Fuel economy will always be a difficult thing to test. The fact of the matter is that every driver has his or her own driving style, every vehicle its own gear ratios, and every day its own weather conditions. Judging that EPA estimates on two competing full-size trucks – the 2015 Ford F-150 EcoBoost, and 2015 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel – may not faithfully reflect the reality of their highway fuel consumptions, TFLTruck ran their own, independent test.
According to the EPA, one should expect to see highway fuel consumption somewhere around 28 mpg from the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel, versus just 23 mpg highway from the Ford F-150 EcoBoost. When testing the two trucks for themselves, TFLTruck found something quite different: 30.1 mpg in the Ram, and 27.8 mpg in the Ford.
The website says that both trucks were tested on the same day, by the same driver, along the same stretch of road, at the same 65 mph cruising speed (with Cruise Control on). Both had nearly full fuel tanks, as well, and the fuel economy numbers were provided by the trucks’ respective onboard computers.
Granted, it’s by no means the most reliable, scientific test: wind conditions may have changed some between the two tests, and onboard engine computers aren’t the most trustworthy way to gather fuel consumption information.
Still, TFLTruck‘s test results are close enough to warrant consideration, and at the very least, they show that the aluminum-bodied, EcoBoost-powered Ford F-150 hasn’t been so outgunned as to prove worthless for chasing higher gas mileage.
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