Driving For Better Fuel Efficiency
With today’s fuel prices, getting the most miles out of every gallon of fuel is a major priority. There are a lot of factors that go into the amount of fuel you use in a given day, and your Cummins Turbo Diesel is one of them. Some simple adjustments may help you save on gas costs when driving your 6.7L Cummins RAM.
At a very basic level, the more work your engine does, the more fuel you use. There are a lot of factors that impact the amount of extra work your truck does, such as tire tread, acceleration rate, cruising speed, air conditioner usage, aerodynamics, excess weight, and idle time, to name a few.
Today let’s take a closer look at how speed impacts the amount of fuel you use, specifically:
- Engine speed, or revolutions per minute (RPM)
- Road speed
- Acceleration
Generally speaking, the faster the engine speed, the more fuel the engine is using. Between 1,300 and 1,500 RPM is the most fuel-efficient engine speed, or what some would call the “sweet spot.”
When you’re driving on the highway, aerodynamics become a key factor in the work required to move the truck. You have two options to lower the workload: improve the truck’s aerodynamics, or slow down. For every 10 mph you drive above 55, you lose about 1 mpg in fuel mileage, so holding your speed at the posted limit not only keeps you safer and ticket-free; it also saves fuel.
Acceleration is simple physics: The faster you accelerate a given load, the more force is required. Speeding off from a green light is one way to waste fuel and burn up money. Hasty acceleration also means running the engine rpm higher into the less efficient engine speeds in each gear. When accelerating, you should ease up through the gears and up shift as soon as possible. If you have an automatic transmission, a slower acceleration allows the transmission to up-shift at the lowest rpm possible. So unless you’re at the diesel drags, take it nice and easy, and save some cash.
Author Profiles
