mileage and suggestions for better mileage (4.7)

So I replaced my gas guzzler jeep grand cherokee with a gas guzzler dodge durango 4.7. I probably "should" have gotten something with better mileage but what fun is that?

Anyway, tips for better mileage? Talking about things that will eventually pay for themself etc.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by BrandonMiller

So I replaced my gas guzzler jeep grand cherokee with a gas guzzler dodge durango 4.7. I probably "should" have gotten something with better mileage but what fun is that?

Anyway, tips for better mileage? Talking about things that will eventually pay for themself etc.

Thanks!

:cricket: :cricket: :staggering silence:

'bout the only thing that's going to get you a significant increase in MPG (maybe) is to get a CAI. I gained +2 MPG from that.

mufflers/exhaust (for the most part, maybe .1-.15 MPG better on the 4.7L if you're lucky) and of course suspension upgrades will not get you better MPG.

allrighty, what is that? outa curiosity what mileage do you get?

After doing the calculations, I figured my $268 CAI investment paid for itself in about 1300 miles. soooo now technically I should have an extra $3200 (16000 miles).... if oil prices were equal to today's.

CAI= Cold Air Intake.

Basically you remove the sound baffles and stock air box and put in an open element filter with straight tube.

Looks like the picture below.

Before the CAI I got 13/13.5 MPG. Now with all my mods and shiznit I get 15.2 regularly and if I just cruise (<65)I'll get up to 16.7/17.1.

ahh cold air intake, that I could understand

You think it helps much over a simple drop in K&N?

Probably, I think the sound baffle and definitely the air box seems to be very restrictive.

If you look at the air box, mine had what I can best describe as a tentacle extending from the bottom of the box into a cavity on the fender. It seemed rediculously restrictive.

Originally Posted by BrandonMiller

So I replaced my gas guzzler jeep grand cherokee with a gas guzzler dodge durango 4.7. I probably "should" have gotten something with better mileage but what fun is that?

Anyway, tips for better mileage? Talking about things that will eventually pay for themself etc.

Thanks!

Yeah, keep the key in the off position and walk. LOL...

I commute 20 miles on a Gary Fisher Cobia (bike) so I use that to justify a lack of good mileage and driving should be fun, without a good healthy skinny pedal how can it be?

Here's a press release describing a project DC gave its staff back in 2002 to improve the Durango 4.7's MPG
------
It's Called MAGIC, But It's Pure Engineering from Chrysler Group

* Small Changes to Engine, Vehicle Add Up to 25 Percent Better Fuel Efficiency

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., June 13, 2002 -------- Chrysler Group
researchers are using a series of small steps in engineering to produce a
giant leap in fuel efficiency that could benefit consumers in the not-too-
distant future.
With a series of engineering changes to Chrysler's standard gasoline-
powered, 4.7-liter V-8 engine, researchers have produced an engine with 14
percent better fuel efficiency. The cost of those changes: less than $200 per
engine. The project has been nicknamed the MAGIC engine, which stands for
Multiple Approaches to Great Internal Combustion. The improvement in fuel
efficiency was achieved with no sacrifice in emissions, power, cost, weight,
engine life or other engine characteristics such as noise, vibration or
harshness.
"We call it the MAGIC engine, but it's really pure engineering," said
Thomas Moore, DaimlerChrysler Vice President and head of the Liberty &
Technical Affairs advanced technology research group in Rochester Hills,
Michigan. "Our goal was to demonstrate that all these little changes actually
work in the real world and add up to major improvements in efficiency. Today
we can say that it all works."
Eight different design and engineering changes were made to the standard
engine. "Most of these changes are not new, and individually, they produce
miniscule gains in fuel efficiency," Moore said. "The idea of the MAGIC
engine is to package them all together so the overall gain is significant."
As a next step, Chrysler engineers packaged the MAGIC engine into a Dodge
Durango SUV with several additional design changes to enhance fuel efficiency.
That vehicle, project Apollo, achieves an overall improvement in fuel
efficiency of 25 percent.

Total additional costs for project Apollo are only about $700 per vehicle.
Areas of improvement are:
* Increased compression ratio (4 percent) -- resulting in greater
efficiency and lower emissions -- through:
+ Intake port air-gap thermal barrier.
Chrysler Group has applied for a patent for this innovative feature.
+ On-demand piston oil-squirters
+ Precision cooling system

* Charge motion control (5 percent). Use of swirl control valves to
enhance flame propagation during warm-up and partial load
This also enables increased EGR (Exhaust Gas Recirculation)

* Friction loss reduction (4 percent). Design changes to lower friction
at no extra cost:
+ Crankshaft offset
+ Reduced oil-ring tension
+ Shortened coolant jacket

* Parasitic loss reduction (1 percent). New design oil pump with reduced
internal leakage and reduced friction

Chrysler Group engineers used the same incremental approach to fuel
efficiency improvements in the Dodge Durango SUV fuel efficiency demonstration
vehicle.

The Apollo project includes the following enhancements:

* A 12V alternator/restarter to allow transparent shutdown and restarting
of a warm engine in stop/start traffic conditions (4 percent)
* Improved cooling technologies, including electronic thermostat,
electric water pump, transmission temperature management and multi-mode
temperature strategy (5 percent)
* Improved undercarriage aerodynamics (belly pans and air dams) and
grille shutters resulting in reduced drag (1.2 percent)
* Electro-hydraulic power steering (1 percent)

"Engineers have been improving the internal combustion engine for 130
years, so big improvements are hard to come by," Moore said. "We made the big
improvement one small step at a time."

was that release on april 1st?

I like how they calculated the total cost per engine... Yeah, per engine straight off the assembly line. It's be like 2 grand or more for all that crap, plus installing it would be impossible without pulling the motor. (I know it wasn't your intent to suggest he actually do all this It is a pretty cool article! Thanks for sharing it!)

The conversion from mechanical-hydraulic to electro-hydraulic alone would be very costly I would think since I doubt you could just do that without the new alternator.

I wonder if they used EPA rules for MPG calculations... (i.e. slower than the avg. driver) Still though 25% improvement would make me go to 19 MPG.

Originally Posted by HankL

With a series of engineering changes to Chrysler's standard gasoline-powered, 4.7-liter V-8 engine, researchers have produced an engine with 14 percent better fuel efficiency. The cost of those changes: less than $200 per engine.

DC is spouting Total BS with their cost estimates.

The cost for these changes would be significantly more as Don as stated. His estimate might be correct if you could do the work yourself, but if you had the work done by a shop I gotta figure you would be better off selling your Durango and buying a Toyota FJ crusier or an H3 to get an SUV with better milage.

Boy sometimes the folks that write these press releases have thier heads stuck up a very dark smelly place.

ps. if these changes were sooo cheap and effective, why the f#@k didn't DC at least offer these as options. They still obviously have not offered these mods to current 4.7L owners. IMO this type of press release is insulting to Durango owners. It is kinda like DC saying Na na na na na na to all Durango owners. How irresponsible of them.

hey canyonD, what is a "TS" lift?

thx

Perhaps we should use the new
'ask DrZ' service
to ask why these 4 year old improvements did not make it to the the standard equipment list.

TS = torsion Shackle. Easy to do, very inexpensive, reliable, rugged, effective and loved by the overwhelming majority of TS owners. You can do a search for hundreds of threads on the lift, or just check the Gen 1 Durango suspension forum. There is a good thread at the top of the forum that is sticky since this is one of the most common Durango mods out there.

Originally Posted by canyonD

DC is spouting Total BS with their cost estimates.

Well, if you consider that instead of needing to buy an additional crank shaft like we would (and all that other crap too, meaning the p/s pump, alt. rings etc.) It may very well only equal an additional $700 straight from the factory... maybe. But for the person who already owns their 4.7L, this is not a realistic option at all.

It is rather daft of them to put this out there like that.

yeah agreed. Makes me think WTF? How does only $200 in added cost not get mandated by the feds when it improves milage by 25%? Someone in washington is really asleep at the switch. How irresponsible of our leadership and how irresponsible of DC.

so what kind of mileage are people getting? How many miles per tank? thx