Got a '02 Dodge Ram 1500 with 5.9L V8...a chevy s10 pulls up wanted to race me and so that is cool and all and he freakin smoked me..and i know it was not an eXtreme..just a plain jane s10..ive got all the mods listed:

AirRaid Cold Air Intake
PowerWire
MSD 8.5mm Wires
New Cap and Rotor
NGK Iridium Plugs
Superchips 3815 running performance tune with 93 octane
Magnaflow High Flow Cat 3" in 3" out
Magnaflow muffler..all 3" single exhaust out the side


So what I want to know is what is goin on..its like I dont have all the ***** there...I did however catch up to him after awhile but still..and i am also getting 10.5 mpg average..dont know if that is unusual or not..so could i get some pointers if anyones got any..

 

the 5.9 in general is a dog. its kindof a torque monster, but not much horsepower and terrible mileage. is the truck lifted? lowered? tire size? what diff gears?

 

Truck is at stock height..its a 4x4 by the way...quad cab..running 265/70R17 mastercraft courser c/t's

 

im sure that S10 had to have some other mods which you couldnt see. if you have a lift or bigger tires, thats definitely going to slow you down a lot. also, the 5.9 is a good engine but it has 100 less hp than a hemi and like 60 less hp than the 08+ 4.7s. in fact, its barely more powerful than the old 4.7s. the torque is good though

 

the s-10 is a v8 conversion. one of the easiest conversion vehicles out there. easy sleeper vehicle.

 

this is true.....also, some guys put the 4.3 V6 which will make that little truck haul without all the noise. i had a buddy that did that to his, that thing was quick!

 

So your truck feels sluggish compared to normal? Did you double check the gaps on those plugs you installed...even though they're iridiums if you're careful you can still check the gap. Doing a compression check wouldn't hurt either.

Did the s10 sound like it had a v8?

Could be...depends on what this guys definition of "getting smoked" is. If the guy put train lengths on him then yea probably was...or at least a decently modded 6.

 

the 4.3 can be modded to be quick. the 4.3 is also 3/4 of a 5.7 and the 350 is a direct bolt in swap, right down to the alternator and the tranny. can do it with your eyes closed almost. not saying that is what happened here but where im at it is a very common procedure and most of the time they arent v8 sounding. sleepers.

 

+2 on compression check,and might want to check your plenum gasket. how many miles on the truck?

and yes,10.5mpg is normal.

 

Couldnt hear what the truck had on it..my exhaust was too loud lol..but lets hope that is the case that it is a sleeper or he had other mods done to it..plugs are also set to the right gapping..also prolly doesnt help that my truck has about 140,000 miles on it either..maybe i will have to do a compression test to my truck..never thought about that..thanks for all the tips and the help so far..much appreciated