so i gots a 99 ram 1500 sport with a 5.2L, which currently gets 14 MPG highway. My question is what can i do to get better mileage. I know that i cant get anything spectacular, but i know i should be getting better than this. Im a poor college student, and this is my only car and i have no money to buy a beater. I just changed the wires, plugs, and air filter. Any suggestions would help.

 

drive slow and keep your foot out of it.
i get the best mpg at around 50-55 where i can use OD.
i can get about 15-16 on hwy but only about 13 in city type.

what school are you at ?

 

I go to dalton state college right now. Its a small local school about 20 miles away from home. I figure the first 2 years of college are the same no matter where you go, and going here i'll save some money. I am enrolled in a program where after 2 years i'll transfer to Georgia Tech, where i will finish my computer sciences degree.

As for the truck the speed limit on the highway is 70, so i have cruise control set 70. I am very light on the gas. Would i see a gain in MPG by adding a CAI? I have heard that some people saw better mileage, but do not know if this is true or not.

 

CAI will not do anything for MPG. it will greatly reduce the amount of money in your pocket. assuming you drive a significant distance, drop your speed to 55 and you'll see an improvement in mpg.

my daughters a senior at tech.
my sister and i went to kennesaw a very long time ago. she was in the very first class around '67. i was there in '75. this seems unimaginable - but I-75 didn't exist in front of the college then. it ended at Cartersville to the north and Marietta to the south. there was a big fuss about how to cross the lake, so nothing was ever built until the around the mid-70's. i'm sure everyone that drove cross country hated traveling on US-41 in Kennesaw and Marietta. on the bright side, they got to drive past the big chicken.

 

Ah yes, the big chicken......(I have no idea what you are talking about).

 

its been a kentucky fried chicken for a long time, but originally it was the
CHICK - CHUCK - SHAKE.
its always just been called "the big chicken".
what else do you call a 60 foot tall chicken.

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/7021

 

Oh, OK. I thought you were talking about something like this:



I always loved those weird buildings they created back in the 60's & 70's trying to get peoples attention. Now most safety codes probably wouldn't allow any such innovation. Architects have probably become a little more uptight than what they were back then.

 

Try dropping to 60mph on the freeway. My truck gets about 1.5mpg better at 60 compared to 70. If school is only 20 miles away it will add only 3 minutes to your commute.

 

14 is about where you should be for a 5.2L V8.

I started out with 10 to 10.5 in town. After my upgrades... about $1000 worth... now I get 12 consistently with my heavy lead foot. Would get better if I could find some 91 or 92 octane fuel that didn't have 10% ethanol in it.

 

On a trip I got 21 holding at 65, 19.25 at 70, and 15 at 80 to 90.
Around here from town to town, mostly 5 to 8 miles apart, I get 14 to 18 according to how my right foot acts,