'08 Silverado gas mileage

It's rated at 13/17, and the couple of people I know who have one say that's pretty close to what they really get in their every day driving. Or worse , depending on how heavy your right foot is. Doubt if your towing mileage would be any different. People outright lie about their gas mileage. I've had people with the exact same Chevy Alvalance Z71 5.3L as mine tell me they get 23 mpg highway with a straight face and 17-18 in town. For some reason people lie about their gas mileage about as much as they do about how they drink. Either that or they have no clue how to measure it.

Who gives a crap?

You just drive over a few Prius and Accords and you'll feel much better.

Oh, and my Avalanche gets whatever it gets...

There was a guy I worked with a few years back who specifically sought out a new GMC 2003 HD 2500 4x4 unit with the 8.1 engine for trailering and everyday use. His gifted insight that made him want to do this was that it would be good on fuel because that huge engine would barely be working to move the vehicle. He then spent the next two years bitching non-stop about it's horrendous mileage which was in the gravel truck range. Which he blamed on GM.

Dmax

An z71 5.3L Av is going to be a 1500 not a 2500 so that will explain some of the mpg difference. I can get over 20 with a 2004 5.3L extended cab z71 Silverado 1500 and newer years get the benefit of the electric fans, displacement on demand, and the extra low front air dam so those 1500 Av's and silverados should be able to beat me by a little bit.

Dmax

I am a very conservative driver, with or without my trailer or towed Jeep. I live in Southern California.

My '04 2500HD 4x4 Diesel can get as much as 22mpg solo if I get right on the freeway after fueling and set the cruise control on 60 and drive flat roads within 1500' of sea level. Which can be a large percentage of my driving. On the other hand, with traffic, and the need to be driving on roads other than freeways, I generally get right around 16-18 mpg overall. Towing the Jeep (4000# loaded) drops me down to around 13-15 and the trailer (6500# gvw) to 11-13 or so. When I am towing the Jeep or trailer (never at the same time) it is usually in mountainous areas and well above sea level.

A couple of good friends also have the diesels. We are all well pleased with them and agree that the mileage is fantastic for a full-sized pickup truck.

I realized my post was probably off topic and intended to delete it. Oops! Sent it in error. Sorry.

But I really do like my diesel!

you forgot to figure in the higher cost of diesel . old john

Hello, pumper! You wrote on Wed, 9 Apr 2008 08:53:42 -0700:

ph> My '04 2500HD 4x4 Diesel can get as much as 22mpg solo if I get right ph> on the freeway after fueling and set the cruise control on 60 and drive ph> flat roads within 1500' of sea level. Which can be a large percentage ph> of my driving. On the other hand, with traffic, and the need to be ph> driving on roads other than freeways, I generally get right around ph> 16-18 mpg overall. Towing the Jeep (4000# loaded) drops me down to ph> around 13-15 and the trailer (6500# gvw) to 11-13 or so. When I am ph> towing the Jeep or trailer (never at the same time) it is usually in ph> mountainous areas and well above sea level.

With best regards, snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net. E-mail: snipped-for-privacy@comcast.net

Old John,

Actually, I did consider that. I did a Excel spreadsheet that calculates the fuel cost per mile, given the mpg and cost per gallon. Printed it out as a table.

In my area, diesel fuel is going for around 2.20/gal while unleaded regular is running around 3.75. So when I'm going down the road at 60, getting 20 mpg from my 4.20/gal diesel fuel, it's costing me 21¢ per mile whereas using regular gas would be 19¢ per mile.

But, whereas a 6.0L gas engine can probably pull 20 mpg going down the road at 60, a 454 engine will be hard pressed to get 16 mpg. I think. And 16 mpg with $3.75/gal fuel is costing 23¢ per mile.

Saving 2¢ per mile isn't a lot, though. I drive about 12k miles a year (mostly solo) which only calculates out to $240. per year in savings. I've got about 60k miles on the truck so far, which would work out to around $1200. Of course the savings weren't as great when fuel costs were less. And I've still got a ways to go before I've recouped the greater cost of the diesel over the gas engine. But as fuel costs continue to increase, the savings should also increase. And I do anticipate that the spread between the cost of regular gas and diesel fuel should get smaller as the oil companies react to the trucker's discontent and the rising cost of goods shipped by truck and rail.

My Mileage Expense Calculator covers fuel costs from $2.25 to $4.50 per gallon and miles per gallon from 10 to 41. I will probably need to adjust it for even higher fuel costs. Arrrrg!

My Rubicon gets around 16 in town and I can pull 20-22 on the road with speeds between 55-60. So it turns out to be my economy car!

Old Ralph

I have a 1500 Vortec Max 6.0 liter crew cab.

It's getting better and better milage as I get it broke in. With my style of driving about 1-2mpg better than my old 1500 5.3 liter and about 1/2mpg better than my 02 Caddy Escalade Ext 6 liter. On my last 575 mile trip I averaged 18.6 with the cruise on 72-75mph. The same trip two weeks ago was

Gets around 14mpg overall, which is getting better as it gets broke in also. (7800 miles)

When pulling my 5500lb enclosed snowmobile trailer @ 65-70mpg I get 9-11mpg depending on the wind.

I have always got better milage than the EPA rating ever since my new 305

Your 3/4 ton will probably be less since it weighs more. I now have 7800 miles on my 08 1500 crew cab.