Diesel for city driving

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dicecity

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Considering the diesel over the 5.3. Daily commute is in rush hour Atlanta traffic, less than 10 miles each way. Longer trips around town on the weekends. Have never owned a diesel, is it the wrong choice for that kind of driving?
 

BrokerThis

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Micahsd

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I was curious on fuel cost of the gas vs diesel and according to fueleconomy.gov if you customize the fuel costs based on the current cost of diesel which is more than gas where I live, the fuel cost is actually more in my scenario where I put on about 10k miles per year with 80% of those being city driving.

I’ve never owned a diesel either…but one advantage is you won’t have to deal with the dreaded lifter issue which others and myself have ran into (although that’s was mostly an issue with the ‘21 models).
 

Stbentoak

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While I have had great sucess with the diesel format, I'll be the 1st to admit that ever surging diesel prices are at least making me take note at the moment. I still love it for all the right reasons, and it has been very dependable with no lifter issues to worry about.
But somebody needs to get these Diesel prices back in line. Putting in 80 bucks and being just under a half tank doesn't cut it.
In your case, it's about 50/50. They are hard to find/get and are still pretty rare. You could prob find/get a gas version a lot easier.
I short tripped mine a fair share of the winter with no issues, but we also take 300 mile trips regularly too. It's the only thing I would own for this big bus, but near term this diesel situation isn't going to get any better....
 

Capsaicin

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according to fueleconomy.gov...

You need to play with the diesel prices and actual MPGs. Maybe not for city driving, but certainly for highway. If you look at posts here as well as some reports on Fuelly, you'll see the average MPGs is higher than EPA (especially highway driving).

Diesels are always underrated from the EPA. I remember older (late 90s early 2000s) VW TDIs getting well over 40mpg when the EPA had them rated in the 30s.
 

R32driver

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Didn't I read on here somewhere that the babymax gets fuel mileage in the teens when driven regularly in the city? Obviously it shines on the highway but maybe not a big advantage if mostly used for stop and go city traffic
 

swathdiver

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You need to play with the diesel prices and actual MPGs. Maybe not for city driving, but certainly for highway. If you look at posts here as well as some reports on Fuelly, you'll see the average MPGs is higher than EPA (especially highway driving).

Diesels are always underrated from the EPA. I remember older (late 90s early 2000s) VW TDIs getting well over 40mpg when the EPA had them rated in the 30s.
My father's 1982 Isuzu I-Mark diesel got over 52 mpg and when a drunk destroyed that car he replaced it with an '82 Olds Cutlass diesel that got 35 mpg on the highway.
 

Stbentoak

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Didn't I read on here somewhere that the babymax gets fuel mileage in the teens when driven regularly in the city? Obviously it shines on the highway but maybe not a big advantage if mostly used for stop and go city traffic
When taking mostly less than 3 mile trips daily, I was still avg 22 mpg. Teens “could” be possible, but if you are driving that little, this engine isn’t for you anyways…
 

djvinevibez

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I have a 21 RST diesel and it was my first ever Diesel engine. MPGs are not great for stop and go but highway speeds or constant speed driving like 40mph for miles at a time are great.

I have driven from the Bay Area to LA area in half a tank and to San Diego area with about 2/3 a tank or so. It’s crazy how many MPG you get when you travel as I compare it to my previous Tahoe which was a 2007.
 

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