MPG Hemi VS Cummins

Posted By: ccarson

MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/12/13 04:35 PM

Trading in my 11 Hemi Ram 1500 for a Ram 2500 looking at both the Hemi and Cummins And what is the real world difference in mileage?
I only tow my 24' a dozen times a year so I dont beleave its worth the Upgrade to the Cummins.

Posted By: 76dodgeboy

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/12/13 05:21 PM

First gets got 18-22 not sure on the 94 up to now. That's also towing.

Posted By: cascius

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/12/13 06:52 PM

I haven't dealt with any brand new trucks like you're considering, but I do know a few years ago when the shop I worked at was putting EGR/DPF Delete kits and Emissions delete programmers on the early 6.7 trucks most people claimed they were getting 10-12 mpg empty. Once they removed the emissions programming and compenents it jumped back up into the 16-18 range most Cummins owners are used to. If the new ones are still in that same range then I don't see how you could justify spending the money over a gasser that will probably pull the same mileage.

Posted By: Silver70

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/12/13 10:05 PM

I can't really speak for a new hemi, but on a 2012 cummins my friend has was getting around 15 on the highway when new. He has since upgraded it from, turbo, head, exhaust, programmer and removed the emissions stuff. It's now making over 500hp/1000trq to the wheels and gets 16.5-17. That's with 35" tires and a heavy foot... he drives his stuff with the pedal down a lot

He already windowed the original block with a broken rod from how hard he drives it.

Posted By: 76dodgeboy

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/12/13 10:11 PM

How big of price difference is there? Id still opt for the better suited Towing motor with same mpg. Well I take that back. If your not planning to pull alot gas would be better since the price of diesel is so dumb

Posted By: Bill_T

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/12/13 10:29 PM

If you can hold off a little longer, the 2014 2500s will have the 6.4 liter gas engine as an option. I have an 05 2500 hemi and it has been fine for 7 years, but the bigger engine would certainly be nice to have on some of the longer grades....

Posted By: WO23Coronet

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/12/13 11:40 PM

Quote:

If you can hold off a little longer, the 2014 2500s will have the 6.4 liter gas engine as an option. I have an 05 2500 hemi and it has been fine for 7 years, but the bigger engine would certainly be nice to have on some of the longer grades....

Hold off for the 2014's. For casual towing the 6.4 would be enough (even fairly regular towing IMO), PLUS they're getting the new coil spring suspension which would be sweet

Posted By: rattler

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/13/13 02:27 AM

I have a 2011 Ram 2500 4x4 Crew Cab. It get 15-16 mpg going to work. 17-18 mpg running empty on road trips. And 13-14 mpg pulling my 20 ft trailer with one of my cars riding. 6.7 completely stock.

Attached picture 7812075-P5260532.JPG

Posted By: OhioMopar

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/13/13 02:37 AM

The guy who bought my Swinger has a '12 with the Cummins. . He didn't get into numbers. But he loved the power. Said it sure drank fuel.

Posted By: ccarson

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/13/13 04:21 AM

Its about a $7500.00 option for the Cummins in a 2500 Ram is it worth it?

Posted By: SleeperBee

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/13/13 05:01 AM

I would think it would be impossible to get a financial return on fuel mileage alone. I bought mine and LOVE it, but there is TOO much of a price difference at purchase. You'll love it when feeding it twelve quarts of oil and two filters! Not trying to be funny, I just wouldn't buy one thinking to save money.

Posted By: dynotune440

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/13/13 05:30 AM

I personally think that if you pull often, you should own a 5.9 diesel. The do well for fuel mileage, and have a 6.7(pile of junk, oil making pig) manual trans 4wd, and it is good for 14 by its self, and 10 pulling 8k on a car trailer. I personally think that the 2006-07 trucks with the 5.9 are the way to go. Yes they cost more to maintain, but they also hold their value very well too, and the 5.9 trucks are known to see 20+ for MPG hand calculated....

Posted By: RUNCHARGER

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/13/13 06:19 AM

I own an 05 Cummins and love it. Having said that I wouldn't buy a Cummins newer than 06, the newer trucks don't get the fuel mileage of the older trucks and have way more maintenance issues.
If I was buying a new pickup for occasional towing it would be a Hemi.
If I was going to do a lot of towing of an enclosed trailer I would buy the best 06 and older Cummins I could find.

Sheldon

Posted By: dusturbd340W5

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/13/13 01:48 PM

Quote:

I own an 05 Cummins and love it. Having said that I wouldn't buy a Cummins newer than 06, the newer trucks don't get the fuel mileage of the older trucks and have way more maintenance issues.
If I was buying a new pickup for occasional towing it would be a Hemi.
If I was going to do a lot of towing of an enclosed trailer I would buy the best 06 and older Cummins I could find.

You can actually get early 07's that have the same 5.9 driveline as the 06 so don't pass those by either

Sheldon

Posted By: DusterKrazy

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/13/13 06:24 PM

Quote:

I personally think that if you pull often, you should own a 5.9 diesel. The do well for fuel mileage, and have a 6.7(pile of junk, oil making pig) manual trans 4wd, and it is good for 14 by its self, and 10 pulling 8k on a car trailer. I personally think that the 2006-07 trucks with the 5.9 are the way to go. Yes they cost more to maintain, but they also hold their value very well too, and the 5.9 trucks are known to see 20+ for MPG hand calculated....

\

Dad has a '01 24v truck. For the power and mileage, the Cummins kicks the Hemi's a**. Average mpg has been 21.7 and I think the lowest we have gotten with it is in the 18 range mixed. We have done quite a bit of towing with it as well. If you have a CTD, you will have no desire to own a gas truck ever again. If I ever get the chance to get a 5.7 hemi truck, I would quickly trade it.

The CTD's hold better value. No comparison. But to each his own.

Posted By: DusterKrazy

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/13/13 06:28 PM

Quote:

I would think it would be impossible to get a financial return on fuel mileage alone. I bought mine and LOVE it, but there is TOO much of a price difference at purchase. You'll love it when feeding it twelve quarts of oil and two filters! Not trying to be funny, I just wouldn't buy one thinking to save money.

\

A well maintained 5.9 will outlast many gas burner trucks, that to me is worth something

Posted By: DusterKrazy

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/13/13 09:57 PM

Forgot to add, If you are looking at the earlier 24v trucks (98.5-02). Put a higher quality lift pump on it like a Fass or AirDog. The stock lift pumps are bad to go out.

Also do not get one with a "53" cast into the side of the block. These are prone to cracking. Some have never had an issue, but I'd be cautious about it.

Posted By: 360view

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/14/13 04:16 PM

It would be really interesting to see one of
the owners clubs, internet forums
or diesel pickup magazines
do a multi-truck Convoy-style fuel economy test
(SAE/TMC Type 4)
on the various model years of Cummins Ram pickups.

Ideally,
the test would first be done unladen trucks only at 70 mph,
then repeated with each truck towing the same model and weight U-Haul trailer

I would bet on the
early 1998 12 valve 2wd
as being the MPG champ,
but I have always thought
these '98s would do even better
if they had the 3.06 ratio Dana 61 diffs like some of the earliest had.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_Ram

Some years ago after Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans
many diesel pickup owners were hauling the exact same FEMA bought trailers from the Elkhart Indiana area down the same interstate routes to NOLA
and the Dodge, Ford and GM pickup owners
were exchanging fuel economy results.

Posted By: Triple Threat

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/14/13 05:18 PM

I have a '10 2500 4x4 with a hemi, it has something attached to it every weekend. Most notably my car. 2 weeks ago was a 400 mile round trip from Seattle to Portland, pretty flat drive 14mpg, hand calculated.

This weekend I went from Seattle to Boise and back, 1000 mile round trip over lots of mountain passes and I got 11, hand calculated.

Hemi does fine on even the steepest of the pulls, it will down shift, find a speed to keep the RPM's about 3000-4000 and it will go up anything I've found as fast as you want to go.

Would I like to have a Cummins sure, can I justify the added cost, no. I've done these exact same drives in a comparable 04 cummins, and the MPG difference is negligble once fuel costs come into play. The newer diesels don't get anywhere near what the older trucks did.

Attached picture 7813977-setup-1.jpg

Posted By: ccarson

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/14/13 09:23 PM

Good Stuff I feel the same,

Would I like a Cummins Yes.

Can I justify the cost No.

Posted By: Rhinodart

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/14/13 11:26 PM

Quote:

I personally think that if you pull often, you should own a 5.9 diesel. The do well for fuel mileage, and have a 6.7(pile of junk, oil making pig) manual trans 4wd, and it is good for 14 by its self, and 10 pulling 8k on a car trailer. I personally think that the 2006-07 trucks with the 5.9 are the way to go. Yes they cost more to maintain, but they also hold their value very well too, and the 5.9 trucks are known to see 20+ for MPG hand calculated....

I can't stand the 06-08 interiors

over the 03-05. If there was a decent interior in those trucks then I would agree.

Posted By: VincentVega

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/14/13 11:29 PM

my 2005 1500 4x4 hemi with 3.92 has a lifetime average of 14.3 and I drive like a grandma. not sure where you people are getting those numbers

Posted By: RUNCHARGER

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/14/13 11:47 PM

Yeah: I'm willing to go side by side with the same load with anyone with a Hemi Truck. They all get great mileage until you go on a trip with them, then something always goes wrong and the truck is only getting half what it usually does.
My brother just bought a 13 Hemi and hauled a camper trailer 400 miles home with it. (18,000 miles on the Hemi though) My 05 Cummins uses just a bit more than half the fuel to do the same trip with a heavier load. Empty they're getting closer though.

Sheldon

Posted By: an8sec70cuda

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/15/13 02:42 PM

One thing to remember that I see a lot of guys leaving out, is that there is a huge difference in towing an open car trailer and towing an enclosed trailer.

I've had both diesel and gas 3/4 ton trucks towing both types of car trailers. Once I bought a diesel, I wondered why I hadn't done it years ago.

Posted By: Jeepmon

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/15/13 05:09 PM

2006 Ram 2500 4x4 hemi.. it towed my 24' enclosed quite easily and I felt proud when I pulled into the racetrack with all those other big diesels, rv's and monster tow vehicles..

The power going up the steepest hills was acceptable, the gas mileage wasnt.. We got 10 mpg empty in the city.. 13 mpg empty on the highway and somewhere real close to 8 mpg pulling the enclosed.

2012 Ram 2500 4x4 CTD.. Oh my.. thats all I got to say... Ignorance is bliss and I was pretty stupid.. This thing is hands down superior to the hemi motor in all areas..

13 mpg empty around town... as much as 18 mpg empty on the highway and its anywhere from 11 mpg to as high as 14 mpg towing the enclosed.. all depending on the terrain..

Power?? we wont even go there as there is no comparison.. the diesel can pull a house down..

But the one thing most people seem to overlook is the trade in value.. When I traded in the 2006 gas motor on the new CTD.. I had to fight to get $10K as the trade in.. Several times the dealer/salesman/finance guy told me IF the 2006 was the Cummins.. I could have easily gotten $20K plus...

Posted By: poorboy

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/16/13 01:28 AM

The story is always the same. If you do not pull a trailer very far or very often, the added expense of a Cummins does not add up.

On the other hand, if you drag an enclosed trailer around the country you would be pretty stupid not to step up to the diesel.

As always, the main use of the truck should be the deciding factor in which truck you put your hard earned money on the table for. For what a truck gets used for at my house, even the Hemi would be pretty stupid. In fact buying any new truck would be dumb, the 3,000 - 4,000 miles I drive one every year would mean watching a lot of money sitting and being wasted. Gene

Posted By: dogdays

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/16/13 06:21 PM

Diesels will win the mileage wars and if you're towing every week, they make a lot of sense.

My friend at work had a F250 powersmoke super duty with which he never towed anything. It started running poorly and he took it to the ford dealer. He was quoted $1800 of injector work.

He's now driving a Subaru.

Any cost comparison with a Diesel must include maintenance.

Another point: Sure they have higher trade-in value, but it only matches their higher first cost. It's not like you buy a Diesel for the same money as a gas truck, then four years later it's worth lots more.

I grew up with Diesels and know what they can do, no prejudice here. But so many get wrapped up in the romance of the oil-burner and forget the old saw, "there's no such thing as a free lunch."

OH, and one more thing. It doesn't make you a member of the "big boy club" to leave your Diesel idling in the parking lot when you are in the store for groceries.

R.

Posted By: Silver70

Re: MPG Hemi VS Cummins - 08/16/13 10:38 PM

Can't really say much about buying a new one and resell down the road... but my 01 is still worth as much or more as what I paid for it 2 years ago. It has also paid for itself plus another 50% from the scrap I hauled in. As much as I have hauled up the ridge and the weight of the loads, it's been a no brainer for me. And the cheap costs to mod, it's a fun truck to drive. I'll never own another gas burner truck!