While the T is horrible on gas, so are most pickups. The more mods you do, the worse your gas mileage gets. With all my mods, I lost 1 MPG. Of course, the thing is fast off the line, which is what I was going for. The only mod I did that improved gas mileage was the Hypertech with econo-tune, but I switched it for the Bully Dog GT Tuner because the Hypertech would not give me the 2 degree advance. Of all of the tuning mods, the 2 degree advance is the one I notice the most when it is not applied to the truck. The Bully Dog GT with econo-tune did nothing for my gas mileage. Of course, the hypertech only gave me an extra 1 MPG, so add that to the 1 MPG I lost with all of the mods I've done and I'm actually down 2 MPGs. However, I didn't notice the change. Where I did notice the change was a brief moment to stupidity when I put bigger and heavier tires on the T. I lost 3 to 4 MPG and that really hurt. But, after going and complaining to Discount Tire, they gladly swapped out all four tires for Michelin LTX M/S 275/60 R20s taking the truck back to the stock setup for the tires and all is well.
If you are still reading this long message, then you might be interested in one I did regarding MPG last year. I don't drive the truck as much now, because I bought a beater car. Yes, the gas finally got to me too, but I still get to play in the T and still drive it on week ends. Anyway, if you have to have a pickup, you might find the rest of this reply interesting. If you don't have to have a pickup, and you are worried about gas, go back and buy a car.
(Posted in 2010 on another website):
Chevy, GMC, and Dodge all claim they get better gas mileage and maybe they do. However, I did the math. I average 14 mpg driving 80 mph on the Hwy. (Yes, that was me that passed you. Get over it because I'll do it again tomorrow.) Now, let's say I get 20 mpg out of a 2011 Silverado... no wait, let's just say I can squeeze 28 mpg out of it! You'd think I would JUMP at the chance, but not so fast.
In the Dallas/Fort Worth area, if I want an LTZ Chevy with the Navigation and Entertainment packages, I'd be doing REAL good to buy one for $52,000. I paid $34,900 for my 2010 LE loaded with the Navigation, and Entertainment package. That's a difference of $17,100. So it would cost me an extra $17k to buy the better gas mileage truck.
Now let's say hypothetically I can actually get 28 mpg out of the Chevy. There's a difference of 14 mpg. 14! Basically it would mean that I would need to double my gas tank every time I fill up. (Stay with me here...) So, the math:
Titan = $72 ($3 per gallon in a 24 gallon tank.)
Imaginary Chevy = $36 ($3 per gallon in a 12 gallon tank. Remember that it only costs me half as much gas.)
Difference between the two is $36.
Take the $17,100 and divide by 36 and you get 475. That's 475 fill ups to get my $17k back.
So, I will get my money back after 475 fill ups. What's that mean? Well, currently I fill up twice a week. (Yup, I put close to 40k per year on my truck.) So twice a week times 52 weeks equals 104 fill ups per year. 104? Nope, still not to 475. OK so for me to get back the extra $17k I put in to buy the Chevy, it would take me a little over 4 and a half years. At 4.6 years, I would start making money on my purchase.
4 1/2 years... By then I will have 180,000 miles on the truck. By then I will be looking to get another truck. I'd never break even because I don't keep trucks that long.
Now, if you change to a Ford Escort, are you going to save money? You bet. You'll save on the car note and gas, so you'll save a chunk of change, but will you be happy? Will you be able to tow your boat? What will you do when you need the pickup bed? What's that? You don't need a pickup? Well, then why did you buy the dang thing to begin with? You can't possibly complain about the gas mileage of a pickup, if you don't need a pickup. How about reality. Let's go back to the 20 mph that Chevy is claiming the truck will get. Will I get 20? No way, but for the sake of argument, let's say I do get 20. In reality, I will not start making my money back until 9.1 years if I fill up 104 times per year. 9.1 years people!
Do you want a truck? If so, the Titan is the cheapest truck you can buy in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Does it suck gas? You bet, but you can buy a WHOLE lot of gas for the money that you save. I'm the extreme driver. 40k per year doing 80 on the freeway, when I can. Most of the time its stop and go. There aren't that many driving that many miles per year. That means that those who drive less will take longer to get their money back. Go ahead and find a comparable model Chevy/GMC/Dodge for the same price as the T. You can't. If you can buy it and I'll continue to pass your azz on I-35, only you won't be able to catch me in one of those other trucks ;-)