I searched here and I didn't find squat that I was looking for.

I know it's been asked lotsa times, but what is the best tuner/programmer for a 97 ram w/ 318 auto?

Want to use 87 octane (for obvious reasons)

shorty or long tubes?

And anything else that'd make this truck better than factory....recommendations please

I need to install a new cat, I'm getting maybe 12 MPG on last tank of 240 miles and 150 of it was highway. I know stop and go kills but somethings gotta give. She's got 149k, and I use it for pizza delivery at night so MPG is kinda important.

On my last 3000 mile trip to Okla and back to NC I didn't see anyting better than 14.5 MPG

Thanks in advance,
J. Cribb

 

What did you type in?

 

If you want a tune for MPG reasons, then you need to call SCT and get a custom tune for that purpose, or get the gas miser flash from B&G. Any other tune or programmer is going to be a performance tune, and likely won't help your gas mileage much, if at all. They are designed to give you more power. More power=more fuel use.

That being said, I saw a nice mpg improvement (2-4 mpg) when I installed a Fastman TB and a high flow muffler (couple of my first mods). Others have reported similar results.

Or, save up 1k or 2k, and buy a cheap little car off craigslists that gets 30-40mpg. That will cost you less in the long run. My $1500 Swift (46mpg) paid for itself in just 6 months.

 

Yeah but its still a Swift... You know what? It does'nt even deserve to have a capital "S."

swift.

 

When gas is $4.50 a gallon, you can call it whatever you like, but i'll still be rolling in it at 46 mpg's.

 

Well I put it up for sale just to see who bites at it, I've got a couple interested people already.

I'm just tired of dealing with it, and I miss my chevy (needs new heads) so the sale of the dodge is to pay for my chevy work

 

Yeah it's a nice thought but wife won't allow anymore cars to be bought I'm kinda at my limit I guess.

Plus whenever she's off of work i use the honda accord.

What I meant about mileage is I know the truck can do better than 12-14 MPG. It's only a freakin' 318 not a 360....my old 350 didn't use that much fuel on highway pullin a trailer and it was 4wd. But I lost that truck to a catastrophic transmission failure

 

12-14mpg is about on par with everyone else. the best way to save gas is your driving style. i had the hypertech max energy awhile ago and it netted me about 2 more mpg's.and the hyper is the only thing i have done that actually helped the mpg's a little. everything else has made my mileage go down.

and donnt feel bad,i only get 10-12 mpg.

and i agree a cheap little car will pay for itself in no time. especially if you are delivering pizza. lots of stop and go.

and if you do buy a programmer, search for a used one. they can usually be had for about half the price of new one. just make sure they are not vin# locked.