which TOW vehicle gets best fuel mileage towing and empty?
- Thread starter Miltp920
- Start date
Bohemian
Well-known member
Well, here goes:
2014 C S1500 FV8 - 18
2014 C S1500 V8 - 17
2014 C S1500 V6 - 19
2013 C S1500 V8 - 16
2013 C S2500 D8 - 16
2013 C S2500 G8 - 13
2001-15 S3500 D8 - 14
2014 F F150 V8 - 18
2014 F F150 V6 - 16
2013 F F150 V8 - 16
2013 F F150 V6 - 17
2014 F F250 D8 - 16
2013 F F250 D8 - 16
2013 F F250 G8 - 14
2014 F F350 D8 - 15
2013 F F350 D8 - 15
2014 D R1500 V8 - 17
2014 D R1500 V6 - 18
2014 D R1500 D6 - 24
2014 D R2500 D6 - 16
2014 D R2500 V8 - 14
2014 D R3500 D6 - 16
Data from fuelly.com. Average self reported fuel economy. No results were extracted where there were less than 5 vehicles reported per group
2014 C S1500 FV8 - 18
2014 C S1500 V8 - 17
2014 C S1500 V6 - 19
2013 C S1500 V8 - 16
2013 C S2500 D8 - 16
2013 C S2500 G8 - 13
2001-15 S3500 D8 - 14
2014 F F150 V8 - 18
2014 F F150 V6 - 16
2013 F F150 V8 - 16
2013 F F150 V6 - 17
2014 F F250 D8 - 16
2013 F F250 D8 - 16
2013 F F250 G8 - 14
2014 F F350 D8 - 15
2013 F F350 D8 - 15
2014 D R1500 V8 - 17
2014 D R1500 V6 - 18
2014 D R1500 D6 - 24
2014 D R2500 D6 - 16
2014 D R2500 V8 - 14
2014 D R3500 D6 - 16
Data from fuelly.com. Average self reported fuel economy. No results were extracted where there were less than 5 vehicles reported per group
Ray LeTourneau
Senior Member - Past Moderator
While towing the Bighorn I average around 10.5 depending on conditions. Hilly areas or windy days affect it. It has been as high as 11.8 with very little wind and flat terrain.
I try to tow at 65 to 68. For me that has the LB7 in a nice RPM range.
The best ever not towing was 22. Since the injectors were replaced last year the highs are between 20 and 21.
Our 3400RL weighs in at 15,000 ready for the trip south.
BART is stock other than a MBRP 5" exhaust system.
I try to tow at 65 to 68. For me that has the LB7 in a nice RPM range.
The best ever not towing was 22. Since the injectors were replaced last year the highs are between 20 and 21.
Our 3400RL weighs in at 15,000 ready for the trip south.
BART is stock other than a MBRP 5" exhaust system.
I am not sure where those self-reported people learned math, but I have never gotten less than 17mpg while not towing my Cyclone (2014 Silverado 3500HD DDuramax Dually), in mixed types of roads and conditions. But having said that, some on here reported 20+ mpg on highways. I have never gotten more than 18 and I have a light foot. Just my expereince.
scottyb
Well-known member
Thank you for that web site. I have been tracking my fuel for the last 25 years in every vehicle I have owned. Partly because of the analytic side of me and partly for tax reasons. This looks to be promising, but I think I will continue keeping a log book until I see how reliable it is.
It's not really self reported in that your are inputting you MPG. You simply record your miles driven via actual mileage or odometer reading and the gallons used. It does the calculations for you. I suppose someone could cheat to make a point, but over the long term it would not serve a purpose. Like anything dealing with statistics, the bigger the sample, the better the data.
I just enetered all my data since the truck was new. I entered it as two different vehicles, one for driving empty and one while towing. It is showing my average empty to be 13.1 MPG over 20K+ miles, and 8.5 MPG over 9K towing miles. I like this thing already.
dave10a
Well-known member
Well I have never got as bad fuel milage as being reported on fuelly.com. So I question the data and how it was obtained. It looks like a lot folks have "lead foot". It doesn't take much to reduce an average with high speed, jack rabbit starts, and head winds. The only real test to compare engines would be a dyno in a controlled environment. Otherwise it is mostly hear say..... 
Bohemian
Well-known member
FYI: Fuelly Data1) Self Reporting: is when people report the information that is analyzed. It does not matter who does the calculations, accumulation, or analysis. Self Reporti9ng is as opposed to observed by the scientists and engineers by personal observation or direct data collection through instrumentation. These are self reported results. They include mostly honest results, some mistakes, and some lies. The most common mistake I have seen is reports miles from multiple tanks and gallons from one tank. The most common misrepresentation I see people write is saying "I get 24 mpg" rather than "I have gotten up to 24 mpg". Some people know they are exaggerating, some don't. I think mostly it's a matter of the vague nature of language.2) The only special factor to the results is that they belong to the class of people who collect and submit the data. In general, I would expect this group of people to be either equal too or better than the full population of drivers in getting good fuel economy as they are clearly interested in tracking fuel economy. It is clear that your results may vary as do the results of the people who reported to fuelly.com.3) These are averages over all driving conditions either reported on not reported in fuelly.com. They include and are averaged over towing, not towing; flats and hills; street and highway; good and bad weather; good and bad roads; etc.In the end, it is what it is. I find it very informative and very believable. Also, the best data I have seen available to the general public. I would like better, more detailed data than fuelly.com provides, but ... If you look at the details of individual owners vehicle reports, you can see the differences between "normal" driving, highway, and towing and you can see the variation due to individual vehicles/drivers. I just gave the summary overview for different vehicles, which was the essence of the original question.
Shortest Straw
Caught In A Mosh
We averaged 12 mpg with the calculator on our last trip out. This included Wyoming winds and South Dakota hills. I will need a couple more trip with our rig to see if that number will stick. I don't round the 10ths up or down. When I am not towing I average 18 but I think that could go higher if I cut off my lead foot.
scottyb
Well-known member
That's why I set mine up as two different vehicles. One with nothing but towing miles and one with all empty miles. Granted the all empty miles are a variation of everything, Off roading, summer, winter, city, highway, but that is what my driving consist of and any other information would be of little value to me.
Miltp920
Well-known member
dave10a
Well-known member
the average evidently includes all miles and all fuel usage while being used with and without loads as well a all traffic and weather conditions. Again the only way to really determine which truck is the most efficient to evaluate in controlled conditions using a dyno--
Miltp920
Well-known member
DocFather's 3500GMC DRWgets 17-18 empty average and F350 DRW gets 13.1-13.9. AND towing with 3500 DRWGMCDuramax same camper 4100 18k+ lbs gets 8.5 mpg ( unless there is a tailwind and downgrade) which sounds consistent between these two trucks.. Is there a reason the GMC gets more mpg empty than the Ford. 17-18 is what I get hwy empty with 2500HD. That is excellent mpg for DRW. DocFather looks like a guy who would never fib about mpg! I am sure 17-18 is mostly hwy miles. BTW I LIKE your idea about keeping stats as if two vehicles, one empty and one towing.
Why DocFather gets 17mpg with Duramax DRW and F350 DRW gets 13.1mpg?
Can we compare details between these two 1 ton DRW trucks?
4 mpg difference empty is significant.OR maybe GMC drives at 55mph and F350 drives at 65 mph?
Are these both hand calculated or DIC dash readings? My dash is off 2 mpg.
DocFather, are you hypermiling?
Why DocFather gets 17mpg with Duramax DRW and F350 DRW gets 13.1mpg?
Can we compare details between these two 1 ton DRW trucks?
4 mpg difference empty is significant.OR maybe GMC drives at 55mph and F350 drives at 65 mph?
Are these both hand calculated or DIC dash readings? My dash is off 2 mpg.
DocFather, are you hypermiling?
Milt, there are some reports on this Forum that get over 20mpg with the same truck, empty. I have never come close to 20. My 17-18 avg empty is country roads with some highway, but little city. I filled up this morning, local country roads/interstate mix with the a/c running and no additional load and I got 16.4 with a light foot
Miltp920
Well-known member
Iknow there are MANY variables, but the manufacturer puts an average mpg in the window of their new vehicles and most of us believe they are fairly accurate. Even 16.4 mpg for a 3500HD DRW to me is excellent empty mileage. I would look toward a Duramax dually over a F350 IF it meant I would typically see 4 mpg better over the long term. Are you hand calculating?
dave10a
Well-known member
In a previous life time I sup'ed and modified various engines starting with flat heads, so tell me what real world results can happen that a dyno would not provide the information about fuel consumption.
Miltp920
Well-known member
What is a dyno, and how would it help answer this question? My original post was to get real world calculated mpg from 3/4 and 1 ton tow vehicles towing 15K + to 18K+ although I opened it up for other input. Based on the responses so far, I am OK with my current mileage, but IF I were to upgrade my tow vehicle, real world calculated data would be useful. Unless there is a dyno.com web site out there like fuelly.com, we probably only have each others experiences to use for data.
