Ram 2500 5.7 hemi mpg.....a bit disappointed

[zogg]

The other day we took a trip ftom southern illinois, through st louis, to southern Missouri...a couple of hundred miles each way.

Starting out I reset the mpg meter on the dash, and recorded 17.4-17.8 mpg driving at 62-65 mph going through st louis. Once we got out of town, I ran at 75 mph the rest of the way to our destination. The MPG continually dropped until it hit 14.3, which is where it stayed.

Going through southern Missouri is fairly hilly and the truck geared down quite often...more than expected.

On the return trip, I again reset the mpg meter and after about 30 miles at 75 mph, I was right back to 14.3 mpg.

A we approached st louis, we had to slow back down to 65 mph.....mpg came back up to 17.3 and we finished the trip at 17.6.

I never had a truck that would drop 3+ over a 10 mph range....surprising. we were totally unloaded in 2wd the whole trip. 

I am wondering how this compares with the 6.2 L engine in the same truck??????

I was kind of expecting about 3-5 mpg better from the 5.7 hemi

[Jack_Diane_Free]

Driving any 2500/250 truck and expecting anything else is a pipe dream especially if you are driving 75-80 mph. I have a 2014 F-250 and have never checked the mileage. You get what you get in a truck. They are not econoboxes.

[kw_00]

In Florida I can get 17mpg keeping my foot out of it on hwy at 70 with cruise on... but that's in Florida so I'm more then sure others will be different. Otherwise I am at 11-15 city with an average of 13.5mpg. note this is empty NOT..TOWING

[schlep1967]

Two things.
First - The effects of drag are not linear. The faster you push that large frontal area of the truck through the air the faster your mileage will drop. At lower speeds 10 mph will not make as big a difference as it does at higher speeds. Example 50-60 mph = -.5 mpg, 65-75 mph = -3 mpg.

Second - A truck can be geared for MPG but then it will not be great at towing. A truck can be geared for towing but then it will not be great for MPG. At this point I think the manufacturers are about at the limits of decent towing and decent MPG.

[camp-n-family]

I see pretty much the same results with my 5.7l. A little better in the warmer months when the winter tires come off and use of winter gas ceases, plus less warm up time and idling. Best I can get is 18mpg but that's rare, and much slower than 75mph.

The 6.4 supposedly gets better mileage since it has cylinder deactivation technology which the 5.7 in the 2500 does not get, even though it is available with the same engine in the 1500. I guess the 2500 is just too heavy for it to activate.

[APT]

Yep, cold, wind, speed. That sounds line line with what HD trucks should get. We drove our 2011 Suburban 6.0L over 2600 miles Detroit to Orlando and back in February 2012 starting at 6k miles on the engine. We averaged 16mpg down and 14mpg up. Another trip we got 17.7mpg over 1000 miles, September, 20k miles. Both trips were cruising at 75-80mph. Another 1800 mile trip in December was 15mpg again.

[Hannibal]

Cold and windy. Cold air is more dense and harder to push through. Wind even from the side will knock mileage down a bit. 75 is honking right a long for a big pickup truck.

[Targa]

I loved my 2500 5.7 but the best mpg's I ever averaged was 13 overall with 3.73's. Also, make sure to hand calculate to make sure of your average mpg accuracy. It's a big, heavy, powerful truck and they drink some gas, doesn't matter if it is the 5.7, 6.4, 6.2 or 6.0. If you want good gas mileage in this wieght class you need to look at the diesels.
If you averaged 17.6 mpg's overall that is pretty darn good, I am from St. Louis, Fenton to be exact and I know the hilly terrain you are talking about pretty well.

[Grit_dog]

Well I've owned or had company trucks with just about every gasser offered except the new 6.4 Rams, 6.2 Chevy and 8.1 Chevy and I can say with certainty that every one of them averaged between 11 and 14mpg on the highway. Never drive slow enough to squeeze 17 out of anything with a gas V8 so your truck is right on par. Wouldn't expect the 5.7 to do much better than the 6.4 apples to apples. With today's fuel and ignition management, they all use about the same gas for the amount of hp required for the condition at hand.