Diesel vs gas......................

[blt2ski]

OK folks, there have been a few to many diesel vs gas threads that have shall we say gone to "Hell and a hand basket"! So if all of you would put in you BEST, no flaming reasons for going gas vs diesel, pro and con, I will either leave your thread, or copy and paste pertinant info to the 4 posts of pro and con of diesel or gas. This can include the GM 8.1 vs Dmax or Ford V-8/10 vs PSD etc too.

Be real and honest in you answers, not hear say, flaming etc PLEASE!

If posts are good ones, I will leave, if inflamatory or trolling in nature, they will be deleted! I will get this stick'd to the top for future parusing for those that need this type of info.

Added 6-23-04

We are getting closer to answers I am looking for etc.

Stuff like Ken's - T-Bone posts are good. There are a few others of you that have not posted, some with a 9 point question and answer type to figure out how you went with one or the other. If you are one of those, PLEASE repost in this thread. I may have to look up whom has done this and PM you, but if you think this is you, you now know what to do.

Also, for those of you with $ per gallon for either fuel right now, I would prefer to see a post with ...."in my area, diesel is typically .10 less than unleaded" then explain your numbers. As currently in the Seattle area, diesel and unleaded are any where from 2.05 -2.30 per gallon, with mid test .10 more and premium about .20 more, with equal high low splits. Two weeks ago those prices were upwards of .30 -.40 per gallon more. people were posting $ per gallon that were for me. "I wish" If someone is reading your post a year from now, they may want to know where your paying 1.65, when the price of fuel is over $3 per gallon. Let's keep prices out of it if possible.

Bert and tin tipi, got into a good discusion on the pros and cons of RPM's, drive train etc. I would prefer to NOT see the quote of the other in responding threads, maybe just write a quick wording of re tranny gearing, instead of the whole 40 words or so in that paragragh, so the repsonse is shorter if possible quicker and easier to read etc.

I have deleted some 15+/- posts, that were off topic etc. Please note, I am trying to keep this at the top, as the ONLY gas/diesel thread in this area. So if one is trying to decide, we do not have to go thru this BS any more. As such, I will be deleting ANY future posts close to resembling this type of topic. I may have to change "this" title to a better one, if one has a better sounding title, to be more positive, better claification, let me know here, or in a PM/e-mail, what ever you feel most comfortible with.

Again thank you for all of you that are keeping responses positive, etc.

Also we could use a few more positive reasons to go gas, as many can see I have both gas and diesel, both have a place! Both have positive reasons to buy that fuel, lets keep the threads etc to that purpose only!

Marty

[ttsr4us]

Confessions of a new Diesel Owner.

My wife and I are still relatively new to the RV world. We bought our TV, a new Ford Excursion 2003 6.0 PSD 4x4 in November 2003 and our trailer in December of 2003. Our trailer weighs 8500 lbs fully loaded. So far we have been on two trips using the RV, 6 weeks to Florida in Jan/Feb and 6 weeks to the 4 corners area during May/Jun. All starting from Long Island New York. The Ex now has 21000 miles on the clock, 14000 have been put on towing our trailer. Before these purchases, I had never towed anything before. I spent months lurking here to sort out the best kit for our needs prior to laying out any cash. The performance of the rig has been outstanding. So far, none of the glitches which are supposed to infest the PSD have appeared. (I always follow the service intervals and use Ford dealers)

During our Florida trip, I averaged just over 12 miles per gallon towing. During the 4 corners trip, we averaged 11 miles per gallon towing. Another advantage of my Truck is that it has a 44 gallon fuel tank so I can get a days towing out of it. Around town in New York we get 17 miles per gallon non-towing and 21 miles per gallon non-towing on the open road. These numbers are achieved at or “near” the speed limits.

Out west, we passed so many gas engined trucks towing TT’s or 5’ers, Gas class A’s and 18 wheelers while ascending the steep hills that we lost count. All the guys I met in the camp sites who owned gas trucks wished that they had a diesel. We are not intending to be full timers but we do intend to take many long trips to explore this great country so given our mileage figures and the fact that we intend to explore most of the mountain areas, a Diesel was our natural choice. The reason we bought an Excursion in that this is the only car we own and my wife did not want a truck bed as a daily drive. The X is the only SUV with a Diesel. I can also add that the Tow Haul Mode is a superb transmission and also a great safety feature. From what I gather, when speaking to the GMC owners, the Allison Transmission is just as good/better! But of course only available in the Diesel Trucks.

So, in conclusion, if you are considering high mileage and/or high altitude driving, in my opinion, a Diesel is a must and with Tow Haul/Allison a decided safety advantage when descending the hills. If your RV life style or wallet does not fit this profile then buy gas and you will certainly be able to enjoy your RV lifestyle but in my opinion you will miss out on a great and safer towing experience.

[faze]

Lots of gas trucks feel powerful when they're unloaded but fill up the box and small blocks work like SOB's just to get moving. I threw forty bales of hay in the back of my 3/4-diesel and it motored up to highway speeds easily.

To get comparable performance out of a gas motor you need a big block and then you will notice a difference in fuel consumption--the big block gasser will blow thru about 50% more fuel in all conditions.

Diesel motors, cared for, last a long time but you should get over 200,000 miles out of a big block gas motor too.

Around here diesel is about 85% the cost of gas.

Personally, I'd rather have a used diesel truck than a new gasser.

[odoh]

Hmm-m, real reasons? No, didn't get down to nickles & dimes of it all. Approaching the 6th decade of life, and needing a strong truck ~ went shopping. Stumbled onto a DuraMax while looking for a 6.0L GM gasser and was told the DuraMax eng was designed for GM by Isuzu. I've a healthy respect for Japanese engrg and studied on it a spell not to mention the Allison transmission having a well established reputation. Looked at Dodge Cummins then went to the NHSB website and looked at the registered complaints of the big 3 trucks. Approached/spoke w/strangers at the gas/diesel stations etc. So, what w/that admittedly mild/lite research and the need to have a durable fullsize truck that has the ability to do anything I may/may not call upon it to do ~ I purchased a diesel. Not sorry ~ don't even feel pressured by the bean counters to justify it nor to argue about how many angels can dance on the head of a pin ~ I did it because that what I wanted. If this doesn't fit in w/the anticipated outcome of this yet another thread ~ Go ahead and delete it. Still when the sun goes down ~ me be happy and thats what really matters.

[coobie]

Gas 87 oct.is $1.95 a gal Diesel is $1.69 a gal.I get a heck of allot more bang for my buck & mileage to boot.Just my 2 cents;)

[jlh1777]

I drive the truck in my sig line. It is a '98 Silverado, ext cab 4x4 with the Vortech 5.7. This truck has more power than I could ever know what to do with.

I think the important thing to remember in the gas vs diesel conversation also directly relates to who is doing the buying. Using myself as an example, I am 24 yrs old, just graduated from college (Kansas State, Go Wildcats!!!), just got married, and bought a house. There are not enough used diesels on the market, to get any kind of a good deal on. I got into a 98 Silverado (beautiful truck!), with fairly low miles, with payments in the $250/month area. No way could I have found a diesel for this much. I pull a 21' Hybrid camper, a 28' pontoon boat, and a jet ski numerous times during the year (not all at once). A 1/2 ton is plenty big enough for these jobs. I won't be hooking onto any 35' 5'ers anytime soon, so I don't need the big power.

At this point in my life this truck is perfect for me. It looks good, the wife loves it (She even gave me permission to put on a flowmaster exhaust!!), it's cheap, and runs great!!

If you are a full time RV'er then I have no doubt that diesel is the way to go. I'd be willing to bet that there are plenty of people in my shoes, who are just starting out and would like to go camping 5 or 6 times a year, but who also can't afford to buy the huge trucks and campers.

The small block gassers have their niche in the market also. It's just not the same niche as the diesels. For people just starting to get into RV'ing, the small or big block gassers work just fine.

By the way, I get 18mpg empty doing 75-80 on the highway (not 65-70), and 11-13 towing either the camper or the boat, at 65-70 mph. (I get 17 pulling the Jet Ski, but that doesn't count). These numbers are very comparable to any stock diesels out there. And yes, I know that my speed will slow down pulling campers in the mountains. This has been said to me many times. And yes, we do have hills in Kansas also, just not 12,000 ft high ones. 🙂

P.S. I wouldn't back down from to many diesels, sitting at a stoplight revving their engines at me. I'd go head to head with them, and probably be able to run away from them most of the time. That 350 Vortech will really run!!

I know that I'm in the minority here, but that's ok!! 🙂

Later

[grizz272]

I had a F150 small V8 3.55 rear end. I could not maintain hiway speed at with any kind of incline. with out almost redlining the engine. That is here in wiscons in,let alone in the rockies where we're heading. I spent almopst 9 months looking before I bought the Mighty DMAX. I will not go back to gas as it stands now. 21 mpg not towing, 16.6 towing. and in 1.5 years I have only had 2 weeks when gas was cheaper than diesel. I have yet to find a hill I can't maintainn hiway speed on. The only down side I have found is the front awning support rod gets just a little diesel soot on it . None on the camper.

Ahh There is nothing like the sweet aroma of diesel in the morning. It is also GRINS when I beat the little rice rockets off the line at a stop sign and watch them suck my DIESEL SMOKE:B

Grizz

[alaska511]

🙂

[timrhunt]

For me, I just like the expression on peoples face when I tell them I get 8.5 MPG. OK, honestly the gas is the best choice for me right now. I do 5 year leases and my next one will most likely have to be a dually diesel. More time to take more frequent and longer trips. But the 8.1 allison goes way beyond my expectations in every way.People who group the 8.1 with other gas motors and pulling power, Just have plain not pulled 12000 lbs with it and are clueless. And that includes the v10, Which I owned a e350 and it was no comparison. come on guys, 100 cubes smaller and ten little pistons.

Owning and operating a semi for six years, I still don't really want to go back to diesel. Living up north and daily driving it, I like Gas over diesel because Its nice and warm in the winter with a push of my remote start. Plus It sounds way cooler with 500 cubes and the allison. My previos truck was BB 3/4 suburban and It was a real work horse. Drove the wheels off of it pulling trailers its whole life. I think all of new smokers are great. I'm sure they will be even better when my lease is up in 4 years. Can't loose.
Tim

[PhilipB]

First TV was 96 GMC Z71 1/2 ton. Towing same trailer as listed below I averaged 8-9 mpg.

New TV (only 3,000 miles) with same trailer I get 11 mpg. From what I read this should increase.

So I get better MPG loaded/empty. I now have a 3/4 ton crew cab vs. 1/2 ton extended cab. And I have lots more power.

Also, the new diesels are quiet enough to satisfy most of our wives.

As for the cost, I figure fuel saving, resale and longevity are all in my favor. Will I get back the entire amount? Probably, but who cares.

[McDonoughDawg]

I will say that if I could buy a Suburban with a diesel, I would do it. I would prefer a 1/2 ton with capabilities slightly exceeding my current Suburban. I feel that the 3/4 Ton and up market is well served by the big 3 with crew cab trucks. Maybe a Baby Duramax kinda of thing. I understand Ford was working on something like this for the Expedition/F150, but it may be on the back burner.

I would love to get 22-24 MPG on the road while still having the ability to tow 5-6K lbs. I'll bet such a machine would still get 15-16 while towing a load like that. I currently get 8-9 MPG towing my 5K LB Boat.

[PSDExcursion]

Back in Aug 2000 my wife wanted a full size 4x4 SUV that gets good fuel mileage and dutch doors like our Astro van so the PSD Excursion was the only one with both. Then after three years she wanted the new 2003 model with DVD player etc and we purchased the 2003 4x4 6.0 PSD because she loved going to Myrtle Beach SC (700+ miles) with no fuel stops. Here in NJ the Ford dealers don't like to take gas Excursions in on trade and if we had a V10 Excursion we would have lost as much as $10,000 vs the PSD on trade. And the diesel advantage increases when we tow our 41 ft TT since it has much more torque and fuel mileage vs the V10 and less fuel stops with a 60+ ft combo is good.:B

[ffrnemtp]

The truck listed below is the first diesel I've ever owned. I bought it in February. The 6.0L PSD is far and away the best running engine I have ever owned. It gets significantly better fuel milage than my '03 F-150 5.4L. The noise issue is really only relevant close to and outside of the vehicle. Diesel exhaust does smell, and has health implications as well, but I don't notice it except near the tailpipe.

The diesel runs extremely strong with or without my 7,500 pound TT behind it. With a programmer, the 6.0L PSD will easily out accelerate a Hemi or a 5.4L turbocharged gasser.

Just my opinion, but I don't think anyone will be sorry about chosing a diesel. I've been around diesel engines in fire trucks at work for 20+ years, but I had no clue they could run like my F-250 does.

[BertP]

I guess I should get my $0.02 in here 🙂

I will start by explaining why I traded my 03 1500HD CC 6l 3.73 for an 04 2500HD CC DMax 3.73.

I was quite happy with my 1500HD. It got respectable gas mileage empty (up to 20 on the highway) and acceptable when towing my 5er (around 8). The 6l can produce 300 HP which is more than I need for my setup. The problem came when we started planning our summer vacation. We are going to travel through BC and then south through WA, OR and spend some time in CA. Then it will be east to AZ, north through NV, ID and MT (did I get all the 2 character references right? :)). When I started looking at that route, it occurred to me that we would be travelling through some of the worse conditions you could ask for in RVing: mountainous terrain in a desert. Looking at my 5er/TV combo, I thought I should do a little research to find out what kind of problems I may face especially considering that my 5er is slightly over the max weight limit GM recomends for the 1500HD. What I found was that the 6l and 4L80 tranny are installed in such a way that they have, in my opinion, insufficient cooling. I was looking at the specs for an 04 Burb and, inspite of the fact that the 6l develops more power (325HP) than the 8.1l (320HP) in that vehicle, the 8.1 has a far greater cooling capacity than the 6l. So, I started looking at my truck to see what I could do to remedy the situation. I could replace the 3 core rad with a 4 core one from an 8.1l vehicle. I could also add another tranny cooler to keep the 4L80 within limits. But, I figured that, if anything were to happen in, say, Arizona, I would be a long way from home with my family stranded on the side of the highway and a big repair bill. If my truck had had an Allison, I would probably still have it because the Allison is installed with sufficient cooling capacity to handle anything my 6l could throw at it. I did not have the same feeling about the 4L80.

At this point, I could have gone with either the DMax or the 8.1 and addressed all of my concerns. But, the fuel efficiency of the DMax won that race. Plus the fact that getting an aux fuel tank for a diesel is far easier than getting one for a gasser made me decide to get the DMax a few years earlier than I had planned. Yes, I took a depreciation hit, but there is less likelyhood that my family and I will be stranded.

On the HP vs torque part, I think you should include the example Peter (Aquaduct) gave in the "Drawbacks of deisel" thread. I have been using a turbine vs diesel comparison for torque info and, while technically accurate, most people cannot relate to a turbine. Peter's example uses a Cat C12 and, while most people will not know what that is either, most can relate to big rigs and heavy machinery. To see that an engine from a sports car develops the same amount of power as that Cat behemouth would go a long way in explaining how torque and HP are related.

Another issue that is usually raised is the concept of a "screaming" engine. That is a very subjective issue, though. What does "screaming" mean, anyway? My DMax has a max rpm of 3000 and that is 66% higher than the Cat C12 referenced above. My 6l would run 50% higher than my DMax. Does that mean that my DMax is a screamer? Does "screaming" simply mean an engine running above a particular rpm? Is it a feeling or a sound? You have to admit that my DMax will make more noise at 3000 rpm than my gasser would make at 4500 rpm, so which one would be screaming? I think that this area is far too subjective to be of any real value. Test drive the unit you are considering buying and decide for yourself.

Lastly, I think that people should be advised to look at the whole vehicle, not just one part of it. Before we bought our DMax, we took an 03 Dodge 2500 CTD Quad Cab 5 speed for an overnight test drive. We were heading back into the dealer the next day to tell them that we would take it and I weighed the truck with my family in it and a full tank of fuel. It turned out that I could not legally tow my 5er with that truck because its pin weight out put the truck over its GVW. At that point, it makes absolutely no difference what engine is under the hood because the truck cannot do what I need it to do.

Good luck to anyone looking to buy a new TV. Get the best you can afford and enjoy it.

Bert

[Gary_C]

Diesel is $1.47 a gallon vs. $1.85 for gas.

I get 21 miles a gallon vs. 13 for a comparable gas engine.

I have 270,000 miles on my diesel truck and it runs like new, the only gas vehicle I've had go over 200,000 miles was with the help of a new engine at 145,000. In other words, I can drive a diesel twice as long as a gasser, I.E. I don't have to buy a new vehicle every three years. New trucks are expensive.

I can pull anything I want to.

Diesels sound cool.

Did I mention that they last twice as long, so I don't have to buy a new truck every three years. New trucks are expensive!

[T_Bone]

Good call Marty! Thanks 🙂

This was written about 1/1/03 and reflects my numbers gathered from the model years 2000 to 2002, 7.3 PSD and V10 engines. It appears all current (2004 model) diesels, PSD, CTD and the D-Max have slightly improved in fuel mileage since that time.

Note my savey insight into predicting the current price of fuel... 🙂

Where did I get my average mpg numbers? I got them from reading numerous mpg threads on many different forums over the past 4yrs and should be a pretty consistant fuel mileage average from reports of people who use miles driven divided by gallons used, a known accurate method for computing fuel mileage.

They did not come from anyone using the factory computer to report fuel mileage as some puters are off quite a bit. How? Example; engines being chipped are known to have extreamly high false mpg numbers because of the chip.

Want to read 99mpg? Reset the trip puter at the top of a mountain then descend the grade without using the fuel pedal and when your close to the bottom of the grade take a puter reading and mpg be up there in no mans world. 🙂

Why? The fuel is shut off too the engine when the RPM is above idle without the fuel pedal depressed.

Why do some people report extreamly good fuel mileage while other report horrible numbers?
You need to compare apples with apples. Alot has to do with the way the truck is driven. With a light foot and 60mph maximum towing speed will yeild better fuel economy than pulling at 70mph with a heavy foot. A truck pulling 16000GCW will get better fuel mileage than one pulling 20000GCW. A 3:73 axle ratio will get more mpg than a 4:10 ratio. The point is to look at the whole ball park just not the number you want to hear or see.

Note: Thease are only ball park figures although I did try to gather realestic numbers to work with. Example: my acutal truck cost less T&L, Wal-Mart priced Delo oil and Motorcraft filter.

I used the same fuel cost per gallon for both diesel and gas but in reality diesel will "average" about $.20gal lower than gasoline on a yearly average. If one would relfect the $.20gal savings, then the diesel savings would increase substantially


V10 towing 20,000lbs GCW @ 8mpg average using 5k oil changes for 10,000 total miles
Oil and filter= $16eh= $32net
Fuel $1.50gal average= $1875

PSD towing 20,000lbs GCW @ 12mpg average using 5k oil changes for 10,000 total miles
Oil and filter= $32eh= $64net
Fuel $1.50gal average= $1250

100k= PSD total fuel and oil change cost $13,140
100k= V10 total fuel and oil change cost $19,070

Diesel wins by $5930 per 100k miles
My 2K2 diesel cost $3,450 vs V10 $500= $2950 diff

$5930-$2950= $2,980 diesel savings the first 100k miles.

Assuming fuel prices will stay the same (ya right) $1.50gal for 300k miles a PSD saves $14,840 in fuel.

A V-10 cost for the same truck as spec'd below $30,900 or $.103/mile for 300k miles, I already dicounted the up-front cost of the diesel engine.

I paid $30,900 for my PSD truck so my net cost per mile is $30,900-$14,840= $16,060 or $.0535/mile for 300k miles or 1/2 the V10 cost.

Lets take it one step more. Lets say the average price of fuel, gas and diesel, in the next 5yrs averages $2.10/gal, from 5yrs to 10yrs averages $3.10/gal, using 30k total miles/yr at 70% empty and 30% towing 20,000lbs GCW, V10 8mpg towing 14mpg empty, PSD 12mpg towing 20mpg empty, then we get:

V10= empty fuel cost= $39,000
Towing fuel cost= $29,251 or $68,252 gross fuel cost for 10yrs

PSD= empty fuel cost= $27,300
Towing fuel cost= $19,500 or $46,800 gross fuel cost for 10yrs

PSD saves $21,415 in fuel cost over a V10

Have fun in your hunt for the new TV 🙂