2003 Ram 1500 Regular-Cab Short-Bed 4x4 Hemi MPG: 17.1

You don’t know HOW many times I wanted to mash the throttle. And yes, I got passed by 90% of the general driving public for about an hour or so. But my curiosity, for one brief, shining moment, managed to overpower my lust for acceleration.

I’ll never let that happen again.

This 17.1 figure was as calculated and displayed on the overhead Vehicle Information Center. It occurred on a full tank, driving at 55-60 mph for about 60 miles on generally flat terrain, except for a few overpasses and gentle hills, @ 70F, running 305/70R17 Goodyear Wrangler MT/R’s, spun by a 3.92 rear axle. I have yet to check mileage the old-fashioned way, but if we Hemi owners could manage to drop a ‘Lude once in a while, score a few dozen chill pills or have emergency liposuction on our starboard feet, I think we could eke out somewhere in the neighborhood of 16.

Realistically? With my driving style, I’m lookin’ at closer to 11-11.5 in 50/50 city/highway, consistently. In other words, the force applied by my right foot is directly proportional to the amount of time & effort spent making the average wealthy sheik just a little wealthier.


“…And when the forced induction eventually gets bolted on, the oil exec shall sport the large wood, I will develop a greater appreciation of the baloney sandwich on white bread, the Lightning will short circuit and stand tall before The Ram, and- Yo!, G…

…it will be ALL GOOD.”


Amen.

 

Man i wish I could pull that off.....my truck, which is identical to yours, gets around 10 mpg in the city! It's killing me $$$.

 

In all fairness, this 17.1 number should be taken with a grain or two of salt. Again, this figure was what the computer told me. Now. I don’t know if this mileage estimator is notoriously inaccurate or not, but I can tell you that, after the mpg value stopped fluctuating, it held 16.9 for miles at a time. After I exited the interstate and dropped down to 55 mph or so, it managed to creep up to 17.1 and, for a brief time, hit 17.2. The display read 17.1 for at least 5 consecutive miles, there toward the end.

Even if I didn’t actually get 17+ mpg, at least I can think I did. Real world experience won’t be nearly as kind as this little experiment, as there ain’t no frikken way I could put up with bein’ passed by almost everybody and their dog. When I drive, it’s from A – B, and I waste precious little time gettin’ it done.

 

I've not had much confidence in the overhead display numbers. I always get a different result when using actual numbers. My last highway only trip gave me 20.1 mpg, while the overhead displayed 21.2 mpg. I just switched to Mobil 1 5x30 oil and hope to see something a little better around town.

 

I haven't had a tank less than 13.5mpg yet. 16mpg has been my highest, but so far I haven't taken any long trips. I think the gas mileage is better tooling down a country road at 50mph, which I do a lot, than at 80mph on the highway.