how many miles per gallon do you get?

[Skywagon]

Same here.
Bill

[Ford_6L_E350]

Finished my trip from California to Labrador/Newfoundland and back.

12,738 miles 763.51 Gallons $3293.77 24 tanks averaging 31.8 gallons

Maximums: 663.6 miles on one tank 35.72 gallons $167.08

16.68 ave mpg for the trip

Low tank 14.09 mpg

High tank 18.71 mmpg

Dirt/gravel roads in Labrador hurt mileage, as did small towns and freqent stops in Newfoundland.

Mike

[Christopher Thwaites]

Sounds like a nice trip Mike!
We just drove to Redding and back. Avg. mpg was 12.8. We were not fully loaded and I kept us at 55/60 mph.
It also must be noted Mike has made a science out of squeezing every last mile out of a gallon of fuel. He has a soft foot and a very conservative driving style...I followed him for 60 miles into Toroweap last year!

[Ford_6L_E350]

Chris,

Do you want to follow me to Valley of Fire in October?

Mike

[Christopher Thwaites]

Maybe....but you have to go faster than 25. When is it?

[Ford_6L_E350]

Oct 7-9.

See the thread:

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6159

It looks like I will leave Santa Clara on the 5th and get to VoF on the 6th to help Mac secure enough campsites.

Mike

[flyfisher]

I bought my SMB new in March of 2005 and have been fairly compulsive about keeping records of everything. When I ordered The Van, I thought I was being clever by spending the extra 5k for the diesel, since diesel fuel was cheaper then regular. Well, we all know what happened next.

So 6 years, and 47,000 miles later, I've averaged 15.82 MPG. 75% of my driving is freeway, and I subscribe to the Nascar theory, if you're ahead of everyone, you're less likely to be involved in a wreck, so I'm usually about 5 MPH above the posted speed. The only in town driving is getting to the on-ramps to get out of town. The rest is forest service roads or two lanes. The Van weighs in at about 9,500 lbs with a full load of Bourbon, wine, food and fly rods.

I'm glad I found this thread. I was just bemoaning the fact that I spent $150 on fuel to drive over to Eastern Washington to find my favorite summer steelhead river out of shape.

I did a little math, and found that even with gas prices less than diesel, I'm still spending less per mile than you folks with the gassers.

Tom

[Christopher Thwaites]

show us the ##'s! Did you factor in ALL costs of diesel? Not just the price of fuel. I'm not challenging you per say but when you refer to "you gassers" I sense a bias. I didn't choose my V10 so I could win some contest. I just like it as much as you like your 6.0. If it had anything to do with being greener I would have spent the $$$ on a Prius and stayed on the pavement.

[daveb]

Yes Chris, there might be those who like a gas engine and those who prefer diesel. I could be wrong but I didn't feel like Tom was driving a wedge. If you think about it, the thread is about fuel mileage not what the cost is to maintain the engine. Each motor has certain accolades that the other doesn’t have, but fuel mileage seems to be pretty good with the 6.0 by what’s posted on this site even though I’m seeing more in the neighborhood of 14mpg.

[flyfisher]

Chris, no bias against gassers. But even with the cost of diesel at $3.85 / gallon, my fuel costs are less than they would be if I had a V-10.

When I bought The Van I wanted the diesel for the options it presented; bio-diesel and better fuel mileage most importantly. I'm the kinda guy that keeps vehicles for a long time so I figured I would have The Van long enough to amortize the $5k premium for the diesel engine. Of course that was based on $2.50 / gallon which is what it was in 2005.

And I'll admit it, I just like the way it sounds and smells....

Tom