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I've found that cruising at an rpm just high enough so the engine makes enough torque to remain in high gear yields good mpg. I set up a Ford 300 inline six with a 5-speed and some hard compound 31" skinny tires on it, that thing was averaging 17-22 mpg in the bronco I installed it in. Tall tires certainly can help, but only if the engine can keep the vehicle moving without overworking. Inline engines and/or diesels tend to have a longer stroke, which produces low speed torque and has potential for big mpg in the correct conditions. If you have a diesel engine that produces 600 ft/lbs of torque at 1200 rpm, gear it so it cruises at 70 mph at 1200 rpm, and put that engine in a lightweight, low drag vehicle, it's going to have some serious power while still getting great mpg too. The cool part is, you don't even need to push your foot down any on hills to maintain speed, the engine doesn't really care what it's hooked to, it just does its thing.
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