17 F250 6.2 V8 fuel economy

[aftermath]

Originally Posted by sbowman

Yes and no. Most often reminds me of locker room talk. Trucks, dogs, and gun's. Someone asks a honest question, some answer w/honest answer(s), and others go into mine is bigger than yours. There are times I feel like I am at a Jim Jones convention other times I read honest and sincere statements. What works for one may not work for others. So Buy what you want and drive what you like.

Safe travels

I agree totally. The OP asked a simple straight forward question. He wanted to know about mileage from those who tow with a F250, 6.2 gas engine. Simple enough, huh?

I tow with a Tundra but did not think he wanted to hear about my numbers so I passed. If he would have asked, "what do you think about...." then the gates would open. They opened anyway.

[Countryboy59]

Originally Posted by aftermath

I agree totally. The OP asked a simple straight forward question. He wanted to know about mileage from those who tow with a F250, 6.2 gas engine. Simple enough, huh?
.

And he got a few answers from people with 6.2s.

[giantfuton]

davidrrand

okay sorry i haven't checked in here in a while. for those of you who aren't familiar with my 6.2 F-250 experience you can check out my youtube channel for a general review. tomorrow i'll be posting up my 10k mile update for those interested.

BLUF: 15 mpg empty/ 9.8 towing 25ft Int'l Serenity

My 2017 F-250 has the 6.2 gas motor with 4.30 gears and Torqueshift-G transmission (6R100). Currently the truck has 10,085 miles so it is what most consider "broken in" for this motor.

I don't really drive it empty a lot but we most recently went to Astoria and Portland Orgegon for some fun. We stayed in Portland and then did an expedition out to Astoria which ended up being about 200 miles.

During that trip without the trailer, I was able to drive 70 mph and get 15.5 miles to the gallon instantaneous, but the overall average was 14.7 mpg (hand calculated). Traffic was heavy with some of the "slinky effect" but no stop and go. Also the terrain was slightly rolling and at sea-level so take that into your consideration.

The 4.30 gear combo has just been fantastic for an empty driving experience for such a large truck. It moves out with authority should you need it to and I think that ~15 mpg at highway speeds is fairly reasonable for such a capable truck.

The new transmission chooses gears well and the 4.30 ratio really helps out both uphill and when engine braking downhill.

This is a great combo for someone who goes on trips about once a month but doesn't want a diesel and isn't towing more than 13000lbs. The truck is rated for 15,000lbs but at that point it would be more "enjoyable" to have a diesel I agree.

Let me know if you have any more questions and have a great day!

GF

[CRH]

That is a good review and has things I wanted to hear.

[majorairhead]

'17 F250, 14.5mpg, 10mpg towing.

[CRH]

Originally Posted by majorairhead

'17 F250, 14.5mpg, 10mpg towing.

I could live with that.

[davidrrand]

Thanks GF and MajorAH. Much appreciated. Have been happy with my half ton overall but would love the added capability and capacity of the 250. Drove one earlier this year and was quite impressed.

Dave

[giantfuton]

No worries! I came from a f150 5.0 crewcab with 3.55 gears and I have really enjoyed the ride and power of the new truck in comparison. The ride over speed bumps has more headtoss but that’s about it.

GF

[Dobber]

Originally Posted by slowmover

If the concern is for trip-planning, then use 10-mpg at 80% fuel capacity to plan a fuel stop with a 62-mph set speed.

Be consistent until 3000+ miles have accumulated. Use cruise control. Find the “real” 80% mark and use it. Get a valid number. Highway towing mpg is for prediction.

The comparison test between solo & towing is over the same route at the same speed. Solo vs towing. Truck carrying same load sans trailer. 40% penalty is the expectation at a speed below 62 or so. Start and stop from the same fuel pump. End delivery at first auto-stop.

Solo loaded vs empty is the other one. Gas engines are weight sensitive. Can’t skip the first test as it highlights hitch lash-up and other problems.

The percentage difference in these is what matters.

1). A pickup is a farm/ranch vehicle expected to do work at up to 55-65/mph. As it fails any test of handling above sixty, be more reasonable in its use. 60-mph is the aerodynamic barrier as well, the curve tends skyward at that point.

2). If the pickup runs around empty while solo, then it wasn’t a very good choice. Basic vehicle spec was the main fuel cost determinant (not engine choice), so records, discipline and best maintenance practices are now incumbent. A pickup is both higher risk and higher cost.

To maximize mpg, record all fuel consumed. Fuelly, or a similar app. Find the annual average mpg. That’s the number that matters. Changes in solo driving (fewer cold starts/combining trips, etc) can offset some of the towing penalty, indeed, even underwrite some vacation travel. A percentage decrease in the annual average fuel bill is that game.

Improvements to towing mpg are correct tire pressure for both vehicles, axle alignment on each, brake drag, and TT bearing preset on the TT. Verify, don’t assume.

Highway-rib, closed-shoulder, commercial-service tires on the TV. This is worth as much as 2-mpg to the annual average. No other changes will compare.

Hitch lash-up is big. And a VPP hitch adds a percentage. Minimization of steering corrections per 100-miles of travel is a concern (valid metric) as live axle pickups are notoriously bad. Better shocks mean better tracking. Entry level Bilstein a minimum.

On highway one uses vehicle spacing of several hundred feet as a control for safety. Traffic volume determines average speed (set speed fairly irrelevant for determining arrivals; 50-mph is a standard industry plan tool for all miles that day), and smoothest operation wins.

Cancelling cruise when necessary and backing off is the expectation, whereas lane-changing, use of brakes, etc, to get down a rural highway is evidence of poor driving skill. Smooth operation tracks both safety and fuel economy.

Chasing cheaper fuel prices is counter-productive while en route. One has covered that margin by better vehicle use & operation (discipline) when solo. Let the refuel point fall where it may on the map and choose via ingress/egress difficulty. At stations already ON the main route.

Consistent results are expressed as a fuel cents-per-mile number. The inclusive cost on a one ton series 4WD driven 15k annually and kept five years will be $1.00-per mile or close to it. Fuel is less than half the real cost of ownership and operation.

At current diesel prices I know from long experience that I can trip plan for fuel at .15-cpm. (The variable is the number of solo miles on a trip; that cpm will decrease; though cold starts and short miles can increase it). A 2,500-mile trip is thus $375 fuel cost for planning purposes.

80% of 35-gals is 28, so a fuel stop every 400-425/miles, works with my 17k rig. On a typical RV travel day of about 300-miles it means filling daily per my preference. So, at about the four hour driving mark (not including any stop time; as a break every two hours is optimal), or 200-miles, I advance-plan that fuel stop to also take a one hour break. Fuel and lunch within a short distance of each other.

As you can see, the likelihood of covering 200-miles between daily fuel stops with any TV is high. Therefore, travel mpg is of low concern (except as a way of determining vehicle health). With consistentcy, it doesn’t change much at all (test to be sure all is right from the beginning). It’s just a detail, after all.


Good luck

.

SlowMover,
you da bomb.

[dbaur]

We have a 2017 F250 XL and, when not towing, get 14-15 mpg depending upon the terrain. This summer, we traveled 14,000 miles and averaged 13 mpg for the whole trip. Some of this, of course, involved traveling while unhooked. I would estimate the pure towing mileage at roughly 10-11 mpg. When towing we do not exceed 60 mph. Hope this is helpful.

[spike2tx]

I have a 2013 F250 6.7l turbo diesel. I get 16-17 mpg in the city and 11-14 towing an 2016 31' International . Low milage comes from towing in Colorado, here in Texas I'm on the higher end, towing at 70-75 mph. I rented at 2017 gasser F250 and towed a 19' 1053 Boles Aero from Phoenix and got boy 8 mpg, terrible. Made me thank myself for going diesel. Torque on inclines with the diesel are worth it as well. Just my 2 cents...

[pappy19]

For any of you gasser owners, look up Mike's 5 Star SCT programmer. His programmer has been around many years and can boost your economy and/ or power and it works.

Do you diesel dudes HAVE to chime in? Give us gassers a break, we don't give a hoot about diesels.

[Countryboy59]

Originally Posted by spike2tx

I have a 2013 F250 6.7l turbo diesel. I get 16-17 mpg in the city and 11-14 towing an 2016 31' International . Low milage comes from towing in Colorado, here in Texas I'm on the higher end, towing at 70-75 mph. I rented at 2017 gasser F250 and towed a 19' 1053 Boles Aero from Phoenix and got boy 8 mpg, terrible. Made me thank myself for going diesel. Torque on inclines with the diesel are worth it as well. Just my 2 cents...

Torque is measured at the crankshaft, and multiplied by the transmission and gearing. Power is power.

8 mpg at $2.30 a gallon = 13 mpg at $3.00 a gallon.

[Countryboy59]

Originally Posted by pappy19

For any of you gasser owners, look up Mike's 5 Star SCT programmer. His programmer has been around many years and can boost your economy and/ or power and it works.

Do you diesel dudes HAVE to chime in? Give us gassers a break, we don't give a hoot about diesels.

Yes, they do because they paid $10k more for the engine. I laugh every time my son sends me a pic of a cab off diesel repair job. The gas engine produces the same power and runs on regular gas.

[glenrms]

Originally Posted by AlanMcD

2017 XLT F250 gas 6.2. I have 4,700 miles on it right now. 15 mpg not towing, 9 mpg towing.

Ditto mileage on my '15 F250 6.2l 2x4 with 50K miles.

[spike2tx]

Originally Posted by pappy19

For any of you gasser owners, look up Mike's 5 Star SCT programmer. His programmer has been around many years and can boost your economy and/ or power and it works.

Do you diesel dudes HAVE to chime in? Give us gassers a break, we don't give a hoot about diesels.

Just trying to spread the gospel of diesel power! I know it's armageddon talk but when we had the hurricane here in Texas this here even as far north as Dallas where I live you could not buy gasoline. If stations had gas you had hours of waiting to buy. Most stations were out within 2 days after the storm. Diesel pumps were wide open... just saying.. prepper talk I guess

[pappy19]

Way too many negatives with diesels vs the 6.2 gas engine. All been thrown out there before, but for you, I will list them again; $8000 initial cost of the diesel engine, and only worth it if you keep it to over 200,000 miles, huge maintenance costs with oil changes, filters and DFE crapola, more chance of bad fuel ruining pumps and injectors, huge costs of engine rebuilds/replacements, way less fuel stops vs gasoline, your wife hates to fill it up due to the diesel stink and having to wait 5 minutes for the bubbles to stop. I have more if you want to hear them, but I doubt it.

[Ampman]

Have the newer DEF diesels gotten any more reliable? Anybody got more than 100k on a 2014 and up? Been away almost a year and a half from the world of fleet diesel light duty trucks and they were all shop queens for the most part. Left me walking too many times to count.

[biyak269]

Our ‘16 F250 gets 7-8 MPG towing, around 12 empty.

[giantfuton]

2017 F250 6.2 with 4.30 gears. Its a crewcab, shortbed Lariat with Camper Package and Torqueshift-G transmission.

Right now I'm running across the country from Monterey, CA to Knoxville, TN. I got 9.8 mpgs today while running 68mph with our 25ft Int'l Serenity.

I've got a youtube channel by the same name if you want to see some towing videos in the mountains.

Unloaded I have gotten 15 mpg when running 70mph.

GF