Diesel Vs Gas 2500/3500

medler

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Lots of good points and opinions so far ! Does any one have real mpg for all the gassers? And the new diesels ? Unloaded and pulling a trailer ?

I went from Airdrie to Edmonton and back to Airdrie in my 16 Duramax. Used 1/2 tank. Truck said 12.5 L per 100. At 115 kmph. So I don’t really think that’s bad at all for a 8,400 lb truck. And better mileage than a 2004 Duramax I used to ride around in. (Mind you it was a 5 speed Allison )
 

JustChilling19

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Here is a picture from the mileage tracker this trip to revy and back. Started the trip from when I picked up my trailer at the storage lot (Stony Plain). Take notice of the running time. It was -25 to -30 here on the Tuesday when I got the trailer, Wednesday when I took the trailer to get a slow leak fixed, Thursday when we went to fill/pickup everyone’s sleds, and finally when we loaded up/left Friday afternoon.

I towed 4 sleds from Edmonton to Revy. Pulled 5 home. Average speed on the way there was 120-125 until lake Louise where we hit some horrible highway conditions. Truck was in 4wd and working through the pass. It was nasty. Very happy I had the low end power of the diesel and exhaust brake. No way in hell I’d want to be too the mat in those conditions.

Rode in revy the until today when we left for home. Highway home was in no way good but manageable from revy to Banff and windy. After Calgary it was clear sailing. Towed at 125 from Banff to home.

Pretty damn good mileage I’d say, all things considered.
 

Cyle

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That mileage seems low, on the highway pulling my 21k gooseneck i'm at about 20-22l/100km going 110km/hr, empty at 120km/hr I get 10/100km all day long, provided in 2wd. With only sleds in tow i'd guess mileage to be in the 14-16l range. Would depend on what transmission, gears, etc though too. But from the looks of it, it also did a ton of idiling.
 

1200

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Nothing i hate more is those gas pots towing slowing down the Cummins we like to tow at 80mph in the mtn s . Haha cheers . Had both the thing i hated most about towing with gas job was u always looking for a gas station man u can burn that **** with your foot on the radiator lol good luck
 

skegpro

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The OP is running a.sled deck in the winter and doesn't tow much in the summer.

But if I was doing any amount of towing in the mountains I would have a diesel without question.

I would even take an extra shift at the sperm bank if I had to.
 

ken.gee

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Lots of good points and opinions so far ! Does any one have real mpg for all the gassers? And the new diesels ? Unloaded and pulling a trailer ?

I have a stock 2015 Ram 3500 with the Cummins, but can't compare as I don't have any seat time behind a fourth gen gasser HD Ram. What I can tell you are my numbers, and I'm very particular when it comes to resetting the trip meter and monitoring fuel economy.

- (2 pictures) Best long-trip mileage - Fort McMurray to Edmonton - 11.5L/100km. That same trip, my overall fuel economy to Strathmore was 12.0L/100km. +24c and driving 10 over....no more, no less. Made it 800km on one tank.
- (Picture) With a sled deck, 2 sleds, loaded with over 200L of sled gas and other gear we averaged 14.6 L/100km over 2436.3km through the mountains and all over Ab.

I haven't done a ton of hauling, but did pull a car hauler full of gear, quads, and my Forester, and I averaged 26.5L/100km.
Every fourth or fifth tank I compare the computer generated mileage to what the fuel receipt says. Some times it can be bang on, the highest difference I've seen is 1.5L/100km off.

There are definitely fuel economy savings, and power gains to make with diesel over gas. That being said, there is also the environmental stuff as well as the extra cost of fuel filters (though they really only need to be done once/year or less). Oil changes and all the other bologna doesn't really make a huge difference. I do my own oil changes, so I make sure to buy all of my oil on sale and stock up, and buy filters in bulk, or from people on kijiji. Always less than $15/filter. All said, I would go diesel any day of the week; don't think I'd ever go back to be honest. Especially if you're handy enough to do some of the basic maintenance yourself.

https://imgur.com/a/bhP8P
 

Cdnfireman

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I have a stock 2015 Ram 3500 with the Cummins, but can't compare as I don't have any seat time behind a fourth gen gasser HD Ram. What I can tell you are my numbers, and I'm very particular when it comes to resetting the trip meter and monitoring fuel economy.

- (2 pictures) Best long-trip mileage - Fort McMurray to Edmonton - 11.5L/100km. That same trip, my overall fuel economy to Strathmore was 12.0L/100km. +24c and driving 10 over....no more, no less. Made it 800km on one tank.
- (Picture) With a sled deck, 2 sleds, loaded with over 200L of sled gas and other gear we averaged 14.6 L/100km over 2436.3km through the mountains and all over Ab.

I haven't done a ton of hauling, but did pull a car hauler full of gear, quads, and my Forester, and I averaged 26.5L/100km.
Every fourth or fifth tank I compare the computer generated mileage to what the fuel receipt says. Some times it can be bang on, the highest difference I've seen is 1.5L/100km off.

There are definitely fuel economy savings, and power gains to make with diesel over gas. That being said, there is also the environmental stuff as well as the extra cost of fuel filters (though they really only need to be done once/year or less). Oil changes and all the other bologna doesn't really make a huge difference. I do my own oil changes, so I make sure to buy all of my oil on sale and stock up, and buy filters in bulk, or from people on kijiji. Always less than $15/filter. All said, I would go diesel any day of the week; don't think I'd ever go back to be honest. Especially if you're handy enough to do some of the basic maintenance yourself.

https://imgur.com/a/bhP8P

I’m sure your numbers are accurate for what you’re doing, but they’re not the norm for most people. Your fuel economy numbers are 25% better than most, and you’re getting your filters etc for 40% less than the going rate. Not everyone is that lucky.
I crunched the numbers every which way I could think of, and for my uses, the diesel didn’t pencil out until well over 250K km, and that is assuming absolutely no repairs to the engine for that duration. One bad tank of fuel or something that makes it past the fuel filters and the numbers get even worse.
Hauling heavy the diesel is the ticket. For a daily driver or someone towing small to medium loads, the diesel isn’t the best option.
 

skegpro

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I’m sure your numbers are accurate for what you’re doing, but they’re not the norm for most people. Your fuel economy numbers are 25% better than most, and you’re getting your filters etc for 40% less than the going rate. Not everyone is that lucky.
I crunched the numbers every which way I could think of, and for my uses, the diesel didn’t pencil out until well over 250K km, and that is assuming absolutely no repairs to the engine for that duration. One bad tank of fuel or something that makes it past the fuel filters and the numbers get even worse.
Hauling heavy the diesel is the ticket. For a daily driver or someone towing small to medium loads, the diesel isn’t the best option.
2015 F-350 diesel

14.4l/100 avg unloaded - buck twenty driving style including city driving.

21l/100 pulling a 39 car hauler with 4 sleds.

If your worried about the price of filters either truck may not be for you..........
 

JayT

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Just filled my diesel for 1.19/L
Gas is 1.04/L currently.
Just saying....
 

Cdnfireman

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2015 F-350 diesel

14.4l/100 avg unloaded - buck twenty driving style including city driving.

21l/100 pulling a 39 car hauler with 4 sleds.

If your worried about the price of filters either truck may not be for you..........

Way more to it than just filters. $10k more for the diesel option, 3x the maintenance costs, 10% more for fuel, poor warmup in winter etc. The ONLY advantage to the diesel is that it has more power. For what I do it isn’t practical. I want a vehicle that is as trouble free as possible that does what I need it to do, and do it for a minimum of 10-12 years. In the last 10 years, gassers have become more efficient and trouble free, and diesels have gone the other way. I had a diesel and know all about their advantages and disadvantages. This time around I’m going with a gasser.
 

ken.gee

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I’m sure your numbers are accurate for what you’re doing, but they’re not the norm for most people. Your fuel economy numbers are 25% better than most, and you’re getting your filters etc for 40% less than the going rate. Not everyone is that lucky.
I crunched the numbers every which way I could think of, and for my uses, the diesel didn’t pencil out until well over 250K km, and that is assuming absolutely no repairs to the engine for that duration. One bad tank of fuel or something that makes it past the fuel filters and the numbers get even worse.
Hauling heavy the diesel is the ticket. For a daily driver or someone towing small to medium loads, the diesel isn’t the best option.
To be fair, I posted all the pictures as proof. A little bit of research would show that my numbers are not wrong, nor are they abnormal. I have friends with different brands of diesel trucks who are running similar numbers...diesel is inherently more efficient than gasoline, there's no doubt about that. On top of that, diesel has been cheaper 85%+ of the times I've been at the pump, maybe it's just a Fort McMurray thing, but I doubt it. I'll pull up historical prices later if needed.

Here's a picture of my receipt from the Fort McMurray Legacy Dodge dealership, who have one of the highest shop labour rates in Canada. Yes, everybody gets their filters at this rate.
 

acesup800

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Way more to it than just filters. $10k more for the diesel option, 3x the maintenance costs, 10% more for fuel, poor warmup in winter etc. The ONLY advantage to the diesel is that it has more power. For what I do it isn’t practical. I want a vehicle that is as trouble free as possible that does what I need it to do, and do it for a minimum of 10-12 years. In the last 10 years, gassers have become more efficient and trouble free, and diesels have gone the other way. I had a diesel and know all about their advantages and disadvantages. This time around I’m going with a gasser.
Maybe long term if you assuming your emissions systems are going to fail, which they probably will, but it isnt 3x for normal maintenance. The ford 6.7 takes 6 more litres of oil than the 6.2. The duramax only takes 3 more litres. Filters are pretty much the same.
 

skegpro

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To be fair, I posted all the pictures as proof. A little bit of research would show that my numbers are not wrong, nor are they abnormal. I have friends with different brands of diesel trucks who are running similar numbers...diesel is inherently more efficient than gasoline, there's no doubt about that. On top of that, diesel has been cheaper 85%+ of the times I've been at the pump, maybe it's just a Fort McMurray thing, but I doubt it. I'll pull up historical prices later if needed.

Here's a picture of my receipt from the Fort McMurray Legacy Dodge dealership, who have one of the highest shop labour rates in Canada. Yes, everybody gets their filters at this rate.
Our numbers were close.
 

busted2x

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I’m sure your numbers are accurate for what you’re doing, but they’re not the norm for most people. Your fuel economy numbers are 25% better than most, and you’re getting your filters etc for 40% less than the going rate. Not everyone is that lucky.
I crunched the numbers every which way I could think of, and for my uses, the diesel didn’t pencil out until well over 250K km, and that is assuming absolutely no repairs to the engine for that duration. One bad tank of fuel or something that makes it past the fuel filters and the numbers get even worse.
Hauling heavy the diesel is the ticket. For a daily driver or someone towing small to medium loads, the diesel isn’t the best option.

I get about the same numbers as he does, but I totally agree, don't buy a diesel if you are gonna use it to commute around town and haul a medium load 6 weekends a year.

If you are commuting 75-100km a day and out to the mountains every second weekend with a trailer or deck (like me) then it makes sense. I save thousands on fuel a year driving my diesel.

Definitely doesn't make sense for everyone, but does for some.
 

ken.gee

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I didn't realize there was such a difference throughout Alberta, I stand corrected! The prices are even here today at 119.9 lol
 
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