Nice bro thanks for the detail with story. And ya Glen IS the hybrid master, glad he's involved in this thread. And honestly I'll have to check my tach and speedo again, I'm out of towm till the end of the week(maybe longer), but if and when I get home I'll give a true estimate. But what was your top speed.? Cruising speed.?
5.29s and 32-33 inch tires I could do 75-80 mph on the interstate no problem in 5th gear, 20 mpg. Speedo and odometer will of course read faster than your true speed, so take that into account.
Higher rpms within reason doesn't kill your gas mileage on these engines. Kind of like you typically get better mileage in 4th with a stock truck than you do in 5th on long highway. I guess it's because you are into the throttle less when you are near the peak or torque.