The variances can indeed be chalked up to driving style except for highway steady state cruise conditions. My 2008 with the old 3.8 will consistently produce beween 24.5 and 25 mpg at 62 MPH, but I seldom cruise at such slow speeds. I get the claimed EPA highway number at 72 MPH. He is getting under 24 MPG at 62 MPH with the 3.6 which looks at least 15% lower than nornal.

I outlined the possible causes and I've seen no response on any of them except air pressure. It's just a lot of griping and no action until brakes, fuel, ignition and other possible causes are investigated.

Believing wild gas mileage claims by neighbors and salesman was a mistake. The van is only rated for 25 MPG highway which is the same exact rating as older 3.3's with 4 spd tranny. Older means nothing....my 2001 GC with 210K mi gets the same economy as my 2008. Moral of the story, ignore hype and go by the window sticker.

 

I am not getting 23.81 MPG. That was 1 tank going dead on the speed limit and with no AC and as mentioned was the second best tank I've ever had with the van. I am averaging under 20 MPG combined.

The sticker on the van I bought showed 28 MPG. Which I am not getting close to.

 

I have taken lots of action trying to fix this. As mentioned I have tried all kinds of different tire pressures. I have had the brakes checked and replaced twice since buying the van. I mentioned that I used only name brand fuel wherever possible. (Which is almost all of the time) Believe me when I say I have tried lots of things to improve my mileage.

I wasn't born yesterday and I am by no means a chimp. I have been around the car industry my whole life and I know not to believe anything a salesman tells you without proof. I however saw hard data from 3 friends and neighbours who own 2012 Grand Caravans. Each of them gets in the high 20s on the highway and each of them has combined MPG in the 22 - 24 MPG range. I have seen the data on paper.

I have yet to speak to an owner of a 2012 Grand Caravan who is getting worse mileage than my van. I have been told by the Service Manager at my local dealer that I should be getting better. Especially on the highway. Problem is, they are not willing to do anything about it...

 

how did I end up on the girl scouts forum?

 

Check this thread for what others are getting: http://forum.chryslerminivan.net/sho...-the-Pentastar

You ignored my advice to change your air filter, which might just cost you $12 or so.

Here are some posts from that thread:

I just completed an 1800 mile trip from Arizona to Minnesota. At the beginning of the trip the odometer was at 500 miles. The EVIC mpg for the completed trip was 27.1. The elapsed driving time was approximately 29 hours and the average speed was 64 mph. The miles were almost exclusively freeway miles, driven at 75+ mph. Winds were generally strong and variable. I would say that on balance winds were favorable on this trip, as they typically are when traveling from west to east. I used regular fuel, the cheapest available. Thank you GasBuddy. My tanks in Colorado and Nebraska were 85 octane. We had two occupants and several hundred pounds of stuff, the van was full. My tire pressure readings were all at 41 PSI.

Just did a trip from Michigan to Iowa this weekend. EVIC was at a steady 26mpg while averaging about 75-80mph on the trip. We had a lot of strong crosswinds which didn't upset the van too much, but there were instances where I wished I was in something a little less taller!

It would be great if everyone would prove the EVIC claims with an accurate calc of MILES DRIVEN vs FUEL CONSUMED. My experience with two different vehicles has shown the EVIC to be right-on to an error as high as 12%.

I just completed a 225 mile round trip. I took readings for the highway miles to/from. My EVIC reading was 27.2 in one direction and 28.2 in the other direction. It wa 14.5 for the urban driving I did, once I reached my destination. Winds were somewhat more favorable in the 28.2 direction than they were opposed in the 27.2 direction.

I would sooner trust the EVIC than hand calculations for trips of this length. I do 1500-1800 mile trips at least a half dozen times per year. What I have found, with three different vehicles, is that on a tank by tank basis the hand method will normally be different than the computer but that over the course of a long trip there is excellent agreement. This tells me that the computer is, in all likelihood, correct on an ongoing basis and that the hand method is correct only in the long run, likely due to fill inconsistencies.

If you believe that the computer is wrong, then you folks might want to provide evidence of it. I suggest resetting your computer, then running at least a half dozen tankfuls without resetting it again, then comparing the hand method with the computer. If the computer is wrong, you can report what the percent error is, and we can apply a correction factor to EVIC readings, or at least be more incentivized to do hand calculations. The fact that you are reporting tank to tank discrepencies gives no indication of which measure is right and which us wrong. If there is a 12% difference, how can we say which is right and which is wrong?

In the meantime, I will state that in my experience a computer reading tends to be more accurate on a tank by tank measurement basis than a hand calculation, probably due to filling inconsistencies. The Chrysler computer may in fact be inaccurate, but I see no evidence in the posts to support the notion.

Here are the individual tanks if anyone is interested:
Date, Odometer, Miles, Gallons, MPG, Cost, Cost per gallon
6/9/2012 28608 294.8 12.192 24.18 $45.22 $3.709 (Fort Mohave,AZ to Washington, UT)
6/10/2012 28948 339.6 15.569 21.81 $59.30 $3.809 (Washington to Moab, UT)
6/11/2012 29281 333.6 15.003 22.24 $58.35 $3.889 (Moab to Silverthorne, CO)
6/11/2012 29521 239.2 8.103 29.52 $28.03 $3.459 (Silverthorne to Burns, WY -- through Rocky Mtn park - 12,134 feet above sea level!)
6/12/2012 29746 225.4 9.044 24.92 $31.64 $3.499 (Burns to Chadron, NE)
6/12/2012 30053 306.4 12.279 24.95 $45.30 $3.689 (Chadron to Bowman, ND)

Last freeway trip EVIC indicated 22.1 mpg, it was 98 degrees outside while pushing 75 mph most of the way. Have not filled up yet to get actual. Don't know how temp affects mpg, but would be nice to find a chart somewhere. The 2011 is a bit heavier frame with sto&go, more safety hardware and more power in the 3.6 L, so I think it does not do as well in mpg as our previous 2004 non-sto&go, smaller and lighter T&C with the 3.8, even though the gov fuel economy site rates each of them the same. Some features we really like, some things not, like steering quicker and firmer ride. Wife loves the back up cam and DVD/ mp3/Sirius radio system. We bought the T&C again because of the sliding doors !! Stay cool, suppose to be 100 here today in So MN !!

We just completed a 3000 mile round trip. I reset the EVIC at the beginning and took a final reading at my final fill up. Most miles were freeway, but all trip miles were included. Freeway speed was 70 or 75, depending on the speed limit. Winds were slightly opposing, on average. The computer said 27.6. Pencil and paper said 26.2. This is a 5% difference. My previous difference was 11% for a long trip. The most recent trip was quite a bit longer, so I consider the 5% number to be more accurate. In any event, fuel economy with this van is excellent.

Update: Finished up with the E85 trial (couldn't find any more stations where we were headed!):
E85:
18.42 mpg paper and pencil, 18.6 EVIC indicated
1487.2 miles, 80.719 gallons E85 = 18.42 mpg

And took the trip from ND back to AZ and have the following:
Regular fuel:
22.61 mpg paper and pencil, 23.3 EVIC indicated
1354.1 miles, 59.870 gallons = 22.61 mpg

I'm getting really amazing mileage. I ALWAYS have Eco mode on. Both my '11 Grand Caravan and '12 Town and Country get a solid 28 mpg on a long freeway drive (T&C got 28.1 mpg from Indianapolis to Flint, with one stop at the Michigan Welcome Center, steady 75 mph). I can drive 50 miles to work in Saginaw, including 4-5 miles on streets, and 45 on freeways, and I always beat 25.0 mpg! For fun, I filled up with E85 in the Grand Caravan after running it almost bone dry on fumes and then I babied it driving to work...strict 70 mph, eco, coasting to exit ramp, timing the few lights--got 23.4 mpg (well in excess of the 12/18 E85 rating.)

I am averaging about 20 MPG in town with about 60 percent city and 40 percent suburban driving. On a 300 mile trip, almost all highway at speeds of 65 - 70 MPH, I got 28.5 MPG. Econ mode was used on the highway. In other driving, econ mode appears to help improve MPG by half a mile per gallon. I usually leave econ mode off except on the highway as the shift characteristics with econ mode is a bit annoying.

bought my 2012 grand caravan at the end of may. my wife and i took it to frankenmuth in june and got 33mpg out of it. at the beginning of july we drove to PEI and back [3000mi] on $600 of gas. we had a large roof top carrier and our 3 220lb sons and the thing was packed full. avg was 25-28mpg and that is with the ac on and driving 70mph and really hot and especially large hills in new brunswick. tried E85 in it but it didnt seem to like it as much as reg fuel. i am impressed not only with the fuel mileage but also the pentastar/ 6 speed performance. next year maybe florida....cheers

 

Here's a great study on air filters. Best ones to get are Amsoil or Napa Gold.
http://www.gmtruckcentral.com/articl...ter-study.html

http://www.amsoil.com/shop/by-produc...s-systems/air/

 

You live in Canada, right? The Canadian's Sticker Fuel Economy is Bloated(blame it on your government, they wrote the Fuel Economy testing procedures). Check the US site. Caravan is rated at 17/25. So your Fuel Economy is up to US standard. Most Customers I have with Caravan shows about 18-22 MPG on their dash.

 

I neglected to mention that I change my air filter with every oil change. I have always used the Amsoil recommended Wix air filter in all my vehicles.

 

I'm just trying to get better mileage on my van. I am not selling cookies.

 

BINGO!

You say you had your brakes replaced twice in 20K mi???????????????????? Christ.

Why??????????????? The answer is: Because they are not releasing due to some major problem or your foot is resting on the pedal.

My man, your brakes are dragging. What sort of gas mileage do you expect to get when the brakes are continuously on and wear out every 10K mi?

Brakes on a minivan need to last at least 25K mi or they are dragging, period. You are not on a 15 turn track seeing deep braking and 130 MPH on straightaways.

Dragging brakes causes premature brake wear out, and obviously,HORRIBLE FUEL ECONOMY. Your engine is working hard against the brakes 24/7 so your fuel tank is being sucked dry. This is a simple cause and effect relationship.

Remember now, I told you to jack up your van and check for brake drag, but I all I heard was a bunch of defensive responses (hey, I did everything already). Let me assure you that you will continue to get dismal fuel economy until the dragging brake issue is fixed and they last 25K mi or more. I suspect the floating caliper sliding pins are rusted or brackets have packout rust preventing the pads from releasing. Read my prior posts on this topic. Hint: replacing worn out pads again and again and again and again will not fix your problem. The pads, rotors and calipers are NOT the defective parts I'm speaking about that often cause the drag problem. The defective parts will likely include brackets, pins or springs and a lack of lubricant in key areas. It's all in the service manual that nobody reads or uses. There's an outside chance that a piston is stuck or hose collapsed, but I doubt it.

The dealer tech will not find or fix this issue, as I warned you. They will just throw more pads at it.