2012 Dodge Grand Caravan Pentastar

[serialk11r]

I drove one of those this summer, it does have quite good power, and the 6th gear is beautifully low High 20s cruising at reasonable speed on the freeway.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by sbestca

Winter tires are always less fuel efficient for various reasons.

You would think so, what with the blocky, squishy treads. But it's not necessarily the case.

One of Nokain's winter tires has very low rolling resistance. They were used on the winning car (in summer) in this economy race: Modified Honda CRX HF Scores 118 MPG in Fuel Economy Run

I did an unscientific but "controlled as possible" comparison of all the tires I own, and one Michelin winter set scored 3rd best for rolling distance (out of 7 different tires), beating several all-season options: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...eet-19126.html

So I wouldn't discount snows for LRR.

[drainoil]

I drove one for a few weeks and I was really impressed with the power! Mileage was about 19-20 mpg under combined city and hwy driving.

I'd love to swap one of these newer v6s into a much lighter first gen Caravan or Voyager to make a great sleeper lol.

[sbestca]

Another graph of those first 10 tanks of fuel, Speed vs Fuelmileage:



And for those of us who still think in MPG here is another graph of the same:



I guess this is a messed up graph that would only make sense to older Canadians. MPG(imp) plotted against Km/h.

[JRMichler]

Originally Posted by sbestca

the transmission seems to have a mind of its own. Darned thing will go to 6500rpm at 1/4 pedal in some gears and then shifts at 3000 in the next gear. Grrrrrrr! If I let off to get it to up shift, it will hammer back down a gear as I gently reapply throttle to accelerate. I expected more out of this transmission, and hope it will improve with time.

This sounds like a warranty problem. I'd complain to the dealer.

[Varn]

I am running generic 3 season tires on my minivan. Have been running the tires over 50 psi now for some time. Tires still are wearing very evenly Must have good seats as it rides comfortable and handles fine. It has the 3.8 v6. Still runs fine and gets 25+avg for the tank in warm weather. Ambient temps and wind are big factors.

One technique that works good for me is to keep the throttle light all the time. I don't pulse and glide Keep your instant mpg higher than your average.

[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by JRMichler

This sounds like a warranty problem. I'd complain to the dealer.

No, it doesn't. Our transmission guy chased these "it shifts like ****" somplaints on a few vans before he noticed the button was lit up on the one he had that day. Turn off the Econ button and give it some time.

Remember: turning it on makes it resist shifting, and when it does it will skip gears. If what you're doing is going to require shifting and you want it to shift happily, turn off the Econ button and let the transmission work with all of its gears. If you have Econ on and push it hard enough to make it shift, don't complain when it shifts grudgingly.

Originally Posted by serialk11r

I drove one of those this summer, it does have quite good power, and the 6th gear is beautifully low High 20s cruising at reasonable speed on the freeway.

The first time I drove it for more than a dump run was fully loaded with the family from NYC back to NH. There were a couple stops and I had the cruise at 65, but we got just over 26 for the trip. I'm really happy with what it gets, considering what a pig it is.

[sbestca]

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

No, it doesn't. Our transmission guy chased these "it shifts like ****" somplaints on a few vans before he noticed the button was lit up on the one he had that day. Turn off the Econ button and give it some time.

Remember: turning it on makes it resist shifting, and when it does it will skip gears. If what you're doing is going to require shifting and you want it to shift happily, turn off the Econ button and let the transmission work with all of its gears. If you have Econ on and push it hard enough to make it shift, don't complain when it shifts grudgingly.
<SOME SKIPPED>

Sounds like good advice, I'll try it with econ light off from now on.
Electronically shifted transmissions all seem to have a learning curve and modern electronic engine controls have break in periods built into them, your advice doesn't surprise me. Thanks.

Steve

[sbestca]

Econ light "OFF" seems to have solved all the transmission problems!
Thanks guys!

Wow, much better shifting in our hilly terrain with the ECON off.
Pushing the button does not result in instant changes, so beware.
I suspect that my fuel mileage will be better in this hilly terrain with the ECON off.
Actually holds in gear better and does not do the huge jump shifts.
Ramps up through the gears better too on acceleration.

Several low tanks are the result of severe local trips. 2-10kms on cold engine.
Temps are dropping here too, -8c this morning. Engine does NOT warm up on light loads.
Temp gauge should be at half, sits at third. Will likely do grill blocking for winter.

Driving fairly normal at this point, no P&G, mostly cruise control where able.
Under 70kph driving is stop and go city driving unfortunately. Kills mileage.

Steve

[Varn]

Is it really 4500 pounds? Do you have a fuel economy gauge? 50 psi in the tires?

Remember it is hard to compete on an economy basis with some that live in the south. Temps play a huge factor.