Hello Everyone

I am posting this today to generate ways to boost gas mileage and horse power. I have a 2000 Dodge Durago R/T with the 5.9 and and currently recieveing around 9 mpg. What do you suggest i do besides the norm of cold air intake, exhaust change, what else can I do to improve this area of gas miles and horse power. Can I change shift points or would that be bad etc... HELP PLEASE.

 

you could get a daily driver... seriously.. my other car is a very old dodge neon, probably worth like 400 bucks right now in mint condition.. I can get up to 300 miles on a 10 gallon tank which is about twice what my durango gets, (20 gal tank around 300 miles) It seems that every upgrade to my durango just makes my foot heavier.. My durango has most the standard stuff: exhaust, CAI, intake manifold, coil, and it seems that everything i've done the mileage has gone down.. I use the D for towing or 4x4 driving.. the neon keeps money in my wallet when I drive daily.. Go find yourself an old honda, toyota, or small dodge that will get you places with money in your wallet.. spend less then 1000 bucks and just get something that works and can be toyed with..

 

Hm if you're getting around 9, lay off the gas. I know this may be hard with the 2000 R/T (I believe it's got a tuned computer), but try driving like a grandma for a bit and see if that changes. Also, the R/T is full time AWD, so this doesn't help much but I can recommend a performance tuner.

SuperChips makes a nice programmer and it can help gas mileage. As for getting much more than 14 or 15, forget it. You have a large engine for what you have, so bask in it's glory!

 

the best change you can make is your driving style, all speed changes should be done smoothly, no jackrabbit starts.

the only things to do are keep the tune up up to date (fresh plugs, wires, caps and rotor every 30k) you can buy a tuner most of them come w/ a fuel efficiency tune which will help.

however most things that you add will ultimately end up hurting your fuel efficiency not helping

 

I can surely tell you, with my tweaks on my 00 R/T I get 10/14! so you're within normal mpg for the 00 R/T. I drive like a grandma around town and barely manage to maintain 10-11 mpg.

Since I got my blaupunkt, I am saving up and will try to get the Edelbrock F1 Air Gap intake manifold to see if what all the Dodge owners that bought and installed one say is true.

 

[quote=WhiteWidow00;2409072]Hm if you're getting around 9, lay off the gas. I know this may be hard with the 2000 R/T (I believe it's got a tuned computer), but try driving like a grandma for a bit and see if that changes. Also, the R/T is full time AWD, so this doesn't help much but I can recommend a performance tuner.

SuperChips makes a nice programmer and it can help gas mileage. As for getting much more than 14 or 15, forget it. You have a large engine for what you have, so bask in it's glory![/quote
]Even with the size of my engine in my D , i still pull 15/16 and 20/21 . Every fuel up. i write down how many gallons and my mileage , sharpen a few pencils and do some math ...It is possible depending on how well yur engine is running ,,,,

 

you are a special case man, a very good general rule is that the 5.9 will not get much more than 13 or so. are there exceptions, of course, and in your case it has got a lot to do with your build, but for most people this rule will apply

 

Improve the airflow in and out and horsepower and mileage will come. You have to go beyond just bolt ons though and get into improving head flow to really increase how efficent the motor is enough to change both the mileage and horsepower significantly. The GM LS motors make more power and get better mileage than the small block it replaced because the heads are worlds better than what was on the previous generation. A good set of great flowing heads has a lot more benefits than most people think but they are expensive so they are the last thing most people think about buying.


So in short if you want better mileage it will take some real work to make a real change in the D.

 

Yep, totally agree with Biff. Myself, I have the Mopar Performance intake manifold, did a kegger job on it, PLUS Fastman 52mm Throttle Body. I also, like he stated have Mopar Performance cylinder heads, which are 1.920" intake and 1.625" exhaust. THIS on top of flat head pistons bored 30 over, made a HUGE difference, however didn't help on fuel economy much.

I'm making about 16 on a good day, and 11 if I'm getting ancy on the accelerator.

It WILL take some cash to make it a beast, and trust me it pays off in the end. Especially when you can come home to a paid off vehicle that's bomb and blows any little rice burner civic out of the water!

References:
Mopar Performance Cylinder Heads (http://www.jegs.com/i/Mopar%20Perfor...0002/-1?CT=999)
Mopar Performance Intake Manifold (http://www.summitracing.com/parts/DCC-5007852/)

Also, when doing a tune up, make sure to get a nice quality cap and rotor (preferably brass contacts, as brass works better), and you will notice a performance increase by that alone.

Also, check this site out, he makes a great throttle body for our engines, and lots of people (along with myself) can agree, they are one of the best in the industry. http://www.thefastman.com/Throttlebodies5x.asp

A couple of great references for Dist. Cap & Rotor and Plug Wires:

Summit Racing Dist. Cap & Rotor (http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-G5233/)
MSD 8.5mm Plug Wires (http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MSD-31189/)
Mopar Performance Plug Wires (http://www.summitracing.com/parts/DCC-4876432/)

I perfer the MSD plug wires, but the Mopar Performance works great for our engines as well! HTH

 

I have a 2000 Durango R/T myself, just got it about a month ago, drove it for a week and was getting about 9.5 mpg, granted I live in Wisconsin and it has been cold as can be lately, sub 0 weather, I also modify throttle bodies on the side when I can get a break from work and school, I make 50mm and 52mm throttle bodies. I put a 50mm on my Durango R/T and right away got 10.5-11 mpg and with the same driving style, all city driving, rarely getting on the freeway, but when I do, instead of getting 13 mpg at 72 mph I get 14 mpg, here is a pic of the throttle body I put on my Durango, if you have any questions regarding throttle bodies feel free to PM me. To me it is the simplest way to get consistently better gas mileage for under 100 bucks.