[outahere]

Re: off road and tow package

last 350-mile tank fill got
14.5 with mostly highway miles

OffRoad and Tow packages

pluckyew, what RPMs are you turning at 70MPH? And is your ride (with the Rancho shocks) comfortable for long trips on the freeway, with no load? Thanks.

 

[outahere]

You'd think manufacturers would be pursuing this... obviously they're not. They keep making 15 mpg trucks, and we keep buying them.

General Motors says they are pursuing this goal. In the near future they plan to have Displacement on Demand in their V8s to improve highway mileage (fuel delivery to some of the cylinders will be cut off at highway speeds). And later in the decade they claim they will have hybrid drivetrains in their big pickups and SUVs. One thing you probably wont see in the future is a weight reduction in pickups and SUVs. Look at what happened to the 2004 F-150 and the 2004 Durango. They both gained 400-500 lbs over 2003. And when rear wheel steering becomes more affordable from Delphi, that will make the big vehicles even easier to maneuver and park.

On CBS news tonight, they were predicting $3 a gallon gasoline by this summer. That will hurt!

 

[outahere]

If your basic half ton pickup could increase it's average gas mileage 50%, from 15 to 22.5 mpg over the course of a few years, can you imagine the overall savings? Even a 20% increase would be huge. You'd think manufacturers would be pursuing this... obviously they're not. They keep making 15 mpg trucks, and we keep buying them.

I bet a 6 cylinder diesel in a 5500 lb pickup could get 22.5mpg. That may happen in a few years, when the low sulphur diesel fuel becomes available.