Define "moderate city driving". If it's a bunch of short drives it doesn't matter how much you baby the gas pedal, the mileage it reports back is going to be pretty bad. At least this is the case for me, in our small town, but once I get it on long stretches, even if they aren't on the highway the mileage gets better.

 

They are short drives. By moderate I mean not a lead foot.

 

both of those things from the dealer make sense to me, winter blend gas SUCKS, my mpgs go from around 16.5-17 (maybe a hair more) in the summer to 14-15 in the winter, only change is the air temp and the gas blend, same driver, same route.

also in the winter the engine doesnt warm up as fast (or you waste gas by letting it idle to warm it up, which is unnecessary for the car). When the engine is cold (as per the PCMs temperature readings) the engine runs rich and idles at a higher RPM in order to try and warm the engine up faster, if the trips are under 5 miles it gets shut off again before (or just as it gets) to full operating temperature.

 

I'll second what Srpshtr said. "...also in the winter the engine doesnt warm up as fast (or you waste gas by letting it idle to warm it up, which is unnecessary for the car). When the engine is cold (as per the PCMs temperature readings) the engine runs rich and idles at a higher RPM in order to try and warm the engine up faster, if the trips are under 5 miles it gets shut off again before (or just as it gets) to full operating temperature."
All true, plus (although I haven't driven the new D enough to notice, on my other cars), I've seen the car won't go into Overdrive on the highway until the transmission fluid temp reaches about 70 degrees. If its real cold, this can take a while, further contributing to poor winter mileage.

 

yup that is also true, OD is locked out until the transmission warms up, which can ONLY happen when the transmission internals are moving (when the car is being driven)

 

I have a 25 mile commute to work, about 20 miles of it is highway at 55-70MPH, the last 4 miles or so are pretty much stop and go (those 4 miles take almost as much time as the previous 20 some days... Gotta love NJ traffic)... Anyway.. in my first month with the Durango I'm getting about 18-19MPG. The trip computer is usually higher than the actual (Trip says 20-ish).

my worst was 18.1 but that included a 3 hour traffic jam! (Really... took 3 hours to go 2 miles.. wasn't sitting still enough to shut the engine off). I saw the trip computer drop from 20.8 down to 17.5 just during those 3 hours..

And someone else mentioned the little game with the triangle along the meter - I couldn't agree more.. thats my target anytime I drive.. Keep the line above the triangle!!

 

hls, where in NJ are you? the commute you describes sounds like one from where i live into NYC

 

Close... Staring in Bridgewater and going into Newark. I did the NYC (and Jersey City) commutes for a while and Newark isn't as bad - but still painful!

 

thats not too far(an hour or so)from where i am (boonton area if you are familiar with it)

 

Cool.. not too far! I used to live in Pine Brook so I'm a little familiar with the area..

Howdy neighbor!