Have a 2001 4.7 D and was talking to a buddy about my crappy MPG. I told him about Star-Tron and how it's helped me get 1-2 more MPG, and he went on to tell me about the programmers out there that help with MPG. I am still a little confused. I don't care about a loss of torque/power, just looking for any way to increase my MPG's. I love the truck, it's the best vehicle I've ever owned; it keeps me safe in the winter, it's comfortable for a 6'1 280lb pound guy like me, and it's just fun to drive. Bought it in 2009 for $3500 and it had just over 120k and have done nothing but maintenance to it ever since, I just want to try and get my MPG's as high as possible.

Without Star Tron and this crappy 10-20% ethanol 87 grade gas I get 14.7 MPG's city and about 16 MPG's highway.

With Star Tron I get about 15.5-16 MPG's city and 17.5-18.5 highway. It really does make that much of a difference, I just want to increase the MPG's even more since I drive the crap out of it.

1.) Is there a difference between a superchip and a programmer?

2.) Do the programmers actually boost your MPG? I live in the North East in an area with lots of hills, bad winters, and in a county that doesn't plow their roads well, so my Durango is for everyday use. I don't tow anything, off road, or anything other than everyday use.

3.) I also heard about adding an electric fan and a low temp thermostat will help with MPG's as well? Can someone explain those?

4.) My buddy also told me that thinner tires, and/or overfilling your PSI will help with MPG's. He's got a Cherokee and bought a cheaper, thinner tire (went from a 55 to a 70 tire) and said his MPG's went up lik 2-3 MPG's. Has anyone else experienced this?

5.) If any of these are worth it, where is the cheapest store/website to get them?


Thanks in advance fellas, I'm no mechanic and searched but didn't find the answers to these questions.

 

i wouldnt suggest running any additives long term, as a quick fix to help clean the system out it wont hurt, but long term it likely will check your owners manual dodge even tells you not to add any additives to any of the fluids in the truck.

1) superchips is a brand of programmer, hypertech is another popular brand to look into,

2) they help some w/ mpgs but nothing huge, you would be better off saving your money for gas if all you want is better mpg from them (you are driving a 5klb brick after all)

3) an electric fan will reduce some of the load on the engine caused by the clutch fan, however it will increase the load on the electrical system, overall it seems to be a net gain for the system so a slight increase in MPG.

as for the thermostat in the 4.7 the stock t-stat is the one you should keep using, a lower thermostat will cause problems in the long run that will cost you much more than you will save on gas.

4) thinner tires will help because they will have less rolling resistance, but keep in mine also less traction since there is less rubber in contact w/ the road, not so good for winter driving on snow and slippery roads, also a 70 is a taller tire than a 55, but will not necessarily be narrower.
265/70/16 is standard tire size for these trucks and breaks down like this
tire width (mm)/ height (percentage of width) / rim diameter (in)

5)shop around, amazon, ebay, tirerack, it depends on where you end up going,

just keep in mind that you are driving a 5k lb truck, if you want good gas mileage you need to go buy a car.

also i have a 2002 4.7l 4x4 and i get AT BEST 19-20 mpg on the highway and 16-17 around town, your numbers are not much shy of that so i wouldnt expect you to be able to improve them very much without spending a TON of money

 

Best thing i did for mpg was to drive with a lighter foot. My rpms never go above 2k. People hate following me from a stop sign but they aren't paying for my gas either so they can pass me or save gas with me lol. New Plugs never hurt either.


Posted from Dodgeforum.com App for Android