Quote:
Originally Posted by darcane
EPA for yours is 12 city/16hwy 13 combined.
For a long trip, I assume that is almost all hwy, so are you saying you average 20mpg (16 * 1.25)? Or are you saying you are at 25% over EPA combined, which puts you at about 16mpg?
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According to Ecomodder's own fuel tracker, I'm averaging 27.7% over EPA combined for the 2001 Dodge Durango, using the EPA revised numbers.
Out of the past 5 tankfuls, 2 were almost all highway driving, 1 was about a 50/50 mix of city/highway driving, and 1 was mostly city driving. The remaining 1 tankful was a combination of highway driving and 2.5 hours of idling to flush the coolant system, do performance testing, and conduct leak detection after the engine was installed.
The 2 highway tankfuls saw average FEs of 17.0 MPG and 17.2 MPG, which is about 6% better than highway figures for stock (and 24% better than combined). The 50/50 tankful saw an astounding 18.4 MPG (almost 30% better than the stock combined figure), and the mostly city tankful saw about 15.5 MPG (still a respectable 15% above combined). The first tankful, the combination of highway and idling, saw about 14.3 MPG (9% better than combined).
Judging by the completely in-city performance so far, I estimate that the Red Sled will probably see around 13 MPG now, which itself is an 8% improvement over stock city figures (and equal to combined).
Quote:
Originally Posted by darcane
The latter... well, that puts you on par with similarly equipped, stock Tahoes from back then which makes me wonder if the effort was worth it.
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Of course it's worth it. Wouldn't even bother, otherwise. Both the wife and I are partial to Dodge, and I like older vehicles that I can still repair.
Quote:
Originally Posted by darcane
For reference, we typically average 21+mpg on family trips in our '05 Tahoe, no hypermiling, just set cruise at 65mph and go. It's stock other than being lowered a little and 20" wheels.
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To be honest, there's not a whole lot of highway-friendly hypermiling driving techniques for an automatic-equipped 4x4, 5000 lb gasoline-powered beast. Suffice it to say, the vast majority of my hypermiling is of the "vehicle modification" variety.
I think that the Red Sled will respond well to basic aero mods (I already deleted the roof rack prior to the trip), since it is so incredibly aerodynamically hideous. It should also respond well to my installing a coolant-based intake air heater, and to my modifying the power steering pump to incorporate an electric clutch.