Ok, if your going to tell me, Why did you buy a charger if your worried about gas mileage, please don't comment. I have a 05 Hemi 1/2 ton Ram and a 06 Daytona #3412. I have tried driving like a old man (no offense to some of you) and my Ram is getting the same mileage as the Daytona. Now here in Nevada the speed limit is 75mph and that isn't the most efficient speed but the truck which weights alot more gets the same mileage without MDS. I seem to be getting about 18-20mpg on both which could be worse, well has been worse if I'm hitting the speed limiter, but the sticker said 25mpg. I know, whaa.[sm=smiley19.gif].whaa, but every little bit helps. I haven't modified my exhaust so I haven't noticed any noise changes so how do I know if my MDS is working. Is there a certian speed which it doesn't work, do I need to reset my PCM. I'm not trying to bitch about the car, I just want to know if something is wrong. I love all my Mopars and I think this Charger is awesome. Hopefully one day the Highway Patrol will switch to Chargers so I'll have 2 in the driveway.

 

That is interesting, I get 18-19+ around town. Not much open highway driving due to the stop-n-go traffic around here.

When MDS kicks in/out I can hear a exhaust tone difference. Some have added a indicator light that turns on when MDS is engaged, see link http://www.lxforums.com/board/showth...=mds+indicator.

It sound like MDS isn't engaging for your charger. Check this thread on MDS reset http://www.lxforums.com/board/showth...ight=reset+mds

Hope this helps.

BTW... what's the curb weight of the RAM?

 

I notice a different sound,mine will kick in at 40mph and even 95mph I noticed it kicking in and out.Till we seen the state trooper ,nailed the brake. He lasered us at 84mph ina 65mph . To bad we were running about 95mph for 70 miles and still got almost 22mpg on the average of 80mph on a 400 mile trip.

 

Make sure you are driving in "D" cause if you use the stick option MDS will not kick in.


kOnO

 

kOnO... good point!

Stick action = no MDS

 

My ram is a 2wd quad cab long bed 1/2 ton w/ 3.55 gears. I'd bet to say curb weight is around the 5,000 pound mark not to mention the huge front end that pushes a ton of air. I'm going to try the reset/calibration for the MDS next time the wife let's me drive the daytona. I also looked into the light switch for the MDS but I'm not to excited about cutting into my engine harness.

 

MoparMike, I just returned from a trip to California to see my Dad for Father's Day and took my two sons and a trunk load of luggage in my Daytona Charger and got 25 avg on the way out for 2,000 miles (I live in Minnesota). I didn't think that was too bad for running +5 most of the way and having three 200 pounders and luggage and the air on. We stopped in your lovely dry state just to fuel up and head to Riverside. After we got back, we averaged a tick under 23 for the entire 4,004 mile trip. Back here I get about 26+ at 60 MPH but it drops quickly after that. During the 75-80 MPH freeway runs we were getting 22+.

I have a K&N Cold Air Intake system (with fresh grill air), a Jet 2 Chip, and a modified exhaust system using Magnaflow exhaust tips.

Our Daytona's use the 2.82 rear gearing.

I am also interested in longevity for the engines. I know in the hotter climates we used to run thicker oil in our squads in California, I know the CHP used to run 10-40 to keep their engines together. Now with this 5-20 (mandatory for the MDS system to work properly) I wonder how it's hold together on your first long hot call in the summer. It'll be interesting to hear.

Also, does your fuel have MTBE in it? That is the RFG (reformulated gasoline) for bigger metro areas to keep the air cleaner, anyway, it takes away from better mileage because it has less BTUs in it -- I'm reading 1-2 or more LESS MPG.

Good luck in your quest, and keep it touch!

 

Moparmike, don’t blame you for not wanting to get into the harness. I dug into mine a little to install a fan on/off switch, it wasn’t a warm fuzzy unwrapping that mess of wires. You got about 1000lbs on the Charger and your absolutely right about the blunt front end, it’s not aerodynamic by any means.

I talked w/a new engineer at work that has a 06 RAM 1500 QC. One of his first questions was gas mileage and MDS. I got off into how MDS works on a Charger then had a brain fart and asked if the shifter was on the column, yes it is… this means there isn’t any auto stick shifting for the RAM and it’s MDS must work a bit differently. We also talked a little about exhaust on the 06 RAM. I sent him a few form links including this form.

Anyhew... I need to do some homework on the 06 RAMs MDS.

On another subject I read that they redesigned the undercarriage of the 06 RAM which makes a dual exhaust setup difficult. Has anyone looked into duals on the 06 RAM Hemi?

 

Thinking about it, Here in Nevada we do have Crappy fuel. I bet it's from California. I have seen on the pumps a sticker saying something about the type of fuel being some sort of blend. Here's a question, should I run 91 octane or maybe 89 with a bottle of booster. If so what booster should I use? Will this jump in cost overcome the poor mileage cost? Another question, does the programers and other goodies improve the MPG. I know when you add these things, everyone gets excited and hammers down but under normal driving. I live in a small town, Overton NV, and I have to drive a good distance for shopping and what not. I don't have any stop lights to race from so distance driving and gas mileage is my concern. If I want to go fast and burn fuel, I'll get the old 440 fired up in the Superbee.

[sm=gears.gif]

 

I am running a CAI,Exhaust,Tuner we run 93 octane all the time.If we have no stop n go,and can cruise for about 40 miles she will get around 20mpg.(average about 17.5mpg in town ) Longer trips she gets better