Hi, new to the forum and first brand new vehicle. I have a 2011 1500 with the 5.7 engine. I now have a little over 2000 miles, pretty much all on the highway. I have tried to maintain a constant speed of around 110 km (~65 mph) and I do check my mileage religiously filling up and resetting the trip odometer. I have been averaging around 13 mpg (US) or 15 mpg (Imp). The dealer tells me it should get better as the truck breaks in, but the current mileage is breaking me. What is others' experience with a new engine and fuel mileage? What kind of highway mileage should I be expecting? My ten year old GM got 19 mpg and that's driving it faster. Love the truck otherwise. ==> Except, who's idea was it to use a black oil dipstick??
Thanks for your input.

 

Well one factor could be your gears in the rear axle. Another thing that is for sure dropping your mileage is the cold weather. But you should be getting better than that. 13mpg is what I get and that is with a lot of short trips that are only 5 to 10 miles at a time. Plus I drive pretty hard.

 

are you hand calculating or going off of the EVIC? Don't trust the EVIC...

Like Jayman said, the winter gas has hit the pumps and that will affect your mpg's.

 

Yama,

Welcome to Ram.

I agree with what the other posters have said with regards to your mileage, especially about the EVIC. The only thing I have to add would be about what the dealer said about your mileage going up after the engine is broken in. While it is typically true your mileage may increase as the motor breaks in, it is most likely a mile or two better at best.

 

I'm averaging 15.8 over the last month to and from work mostly. The ride to work is non highway, mostly flat 2 lane roads. I've got just over 13k miles on my truck. It's the 5.7 Hemi as well.


Edit: The ride to work is maybe 5 miles. So it's around 10 miles round trip 5-6 a week. Not very much.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I am calculating the mileage by hand each time and yes it is getting cold here (Canada). The rear end is the 3.92. From what I'm hearing the fuel mileage won't improve much more. Too bad.

 

Something does not sound right at all. I've got a 2009 QC Hemi 4x4 with the 3.92's and never hit that low of a MPG unless towing. Have hand calculated every tank and avg is around 17.6 mpg. That is driving on hilly terrain, mostly 2 lane. High was just over 19 on a long flat trip. It does go down a bit in the winter with the different fuel but never near 13 unless towing.

As for the mileage will get better myth, I have always found that the MPGs don't improve, if anything get slightly worse. Figure that is because you tend to drive slower and more carefully when the vehicle is new. As you get used to it, your foot is more into the throttle.

Do you notice the MDS come on at all? Is everything completely stock?

 

Well congrats on you having the most fuel efficient 2500 hemi I have heard of. You must really baby that thing around. I have a sister that has a 2500 hemi for her work and she drives nearly 90% highway and she averages around 15.5mpg hand calculated.

 

It says "1500" not "2500". Gets the same mileage as a lot of others I know with the same setup.

 

Ok my fault I guess. It didn't say 1500 in your previous post. I just saw that you have a 2500 listed as your current truck. that mileage is believable for a 1500 truck since I can get the same if I drive easy with mine....but I rarely drive easy so mine is mostly around 14 to 16.