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Far enough, since it's not needed here for the vast majority of customers. 91 octane fuel is available though 40 miles south on the highway over an 11K feet high summit. Our local fuel pump is at a low 5,643 feet elevation with 85 octane only gas and diesel. Our three Ram HD 4x4's (gas and diesel) run it with zero issues.
It is very simple. Either don't drive to high altitude places or if you do, don't fill up with low octane gas once at a high altitude if you are going back down. For the rest that live at high altitude and seldom go to low altitude locations, "crap" gas works just fine. 85/86 octane is equivalent to 87 at sea level.
I towed an 11k tag with my '21 RAM 1500 over Monarch Pass to Colorado when my POS '22 Cummins broke again. I was truly surprised how well it towed power wise but the trailer definitely was pushing the truck around. I installed a heavier sway bar on it and a VERY good anti sway hitch.
If you’re going to tow often, a gasser simply is an inferior option.
Superior until you run out DEF in the middle of nowhere and the engine derates. But the sea of torque a diesel provides is glorious. My last diesel was a GMC Sierra AT4 1500 Dmax. Hwy MPG unloaded was 24, towing was 14, a 42% drop in efficiency. With my 2500 Hemi, towing the same trailer I get 10-10.5 MPG. Unloaded I get 13MPG. A drop of 20% efficiency. Food for thought. While your MPGs may be higher with a diesel, it is not necessarily more efficient than gas.
If you can’t budget DEF at 300-400MPG, then you probably shouldn’t be towing a trailer at all.
On paper, but look at real world numbers. Also, DEF is a guessing game. I’ve been there done that. DEF usage varies wildly, ambient temperatures, load, road conditions, elevation etc. I had times when I left our house towing our camper and the DEF gauge said 2000 miles left, just to scream add DEF 300 miles down the road while towing. Look at Fuelly and you’ll see that most Ram Diesels average 17MPG. The 6.4 averages 13. But that’s a crapshoot since you can’t tell how much of that is towing mileage vs unloaded.
Ignore the gauge and crunch the numbers.
I can guarantee you that I can keep up with any diesel as far as getting there at the same time. It’s biology. Your 50 gallons of diesel cannot outrun your bladder. So that point is good on paper but not in real life unless diesel drivers wear adult diapers. Both diesel and gas will far outrun your bladder.
Let’s do math. What is your average MPG unloaded? Now do towing. Let me know the difference.
Answer the question. On my post I posted my real world experience with a diesel truck and gas truck towing the same camper. But you choose to insult instead.
Doesn’t seem to be any reasoning with that conclusion, either.
Your logic is flawed. The diesel still has a higher average mpg even if it drops more as in your example.
Out of the three vehicles I owned, a 3.0 diesel, 5.7 hemi and 6.4 hemi, the biggest drop in MPG was the diesel while towing the same camper with similar weight including gear in very similar situations and mostly at 65mph. It went from 24 to 14. That’s 10 mpg less. The 5.7 dropped 3.5 mpg and the 2500, 3 mpg.
