate 'a little more than' briskly (closer to 4000-ish RPM ).
3. Take whatever route is more enjoyable.
4. Conscious of idle time but doing some remote starts to cool the cab in the summer heat.

This is currently netting me 16.0 mpg per tank.

I thought it would be lower than that but, at least for my truck, it's not much of a difference between driving gingerly and having some fun in my rumbling V-8.

With gas currently $4.19/gallon (Costco 91 octane) that means about a $4 difference each tank. I burn through 4-5 tanks a month so the difference between operating my truck and driving my truck is about $20/month. I'll stick with the latter.

If I had any aspirations (or priority) for anything 20 mpg overall or more I wouldn't have a pickup truck.

Just my .02

 

[CrazyWorld]

This is very similar to what I’m seeing. Do you have the 3.92 or 3.21 rear end?

Sorry for late response...don't log on much.....I have the 3.92....4x4....with a tow package.

 

[CrazyWorld]

Glad to see you made it to enjoy some retirement time! Very considerate of you to let people pass. I know I usually drive fast. You know, not enough time to do what needs to be done in life sometimes. Drives me nuts on the 4 lanes of the DC beltway and the slowest guy on the road insists on being in the left lane. Everyone weaving in and out just slows everything down.

Anyway, I have to ask, if you enjoy just puttering around why would you get the gas hog Hemi? The V6 offered is pretty powerful on its own.

I wanted it for towing a travel trailer and a car trailer.....we have a small travel trailer and I tow a car trailer around with a tractor on it. The truck does well towing......I am set up to tow up to 11,500 lbs.

 

[CrazyWorld]

Just got home from a trip to NH. 115 miles of the ride was thru the mountains of VT. on I-89 with the cruise set at 73. Very impressed as I averaged 21 MPG.
This is the mileage from our ride home. I should have checked it on the ride there and may have been able to get 23 as we came home hauling a heavy load, 3 large coolers filled with Micro brewed beers on ice and a nice haul from Discount liquors.






View attachment 99587

Nice!