You can't measure it like that, for many different reasons. That and I just flat out don't believe you. The only true way to measure MPG is miles driven divided by gas put in at the pump. Any other way adds too many different variables to give you an accurate number.

And +1 for being hard on the pump.

 

How are the hypertech chips? What will I actually get for additional power and fuel efficiency? I know it claims to add 25 hp, but that seems to be at around 5500 rpm which I rarely am driving at.

 

Another question... A turbo would be fun, but ultimately I am looking to improve gas mileage AND power. Would a turbo we worth the money for the 3.7? and if so which ones would you recommend?

 

A. bad idea B. you do not get 31 mpg in your 3.7L..they get around 15 mpg city like the V8 C. there was still fuel in your truck's tank even if it wouldn't start

 

It's not a chip, it's a handheld programmer. Google is your friend.

 

Okay. Well how are the Hypertech programmers? Any noticeable improvements in horsepower, torque, or mpg? Would anyone recommend them?

 

I've heard nothing really bad about Hypertech units, other than the Superchips or SCT are better. A SCT from Sean (hemifever@aol.com) will definitely give you better customer service than a Superchips, and at least the same level of performance if not a little more. However, the Superchips is good too, and more popular because SCTs are usually far more expensive.

We are lucky that Sean gives us a nice discount... $265 for a tuner with three "canned" (not custom) tunes, one for 87 octane fuel, one for higher octane (91 or 93, your choice), and one higher octane version for towing. Later on, if you decide to go all-out and put a supercharger on there or build the thing from the group up, $100 more and he'll do custom tunes just for your truck.

 

Cool, thank you. Then I have a manual transmission, and from what I have read about the Hypertech programmer is that it does a lot with the shift timing and such? Obviously the computer wont be able to do that for me. Can you even use one on a manual? If not what do you recommend?

 

i actually have the ho 4.7 v8 awd laramie quad cab i bought it used with 95k or so on it. i was getting bad mpg in the city of 12.something average and on bad day 11.something on highways i was getting 16.something average. recently within the last 3 weeks i put in BG 44K and then took a trip from Denver Colorado to the grand canyon we were gone for 2weeks. i reset the mpg meter and i was seeing numbers like 22-23 mpg. then going over a mountain pass here in co i seen it drop to 13-14. and during the trip it stabilized out and i was consistently reading 19.3-19.8. now a week later after the trip and city driving it still reads 19.1. This mpg seems kind of high for a dakota. The dakota dose have a magnaflow exhaust as far as i know nothing else installed to help out mpg. during my time of owning the truck i put in a cheaper fuel additive then one oil change and many miles later put in the good Bg 44k now amazing fuel miles.

 

forgot the mpg actually dropped right before getting home today to 18.8 but that's still a great mpg for such a big engine