I Guess The Madman Name says it all i Get (cough coucg) no higher than 12.0 city driving.
06 1500 qc, mds hemi sitting on the horrible dubb caps.. the chrome 20s on the 06 are clad meaning plastic apoxyed to the polisted alum wheel everyone has......

 

Don't worry, when I first got my truck, I Couldn't get above 11MPG... hehe, I love my truck very much, and recently I got my exhaust done, it sounds sooo good, I can't keep my foot off the gas... But eventually the novelty wears off. I read so many posts on this forums asking about how to get better mileage... One guy said the only real way to get better mileage is to change your driving habits... And his advice has been the most rewarding, no amount of mods will increase your mileage as much as just keeping your foot off the gas pedal...

So for the past week, I have been driving to and from work, making sure that when accelerating from a dead stop, I do not exceed 2000rpms, and when I get up to speed, I do not exceed 1500rpms for any reason. I used to weave in and out of traffic, and try to make sure I was the first one at a stop light, and light up the tires when taking off and stuff... It's fun for a while, but then you have to fill up every 4 days...

Driving like a sane person, I have repeatedly acheived 15-16MPG in the city.

 

After 3000 miles, my last trip on the highway I scored 19 MPG...I'm happy

 

from the FAQ:

DRIVING HABITS

In the Cummins White Paper they cite a study where there was a 30% variation
in MPG between professional drivers in the exact same truck over the same
route. This is similar to GM research, such as this from from page A3 of The
Wall St Journal on 11-21-2005:
"Roger Clark, GM's senior manager of energy and drive quality in North
America, said the current test does a good job measuring average mileage but
the problem is the variation in how people drive. He cited a GM Study of 209
people driving the same midsize SUV. The fuel economy varied from about 13
miles per gallon to 23 miles per gallon, depending on the driver."

There are 'experts' at driving to get the best MPG. You can read about
John and Helen Taylor, a husband & wife couple who are sponsored by
Shell and have won many contests at this link:

http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/SC0601/S00020.htm

Note the list of good driving techniques for better MPG near the end of the
article about the Taylors.

 

'06 Laramie and I am getting mid 16's overall on corn contaminated gas. Mileage was close to 19 on a tank of uncontaminated pure gasoline. Now if a station a little closer to home will start carrying pure gas over corn gas I would use it all the time. The corn content gas kills mileage to the tune of 20% or so.

 

I have an 05 and the computer says that I get 13.2 on average with mixed driving. From what I hear the added MDS does not account for huge gains in the truck due to weight. Is effective at a low freeway speed, around 55, and I know that no one (at least in California) drives 55. Not even in a residential area. On the freeway the computer said it was 19.5 at 70-80. If you keep the RPM under 2k then you optimize fuel on the truck.

 

Up here on the plains we go like hell sometimes, but I prefer a little calmer pace. I run between 65-70 and most of my driving is highway. I can feel the ever so slight throb of the MDS operation most of the time. Gas makes the biggest difference up here. Pure gas and the mileage shoots up. Ethanol contaminated and it takes a dump. I would estimate that 80% of my driving is in MDS mode.

 

On the MDS 5.7V8 Rams
aerodynamic mods and lower rolling resistance tires
are even more important.

If you can lower the engine load below 40% then the MDS will kick in
and give even more MPG benefit.

It is true that on a 'totally stock' Ram the MDS will only kick in below 60 mph
unless you have a tailwind or are going slightly downhill.

But if you improve the aero with tonneau, a suspension drop, airtabs...
then improve rolling resistance with high air pressure, best make of tire....
it would be possible to get the MDS to kick in at 70 mph.

Here's a repost of what a Magnum wagon with MDS 5.7V8 found using an OBD-II scanner called a 'Scangauge' found is necessary to get the MDS to kick in:
quote
I don't know how common the knowledge is on the MDS disengaging when not in "D", but that is the way it works. Since installing my MDS 'ON" indicator light and ScanGauge, I have been able to figure out a lot of the parameters that are required to make it work. Here are a few: coolant temp. 120 or >, gear selector in "D", oil pressure at least 40 PSI or > (some say it should work as low as 20 PSI, but mine won't below 40), engine load below 40%, throttle position less than 20%, 15-20 mph must be in second gear, 23-30 mph must be in 3rd gear, and 33-about 42 must be in 4th gear. I am sure there are others too, but those are the ones I have observed and can monitor with EVIC or ScanGauge.
end quote

 

Since load on the engine seems to be the most important factor in the MDS kicking in, then wouldn't it be most beneficial to do as AirRam suggested and run lower ratio in the rear end such as 3:92 or 4:10? This would increase the rpm of the motor but would decrease the load on the motor. What do ya'll think? By the way, I appreciate all the comments everyone has made so far..keep them coming.

 

Am I the only one who wishes/thinks they should have put a light or something to tell us when the MDS is in use? I think then you could get a better idea of the patterns and adapt your own driving styles to the MDS to keep it in the MDS mode more often.