We just got to Tampa to visit relatives and they let us borrow their brand new Eddie Bauer Expedition for the day. Nice truck with some really cool features but mainly I cant believe that this big *** truck gets such good gas mileage even with the Triton 5.4l and my new Hemi Durango just drinks the stuff like its free! Around town we averaged 16 mpg while mine only gets about 10mpg at best. Is this kind of poor gas mileage normal for the Hemis? After a day of driving that thing around i would still pick my Durango in a second but damm does that give you a hint of doubt for a minute. I wish Didge had made the rear glass openable and put more room behind the front seats for the rear passengers but otherwise I was really shocked how well the Durangos ride and handle compared to the Ford's IRS. Actually really shocked! I wouldnt trade the ride in the Durango for any other SUV I have ridden in but damm the MPG. useless rant done.

 

Is your Hemi Durango a 4WD? or 2WD with 3.92 gear ratio? My guess is the eddie bauer expedition has a lower gear ratio and is a 2wd. Hence reason for a good MPG over the durango. I bet if you got a 4.7 durango 2WD with a lower gear ratio, you'll see those higher MPG's as well.

I own a 00 R/T Full time AWD with 3.92 gears so I share your arguement on MPG's. I guess Chrysler isn't too concern about MPG's too much when they are mainly focused on power and powerformance for the lowest buck. But with a reasonable budget, you can get some aftermarket modifications to boot MPG's and power too.

 

Mine is a full time awd model. I forgot that the Expedition was a 2wd model and that would affect mpg a ton. I plan on getting a cai soon so I hope that will help out with the gas mileage a bit.

 

I only have 4k miles left on warranty so as soon as that warranty is over, time to play with the mods. After hearing everyone's input, I am going to stick with Mopar performance all the way. I want to keep the stock look and having a brand name like "Mopar" under the hood helps keep a car looking stock but runs like a race vehicle!

Looking at their mopar performance website, I am going to get a CAI made by Mopar and a M1 intake to replace my beer barrel stock intake. Haven't see a new chip for the R/T yet. After these two are done, I'll finally get a cat back exhaust upgrade. Problaby a low restriction cat and performance muffler with one single inlet and 2 outlet to give that split exhaust look.

Just dreaming all these now and when that time comes, it'll be a piece at a time thing as my budget is small with family and all!

 

Kensai,

When you get ready for your modes on your R/T, let me know becuase I may want to buy some of your parts (exspecially interested in your exhaust) for my 5.9L STL plus. PM me anytime and we can work something out.

 

Andrew,

Why would you want a muffler off of a R/T?? for the rumble sound? The exhaust piece will be the last part of my upgrades unless a super exhaust sale appears out of thin air! haha. My ideal upgrade will be in this order based on price and effect of the upgrade.

1. Fastman Throttle Body
2. Mopar M1 Intake manifold
3. Mopar Cold Air Intake Kit
4. Cat back exhaust upgrade

you can check out Mopar's high performance catalog for the Durango as well as all of the Dodge/Chrysler products!!!

http://www.mopar.com/StreetCatalog.pdf

 

I was just wanting something easy to install with the "rumble" sound, plus I figured it would be cheaper for someone's used system that a new cat back system. No matter what I do, I'll probably go with a flowmater 50 series SUV or 70 series muffler. (which may or may not mean upgrading the exhaust to the point a R/T system wouldn't work anyway)

I will also get a CAI and a Fastman 52mm TB, and I found some headers made specifically for the Durango 5.9L that go from 4 to 1 collector instead of the Mopar pro. 4 to 2 to 1. If I can find the website I'll post a link. I was also looking into upgrading the control modular, but haven't found any good locations for that yet.

I was looking at my air box today and was thinking of building a CAI of my own. Wouldn't be hard with a 52mm TB because the plastic is already 52mm and then all you have to do is remove the stock air box and add a cone high flow filter. But I may change my mind after I get into it.

 

Like you, I'll probably do the intake upgrades first, so the exhaust can wait until you get there.