I am really looking to buy a 2003 ss silverado. It says the get around 18mpg highway. I need a little better mpg I know its a v8 but I really like these trucks. Is there a chip or programer out there that will give me better mpg? If so do they really work and is it worth it? Also are these ss trucks reliable or am I going to have to put a lot of money into one? Any info helps. Thanks

 

There is no way they get 18 mpg. They have a 6.0 and are all wheel drive. I would think 14-16 on a good day. They are bad *** trucks though!

 

what motor is in the truck, also 2wd or 4wd. personally i think programmers are a waste of money on gas trucks. diesels are a different story. depending on what motor is in the truck i would not expect much more than 18mpg, and really that is pretty good. if you want better millage than that your gonna have to buy a car. even then my girlfriends 2003 ford focus only gets around 26 on the highway. and its a little light weight 4 banger. epa est stickers almost always show higher than real world fuel millage. best thing to do for fuel millage is make sure all the matinace is up to par tuneups done on schedule or before. tires are properly inflated and stay off the gas pedal. driving habits affect fuel millage more than any programmer or chip on the market.

 

I would buy it just to have it, but I have a philosophy of driving what I want to drive. I spend a lot of time in my truck and therefore am willing to pay a little extra to be happy. Especially at the pump. I get between 12 and 13 regular driving. 14 highway.

 

If you are only getting 26 out of that ford focus you must be driving with your foot on the floor all the time.
As far a programmer. They do help with MPG depending on how you program your truck. I have a superchips flash paq on my trucka nd it increased my MPG, but most people say a true program does better for power and MPG. However I beleive your driving habbits make the biggest difference.

 

epa est millage for 2003 ford focus
Fuel Type MPG (city) MPG (highway) MPG (combined) in all fairness though i hardly ever drive the car and only checked the millage in it twice and that was when me and her went on a trip to see a zztop concert she normally drives the car.
my 89 Toyota pickup 22re 5 speed averages around 18mpg
my 96 ford power stroke i just recently sold when i bought my gmc typically got around 15-16 unloaded although if you dropped your speed on the freeway down from 75(speedlimt) to 55-60 you could get 19-20 from it.
sense i bought my 2500hd 8.1L a few weeks ago iv been tracking the millage so far between 8-9 city and only 1 highway tank was 10.5 just did a tune up on it at 93k miles first full tank sense that is still being run threw so no millage results yet. going by the gas gauge seems to be a bit better but hard to say till i fill it back up
my 83 honda gold wing motorcycle gets from 27-31mpg but I am pretty heavy on the throttle when riding it. i have actually gotten as low as 20mpg on it...lol barely made it 100 miles of a tank of fuel.

basically what im trying to get at is if the truck actually gets 18mpg that is pretty darn good for a full size truck esp if its a 4wd.

and yes you can spend 3-400 on a tuner and get 1-2mpg better but it would take a long time for that 1-2mpg to pay for the tuner. if you want a tuner for the extra pep and can justify it to the wife by telling her it will get you better mpg's then go for it.

there is only so much energy in a gallon of gasoline. pickups are heavy and not very aerodynamic so there for millage is never going to be that of a small car.

 

For my programmer I paid 300 for it, but it is for sale. I was averaging 18 to 19 without my programmer and with it I am getting 19 to 21. With my 5.3 the head winds play a big factor just like all my friends have run into.
As far as your 8.1... even with a tune up your mileage will be slightly better, but more than likely the same. I know, because my buddy has that motor in his Avalanche. We checked mileage with several tanks of fuel run through it before and after the tune up. And we even used different brands of fuel too. I guess you can say it is 1st hand experience.

 

im not expecting much better millage out of my 8.1 i didnt buy it for great gas millage, however i would like to see 10 city 11-12 highway, we will see though.

 

Is it completely stock? You might want to put tune, exhaust system on it and a CAI. That might help you reach the 10 in the city and 11-12 on the highway.

 

as far as i know everything is stock, under the hood most certainly, the exhaust is 3 inch from the manifolds back duals back to the muffler with dual cats, the muffler is a 2 into one the exhaust does not look factory as you can see where it was welded on just past where it connects to the manifold. don't know however if it is stock replacement or upgraded. iv been thinking about starting a thread on exhaust options. the current exhaust is so quiet its almost like driving a hybrid don't hear anything unless you give it over half throttle. even with the windows down there is almost no engine noise. i want something quiet but have a little bit of rumble. i will be doing a k@n most likely a drop in replacement. my next tank i plan on filling up with the 87 non ethanol fuel instead of the 89 with 10% ethanol and calculate the millage and see if the non ethanol fuel is worth the extra 10 cents a gallon.