55mpg diesel truck.....800 horsepower.

[aerohead]

Is he interested in a cabinet position with President-elect Obama's Energy Dept.?

[almightybmw]

Big Dave, in the mid 90s chevy did put the 6.6 Duramax in the half ton. Here in MT I found 2 such beasts, both 4WD extended cab longbeds. Both claimed around 24mpg down the highway, 18mpg in town. Not bad I guess. If it fits the 1/2T, there's a good chance you could shoehorn it into a S-10. I know it's been done, but that was for racing. I'm thinking S-10 with the Duramax, regular cab, long bed, 2WD with heavy springs. A small version of your truck! haha! It'd be so cute. Don't see why one couldn't get 30+mpg outa that. Adding maybe 400lbs overall, reduced gearing and drastically increased TQ would negate that for highway cruising. The stock Borg Warner trans can handle the 5.7 hopped up, so I'll bet stock it'll be fine for the diesel.

hmm... almost makes me want to find a Duramax to put in my Sonoma...would make 4-wheeling much more interesting!

[Duffman]

almightymnw,
You are thinking of the 6.5L (as is used in the hummer), the duramax has never been put in a mass produced production 1/2 ton.

[almightybmw]

Ahh yes. Thanks for the correction, I was somewhat unsure how old the Duramax name was. Stab in the dark, and I got myself!

Just remembered something: a previous boss of mine drove his 1T dually 'Max with 300gal of dyed diesel in the bed towing 7,000-10,000lb trailers daily, and averaged 16.7mpg. He had been chipped, so going easy he was quite economical. So if mixed driving he can get that, and mixed driving the older 6.5L in a 1/2T towing nothing would get 18mpg, I'd say Chevy has made a few improvements (whether or not the diesel was inhouse engineering or not).

Still doubting a 12V Cummins can get 55mpg in a truck.

[MazdaMatt]

Sounds a lot like the british (maybe?) company that was advertising some huge mileage in a small car witha huge deisel engine... there was a post around here recently. I don't see why a huge engine turning 600rpm at 60mph would use much gas... seems like a feasable feat of engineering to me...

My own recommendation would be to put that beast in the front of the bed with a shorter drive line. It would put the weight in the middle and open up the front for a "front trunk"... encase it in a kammback, too... I'd haul my race car with it

As for the mpg and hp figures, it is SUPER common to chip a truck so that it can be set to high hp OR high mileage... so they dyno it on the hp setting and cruise around in econo mode... it isn't that outrageous.

[wyatt]

So how many gallons per hour does one of those engines use to idle? My car is a gasser, but it's 1.3L and 70hp, so probably about 1/10 the engine and it uses .2 gallons per hour just idling, so if 10 times the engine uses about 10 times the fuel, at 60 miles per hour you are at 30mpg max. Maybe with the diesel it works differently, but I doubt it would be that much differently.

[MazdaMatt]

idle is WAY lower RPM on a big deisel. I wouldn't make any assumptions in comparison...

[wyatt]

That's why I am asking... What is the idle fuel consumption? I know anyone who drives one and idles it overnight would have a good idea, if not an actual number.

[JRK5150]

Any more info on the truck JQmile? BTW, I love the dyno results from the chevette 35.72hp!