Accidentally Hypermiling a Dakota R/T

[Christ]

I haven't had it long enough to tell for sure, but I /think/ I'm getting close to 18 out of my 3.9L 1500 Van, despite it not wanting to come out of 2nd gear [and the resultant sprague slap from trying to be nice to the long, narrow pedal].

Even at 18MPG, I'm hunting for a diesel to put in it, especially since the '98 van only has 44,000 original miles on it.

For a Dodge with some of the crappiest autos to ever be built in the US market, you're doing fairly well.

[JETZcorp]

So, the other day I took the beast out for a dedicated economy run. Because the aero on the Dakota so closely resembles that of a parachute, this largely involved minimizing time spent on the freeway, and focusing on the economy route I took in my opening post. If you look back you'll note that this is mostly suburban roads and two-lane blacktop. Hands up if you get the reference.

The final number after the short 30.5mi trip? 21.8mpg! That's about 67% above EPA. Bear in mind the margin of error for my short trip, and an odometer that reads low (it measures at the differential, and my tires are shorter than stock by an inch or so). I did film this adventure, and when my laptop reunites itself with the internet again, I'll put that on YouTube.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Eventually, some performance-oriented mods can actually lead to a higher fuel-efficiency. Some aftermarket camshafts can do miracles...

[MilanoVX]

Pretty interesting story!