Was just curious if anyone here ever tried one on their 4.7 Dakota? I picked it because I have a 2011 and so far, they are the only one that has a tune available. Superchips and SCT only covers up to 2010 models.

The thing that piqued my interest is in their documentation they show that for 2011 model year Dakota with the 4.7 that you can enable MDS. Similar to the feature on the 5.7 Ram. I had thought MDS had some mechanical feature required to enable it also but will find out soon enough I guess.

I hope to receive it tomorrow or Saturday. I have a road trip from Atlanta to Miami on Sunday so we'll see how it improved MPG's. I've NEVER gotten better than 18mpg out of this thing so it will be a good test.

Update to follow.....

 

So FedEx showed delivery today. Fortunately I was pretty much out of gas when I left the airport so I went ahead and filled up with 93 before getting home preparing for the install.

Setup wasn't so bad. You start by setting up on a PC and registering the device. Enter all your vehicle info and it will download the latest files and information appropriate for your vehicle.

Installation only took about 10 minutes. Plug it into the OBD port and use the on-screen prompts. I think it was actually easier to use than the Superchips I had on my 2003 and 2005 model. There are a lot of little things about the body control it will let you change. Things like:

- Tire pressure monitor limits or disable completely.
- All doors unlock with single press on keyfob instead of double.
- Fog lamps on or off with high beams
- Enable or disable DRL
- Headlamps on or off with unlock, can change time they stay on
- Headlamps on or off when exiting vehicle, can change time on that too.
- Speed or rev limiter change
- etc...

How it performs...

I can't say it was a night and day difference but it is a noticeable improvement. Granted I only have about 10 miles on it so it will take some more time. But I do have some positive impressions on initial use.

Start up and idle - This actually seems smoother than before. This truck always had a light vibration or "miss" at idle. Almost like a cammed engine. It is butter smooth now.

Normal acceleration - This has improved also. There were times when the truck felt surgy, a little lethargic and just plain numb at lower RPM's. It feels like the area just off idle to around 3,000rpms has the biggest improvement. It pulls smoothly, no more surge and feels like it pulls harder. There was one grade near my house that the truck always kicks out the torque converter and sometimes back to 4th when climbing at around 45mph. I did notice it went right up without the transmission having to intervene. I'm looking forward to getting the trailer on there and seeing how it helped in real world, low end torque.

WOT acceleration - Not sure it made much of an improvement here. The 2008+ motors already pulled pretty good on the top end. Just weak down low.

Fuel economy - We'll see. I'll be heading to Orlando on Sunday and continuing to Miami on Monday. If the turning and low end torque helps enough to reduce driving in lower gears then I expect to see a real world improvement in economy. I spend $100+ per week on gas. If I can get just 1 or 2 mpg more then this will pay for itself in about a year and a half ($399 shipped from Autoanything)

 

Safe travels! Looking forward to hearing an update.

Tom
AutoAnything

 

Well so far I've filled up twice and got 20.7mpg on both.

I put about 75 miles on city driving around Atlanta on Friday and Saturday before departing on Sunday morning. (20% city mileage, 80% highway) Made it all the way to about Gainesville, FL before filling up. Ran 65-70mph almost the whole trip. Was 418 miles into 20.17 gallons of gas.

Also put about 40 miles on stop/go driving in Orlando and another 20 or so in Miami on Tuesday before filling up the second time. Rest of the approx 400 miles were on the turnpike. 406 miles into 19.54 gallons.

Am thinking if this were straight highway with no partial city driving I might have squeezed 21 to 21.5 mpg out of it. Wanted to add that on this same trip I've never gotten better than 18.2mpg and am usually around 17.5 to 17.8mpg. So I'm about 14% better and am spending about 10% more on gas. If the gains in city are similar I'll come out ahead. But the improvement in driveability is worth something also. It is far more pleasant to drive.

I'll get a better taste of it next week when I'm back home and get the trailer back on it. I usually see 11.5 - 12.5mpg when towing. Sometimes as low as 10mpg. If that comes up to around 14 or better then I'll be happy. 15mpg would be effing grand.

 

Wow!! That is really really impressive.

It is nice that you are doing Towing + Hills + City + Highway = X Gains

Most people don't take those into consideration.

Keep the post going, I am sure others will read this and be grateful for that you have done.

-Tom
AutoAnything

 

Well fill up #3 had a lot of Miami stop/go (or mostly stop) driving, some mixed turnpike and more city driving in Orlando again.

326 miles into 18.46 gallons.... 17.66mpg. Not great but considering Miami crap traffic, not that bad.

Fill up #4 was an uninterrupted highway run from Lakeland, FL back to Atlanta. Tried to stay conservative. 65mph, no aggressive passing or accelerating. Went 482 miles into 21.08 gallons....

22.9mpg!!!

Not sure if I am happy or sad. Wish Dodge graced us with that 3.6 and 8hp out of a Ram. Could probably be squeezing 26-27mpg out of this thing.

 

How long will it take for this to pay itself off?

Tom
AutoAnything

 

great now I have another product to add to my list lol

 

Not sure yet. Still gathering data.

Drove all week last week with the trailer connected. I put my ZT mower on there also which added about 400 extra lbs to the load as I wanted to push it a little. Ended up at 14.53 MPG. While that sounds bad, I usually see 11.5 to 12.5 while towing the same trip (with less weight). Actually my monthly averages since October have all be between 11.8 mpg and 12.6 mpg. Last months average shot up to 17.8 but that had those 20+ mpg highway runs with the new tune and only had the tune on for 1/2 the month.

Spent about 1/2 of the next tank (Thursday to today) with the trailer, made a 80mph run to North Georgia and back and finished the tank with all city driving. Still came out at 15.4 MPG.

So far it seems to be trending upward. I filled back up today with regular unleaded and flashed the regular fuel tune. So far I can't tell a difference in power between that and the premium tune but haven't put many miles on it. I'm taking another road trip tomorrow. ATL to Tallahassee, Mobile, AL, New Orleans, Jackson, MS and back to ATL. Will see how the mileage is on the regular tune.

If the mileage gains are similar and the power levels are close enough I might just leave it on the regular tune. In that case my payback might be 12-16 months. That's assuming I'm seeing an actual 10% to 20% gain in economy and I haven't unknowingly modified my driving style trying to be more conservative.

I'm hoping it is actual. I've made some of these trips enough times to know exactly what mileage I've seen in the past on specific stretches of highway so these road trips are good tests for me.

 

Well a 60 day update. I've driven a LOT and have some good data-points to compare. Overall I'm seeing a consistent improvement in FE. I tow about 1/2 the time and I spend about 50% city, 50% highway. Overall my city averages have gone from about 12.8 to about 14.6. Highway averages are up from about 16 to nearly 18.5. Again these are averages that include about 50% of the time spent dragging around a 6x12 enclosed trailer with 3,000lbs of total weight.

On some road trips without the trailer I've seen as high as 22.9 mpg vs the normal 19 to 20 mpg I might normally see. However most of these mileage gains come at the expense of running premium fuel. But looking at my records, I'm spending about $20 less per month on fuel even using premium so this should pay off in about two years.

The value in driveability is worth something too. Noticeable improvement off idle with a strong, healthy pull after about 2700rpms. Has enough improvement in low end torque to make towing a lot nicer. Transmission isn't dropping gears nearly as often to maintain a grade. Power delivery is super smooth also. That inconsistent, erratic and surgy delivery of torque feeling the stock tune had is gone.

Now for the interesting bit. Was curious to try E85 with the performance tune. I am not sure if the tune was designed for it also or some remnants of the stock calibration allow some additional timing but WOW..... This is the first time this truck has ever lit off the rear tires leaving a stoplight on dry pavement. Definitely more low end grunt and overall it ran like a raped ape when I wanted it to. But it also burnt up nearly a whole tank of fuel in 175 miles. Came out to about 8.7 mpg. Ouch! Except for the first 20 miles that was almost entirely towing too. And it towed GREAT. Damn thing felt nearly as strong with the trailer behind it on E85 as it did stock with no trailer behind it.

Final verdict? Thumbs up.