2013 t 780 d13

Only ran1/2 of the month and was heavy 44000lbs+ for all but one load and monthly av is 6.7 mpg. Up 1.2 from last year, same month with the old Pete. I think this is ok right out of the box and everybody says it will only go up!

 

Elroy,have you adjusted your driving style yet?

Mpg are influenced more by how you drive modern engines.

 

I'm just letting the auto and cruise do its thing for now. I always use to drive at 98/100 KMH actually use to drive the Pete at 90 if I had the time just to try to get it over the 6mpg mark. How should I be driving ? What adjustments do you think I should make?
Im waiting on an LTL load leaving Toronto tonight, may try 90 thru Ontario and Quebec to see how good it will get.

 

Elroy,driving on the plaines there's not much you can do except reduce your speed,but you allready know that from your Pete days.

In the hills,keep the revs low,it is a high torque engine.
Specially if you see you can crest a hill without shifting ,you can let it go low in revs(talking around 900 to 1000rpm)

The biggest change is in busy traffic with a lot off speeding up and slowing down.

I will explain further:
Before i had my "autobot" i had a mechanical engine with manual.
How do you normally drive that kind off truck?
Well after you change gears ,you put the pedal on the floor till you have to change gears again or reach you desired speed.
Right?
An "autobot" with modern engine doesn't need that.
In the first gears i only push the pedal a little,just enough to get moving.
As you go up in the gears you gently sweeze the pedal more.
The I-shift will shift early and in low revs.
You won't hear the engine roaring as much as with an old engine which might give you the impression you aren't going as fast as you think.
But i have timed it with a stopwatch and you would be amased .

Basicly,"autobots",like the I-shift, work best with a very relaxed drivestyle.

I have to be honest ,after nearly 20 y on older engines,which hardly had enough power,how difficult it was for me to change my habits.
But once i did............money in the bank.

 

I have been leaving it in E (economy) mode and letting the cruise do its thing. It pulls way down to 1000rpm before shifting. I'm tempted to manually shif down but slapped myself and let it do its thing I also have been backing off when pulling away and letting it short #### and skip shift its way up. It will keep the revs low and really just torque it's way thru. I'm very impressed with the engine. This run was a little of a forced march from Toronto to Moncton so I drove it at 105kmh and had 44500lbs in the box and still got 6.8 out of it. It was actually at 7.2 (impressive with the weight and speed) until I got into eastern Quebec and northern New Brunswick hills. A light LTL load and a slow ride would get my well into the 8's I think.