Fuel milage survey
 

Hi All,
Was wondering what kind of fuel milage people are getting in there trucks? I just bought a 2006 5.3 Silverado and am averaging 17mpg in the city. Was wondering if someone has the ultimate combo for the best mpg? I had a 95 GMC, And going from that to a 2006 is night and day. Thanks for looking, Eric

Re: Fuel milage survey
 

I bought a 2005 GMC Sierra Z71 short bed regular cab and am quite astonished that after six months of driving 70-75mph for over 80 miles a day I am averaging 17.4 MPG. Mind you I tow several thousand pounds of wood at least 1-2 times a week. When I got the truck it got 17.8 average.

Mine's a 5.3/4l60e combo....love it!

Re: Fuel milage survey
 

00 Z71 X-cab 4x4.

I consistently average 14mpg. It's almost 100% city driving, lots of stop and go, lots of stop lights and stop signs, and lots of 45mph and under driving. Whenever I get a 100% highway tank I always get 17.5-18.5mpg, depending on speed.

I get a whopping 11mpg towing my boat :rolleyes:

Re: Fuel milage survey
 

15 MPG, 2002 Suburban 5.3L. 12-13 on E85, 15-16 87. Might get 17 on a long highway trip, we don't go far enough on one (32 gallon) tank to make it all on one trip.

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When got the truck it said the average was 17.9, But I think that was alot of highway driving. I reset the average and am doing alot of intown driving (60 miles) with a new average of 15.3 mpg. I was wondering if anyone has tried or is using some aftermarket parts to improve there mileage? I want to see if a coldair filter or something easy to "bolt on" and get a good improvement? Thanks for the info, Eric:metal:

Re: Fuel milage survey
 

I'd say no...there are little gains other than the 'howl' from cold air induction methods but there will be those who say yes and swear by them.

15.3 is not bad for in town, but if I were you I'd look into a tune from Blackbear....that way you know you will get an increase.

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Well my DIC was reading 14-15mpg city.

Now it reads 11-12 after I it got tuned lol ;)

17-20 highway

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Yeah, but I bet you have your right foot firmly planted.......right? :devil:

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Yup

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Thanks for the advice, I hope tp get better mileage but not to concerned, Thanks again, Eric

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'03 Denali - averaging 12mpg in the city.

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I have a 5.3 -327 V-8 in my 2006 silverado and I am about to take it on a 5500 mile trip . I plan on writing down mileage , fuel intake and also different octanes to have a little fun checking out what I will get on the open road for gas mileage and performance.. I have a 4 wheel drive so we will see what I can get with it..

I was told that the 06 was a Big difference in gas milieage and the 07 was even better as for getting these trucks up to a good gas mileage running competing truck with others . I know one thing and that is this 06 beats the heck out of my 92 350 4/4 I use to have for mileage .

Check back at the end of March some time for results ,,gopapa

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I know you were mainly asking about 5.3's, but thought I would add my 6.0 mpg.

03 GMC Sierra 1500HD Crew Cab 4x4 w/106,000 miles. I average around 12mpg most if the time city driving, and the best I have got is 14.5mpg all interstate at about 75mph.

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Got a lean cruise patch for my tune.

Hoping to pick up 1-3mpg around 65-75

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Flashed the lc tune over
Tests were for 3 miles
20.1 mpg on flat grounds @ 71
21.1 mpg on flat grounds @ 66-67
18.1 mpg on upwards inclines and flat grounds(mostly incline) @ 71

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I have an 01 chevy swb reg cab with a 5.3 and 106,000 and i get 13.5mpg on average but i drive alot of stop and go in town.

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I have a 01 denali xl with 6.0 that i converted to 2x4 because of air ride suspention and put 410 gears in it to turn the 26'' rims and if im real easy on the highway on a long trip at 70 to 75 i can get 18.6

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lol that thing needs some 4.30-4.56:1's for that heavy package

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A lot has to do with rear gears---My 2000 Z71 with 373 gears and 17" wheel/tires would get 18 -19 highway. My 2002 2wd with 373 gears and 17"wheel/tires does about the same but when I put a basic camper topper on the back--my mpg dropped 1.2 mpg due to the weight and wind resistance. My 2000 Z71 Tahoe would give me 16mpg highway --best case. All had the 373 tow package rear gears. Neighbor has a 2003 GMC with 342 gears and gets 20 mpg hwy.

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Best i have seen is 17-18mpg on highway. I got around 13-14mpg highway runnin in 4wd in a snow storm coming from up north but i was also having way to much fun so it could of done better! Oh yea 2000 z71 ext-cab with 150k

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My 03 Burban 5.3l says 15.3 mpg....

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I've only had my 5.3 4wd tahoe for a week and a half but my first tank of mostly highway driving at about 65-70 mph was about 20 MPG.

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I got to california Weds night and drove straight thru ..18 hours ..my first two tanks I got 17 miles a gallon all at about 65 miles an hour or less..and it was of course a lot of hills from Portland to Redding Ca. the last tank I got 18.7 and it was pretty much level ground ,,rained like hell but still drove about 72 miles an hour ..Whats with this rain here in Califronia ,,we left Oregon to get away from it . LOL

I have a Silverado 1500 4/4 and hauling about 6oo lbs of extra weight after the wife and I ..Sure ! now the jokes about her and my wieght will start,,.. go ahead I can take it .. haha

Will try and fill you in later of more gas milieages as the trip continues after this week when we head for Lubbock Tx. Maybe get some snow driving in there as last night I heard they got 4 inches ..

Now ,, got to work on the Sons house .. gopapa

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Well mine is certainly not for those with shallow pockets. My 03 2500HD with a 6.0 gets at best 12 mpg and that happens to be going down hill. On average I can get 10.5-11. If I am towing it drops down to 9, every time I fill up I cringe at the thought of it. But its a darn good truck to have.

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Not sure if a 3.42 rear end would work for you in your 2500 with the big 6.0 but with the difference I get with it in my truck compared to even a 3.73 is quite a difference.. I bet I get 2 miles per gallon more with the 3.42 and maybe even more than that if I had a 3.73..

Just curious if this rear end ratio would work with the combination you have with the horse power and weight ..

You,,or any one have any thought on this ,, GP

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I have a question slightly off subject, Is it common that the tranny has a slight bump when shifting from 1st to 2nd.It almost feels as if it is a u-joint, but It doesnt happen all the time. Less gas no noise!!!! Now if it happened all the time I would not think to much of it but, As the truck is fairly new to me (2 months)I dont want to over analysis every little bump,knock,ect.....

The truck is a 2006 Silverado 5.3 1/2 ton ext. cab 78k mileage. I was wondering if that was a common noise or I have a serious issue and am not aware of it. Thanks for the help, Eric

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2000 GMC Sierra excab Z71
5.3 auto OD, 3.73
285/75/16 tires

I've only had it on one good trip since I've had it and I wasn't impressed with the mileage. 800 miles and 15.5 mpg running mostly 70-75. Certainly could have been worse but I expected more out of it. Tires are oversized but the speedo reads correct so that's been taken care of.
Now the previous owner towed a small 5th wheel trailer with it for a while and I suspect he may have had a towing tune installed in it. I don't know how to check to see if it's been changed though.

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2006 SWB 4.3L v6. average of 21mpg per tank

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the 69 i get about 6mpg if i hit the gas and about 18 highway thanks to my final gear tranny gear.

97f250 quadcab diesel on 37's about 17 with the chip on fuel saver.

corvettes a dart close to 30mpg highway

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i have a 01 ex cab it gets about 14 in the city with stop in go traffic and a 67 with a str8 6 and it might get 10 with old carb but im getting new one today finally

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2003 CCSB 4x4 6.0 auto 1500HD, not sure of the rear gears 11-12mpg, but I know I have a 25 gallon tank ha ha. I get right around 300 miles to the tank.

Wooooo Hoooo I got 13mpg filling it up today(06/14/10). I know its really sad to be happy about that, but what can I say it doesn't take much.

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Just got me a 99 gmc ext cab 5.3L automatic with a little under 80k miles. First tank avg.=19.6 mpg. Mostly 50/50 city/hwy with "unleaded foot" keeping her under 2k rpm.
On my second tank, I'm "pushing" her a bit more.
My other ride was a 1989 Astro with a stock 350 TBI. I would get 13-14mpg at it's best.
So I'm happy with the gmc.

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The 03 1500HD has a 3.73 rear end. They bumped it up to a 4.11 in 06 I believe. That is about the same mpg I get out of my 03 1500HD CCSB 4x4

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My parents have a 03 ccsb 4x4 1500hd with the 3.73 gears and i get between 12-14 highway all depends on the day really.

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2005 chevy 3/4 ton HD 350 engine
gets 12-14 mph depending on how I drive it, just like all the rest of you guys :)
as for the 67 I have. . . itll pass everything but a gas station :D

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I just got back home here in Oregon from a 5700 mile 10 State vacation and this is what I got for mileage from my 5.3 V8 4 wheel drive 1500 06 Silverado.

It has a 342 rear end in it also

Going to southern California from Oregon I got 17- 18.7 and while there I got 16 in the city.

Leaving California on into Arizona I got 15.9 to 16.3

Through New Mexico 18.4 to 20.1

From Texas to Arkansas with tail winds I got 20.2 to 20.5

In Arkansas I got 16.3 to 19.6 and some of that was driving in towns

Leaving Arkansas into Oklahoma I got 20.6 but when I hit the blizzard around Tulsa I got 14. I was in 4 wheel drive for many miles and lots of wind

Kansas had lots of wind so again I got poor mileage of 15.2

Colorado I got 14 in the city and when leaving to Utah on I-70 and going up by Vail and Aspen I got 15.7 reaching the elevation of over 11,000 feet .

Then on through Utah where I drove for close to 100 miles with the cruise control set at 75 MPH I got 18.6 to 19.5.. I litterly did not put my foot on the brake or gas peddle for all of this distance as the highway is almost perfectly straight this whole 90- 100 miles .

In Nevada I got as low as 13.2 with wind gusts reported of about 100 miles and hour .. seen a trailer house compelety blown off road and pieces covering 100's of yards from the place of roll over and still moving.
Tumble weeds stuck to front ends of vehicles and smacking the side of my truck more than 20 times ,,

back into Oregon I got 16.3 mpg and this was high mountain climbing ..

It all figured out around 17.6 mpg .. You have to take into consideration of how some states have speed limits of 65 -70-75 mph and some have montains and some are flat .. I was real happy with the peformance and ride of this truck and would prefer it over our car even to take a long trip in even if it did cost me maybe $250 more in Gas ..

some 350 gallons of gas as low as $2.59 in Colorado to $3.29 on I-5 close to Fresno Califonia .. Lubbuck Tx was $2.61 also . ..

Hope this give some one an Idea of what to expect with this engine /tranny/rear end and size of truck ...gopapa

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Good observation; I agree.

I designed the air induction system for these trucks and we sized it to be capable to flow for the "big block" gas engines and diesels. [I *think* the specification was 1" hg restriction at 212 g/s flow, from ambient air inlet to throttle body inlet].

Logically, there should be no improvement by going to a cold air package or K&N filter on a 4.8, 5.3 or 6.0L engine....

K

Re: Fuel milage survey
 

I know talking to some people on our 06 Trailblazer SS that is pretty much what they have said too. That the induction system is so direct that you gain very little if anything by putting in the CAI. They say the gains you get don't offset the cost of the kits.

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My 06 ECSB 5.3 2wd with 20's gets about 13.5 - 14.5 since swapping to 3.73 gears.

It got high 14's - 16 with the old 3.23 gear

This is city driving.

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Another thing I do is shift to 3rd gear when city driving and also when a hill is of such that it would make it shift into passing gear,,so I shift down manually before it does it on its own..

..I would think you should get better milieage than what you do with a half ton 2 wheel drive ??