7.3L V8 Super Duty Fuel Economy: What Should You Expect?

Those in the market for a 7.3L V8 Godzilla-powered Ford Super Duty will find some very useful real-world fuel economy averages right here.

While fuel expenses typically add up to a rather large portion of one’s total vehicle ownerships costs, they also aren’t typically something that many heavy-duty truck owners overthink. After all, trucks like the Ford Super Duty were built to pull heavy loads, and that’s precisely that most owners do with them – oftentimes, at the expense of efficiency. However, that doesn’t mean that plenty of folks are also keeping an eye on fuel economy, and that includes plenty of Ford Super Duty owners in the Ford Truck Enthusiasts forums.

In fact, one of the hottest topics as of late revolves around the type of fuel economy Ford Super Duty owners with the 7.3-liter Godzilla V8 are seeing in the real world, as there are a handful of threads and even polls pertaining to this specific topic. In this recent thread, FTE member ptnaps noted that they’re getting a rather poor 10 miles-per-gallon from their 2024 F-350 Crew Cab with the 8-foot bed, and wondered what others were seeing. In that case, most are getting somewhere in the neighborhood of 13-15 mpg on average, with highs around 21 on the highway.

This is indeed a pertinent question given the fact that these larger trucks aren’t even EPA rated in terms of expected fuel economy, so one is left to look to real-world use cases to obtain fuel economy data. On the flip side, those results can and will vary greatly, depending not only on trim and configuration, but also, driving style, weather, road conditions, and many other factors. Thus, it’s helpful to collect as much data as possible to achieve a reasonable average, and that’s also the case in the FTE forums.

Here, we have a poll of around 50 Ford Super Duty owners with trucks packing the 7.3-liter engine, with the majority – 32 percent – noting that they average 13 miles-per-gallon combined (on both the city and highway), while 16 percent get 12 mpg and only 10 percent are averaging 15 mpg or higher.

There’s also a poll located here that contains fuel economy data for trucks when they’re towing various loads, which is also particularly helpful – the Super Duty was designed to do precisely that, after all. In that case, the majority of owners – just under 35 percent – are seeing fuel economy results of around 9 mpg on average while towing, followed by 27 percent getting 8 mpg and a 13 percent split between 7 and 10 mpg.

Finally, for those who do a lot of highway driving, there’s yet another poll located here that contains data on that specific number, too. The majority – just under 29 percent – report getting 15 mpg on the highway, followed by 23 percent that get 14 mpg, and just over 20 percent seeing 16 mpg, while a mere 4 percent are achieving more than 21 mpg. It’s a pretty mixed bag for certain, but also, some great data for those in the market for a Godzilla-powered Super Duty!

Photos: Michael S. Palmer & Ford

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Brett Foote

Brett Foote has been covering the automotive industry for over five years and is a longtime contributor to Internet Brands’ Auto Group sites, including Chevrolet Forum, Rennlist, and Ford Truck Enthusiasts, among other popular sites.

He has been an automotive enthusiast since the day he came into this world and rode home from the hospital in a first-gen Mustang, and he's been wrenching on them nearly as long.

In addition to his expertise writing about cars, trucks, motorcycles, and every other type of automobile, Brett had spent several years running parts for local auto dealerships.

You can follow along with his builds and various automotive shenanigans on Instagram: @bfoote.