Dodge ram front end

[steve05ram360]

doing some testing with different parts in an attempt to get to a solid 20 mpg in my truck (hiway). Today I did 2 runs on a 57 mile stretch on the interstate (115.9 mi rt), first was a do-over run for the tailgate spoiler I installed last week. That gave me a 20.6 vs 20.2 change over a near identical run without it. (I missed the exit today which added mileage to the run). I installed a set of factory driving lights and reran the route. Was a tad bit shocked when the calculation came out to 21.15.

The factory driving light holes are about 6" ea in diameter, before the install the factory vent was installed, now it is 90% or so blocked with the light. I let cruise control handle the speed and for both runs it was at 65 mph for 95% of the time.

What do you guys think? 0.5 mpg for filling the 2 6" light openings???

I collected obdII data with gps location using the Torque app so if I need to I can go dig into it and see what may be different. should be able to match up the runs & data pretty easily.

[Frank Lee]

I don't think you have enough resolution in your test to detect that small a change, with that small a sample. But if your logs back it up over time, then you may be on to something.

[steve05ram360]

Ok thanks for the input, i will go look at the data from both runs then. Since making the changes (all of them) i have gone from the mid 17's up to the upper 19's consistently so i am definitely heading in the right direction.. Shooting for solid 20's on the hiway.

[JRMichler]

Take a real hard look at temperature, wind speed, and wind direction. A 5 MPH tail wind can affect your MPG by more than the differences you are seeing. Plus what Frank said about gas logs over time.

[steve05ram360]

Considered the wind factor in deciding the route... Straight out & back should balance out for any small winds (i think). Yesterday there were no winds on either run... I currently dont have a regular drive for work so i figured this would be the next best thing

I looked at the additional data i collected and it was inconclusive... So i decided to ditch the plan, throw on the mods when i am ready to and just run that same route to compare against, good or bad, right or wrong... Thats the new plan...

I am real interested to see what the secondary air dam is going to do for mpg...