Accidentally Hypermiling a Dakota R/T

[JETZcorp]

Good news everyone!

Well first, some bad news. According to the info thing in my Ecomodder garage, I've passed over 53 gallons of gasoline through the Dakota's filler neck since I joined here. A 50gal fish tank can dominate a living room, especially when it's full of gasoline.

The good news is, on my last tank I got a smidge over 18mpg out of that pig. Given that this thing is what it is, and that this tank included a noticeable amount of WOT operation (I had a bad day, and the V8 makes a cool noise), I am stunned.

What did it, was the relaxing drive I took today. In spite of the fact that cruising aimlessly in a Dakota R/T is the kind of activity that normally catches the attention of OPEC and Al Gore, it just felt like the thing to do. So I wandered around Vancouver for a while, coasting up to stoplights and antagonizing some dentist in his Ferrari 355 Spyder (all I had to do was be in a red V8 thing and it was ON!) After he displayed the full fury of the world's least reliable 13-second car, I headed off into some more country style roads, maintaining a steady 50 or so, even when the signs said the corner was 35-or-certain-death. When I got back to the home Chevron, I had about 35% left in the tank, and the calculator told me I'd done 18.02mpg. I stared at it for a while.

I have made a couple conclusions from this. First, fuel consumption in the Dakota must be proportional to the CUBE of vehicle speed. This explains how I can get 15mpg commuting on the freeway, and 18 loping around town playing head games with Ferraris. Second, we can conclude that the Dakota is SO inefficient in normal operation, that putting the hammer down and taking a freeway interchange like Richard Petty at Daytona, does not significantly affect fuel economy. Even when, as I'm ashamed to admit, the motor was a quart low on oil.

I'm going to bed now, so that I can get up early enough to slowpoke my way to work tomorrow. Maybe I'll even manage to annoy another Ferrari.

[Frank Lee]

If you think this is "success", then what is a FAIL?

[JETZcorp]

The thing is rated for 13mpg combined. Doing the percentage-above-EPA calculation for that, 18 is crazy. Especially with an automatic that HATES coming out of neutral over 25mph, preventing EOC and PnG. My injectors never turn off below 3,500rpm, and at idle it burns more than my roommate's Saturn does cruising. Aside from driving slowly and avoiding the brakes, you're pretty much just along for the ride in this thing.

It's like the'50s, really.

[Frank Lee]

My '59 Bel Air with V8 and a/t easily gets low 20's, and my full size extra-cab V8 a/t 4x4 averages better than 18 as well, so this is worse than the '50s.

[wdb]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

My '59 Bel Air with V8 and a/t easily gets low 20's, and my full size extra-cab V8 a/t 4x4 averages better than 18 as well, so this is worse than the '50s.

I was about to reply with "hold on now, the newer vehicle has all the latest safety and emissions features..." and then I remembered it's a pickup truck.

Congratulations for getting 18MPG, I guess. I have an STi, which I dearly love and will never sell, and which I parked as soon as I could afford to start making another car payment. Squeezing out 22MPG commuting tanks was a soul killing experience. I can commute in the Fit and get nearly 40MPG, sometimes better, and arrive at work with a big smile.

[101Volts]

Congratulations. That bit about exceeding the speed limit has me concerned though, It's good to see how much FE one can get out of a vehicle but please do stay within the speed limits.

[NoD~]

Not long ago, I ended up with a rental car of a newer Nissan Frontier pickup, automatic 4.0L V6 (rental car company screwed up). On my short trip, despite my efforts, I only got just over 18MPG. I couldn't believe it... 55MPH and plenty of neutral gliding where I could and that's all I could muster out of it?!

Telling a few people who think I'm crazy to hypermile said "That's about the best I've ever gotten!" out of their similar trucks, including a friend with a Dakota like yours ... I don't believe I will ever find myself owning a large truck... or a large engine of any sort like this.

[Fat Charlie]

Well, a truck is a very efficient vehicle... if you have to lug things that are too big or heavy for a car. Filling the bed with cargo won't hurt your FE much, and hauling a trailer won't hurt much more. The downside is that driving empty won't gain you much of anything.

If you don't have to lug things around, the best way to hypermile a gas truck is to sell it.

[JETZcorp]

I never did break the speed limit. The yellow 35mph signs are intended for semi trucks loaded with Suzuki Trackers, and are not an enforced limit. The posted limit was 55; I was doing 50.

You're right about the efficiency with load thing, though! Dad's Ram 2500 (with the same 5.9 as my Dakota) averages about 13mpg normally, and taking two dirtbikes and a trailer over the Cascades returned 12. 0-60 wasn't changed much either; always 3 minutes.

[UFO]

I think you have gained a good insight into what it takes to use less fuel, and good on you for having a great attitude and a thick skin. From what I hear all the Chrysler vehicles with that engine, and the 3.7l V6 as well, are more inefficient than most and 18mpg is actually quite good.