Ridiculously Stupid Good Gas Mileage

[Trooper4]

Made a trip last summer from central Washington, over to and around the Olympic Peninsula, down the I-5 to Portland Oregon, across 26 to Mt Hood, and back to central Washington (Yakima/Ellensburg) via the Colombia River gourge. Totaled about 850, and averaged about 25 highway and secondaries. Truck really liked 55 to 60 and very little in town.

 

[Trooper4]

I mean aren’t you the reason?

It has nothing to do with buying fuel. It has to do with the effects on the planet and you choosing to cause higher fuel consumption and pollution. The government has to step in to stop you for the benefit of everyone else in the country / planet and all those generations of people that will need the earth long after we are gone.


MDS has a pretty large benefit for me. The problem is getting it to kick in and stay on. Seems you don’t have that problem.


If you want to be mad at anyone it should be FCA. Perhaps they should develop a better engine that performs equally or better that does not require MDS. I’m all for that too.

C'mon man, get with it. It's called socialism, you know, the good of the all, and all, ya know.

 

[Jtr]

That riding the Eco mode on long stretches is also a pain on the right foot. I find cruise control is not adapted to work with trying to keep it in the sweet spot from my testing.

 

[Al Slick]

I did an entire tank 26 gallons in my quad cab 4x4 hemi etorque 3.23 gears averaged 24.1mpg. I drove like an absolute grandpa and coasted ridiculous distances to four way stops and stuff. All driving was at posted 55mph speed zones other then my neighborhood.

 

[davidajpritchard]

I'm Averaging 22.5 mpg with my Ecodiesel. This is mixed driving and towing a 14' enclosed trailer at least once a week

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[SD Rebel]

Impressive!

I can get that mpg if I reset my mpg while idling downhill. On the other end of the spectrum, I'm currently averaging 12.5 mpg with an almost bone stock Rebel. Though the majority of my driving is city type driving in a hilly area, I don't use MDS either.

When going to Vegas with pure highway and MDS enabled, I think I got 19 mpg a few times.

 

[Dusty1948]

I’m glad you got a laugh at that.

When MDS is active it’s great. I agree it is annoying if it keeps going in and out then there isn’t much benefit.

I do wish the EPA would revise their testing to mimic more real world driving scenarios. I think you’d see a lot of cars data change quite a bit.

I am averaging 12mpg on a new truck with a window sticker that says 17 city. No way. I’ve since added larger tires that technically do not help any but still not anywhere near what the window sticker reflects.

You will never get the fuel mileage rated by the EPA, especially city MPG, unless you were to drive exactly in a way that replicates the EPA cycle testing. A grave misunderstanding is that the EPA fuel consumption ratings will determine what every vehicle will get for every driver under generalized driving conditions. The EPA ratings are performed on dynos with highly trained drivers to simulated a fixed set of computer derived driving cycles as a way to compare competitive vehicles to each other, not drivers or driving conditions.

For example, the city cycle test is comprised of a fixed distance in miles with x-number of stops, a fixed acceleration rate based on the number of seconds to reach x-speed using a standardized fuel. It is doubtful that anyone in America will drive in that manner except the person who was behind the wheel of the tested vehicle during the EPA city cycle test. As the EPA placard reads, "Your mileage may vary."

In reality what is "real world" driving for one person will not be for the next driver. Even if the EPA tested 1000 different test cycles there's no way they would be able to individualize any particular driving scenario to that persons definition of city or highway driving.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 043480 miles.

 

[SD Rebel]

You will never get the fuel mileage rated by the EPA, especially city MPG, unless you were to drive exactly in a way that replicates the EPA cycle testing. A grave misunderstanding is that the EPA fuel consumption ratings will determine what every vehicle will get for every driver under generalized driving conditions. The EPA ratings are performed on dynos with highly trained drivers to simulated a fixed set of computer derived driving cycles as a way to compare competitive vehicles to each other, not drivers or driving conditions.

For example, the city cycle test is comprised of a fixed distance in miles with x-number of stops, a fixed acceleration rate based on the number of seconds to reach x-speed using a standardized fuel. It is doubtful that anyone in America will drive in that manner except the person who was behind the wheel of the tested vehicle during the EPA city cycle test. As the EPA placard reads, "Your mileage may vary."

In reality what is "real world" driving for one person will not be for the next driver. Even if the EPA tested 1000 different test cycles there's no way they would be able to individualize any particular driving scenario to that persons definition of city or highway driving.

Regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 043480 miles.

FCA even goes as far as blanket applying those figures on vehicles that they know should get exceptions and lower the mpg rating like the Rebel. Which has 33" tires and 3.91 axle, which will heavily effect mpg, but they still use the same figures from 3.21 axle on 18" street tires.

GM for example did a special exception on their Trail Boss models, lowering the EPA estimate on the window sticker because they knew it wouldn't match the street models they tested.

At least I knew going in based on experience that no way a Rebel was going to come close to the EPA figures on the sticker, but for people new to this, they are in for a surprise.

 

[iLikeTurtles]

The question is at what percentage below EPA do you have a legal case.....

I get 11.3 combined compared to the EPA 19. That means the annual fuel cost for me is roughly 33.3% more than estimated.

Imagine a tesla with moderate/average driving style getting 200 miles instead of a rated 300.

Thats crap.

I understand driving style and conditions and idle time and setup variations and weather and every excuse, but there needs to be a point where it is not acceptable.

 

[SD Rebel]

The question is at what percentage below EPA do you have a legal case.....

I get 11.3 combined compared to the EPA 19. That means the annual fuel cost for me is roughly 33.3% more than estimated.

Imagine a tesla with moderate/average driving style getting 200 miles instead of a rated 300.

Thats crap.

I understand driving style and conditions and idle time and setup variations and weather and every excuse, but i mean there needs to be a point where it is not acceptable.

Hmmmm, that interesting. I think there was a class action lawsuit against Ford regarding that very thing on certain Ecoboost models.

 

[SpeedyV]

I put nearly 800 miles on the truck last weekend (which is a lot for me, as the truck has only 15K in 2+ years). I'd say 60% of the trip was done at highway speeds between 73-83 mph. 10-15% was around town, and the remainder was a mix of hilly roads and passing through small towns with some traffic.

My truck only has a payload of 1,069 lb to start with, and I estimate I had 650 lb on board, so I was running within about 400 lb of full payload. I always run premium, as I don't fill up very often, so this trip included one tank of 91 and another of 93.

When it all shook out, I averaged about 16 mpg overall. For a 6,700 lb vehicle (as loaded) with 3.92 gearing, I think that's the best I can reasonably expect under these conditions. I've averaged closer to 17.5 mpg when running 55 mph roads (even hilly roads), but not at 70+ mph. Notably, MDS kicked in at higher speeds (78+) than I expected at times, but I have to assume that I was getting some aerodynamic assistance from the tractor-trailers I was constantly passing.

Anyway...I've resigned myself to the knowledge that while this truck will never average 20 mpg, it still gets 40% better fuel economy than my last truck while having an extra 100 HP on tap.

 

[User_3336]

If you're going to brag about 24.6 MPG, then show the display over time of how many miles you drive to maintain that.
Any MPG claim without that is a worthless post.

 

[Richard320]

I've gotten surprisingly good mpg on road trips, too. One in particular included several hours on two lane highways with cruise set at 55. I think I got 24 mpg or thereabouts through three tanks of gas.

Even when I don't get great mileage, I can take comfort in knowing it's still better than the '95 Cherokee it replaced (18 highway) and the '01 Wrangler I still own. (16 highway, 14 if over 70 mph)

 

[davidajpritchard]

If you're going to brag about 24.6 MPG, then show the display over time of how many miles you drive to maintain that.
Any MPG claim without that is a worthless post.

That's why I posted my fuelly account picture. My old HEMI averaged 15.3mpgs...

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[Dusty1948]

Congrats!

Thank you, but one deer was taken by my son and the other by my granddaughter. I myself passed on a doe. Season (regular) closes on December 3rd, so I have another chance this weekend.

Best regards,
Dusty
2019 Ram 1500 Billet Silver Laramie Quad Cab 2WD, 5.7 Hemi, 8HP75, 3.21 axle, 33 gallon fuel tank, factory dual exhaust, 18” wheels. Build date: 03 June 2018. Now at: 043505 miles.

 

[neeginan]

If you're going to brag about 24.6 MPG, then show the display over time of how many miles you drive to maintain that.
Any MPG claim without that is a worthless post.

Thanks for your interest in my post, Greg.

I don't think you read my post closely. I was in search of optimum fuel economy for my truck at highway speed. I think I found it and wanted to share my findings with the community. It was a steady state test, flat florida road, no headwind or tailwind for about 10 miles. That's what it was, as stated in my post. Believe me or not, you decide. I'm not going to take and post 10 minutes of video to 'prove it' to anyone.

This info may be of no value to you. And that's fine. I assure you that someone has found some value in it.

 

[User_3336]

Thanks for your interest in my post, Greg.

I don't think you read my post closely. I was in search of optimum fuel economy for my truck at highway speed. I think I found it and wanted to share my findings with the community. It was a steady state test, flat florida road, no headwind or tailwind for about 10 miles. That's what it was, as stated in my post. Believe me or not, you decide. I'm not going to take and post 10 minutes of video to 'prove it' to anyone.

This info may be of no value to you. And that's fine. I assure you that someone has found some value in it.

No one said anything about taking a 10 minute video to "prove it".....It was just as easy to flip over to the other screen in the menu that showed the 24.6MPG you are stating that would have showed the miles traveled for that measurement and the time spent on that reading . . .

 

[iLikeTurtles]

I require SSN, DOB, address and first born for proof.

 

[neeginan]

No one said anything about taking a 10 minute video to "prove it".....It was just as easy to flip over to the other screen in the menu that showed the 24.6MPG you are stating that would have showed the miles traveled for that measurement and the time spent on that reading . . .

Didn't even know about that. Thanks for teaching me.

 

[User_3336]

Didn't even know about that. Thanks for teaching me.

There are alot of screens to look around in. more stats and information than you could imagine.

ALSO, the TRIP A and TRIP B will tell you the same information. Miles driven...MPG for that trip, and TIME of the drive