2008 v-10 price/fuel mileage

[LSchicago2]

14 on the highway with a V10? Maybe if you drive 45... LS

[AggiePSD]

I just drove about a 300 mile round trip from College Station, TX to Liberty, TX and made 14 mpg with our 03 F-250 V10 with 4:10 gears. Average speed was 65-70. Btw, it pulls great too.

[Smokewagun]

Originally Posted by LSchicago2

14 on the highway with a V10? Maybe if you drive 45... LS

My 2003 V-10 Excursion averaged 16 on the highway without issue in the summer, and that was at an average speed of 72 with the cruise set on long trips. Oh, hand calculated, too, not by the lie-o-meter. Now, winter around town, well, 11.

[Pappy19]

I'm getting around 11 around town this winter also. I'm using 4 wheel drive alot more too, due to the snow and all, so don't think that's too bad. My old 7.3 would labor around 12 in the winter with the blended diesel and town/4wd combo, so about the same for mileage. Still alot of difference in fuel cost gas vs diesel and I'm due for another oil change and have a coupon for a $19.95 oil/filter change at the stealership. The coupon always says "higher for diesels", but I don't have to worry about that anymore. All in all, I'm real happy with the V-10. I've spent $40 on a K&N dropin air filter and $300 on a Diablosport Predator programmer and that's about all I will do. Heck, I had more than that in my ATS ported housing alone on my 7.3. More money to spend on other goodies, I guess.

[Solo2puller]

Originally Posted by rramsey

Do the math, driving 10k a year it would only take 3 years to save enough money to justify the added 10k to the sticker price

Please do share this new math with us.... I'd really like to see it.

[rramsey]

june 2007 issue of diesel power magazine, long range test results showed that the 6.4 beat the 6.8 in accelleration as well as at the pumps. they showed the math. I guess if you live in a dream world the v-10 could be better, thats why diesel pickups of all three brands sell better than gas 3-1 !!! I am a certified ford technician and I have driven and worked on more v-10's than there are members here, they are a good motor but as for power and economy I would never choose one over a diesel!!! By the way I drive a Dodge cummins that cost me less than 2000.00 to get 563 rear wheel hp, I tow a 12,000lb 30ft camp trailer and get 16 towing and 21.5 at 75-80 mph plus I stomp my two brother in laws with v-10's and my brothers 6.0 ford (which was my old truck) you guys claiming 16 mpg with a 6.8 better get ahold of ford, they will want to examine your truck to figure out how the hell that is possible, unless you are coasting everywhere. More results, my brother in laws 07 f350 6.8 is getting a best of 10mpg and he drives like a grandma! my other brother in law has an 08 and he has seen an all time high of 11mpg. the highest I have ever heard of was 14.5 out of a 06 6.8 2wd w/ 3.55 gears 70mph flat ground tuner exhaust intake.

[LSchicago2]

My V10 gets 6 in town, 8 on the highway, 6.0 gets 10 in town, 13 on the highway. These are both F450 work trucks weighing 11,500 empty and usually not over 16,000 total with load. The math is not really that complicated. LS

[Pappy19]

Better re-read you Diesel Power and also read Diesel Tech AND Truck Trend as the V-10 didn't do too bad on the power end and was touted as the gas engine most like diesel performance. That's especially true when you look at the GVW of the Ford that is nearly 1,000 lbs. heavier than the other competitors. If they would have put an extra 1,000 lbs in the back of the Chevy's and Dodges, the results would have been alot different. One test showed that the only time the 6.4 had an advantage on towing was an 11 degree slope (which you will never encounter) and even then it wasn't much difference. That was with the 6.4 having a 3.73 rear and the gasser with a 4.30. As far as your Dodge at 500+ HP, big deal. Not much more we can do to these V-10's except for adding a blower for $3,500, then I'd wave bye-bye to you. You can look down your exhaust pipe at the V-10, but it is a reliable, tough , and proven engine and history says it stays out of the shop alot more than any of the diesels. Had your reflash lately?

[Solo2puller]

Originally Posted by rramsey

By the way I drive a Dodge cummins that cost me less than 2000.00 to get 563 rear wheel hp,

A Ford tech driving a Cummins? What gives? Hmmmm..... draw your own conclusions here. I'm not speculating publicly. I will say that paying $6-$7K more for a truck initially, then adding another $2K to make it better is a lot of scratch.

Originally Posted by rramsey

you guys claiming 16 mpg with a 6.8 better get ahold of ford, they will want to examine your truck to figure out how the hell that is possible

I've got a complete fuel log that has every drop of fuel recorded since the truck was new. I got better than 16 on two tankfulls a 2600 mile trip. Be happy to share the log with anyone. Lifetime average just over 12, including my towing. I don't have a clue what your bro's in law are doing to get such crappy mileage - mine's never gone below 10!

Originally Posted by rramsey

the highest I have ever heard of was 14.5 out of a 06 6.8 2wd w/ 3.55 gears 70mph flat ground tuner exhaust intake.

Wow - was that a special order truck? Numerically lowest gears you could get on a V10 was 3.73. Something wrong with that claim.

Before you get all upset with me, understand that we hear this kind of stuff all the time here in Gas section. Diesel guys get all bent out of shape when they realize that the V10 really is a great motor and many times makes much more economical sense than a PSD. Rarely is anyone able to back any of it up with hard numbers, and when they do there's usually holes big enough in the explanation to drive a ... well... truck through.

LSchicago2 has given us his mpg numbers, but neither of you has backed up your posts with the math, so I'll use his mpg numbers to make a point.

Originally Posted by LSchicago2

My V10 gets 6 in town, 8 on the highway, 6.0 gets 10 in town, 13 on the highway. These are both F450 work trucks weighing 11,500 empty and usually not over 16,000 total with load. The math is not really that complicated. LS

Remember that earlier in this rramsey also said:

Originally Posted by rramsey

driving 10k a year it would only take 3 years to save enough money to justify the added 10k to the sticker price, then after that its all savings

So here's the math using those numbers, except I'm going to use a more realistic one of $6500 extra for the PSD instead of $10K. If it was really $10K this would comparison would be hilarious!

I'm using fuel prices where I live, but you can plug in your own if you like. I paid $2.67 for gas on Saturday afternoon. PSD juice was $0.35 more at $3.02.

The V10 at 6 mpg will cost you $0.445 per mile to drive, counting only fuel costs. At 8 mpg it's $0.334. The PSD at 10 mpg is $0.302 and at 13 is $0.232. Taking the differences, if you only drove in the city the V10 costs you $0.143 more per mile than the PSD. Only highway and it's $0.101 more.

Driving 10K per year in the city it would take 45,554 miles to break even, or 4.5 years. ($6500/$0.143) 10K per year on the highway = 64,076 miles, or 6.4 years. Not exactly 3 years, now is it? Remember that I also used $6500 instead of $10,000 difference. You'd have to have the V10 stay at 6 and the PSD get 13 in the city for it to only take 3 years at a $6500 price difference. That's a big spread. On the highway it's even bigger - V10 would have to stay at 8, PSD 25 mpg. Ain't gonna happen. This is the kind of statement getting tossed around by the PSD guys that gets me... it's simply not true, even using your own mpg numbers.

I have a hard time swallowing 6 and 8 mpg for most owners, although it sounds like LS's trucks are work trucks driven by multiple people. (assumption on my part). If that's true, tons of jack rabbit starts and lots of idling time could net you that kind of mileage in a heavy V10.

For most people, they'll see something much closer to what I see. Let's use 10 and 13 for the V10 and 14 and 17 for the PSD. Draw your own conclusions about those mpg numbers based on your own experiences. So with the same fuel prices and 10K per year...

PSD payback vs V10 = 126K miles city, 234K highway or 12.6 and 23.4 years respectively. Good thing the PSD's last so long

Of course real world driving will yield something between the 2 city/highway numbers, and the adjustment would float accordingly. Remember that we haven't made any adjustement for oil changes, filters, etc yet.

Next you guys will hop on the resale bandwagon... Good point, but I can also show you that the PSD usually has worse resale value than the V10, but that's another thread...

While this sounds a little preachy, I'm just trying to make a point. Please don't spout off payback numbers if they're not true. Many people look to these forums for good information, and stuff like '3 yr payback' has misled many people who also never bothered to really figure it out.

If I was loaded like LSchicago's trucks are all the time I'd probably have a PSD too. It depends on how long you need to keep the truck and where you drive. For me (and most people) the V10 makes more sense. I won't always be the fastest guy to the top of the hill, but I'm still smilin' when I get there!

[Pappy19]

You are "The Man" of the V-10 crowd. I applaud you!!

[LSchicago2]

I put 30K miles on my trucks a year, not 10K. The whole reason I bought the V10 truck, is that it was $8,000-9,000 cheaper than any Diesel used (at 3 years old) It was just too good of a price to pass up. It is used as a back up truck, so the mileage was not as important as my main truck (the diesel). I drive both trucks, and I drive the diesel MUCH harder, and the diesel is modified for power. I rarely go over 3000 rpm on the V10. I drive it easy, (and revving it up doesn't equal much more power anyway. The V10 I have pulls best between 2-3K rpm. About 90% of my driving is city. The diesel make much more sense in my case, but used gasser tow trucks have terrible resale, so I took advantage of that when shopping for a 3 year old back up truck. LS

[marcussen]

9 MPG in stop and go traffic, and 14 MPG+ highway. This is my wifes daily driver which means it gets 6 miles a day round trip which explains the 9 MPG as the thing never gets warmed up.
Realistic city driving fully warmed up would be about 11 MPG.

I also get 9 MPG towing a 10K trailer. Driving 7-9K miles a year a diesel would pay for itself in 10 plus years. At least gas is only $2.85 a gallon not the $7 I paid in Europe last year (but its coming).

[Smokewagun]

Originally Posted by Solo2puller

Next you guys will hop on the resale bandwagon... Good point, but I can also show you that the PSD usually has worse resale value than the V10, but that's another thread...

Solo, I know I saw this before, but can you point me to the thread, please? I can't remember the jist of your past post and would like to re-read it for fuel to nail down my next purchase with the Boss. Oh, and by the way, nice last post.

[LSchicago2]

Quote:

Next you guys will hop on the resale bandwagon... Good point, but I can also show you that the PSD usually has worse resale value than the V10, but that's another thread...

Interesting. I just checked KBB.com and using an example of a 05 F250 XL CC 8' bed with 50,000 miles no options except the engines. Retail is $6,565 more on the 6.0 diesel vs. a V10. It might be different in some areas, but here in 60171, you would actually get more money for the diesel option that it originally cost. Now that's resale value! Not trying to bash the V10's but this was brought up. In the V10's defense, they are very reliable, so much more than the 6.0, but resale speaks for itself. LS

[BobR]

Originally Posted by Pappy19

Better re-read you Diesel Power and also read Diesel Tech AND Truck Trend as the V-10 didn't do too bad on the power end and was touted as the gas engine most like diesel performance. That's especially true when you look at the GVW of the Ford that is nearly 1,000 lbs. heavier than the other competitors. If they would have put an extra 1,000 lbs in the back of the Chevy's and Dodges, the results would have been alot different. One test showed that the only time the 6.4 had an advantage on towing was an 11 degree slope (which you will never encounter) and even then it wasn't much difference. That was with the 6.4 having a 3.73 rear and the gasser with a 4.30.

I do not subscribe to either of the magazines you mentioned so don't know. What did the tests measure? If it was WOT pedal to the floor acceleration, I'd say who cares about that. If that was what was important, the super charged gas engine you mentioned would be the winner and that's what all the big rigs would be running. Unless you're doing in town pick up and delivery type work, most of your time towing will be spent holding speed, not accelerating.

Take a V10 and a diesel in a 6 speed truck and see how they hold speed in 6th and in 5th. The V10 being able to downshift two or three times and scream up a hill at 4500rpm may impress some, but that doesn't make it a good engine to tow a load with.