Better MPG by by cutting a bit of power...

Has anyone tried to drive in valet mode to see if the MPG is better? It seems it imposes performance restrictions which may inadvertently accomplish the detuning/limitations.

For what its worth, I had a 2012 F350 diesel that would only 13-14mpg because I drove it aggressively. And diesel is way more expensive than regular, or at least it was back in 2012. I think the fuel burn is the price you pay for having a heavy, high performance vehicle. I am curious what the most fuel efficient hellcat equipped vehicle is.
 
Have you thought about maybe getting a fuel efficient DAILY driver? You love the TRX so keep it. The biggest positive is that you wouldn't be putting all those miles on it. After all the days of 700HP, 9 MPG, Supercharged Trucks are numbered. My wife's ZR2 Diesel was getting 30 MPG on her commute.
I second that. I had a deleted ZR2 diesel myself with a very conservative tune, no diesel bro shit. 25 mpg around town, 30-32 with the cruise set at 80.
 
Honestly, I think you need to consider a 3rd Gen Raptor. Right now the used market is stupid, so in theory you may still be able to get what you paid for your TRX, or even more. The real challenge will be finding a 3rd Gen Raptor at MSRP. Your profile states you had or have a 2017 Raptor, so you know it’s a good platform. Maybe the upgraded interior on the new Raptor will make you happy?
 
Honestly, I think you need to consider a 3rd Gen Raptor. Right now the used market is stupid, so in theory you may still be able to get what you paid for your TRX, or even more. The real challenge will be finding a 3rd Gen Raptor at MSRP. Your profile states you had or have a 2017 Raptor, so you know it’s a good platform. Maybe the upgraded interior on the new Raptor will make you happy?
Again according to Fuelly TRXs average 12 MPG and the Raptor averages 15 MPG. That is still not going to get him the extra 5MPG he wants.
 
The amount of money saved from a 15-17 MPG truck at current gas prices to the TRX is about 6-800 per year assuming you drive 10-14k per year

If you assume normalized gas prices pre new admin it’s about 3-400 per year of savings
 
Has anyone tried to drive in valet mode to see if the MPG is better? It seems it imposes performance restrictions which may inadvertently accomplish the detuning/limitations.

For what its worth, I had a 2012 F350 diesel that would only 13-14mpg because I drove it aggressively. And diesel is way more expensive than regular, or at least it was back in 2012. I think the fuel burn is the price you pay for having a heavy, high performance vehicle. I am curious what the most fuel efficient hellcat equipped vehicle is.
My 6 speed Widebody Challenger HC averaged 18 and got 22 on a road trip at 75 mph
 
Again according to Fuelly TRXs average 12 MPG and the Raptor averages 15 MPG. That is still not going to get him the extra 5MPG he wants.
Right now with winter fuel I’m averaging 10mpg in the TRX. My 2020 Raptor was closer to 16mpg’s. I imagine a 3rd Gen Raptor on 35’s would be the same.

I always keep track of my year to year mileage, and below was the Raptor after one year. I’m guessing the TRX won’t be this high.
2B5DCF82-9038-4828-9129-298E1AA54F80.jpeg
 
There is no way I'd do anything that would reduce the power of the truck. Seems totally counter to why I bought it and the price of gas means nothing to me... Now, I would not object to better milage but not at the expense of cutting any power... Maybe a 10 speed auto with the 9th and 10th gears cutting down the rpms at highway cruising speeds but not affecting the gearing of 1 thru 8, would be okay, as long as the downshifting was just as quick.
 
At some point you have to just consider it pay to play.

My current Gladiator is lifted and on 37s with 5.13 gearing. I get pretty awful mileage and I knew that I would going into it.
 
If you drive that much, why not get something like a base Ford Maverick for 20k? Hybrid with 42 MPG. You are looking at maybe $400 a month in payments and insurance. Your daily needs fuel cost would cover the cost of the maverick, you would be putting fewer miles on the TRX thus preserving the TRX resale-value, and not voiding your TRX warranty by modding for mileage.

You could put 32 inch tires on it. It would look goofy but bet you pick up an MPG or two just from smaller tires.
 
Only you can decide what works best for you...However, it sounds like maybe you shouldn't be a TRX owner...Buying a high performance vehicle only to detune it for lower performance and better mileage?

As others have mentioned, maybe consider a different daily driver? With a high mileage driver such as yourself the fuel savings would help offset the cost of an additional vehicle.

Bottom Line:
Owning a TRX is kind of like dating a supermodel, you know it's going to cost ya but damm that smile it puts on your mug😁
 
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While I agree with the premise of the OP, an alternate vehicle is going to be the best solution for most people. Given the depreciation, low mpg, and premium fuel costs, operating a TRX daily driver is just going to be very expensive. Very.

But I'm wondering if anyone has had success with any of the current drive modes; heard that perhaps snow mode is best at mpg. Has anyone programmed a more mpg-friendly custom mode?
 
Owning a TRX is kind of like dating a supermodel, you know it's going to cost ya but damm that smile it puts on your mug😁
Wait a minute, no one said anything about mixing a supermodel in this TRX discussion. Now I'm interested. :)

I could handle driving a Prius for a few weeks if that's the deal. :)
 
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My slightly lifted 2019 Ram with 35x12.50’s gets 14 mpg in winter and 16-17 mpg in summer. Never better than mid 17’s in the highway. Add an extra 800 pounds or so and 300 HP on the TRX and 12 mpg avg doesn’t sound all that bad. I’d be happy if I could see 14-15 driving conservatively. I don’t think any mods would net you anything more than a couple mpg at best. At that point it would make more sense just buying a rebel.
 
Not gonna happen, I don’t do that good with my 2020 Limited with Hemi and 3.92 rear end.
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Honestly mpg was a concern of mine too before purchasing. Coming from an SRT Jeep Grand Cherokee that was capable of 20mpg on the highway I had gotten used to doing longer road-trips affordably. Ultimately I decided to go big or go home realizing there is no best of both worlds if you want fuel economy and high performance. But if MPG and cost is truly impacting your day to day life I’d say just go with a fully loaded Rebel GT with the eco diesel which gets 25 mpg highway and has all the creature comforts of the TRX.
 
Aero drag is a big one. Having those 35" tires sticking out in the on coming air is an enormous amount of drag. Add the ride height causing a ton of air under the truck. Another factor is the amount of power it takes to turn the supercharger just cruising uses a decent amount of fuel on its own. Plus the engine already being a 6.2L. There are a lot of reasons the aero on this thing is horrific.

After owning mine for (an entire) 450 miles now there has been one other very obvious thing I see that is sucking fuel for seemingly no reason. The air/fuel ratio is always around 13.5 while driving normally. Even under the lightest load it is still targeting 13.5. I have tuned many of my personal cars to run in the upper 15's lower 16 AFR while cruising and never caused a single issue. This creates more NOx emissions, not going to damage anything except the EPA's ego. I would imagine there has to be some head room there to go a bit more lean without causing any knock. That on its own, should gain a couple MPG I would think. 13.5 is normally a safe range for something with a fair amount of load on the engine. Shouldn't be that bad while under light loads of cruising around town or even at lower highway speeds. (IMO) So this might be an avenue for someone's tuner to chase results.
 

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