6 Cyl Dodge Diesel 30 mpg?

ol Bombero-JC wrote:

I am still wayne_tw wrote:

LaunchnRetrieve wrote:
Find myself disappointed that the F150 Ecoboost only gets 10 mpg towing, was really hoping to make a dent in my gas bill with my next truck. I love my F150, but at 7mpg towing and not towing anymore because of the gas bill, I really want to find something that can tow the boat and trailer without breaking my bank.

Heard a car guy on the radio say that dodge has a 6 cyl diesel that gets 30 mpg. Is this even possible?

The money you will spend buying another vehicle as well as all the money you will loose on depreciation will go a long ways towards buying the extra fuel for towing with your existing vehicle.

X-2

The grass is not *always* greener!..:W

But - you will part with a lot of "green" for very little return..:(

.

I agree on the ROI math, but I'm getting very close to needing to replace my old truck, so I would be buying a replacement truck no matter what, so mpg or $pm will be meaningful without worrying about the investment cost. Although the cost of maintenance and repair and initial purchase of gas vs diesel may be a significant break even math factor. Just vacation towing and currently still work full time grind.

Power to weight ratio considered on any towed article should be easy enough to figure but I don't see 30mpg being likely.

noplace2 wrote:

sch911 wrote:

noplace2 wrote:
The problem with nearly all of these types of threads is that few consider the ability to STOP the thing. Sure, with an only slightly modified VW bug I could haul a 9K rig atop Pike's Peak. (slowly) Coming down, could I stop it when I absolutely needed to?:S

I respectfully disagree. The onus of responsibility is upon the person who mis-matches what they are towing, with what they are towing with. In my less than humble opinion, trailer brakes should be viewed as an accessory, not a fail-safe. In an emergency situation they are virtually useless. I know that my truck can stop both it and the 10K 5'er without use of the trailer brakes. Have been there and done that, not happily but successfully.

And I respectfully disagree with your assessment…

Maybe the TV will stop it, but in how many more feet would it take, and how many times would it stop it in a reasonable distance before the rotors are junk... and how about down long steep down hills…

trailer brakes are not an accessory at all and shouldn’t be thought of as such, they are an important safety item for any combination vehicle…

LaunchnRetrieve wrote:
Find myself disappointed that the F150 Ecoboost only gets 10 mpg towing, was really hoping to make a dent in my gas bill with my next truck. I love my F150, but at 7mpg towing and not towing anymore because of the gas bill, I really want to find something that can tow the boat and trailer without breaking my bank.

Heard a car guy on the radio say that dodge has a 6 cyl diesel that gets 30 mpg. Is this even possible?

Yes it is possible. It's a 3 liter VM Motori diesel. It puts out about 410lb-ft of torque and under 300HP from what I remember. The good news is that it COSTS a lot as an option. You would be better served buying he 5.7L HEMI V8 and save your self 1000s of bucks all while getting more HP and torque.

FWIW

sch911 wrote:

noplace2 wrote:
The problem with nearly all of these types of threads is that few consider the ability to STOP the thing. Sure, with an only slightly modified VW bug I could haul a 9K rig atop Pike's Peak. (slowly) Coming down, could I stop it when I absolutely needed to?:S

I respectfully disagree. The onus of responsibility is upon the person who mis-matches what they are towing, with what they are towing with. In my less than humble opinion, trailer brakes should be viewed as an accessory, not a fail-safe. In an emergency situation they are virtually useless. I know that my truck can stop both it and the 10K 5'er without use of the trailer brakes. Have been there and done that, not happily but successfully.

If you are towing a decent size trailer 10-12 mpg is about all you are going to see from any tow vehicle.

LaunchnRetrieve wrote:
Find myself disappointed that the F150 Ecoboost only gets 10 mpg towing, was really hoping to make a dent in my gas bill with my next truck.

Heard a car guy on the radio say that dodge has a 6 cyl diesel that gets 30 mpg. Is this even possible?

I am still wayne_tw wrote:

LaunchnRetrieve wrote:
Find myself disappointed that the F150 Ecoboost only gets 10 mpg towing, was really hoping to make a dent in my gas bill with my next truck. I love my F150, but at 7mpg towing and not towing anymore because of the gas bill, I really want to find something that can tow the boat and trailer without breaking my bank.

Heard a car guy on the radio say that dodge has a 6 cyl diesel that gets 30 mpg. Is this even possible?

The money you will spend buying another vehicle as well as all the money you will loose on depreciation will go a long ways towards buying the extra fuel for towing with your existing vehicle.

X-2

The grass is not *always* greener!..:W

But - you will part with a lot of "green" for very little return..:(

.

How many miles a year do you tow? Lets say 10K miles a year at 7 mpg that's 1429 gallons X $3 is $4287. If you doubled to 14 mpg that's 714 gallons X $3 is $2142. To purchase a new 40K truck to save gas would take 18.6 years to break even. Your trade in will reduce the time.

Lets take a walk down memory lane. I had an '86 Chevy K1500 with the 6.2 naturally aspirated diesel. Of course it didn't have the HP ,torque or many speed tranny of dodges new 3.0.
At 65 mph highway it regularly made 30 mpg, Towing my 30 ' Award, an aerodynamic TT, at about 5300# loaded, it still made 18mpg.
The next truck, a '88 4spd. manual F250 351 gasser, towed that trailer with a bit more oomph at twice the fuel use.
I'd guess in the long run costs are about the same, given equipment and fuel price. To me, buying a diesel makes sense if it is used primarily for heavy work. The reward is in the torque, durability and resale value.

Bionic Man wrote:
30 MPG unloaded is very realistic. Not sure what it will get towing, but it will be better than the EB.

And with all the advances like large 4 wheel disc brakes, I'd be willing to bet that a 2014 15 series truck, regardless of brand, will likely have better braking than an early 2000's 25 or 35 series truck.

I'm not worried at all about my stopping power. My current F150 is not challenged at all by my current trailer uphill or downhill. It's just the mpg. And you're right anything I get now should be better equipped than my 2001 (an assumption I will confirm before any purchase).

Moving from 7 to 10 mpg won't be worth the cost, but if I could double or triple my towing mpg it would be well worth it and I'd feel good on the road again.