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hellfirehydra's avatar
hellfirehydra
Explorer
Jun 12, 2017

2100 Mile trip MPG results 16 Ram 2500

Just finished a trip from KS to central/west TX towing the camper.

2016 Ram 2500 CTD 4x4
2015 Coachmen Catalina 32bhds weighing about 8500lbs.
Cruise control set at 65 or the speed limit, whichever was lower the whole trip. <200 miles of this were not towing driving in/around the San Antonio area.

Here are the results for the whole trip. Hand calculations were almost the exact same. I definitely had some favorable winds on the return trip for the last 400-500 miles! I usually expect about 12mpg, but was pleasantly surprised on this trip. I'm very aware the winds had a large influence on this trip! There was a large amount of idling as well as I leave the truck on any time we stop to eat to keep the dog cool inside.


Tow Vehicles
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator
    Jun 29, 2017
    pyoung47 wrote:
    Whatever you do, don't hand calculate the mileage. Always rely on the display. You will be much happier.


    True dat!
    Just like when my boat says the water temp here is like 68 deg in May......but when I jump in, my nutz go screaming, running to hide up my _____hole yelling "it's 58 deg you idiot!"
  • pyoung47's avatar
    pyoung47
    Explorer
    Jun 29, 2017
    Whatever you do, don't hand calculate the mileage. Always rely on the display. You will be much happier.
  • Deep_Trax's avatar
    Deep_Trax
    Explorer
    Jun 27, 2017
    Grit dog wrote:
    RoyB, maybe this is why you said you're going to stop posting?
    18+mpg towing 4000lbs?
    You're either the king of hyper milers or king of tall tales, lol!

    That just doesn't compute, unless it's down hill the whole way with a tail wind! In the several hundred thousand miles behind a F150 5.4 steering wheel, I don think I could ever make that claim, empty, much less loaded. I must be doing it wrong....


    I was wondering about that myself. I've towed 3000 -4000 lb low profile bass boats with 1/2 ton trucks for 20 years and never saw anywhere close to 18 MPG. Maybe he has one of those Tornado Magnet things wrapped around his fuel line!
  • hellfirehydra's avatar
    hellfirehydra
    Explorer
    Jun 18, 2017
    Slowmover wrote:
    Engine Hours a good way to track average mph. There is a fuel economy correlation.

    Also, the average is the accurate way to see travel time.


    It certainly is! My case is a bit out of the norm as I do a lot of idling compared to most I would guess. We often stop to eat lunch while driving and I will leave the truck idling to keep the dog cool while we eat. Probably about 8 hours of idling on this trip as a very rough guess.
  • Grit_dog's avatar
    Grit_dog
    Navigator
    Jun 18, 2017
    RoyB, maybe this is why you said you're going to stop posting?
    18+mpg towing 4000lbs?
    You're either the king of hyper milers or king of tall tales, lol!

    That just doesn't compute, unless it's down hill the whole way with a tail wind! In the several hundred thousand miles behind a F150 5.4 steering wheel, I don think I could ever make that claim, empty, much less loaded. I must be doing it wrong....
  • wanderingbob's avatar
    wanderingbob
    Explorer II
    Jun 18, 2017
    I never just automatically lock out sixth gear , I let the truck speak to me !
    Why would you lock it out if ya did not have to ?
  • Slowmover's avatar
    Slowmover
    Explorer
    Jun 18, 2017
    Engine Hours a good way to track average mph. There is a fuel economy correlation.

    Also, the average is the accurate way to see travel time.
  • Txsurfer's avatar
    Txsurfer
    Explorer
    Jun 12, 2017
    I miss the old days where you you refilled at and 1/8th a tank and just kept going not caring what your mpg was.. seems so much less stressful.
  • alexleblanc's avatar
    alexleblanc
    Explorer
    Jun 12, 2017
    I haven't towed enough with mine yet to really have a feel for it but on the first trip out I average around 20L/100km or 12mpg and on the last trip out that was further I averaged the exact same thing again, seems to be right inline with my last truck if not just a touch better but its also not broken in yet either (2400km's to date).

    I will say that unloaded the MPG's seem to be extremely good, I did a fair bit of highway driving over two days (800km's/120km/h on cruise)and I showed an indicated 11.2L/100km - that's roughly 21mpg

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