tim and amy wrote:
Ok,
What are you guys arguing about? REALLY? Is this a contest of Ford Eco-boost vs Eco-diesel?
Lets get the facts straight here.
1. Eco-boost trucks average 16.5mpg with mixed city/hwy. That MPG is dependent on if you are burning ethanol fuel or not.
2. Eco-diesel is about the same mpg
3. Both trucks on the hwy, with correct gearing, perfect temp and barometric pressures with flat topography will get mid to high 20's, no argument there.
4. Depending on where you live and how equipped you purchase your truck, will determine MPG numbers. Things such as winter blends, average temps, and altitude all play into to the efficiency of an engine.
5. The discussion of fuel cost difference is also a dig. If you read your manual you will find that Ford recommends you use premium fuel. It will give you the best fuel economy and is required for towing.
6. So lets break down HybridHunters "15%" fuel savings.
I threw into my spread sheet both vehicles avg 20mpg over a one year 17,000 miles of usage. Current price in Utah for Diesel is $3.95 p/G and Premium is $3.75.
The diesel total annual fuel usage is $3,357.50
The gas total annual fuel usage is $3,187.50
A difference of $170.00 over 17,000 miles.
I think that is a moot point, because at anytime either vehicle depending on fuel blends or how it is driven can achieve greater than 20mpg, but again that doesn't matter to anyone but the person who bought either truck and what it will be used for.
Ahh, I see you're in the Portland Metro area via your profile. I know that Diesel is actually around 5 or 10 cents
less per gallon than a gallon of regular right now. Shows how unpredictable the market is, so I usually just assume a 7 to 10% premium on diesel over regular gas since the EIA seems to average out that large of a delta when looking over a whole year for the past few years. However, the cold reality is that gasoline will be going from 30ppm sulfur down to 10ppm sulfur. That means more filtering equipment for the refiners. This also translates to higher fuel costs, however we're still dirt cheap vs. the Europeans. But unfortunately, I think going forward Unleaded and Diesel will be closer to parity. Something that many people don't take into account. Unfortuantely, the EPA isn't letting on what new regs could be coming down the road for Diesel and Gasoline, but the news on sulfur reduction for gas is the latest I heard from the EPA.
Next, I like to use the "Fuelly" website to get a real-world snapshot of owners and fuel economy. There's also fuel
economy.gov to compare against, and the combined fuel economy for similar configured trucks differ by 5mpg on combined ratings. Looking at "V6" gasoline vehicles, the normal distribution seems to peak between 15 and 17 mpg. Unfortunately, this includes Turbo and non-turbo v6's so that will skew MPG's higher. However I think picking the middle of the Normal curve is only fair so 16 mpg seems to be a fair pick. Unfortunately for the RAM side, there's only a few vehicles with the v6 ecodiesel. But given the small sample set, it's centering over 23 and 24 mpg. That's a pretty damn good increase (but remember the Ecodiesel is down about 100 hp compared to the Ecoboost). So if fuel economy and resource conservation are your goals, it's a no-brainer at this point. What I'm excited to see coming down the road is that 2.7 Ecoboost and I'm wondering if Ford can actually match the Ecodiesel like they're claiming in all the "hype" with the new F-150. However, they're doing it mostly by weight. I think load for load and towing for towing the Ecodiesel will win. We'll see though. However, it's a fallacy to assume both engines get the same fuel economy when the rags have noted exceptional fuel economy on the Ecodiesel and user realities seem to be bearing out the trend. That is a 6 to 8 mpg improvement (or about 38% to 50% improvement over the Ecoboost). Also note, the Ecodiesel has a superior power and torque curve compared to pre-HO Cummins motors from 2004 and earlier (at stock settings of course).
I also want to note, my RAM 3500 with its CTD is getting better fuel economy combined versus the EPA combined rating for the 4wd Ecoboost F-150. My truck is on fuelly and you can click on it to see my City/Highway mix. I don't tow anything right now, but I do haul dirt and cargo occasionally. And I've been north of 20 mpg a few times for longer road trips. Seems like if I average over 40 mph, I get awesome fuel economy.
