Hey Guys,

Looking for some opinions here. First right now I drive an 06 Ram and am considering something to drive back and forth to work (25-30 miles one way of which 60% is hwy) at least on good weather days to save gas. I JUST bought a Pacifica for my wife and we still have her Stratus around. What I am contemplating between is driving her 01 Stratus SE Sedan 2.4L auto...and buying a car I found 98 Avenger 2.0L manual for $2700. I want opinions on if I'd be better off driving the Stratus we already have, or if the extra gear and lighter weight of the Avenger would save enough gas (and the added fun of driving a stick) to make the purchase and sell the Stratus a worthwhile effort.


Thank You in Advance,
Eric

 

Both are good choices, But I like the avenger body style better than the stratus. I think the 2.0 would be a easier to work on.

 

I'm sort of a Mitsubishi Marvel... I had/was around Sapporos, Conquests, and Lasers growing up...I don't know for sure if the 2.0 is easier to work on, but I am definitely more familiar with it than I am the 2.4...although I have been maintaining the 2.4 for 7 yrs now, but so far hasn't needed anything cept timing belt.

 

If you already have the sedan why spend the money on something else? There's tons that can be done to make it more fun and efficient.

 

Well, it's a Sedan...I'm a truck guy or a sports car guy...I think is the biggest reason why I am considering a different purchase. That and I think I can get something with a stick shift for a bit less than I can sell the Stratus for...

I guess I don't know if they are selling, but they are listed on Autotrader in my area $2900-$7000 with an average of $4510. There is one for $2900 and one for $2995 that are total crapshoot banged up beaters compared to the one I have.

I figure I should be able to get about $4000 out of mine based on that criterium...and am hoping to get a 4 cyl stick besides a neon for $1500-$2000.

But for S's and G's what are some things I can do for more MPG out of the Stratus...I was disappointed by it a couple times...I went to a few job interviews 1.5-2 hours away so I took the Stratus and one time I was going to the same area to work on a friends house, so I needed my truck. one time the Stratus blew the truck away in MPG making the trip, but then another time it got the same as my truck, and to me wasn't worth the hit or miss chance that I'd get better MPG to not have my truck. At least with a stick shift I wont feel like such a girl driving a small car.

 

I have a 2.7 v6 sedan and I average over 30. You should be able to blow that away with the 2.4. You can install an intake, header, exhaust, those are good/cheap starting points.

As far as sports, my sedan stock will hold its own against "sports cars" in the corners, but has the nice ride and cruising comfort they lack.

My opinion here but $2700 sounds high for a 98. There's a 97 by me with 120k that needs nothing for $1200. And unless you know the entire history of the avenger you could end up sticking tons in it to keep it going.
You know your sedan is reliable and you've done the work so you know the history.

 

Wow, 30 MPG, this thing never touched that...I think it got about 26 on one of my trips I mentioned and about 18 on the next...which my truck gets 18 HWY so I never drove the Stratus again...

Besides the standard clean air filter and run injector cleaner, what else should I be looking at to improve MPG, like things most likely needing fixed, not the mods you mentioned. BTW there is no CEL on or anything, seems to run like a top.

As far as the avenger goes that I mentioned, I wouldn't actually pay 2700 for it, I just meant it was listed at that. Also, I think I just miss drivign a stick.

Out of curiousity, how hard/expensive would it be to throw a stick in this Stratus?? I've changed a Conquest from auto to stick with no major issues, so I am definitely capable.

I'm not looking for much performance, just a little more passing power and more MPG, I understand that more freely flowing intake and exhaust will improve both, which is fine, but I don't want to sink a ton of money into a car to make it more efficient...it seems it'd take a while to repay the investment...and what if I wreck the car, then I spent all that money on major improvments with little return. Also, when you mention intake as a mod/improvment, do you mean just a CAI, or like a more freely flowing manifold (essientially a header, but for the other side)? And what would be a good starting point in choosing exahust, like I said, I don't care about performance only gains, and don't really want it to have that sound like I have a performance exhaust.

 

I have a cai, custom headers, full exhaust, the ecu has been remapped, so I have substantial money in mine. Just a cai, and exhaust should net you gains.
As far as swapping to manual Ihave no clue on the 4 cyl.
Your mpg seems really low to me. I can average 34 cruising all highway. Only time I dropped under 20 was when my converters were plugged.

 

I know the srt4 driveline can be bolted in not sure if the trans will work with the regular 2.4 though? Might be an option

 

Now I'm looking more into a Coupe Stratus. Found on a few different websites though the sites varied actual MPG ratings, but they all agreed on this...that a Stratus R/T stick gets the same or only 1 MPG worse than the 4 cyl stick Coupe...so I'd have the extra performance over a 4 cyl to play around with from time to time, all the while getting good commuting gas mileage...I don't need something with a lot of performace at this point as my truck for being as heavy as it is will hold it's own against MOST, if that doesn't do it for me I can bust out my dad's Cuda...also as mentioned in another thread I am looking to build a decently fast play-car