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Hello everyone,
A couple months ago I finally parked my Dodge Ram Cummins 4x4 diesel truck and started driving my 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan 3.8L for my 140 mile (round trip) daily commute. In my Ram, the best I ever attained was 22.5mpg, but typically got somewhere in the range of 20-21.5mpg. Driving the minivan using just mild hypermiling techniques to start (driving adaptations) I was getting 23-25mpg. Then I went back to the recommended oil viscosity of 5W20 (Mobil 1), and inflated the tires to 40psi (door sticker is 36psi and max sidewall inflation is 44psi), and practiced more aggressive hypermiling techniques. That got me up into the 24-26mpg range. Recently I have taken off the roof rack bows, folded in the passenger mirror, and taped up the upper half of the upper grill for a grill block, and taped up the leading edge body panel seams. I'm also shutting the engine off at stop lights that I know I'll be waiting for a while. With all that, I'm now getting 27-28mpg (I'm actually at 28.2mpg right now). My van's EPA numbers are 16 city/23 hwy, so I'm pretty pleased with the progress I've made so far. I've also started carpooling, which cuts my fuel bill about in half. Between the improved fuel economy, the cheaper fuel (going from diesel to regular unleaded), and the carpooling, I am saving enough on fuel alone (versus driving my truck) to entirely pay my van's loan payment each month, plus have some extra cash left over. I do notice I lose almost 1mpg when carrying my carpooling passenger on my driving days, but of course the net result of carpooling is still quite favorable.
Anyway, just wanted to say howdy all, I've enjoyed lurking here for some time, I've learned a lot, and I look forward to learning more as I go. If there are any other minivan ecomodders out there, I'd enjoy hearing from you.
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Sounds like you're doing pretty well with the minivan.
