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Old 12-03-2012, 12:23 AM   #5 (permalink)
slowmover
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Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Fort Worth, Texas
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2004 CTD - '04 DODGE RAM 2500 SLT
Team Cummins
90 day: 19.36 mpg (US)
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". . The Ram 1500 is the first truck to use an active grille shutter system (similar to the one on Dart), closing airflow through the grille when cooling is not needed. It increases gas mileage by 0.5%, cuts drag roughly 4%, and cuts warm-up time/defrost time. The computer closes the shutters when cooling is not needed.

Dave Sowers pointed out that the active shutters was normally either fully open or fully closed. When closed, air pressure quickly builds up in front of the slats, deflecting oncoming air over the truck, which has the lowest drag coefficient of any pickup on the market. At all times, there’s airflow over the radiator from other openings. The idea was to avoid drag from radiator capacity which is seldom needed, while still being able to cool the engine under any reasonable conditions.

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