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Vans & Minivans Dodge Sprinter Dodge Sprinter Gas Mileage
76 messages, Last post on Nov 10, 2007 at 9:03 AM
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Share your actual mileage numbers and questions with other Sprinter owners.
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Replying to: methodvan (Sep 05, 2006 8:55 am) With economy in mind, a given vehicle, with the same driver will not deliver the same mileage when driven under different conditions. Hilly conditions will result in lower figures than relatively flat roads. Adding or subtracting weight will affect mileage. If your truck is carrying around a lot of cargo weight, it will not deliver the "AVERAGE" mpg. One that is near empty may deliver better than average. A GPS will most likely reveal your speedometer is reading a bit higher than actual speed, but your odometer will be pretty much dead on.! I can't explain it, it is just the way things are sometimes. Anytime anyone contemplates paying extra to get a few more miles per gallon, they need to do the calculation before the fact, rather than after the fact!  To drive 100,00 miles: Consider 15mpg with gas  $2.50 gal.. It would cost $16,667 for fuel. Now 22mpg with diesel at $2.70 a gal would cost $12,272. Diesel will save about $4400 in fuel. I used a 20 cent higher price for diesel because of prices in my ares. Yours may vary. My understanding is that there is a slightly higher maintaince cost associated with diesel and possibly additional additives that gas engines don't require. That would make the above $4400 figure lower. Even if the savings were the $4400, it would take over 200K miles to break even for an extra $9000 purchase price.  Keeping in mind that higher or lower fuel cost will affect numbers.  Kip
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Replying to: kipk (Jan 31, 2007 6:39 am) This is a "time value of money" calculation, which I can't do without some investigation, but it can be approximated as an interest calculation. If you buy the 15 mpg gasoline Ford or Chevy van and put $9000 in savings at 5% interest compounded anually for 9 years, it would turn into $9000(1.05)^9 = $9000(1.55) = $14,000. Of course, a Sprinter has features that the Ford and Chevy vans do not. When the gasoline Sprinters become available you will be able to separate the premium for a diesel from the premium for a gasoline Sprinter. Very possibly it will turn out that a gasoline Sprinter may make more financial sense than a diesel one for many who want a Sprinter. Also it may be an important value to you to save fuel whether it makes economic sense or not. Note however that in doing fuel use comparisons between gasoline and diesel you should really use the weights of fuels and not the volumes. Diesel fuel is 15% denser than gasoline, (and gasoline has 87% of the density of diesel fuel). So to correct the mpg of a gasoline engine for the difference in density you'd multiply the gasoline mpg value by 1.15 to get a corrected mpg value equivalent to that of a diesel. Therefore, the 15 mpg of the Chevy is corrected to 17 mpg for comparison to the diesel value of 22 mpg for true amount (that is weight) of fuel used for environmental purposes. You do not make this correction for cost because motor fuel is sold by the gallon and not by the weight. |
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Replying to: jim314 (Jan 31, 2007 8:18 am) To be fair, if fuel should go considerably higher and the vehicle was to be driven for several hundred thousand miles during that 9 years, the savings of a diesel would become apparent. Of course there may become an even greater cost difference at the pump between diesel and gas, if/when Bio-diesels are forced upon us and higher cost plus poorer mileage kick in.
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So in the previous post (#58) I calculated the original est $9000 in purchase price savings of the gasoline engine would accrue $5000 in interest over 9 years, but to compare you would have to assume that the fuel cost savings of a diesel would be saved and put at interest each month or year. Over 9 years this would grow to some amount which could be calculated, and which would be in the diesel's favor. That is, one would subtract this amount from the $14,000 advantage for the gasoline engine to get a net monetary gain for the gasoline engine.
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Replying to: jim314 (Feb 01, 2007 6:37 am) Figured on a yearly basis of 11,111 miles driven, the diesel would save $488 a year. The $9000 would grow $450 the first year. At 22,000 miles a year the diesel would save $976 and the $9000 would still have only grown the $450. If that $976 were saved in a 5% instrument and the diesel maintenance cost are not overwhelming, the diesel is a winner. As stated earlier, the diesel needs lots of mileage to be worthwhile. Average homeowner that wants a van for trips to Home Depot or occasional camping or towing would probably be better off with the 15 mpg V8. Me thinks. Maybe Dodge will slip a V8 into it while Mercedes is not looking!  Kip |
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Replying to: kipk (Feb 01, 2007 7:05 am) |
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Replying to: kipk (Feb 01, 2007 7:05 am) What you are looking for is a MARR (minimum accetable Rate of Return) for your investment, and time-value of money is always a part of that equation. More money saved earlier is better... and money saved over time is less so. Since I got my Sprinter at a $7000 (+/- $500) discount, I don't have a problem getting my investment back... Money saved on maintenance, extended service intervals (if efective), and reduced shop down-time are more intangible in nature when compared to MPG and initial cost. At least in the passenger model, I don't see as big a difference in the Sprinter compared to a GM or Ford product for price on a 3/4 ton or 1 ton model basis. That is, of course, if you don't mind (or, like me, prefer) Rubber Mat flooring and simple/sturdy (Sprinter) instead of carpeted and plush (which most GM and Ford vans will be). My last Astro/Safari listed for nearly what I spent on my Sprinter and the Sprinter still gets better mileage than the Safari mini Van! KenB 
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Replying to: kenbaker (Feb 01, 2007 3:08 pm) Personally, I much prefer the rubber mat flooring because it can be cleaned extremely well. And the greater inside height would be a huge plus for me. Are you saying that the Sprinter deals and the Chevy Express deals are much closer than $9000. How close would you say? Estimate if you don't know for sure.
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Replying to: jim314 (Feb 01, 2007 3:55 pm) The thing is as you point out with the high roof is that GM and Ford CAN'T match it... Except for aftermarket or co-production deals (and a bit of extra expense, I don't have a figure on that) you can't get a domestic high-roof, and then there is NO door that opens top-to-bottom full heighth on the whole vehicle. Of course, so far the Sprinter doesn't have alot of power for towing. My dad has the Ford 1ton PowerStroke Diesel van (a $45K+ vehicle), it gets close to the mileage I get (19 MPG for the Ford, I get 20-21 in my Sprinter). He also can tow an Airstream 26 footer easily (about 8,000 Lb.) My Sprinter can tow 5,000 Lb., and I have heard good things about them towing except that your acceleration will be limited (I don't expect to hurry when I tow anyway). As the 2007 model gets closer to the USA market, I expect the 2006's (if available on the dealer lots) to get a price drop (not much, but some). The extra horsepower and updated van are a strong draw to some, but the existing vehicle is strong enough for us and the space-to-MPG ratio is HUGEly in our favor as it is. We haul family, friends, church folks, co-workers on lunch outings, etc. and most all are impressed (and I have the shorter version of the two). KenB 2004 Arctic White MWB 2500 HC Dodge Sprinter converted back to Mercedes: badges/hubcaps/decals/grill(white) |
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Replying to: jim314 (Jan 31, 2007 8:18 am) "The density of [petroleum] diesel is about 850 grams per liter [18% greater than gasoline] whereas gasoline has a density of about 720 g/l, about 15% less. When burnt, diesel typically releases about 40.9 megajoules (MJ) per liter, whereas gasoline releases 34.8 MJ/L, about 15% less. Diesel is generally simpler to refine than gasoline and often costs less (although price fluctuations sometimes mean that the inverse is true; for example, the cost of diesel traditionally rises during colder months as demand for heating oil, which is refined much the same way, rises). Also, due to its high level of pollutants, diesel fuel must undergo additional filtration which contributes to a sometimes higher cost. "Diesel powered cars generally have about a 40% better fuel economy than equivalent gasoline engines[1] and produce only about 69% of the greenhouse gases. This greater fuel economy is due to the higher per-liter energy content of diesel fuel and also to the intrinsic efficiency of the diesel engine. While diesel's 15% higher volumetric energy density results in 15% higher greenhouse gas emissions per liter compared to gasoline[2], the 40% better fuel economy achieved by modern diesel-engined automobiles offsets the higher-per-liter emissions of greenhouse gases, resulting in significantly lower carbon dioxide emissions per kilometer." So you'd multiply the gasoline mpg by 1.18 to correct for the lower density of gasoline compared to diesel fuel. So the 15 mpg of a gasoline engine should be corrected to 15(1.18) = 17.6 mpg for comparison to an equivalent weight of diesel fuel.
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