[brucepick]

Hi strider3700.

I see you're way up North where it will be cold in winter - and you don't put too many miles on the truck.

So I definitely agree with the person who posted earlier suggesting a block heater. Definitely a good idea. With a block that big you'll need to burn a bunch of fuel to warm it up - and you'll be burning most of that "warmup fuel" in open-loop mode, where the computer has it run rich because it's detected the engine is cold. Prewarming it electrically is way cheaper than doing it with fuel. The shorter your trips are, the more benefit you get from using a block heater. My commute is about an hour so I don't have one.

2nd topic - there's a big plus to running at non-highway speeds, as long as you can coast to stops. You'll find lots of past discussions here on the best way to do it with automatic or standard trans. Main point is, at highway speeds you're constantly fighting the aerodynamic drag which increases dramatically the faster you go. Up to about 40 mph the aero losses are almost insignificant and you can essentially pulse + glide the whole way, using the engine only when you need to increase speed.

With an automatic, you have to read the owners manual section on being towed, to learn what speeds you can coast at safely with the engine off. It varies with different trannies. If the engine is idling in neutral, most trannies will let you coast all you want. With the engine off there may be insufficient fluid flow and/or pressure to keep the tranny healthy, as the wheels are spinning the tranny internals. Of course if you kill it, you'll have to swap in a standard, which would be ideal!

I used to drive a boxy thing with automatic and lousy aero. NOT a Detroit iron beast. I got my Volvo wagon, EPA rated 17/22, up to about 30 mpg commuting on hilly limited access roads, in summer weather. I limited uphill speed to about 50-55, then goosed it after I crested the hill, got it up to about 70, put it in neutral and coasted down the rest of the hill with engine idling, as well as it would coast. Higher tire pressure helps your coasting.

Leave foot off the gas when slipping it back into Drive - that gave me the smoothest "shift". Rev-matching was pointless, it was much better going back into D at idle speed regardless of vehicle speed.