How Important is Gas Mileage?

[Urlauber]

And another part of the equation is the cost of diesel. At least around here, it is usually more expensive than the highest grade gas. This was especially true a year ago when prices were generally super high. Now that they came down a bit the gap is not as wide. Still, diesel >5 and regular ~4.30.

[peteco]

Originally Posted by Urlauber

And another part of the equation is the cost of diesel. At least around here, it is usually more expensive than the highest grade gas. This was especially true a year ago when prices were generally super high. Now that they came down a bit the gap is not as wide. Still, diesel >5 and regular ~4.30.

Surprisingly diesel is now much closer to regular gas in price. Funny game (NOT) of pricing the oil companies, politicians, OPEC, etc. put us through.

[TX-Trek]

Our last trip was a meandering route from TX to Grand Canyon to Yellowstone to Rushmore and back to TX, about 5 weeks. Lots of stops in between.
I liked the average 16.4 mpg of our 2010 RT210, but of almost equal weight was the driveline of the vehicle. Also retired and for us every dollar counts, even with the "extravagance" of an RV. I'm familiar and comfortable with working on GM stuff, LS engines and their related transmissions, so for me it's not having to discover how to fix something on the fly. Its more about tools and parts.
I suggest that besides mpg you may want to consider what's under the hood and if it can only be repaired at very limited number of shops, or what you may be familiar with.

[peteco]

Originally Posted by TX-Trek

Our last trip was a meandering route from TX to Grand Canyon to Yellowstone to Rushmore and back to TX, about 5 weeks. Lots of stops in between.
I liked the average 16.4 mpg of our 2010 RT210, but of almost equal weight was the driveline of the vehicle. Also retired and for us every dollar counts, even with the "extravagance" of an RV. I'm familiar and comfortable with working on GM stuff, LS engines and their related transmissions, so for me it's not having to discover how to fix something on the fly. Its more about tools and parts.
I suggest that besides mpg you may want to consider what's under the hood and if it can only be repaired at very limited number of shops, or what you may be familiar with.

Wish I got that with my 2006 210. I average 14.5 MPG on leisurely driving. Does yours have the 6-speed transmission? That, fuel management and ignition advances can yield nice improvements.

[TX-Trek]

Yes sir, it has the 6 speed in it. If I wanted I could use my scan tool to look at ignition , fuel trims etc especially up and down inclines, Lord knows we hit mountains everywhere lol. But anyway, yes the ECU closed loop management in my view is pretty good. Booster has tweaked some of the drive line parameters I think, but for me I've run it as-is.

[Davydd]

Originally Posted by Urlauber

And another part of the equation is the cost of diesel. At least around here, it is usually more expensive than the highest grade gas. This was especially true a year ago when prices were generally super high. Now that they came down a bit the gap is not as wide. Still, diesel >5 and regular ~4.30.

Currently diesel is 10 cents more than regular gas where I fill up at home in Minnesota. It at one time was a dollar more. When I first bought a Class B diesel it was slightly cheaper than regular. I don't care (but don't like it) because the cost never was a factor whether I travel or not and as others said the difference is not that great.

[Detroit80]

Wait...no one whined about a 3 year old thread?

I've been paying about 50 cents less for diesel around here than regular grade gas. Diesel was almost a dollar cheaper not that long ago. I was hoping to find a diesel van, but ended up with one powered by a carb'ed 460 with a non-overdrive trans. I figure I'll be lucky to see 8mpg out of this thing.

So no, MPGs really wasn't much of a concern to me . Like others said, the higher acquisition cost really does offset fuel savings to the point that I'd likely never even hit the break even point anyways. I'll likely have less than 5 grand total, including buying the van in this one, and that savings will buy a LOT of $4/gallon gas.

Though really, my preference for diesel has more to do with the lower running RPMs, so I'm not listening to a gas motor screaming at 4,000RPMs pulling a grade. Better MPGs are just a bonus, but then additional maintenance costs often tends to offset that too. I haven't run the numbers in a while, but I do know that my gas powered Ram pickup cost me less on a per mile basis than my diesel Ford and Chevy pickups do.