So I am newer to the large vehicle world, coming from a mini cooper that gets 30+ mpg the gas is murdering me. I have a 2001 suburban 1500 4wdwith 81k. I bought this truck because I road race my mini and would like to trailer it to the track the mini sux in snow. Anyway after buying the truck I'm broke and the gas is killing me after 2 tanks I'm getting just under 12mpg this doesn’t seam normal to me at all I see lots of people on here getting at lease 15-16 average, I would be happy with this. I have the stock wheels and tire size and have them filled to 38psi. The truck runs great so I don’t think anything is bad it does get slightly louder when it’s in 3<SUP>rd</SUP> gear but with the radio on I can’t hear the difference so I'm assuming its nothing. Any suggestions? Intake, exhaust, chips? I drive like a grandma to try and save fuel since I got the truck. I wanted to go slightly bigger on the tires just so it would look cool but defiantly not anymore with not even hitting 12mpg. Please help!

 

Driving habits are typically the biggest issue, if you drive your truck like your cooper that could be a reason....
If your truck has not had a tune up in a while I would recommend starting there... good plugs, wires, consider using synthetic oil, have the injectors serviced...but a range of 12-17 mpg is pretty much expected for the amount of weight you are moving around...

 

Lose as much unneeded weight as possible. Get rid of spare (get some Slime and a compressor), all the seats except driver's, carpeting, headliner, door panels, etc.

Curious where you road race in the snow.

 

I have been driving really slow, its kind of nice actually lol I have the cooper and my motorcycle if I wana go faster but I try and save it for the track. I'm going to have a buddy of mine look at it and do a tune up to see if that helps.

 

73shark, i want it to still look nice lol the mini is getting stripped soon actually and having the cage sent from cali... i wish someone here could make me one cheaper baised on pix if the one i want lol. In the winter i dont race but i have friends that snow race in wisconsin