And Randy, you have a regular cab, Cali wants a quad...big difference in weight. I have no doubt your mileage is true, but we have to look at models here too.

 

i use the console, i'll calculate by hand next tank and see if theres any difference

 

I agree with the 5.7 vs. the 4.7 after reading all the threads this year. Get the HEMI. My 2003 Quad Hemi 4x4 & tow package got a calculated 14.9 MPG over 51,000 miles since purchased new April, 2 years ago (that includes some 4x4 and towing - 2/3 highway and 1/3 street).

The over head computer has usually been off by about .3 MPG on a tank (on the low side) vs. calculated MPG. Since the 14.9MPG I have calculated over every tank for two years has so much data, it is very accurate. Lowest tank mileage was 12.2 MPG and highest was 16.3.

 

My Reg Cab 4x4 HEMI with the Flowmaster exhaust gets HORRIBLE gas mileage. It has 20,000 miles on it and around town I never see more than 11 mpg according to the little tell-tell computer. I've had it as high as 17mpg on the interstate.

 

11 City and 17 highway. That's GREAT mileage from a 5000lb+ truck with 345hp.

 

The reason I ask, Ross, is just like Jeff said, my console has been off as much as 1.2 mpg from calculated, so I always take it with a grain of salt. I believe it has something to do with outside air temperature affecting gas density and a bunch of other science junk that I'm trying to forget from college. Does anyone know how the console takes the measurements?

I figure the console can get accurate mileage, but how it determines the amount of fuel in the tank makes me curious. I don't think there's a anyway they can measure weight (which would not be affected by temperature) so it must be measuring either gas flow through the pump or taking a reading off of the fuel gauge which would be highly inaccurate due to temperature affecting volume, though the console could get how much fuel is being used from the A/F ratio in the computer and knowing how much fuel is going into the cylinders each time. Just my thoughts. Any ideas?

 

I had a revelation on my way home tonight when my gas light came on and dinged at me and I saw I had 4 miles left on the Distance To Empty meter. I realized that measuring the flow through the fuel line would not give you the remaining fuel left in the tank to calculate DTE, therefore, the console computer must get its fuel remaining from the gas gauge, which would be inaccurate due to variances in outside temperature, i.e. the gasoline expanding and contracting with the weather. Hence the reason the console computers are not accurate in their portrayal of gas mileage. Whoa, this feels like a lab report.

 

Ya think? you drive it for a few weeks and see how you like putting gas in it every 3 days! lol

 

wingviper-I had a revelation on my way home tonight when my gas light came on and dinged at me and I saw I had 4 miles left on the Distance To Empty meter. I realized that measuring the flow through the fuel line would not give you the remaining fuel left in the tank to calculate DTE, therefore, the console computer must get its fuel remaining from the gas gauge, which would be inaccurate due to variances in outside temperature, i.e. the gasoline expanding and contracting with the weather. Hence the reason the console computers are not accurate in their portrayal of gas mileage. Whoa, this feels like a lab report.

thats why you fill up at night or early morning, gas is more dense with the cooler weather. and ill let you know how the gas mileage turns out from hand calculations

 

I just topped off yesterday (morning to be specific, haha) and my hand calculations said 15.2 mpg and my console said 15.9 mpg.