2023 Ram MPG Upgrades - Hemi E-torque

[23RAM]

If you believe you're legitimately getting that mileage, good for you but obviously others rightfully question it and the math clearly shows that your way is inaccurate.

Your math claims my speed is wrong, but it's not, you're not calculating the actual time correctly. Even if I was only doing 65 according to your flawed assumptions, it doesn't change the fact that the computer onboard is fairly accurate (my boat has a fuel consumption meter and it's just as accurate). I've hand calculated averaged mileage from tank to tank, and the computer is bang on with the measurements (16-18 mpg combined). So when my display shows 23.5, it's actually 23.5 for that trip (23.6 actually). Whether or not you believe it, I don't really care, but the photo speaks for itself. Those who say RAMs get crappy mileage are clearly not trying to get good mileage. If I drove around with my foot on the floor all the time, sure I'd get crappy mileage too.

As for the above statement, based on the way you're measuring your fuel mileage, that's not accurate either but as long as you're happy

I came from an SUV with a V6 that got 8-10 mpg towing 5k and sucking fuel. The RAM does 10-12 towing the same 5k trailer and just lumbers along nicely. Yup I'm happy.

 

[BowDown]

Sure doesn't take much to blow up a simple discussion

Well you always have that contingment to people to try to make stuff up.

The original question is already answered, there's nothing you can do with these trucks short of how you drive them that will improve mileage once you've configured it the way you want. I.e gears camper shells weight et al.

 

[BowDown]

Your math claims my speed is wrong, but it's not, you're not calculating the actual time correctly. Even if I was only doing 65 according to your flawed assumptions, it doesn't change the fact that the computer onboard is fairly accurate (my boat has a fuel consumption meter and it's just as accurate). I've hand calculated averaged mileage from tank to tank, and the computer is bang on with the measurements (16-18 mpg combined). So when my display shows 23.5, it's actually 23.5 for that trip (23.6 actually). Whether or not you believe it, I don't really care, but the photo speaks for itself. Those who say RAMs get crappy mileage are clearly not trying to get good mileage. If I drove around with my foot on the floor all the time, sure I'd get crappy mileage too.

I came from an SUV with a V6 that got 8-10 mpg towing 5k and sucking fuel. The RAM does 10-12 towing the same 5k trailer and just lumbers along nicely. Yup I'm happy.

No, the math isn't wrong, You posted a pic of your trip computer with time and distance and from that we can calculate your average speed. I never said your miles per gallon was wrong I said your miles per gallon at that speed were wrong as a math shows. You can make whatever claims you want but the math is the math.

You can exclude whatever amount of time that you want to make your claim look accurate but the trip computer shows the truth , period end of discussion.
You got caught by the math and try to exclude data that you don't find complimentary to your argument. If I exclude out stop signs, idling l, and driving uphill I bet my mpg goes up too. And for the record, I'm one of those that believe the trip computer is very accurate

 

[BowDown]

Be careful he gets mad when you say his numbers are off.

23mpg with 3.92s, LOL.

I'm seeing that

 

[23RAM]

No, the math isn't wrong, You posted a pic of your trip computer with time and distance and from that we can calculate your average speed. I never said your miles per gallon was wrong I said your miles per gallon at that speed were wrong as a math shows. You can make whatever claims you want but the math is the math.

Again you're right, the math from the pic says I was doing 65. That's wrong, but I guess I'm a horrible person for clarifying the example provided. And the pic was to prove 23 mpg is possible with 3.92 gears, not how fast I was going.

Since math is fun, let's provide another example. Yesterday after work I did a quick run across the highway - 20 km or 12 miles. I stopped just off the exit at the mall to text my wife, then she called me and we chatted for a few minutes before I parked and went inside. Total travel time to my destination was 20 minutes. By that math (12 / 0.33 = 36) I was doing 36 mph on the highway. The math is right, so I must have been doing 36 not 68 because math doesn't lie.

You can exclude whatever amount of time that you want to make your claim look accurate but the trip computer shows the truth , period end of discussion.
You got caught by the math and try to exclude data that you don't find complimentary to your argument. If I exclude out stop signs, idling l, and driving uphill I bet my mpg goes up too. And for the record, I'm one of those that believe the trip computer is very accurate

Again, you can say what you want, it doesn't change the fact I was driving 68 on the highway.

And those who claim it's impossible to hit 23 mpg in a truck with 3.92 gears are clearly wrong.

 

[Darksteel165]

And those who claim it's impossible to hit 23 mpg in a truck with 3.92 gears are clearly wrong.

It's not impossible. It's very possible if you are driving down a mountain with the wind pushing you down. Flat highways? Nope, not possible.

You keep resetting your trip meter to show fake numbers, your original post somewhere even admitted that. Show us a full tank of mpg, 400 miles and that's the real mpg.

 

[theblet]

Installation mg performance enhancing parts isn’t going to increase mpg. That’s counterintuitive.

The only thing you can do it baby it, stay out the city, don’t remote start or idle, set the cruise when you can, and keep it 55mph and under.

 

[23RAM]

It's not impossible. It's very possible if you are driving down a mountain with the wind pushing you down. Flat highways? Nope, not possible.

It's very possible. I want to know what I'm getting on the highway, and I get 23.

You keep resetting your trip meter to show fake numbers, your original post somewhere even admitted that. Show us a full tank of mpg, 400 miles and that's the real mpg.

Yes that's true if you want an average mpg. As I already mentioned, my average last tank was 17.7. In the winter my average plummets to about 12 but that's not the mpg I get when driving, that's a lot of idling and warm up time which is not representative of actual mileage when driving. I know I get 0.0 mpg sitting in the driveway. Is it fair to say I 12 mpg because the engine is running while waiting in the vehicle at -20 degrees? No that is not a fair comparison to driving on a warm summer day.

The point here is the OP wants to increase current mileage, and the only way to do that is driving style. I don't need to do anything extra because I'm already getting the claimed mileage on the window sticker (better actually), even though you say RAM lies about it. Mine is right. Maybe you have a defective truck?

 

[23RAM]

The only thing you can do it baby it, stay out the city, don’t remote start or idle, set the cruise when you can, and keep it 55mph and under.

I find the sweet spot is anywhere between 50-68 with 3.92 gears. If I go above about 70 the mileage drops off as the rpm climbs to 2k and the VVT starts to open up.

I drive on the highway fairly often because I live close to it, but not long distances regularly so I'm happy with the mileage I'm getting with the 3.92 gears...it's better than I expected, especially when towing.

 

[Trooper4]

I think were going to have to shoot this horse again.

 

[millerbjm]

Has anyone actually had any luck with upgrades that make a difference in MPG?
I know the biggest factor is the driver, and I also know most cars may benefit from a throttle body spacer, cold air intake, tuner, and sometimes exhaust.
With all that said, has anyone actually installed anything and noticed a difference? Even if it was 3-5 different things that were installed to make a difference?

P.S. I know these are trucks and not cars or a prius.... but I have kids in travel sports and drive 40-50k miles a year so anything helps.

The only things that will help over time are pretty simple - keep the truck as light as possible - i.e. no extra gear in the bed or storage spaces if you don't need it. Make sure tire pressure stays as high as appropriate, accelerate slow and anticipate stops, drive in ways that maximise auto start/stop and MDS, keep fuel levels lower by filling up to only 1/4 or 1/2 tank each stop or drive until empty before filling rather than always topping off to full, keep up on maintenance etc.

 

[theblet]

The only things that will help over time are pretty simple - keep the truck as light as possible - i.e. no extra gear in the bed or storage spaces if you don't need it. Make sure tire pressure stays as high as appropriate, accelerate slow and anticipate stops, drive in ways that maximise auto start/stop and MDS, keep fuel levels lower by filling up to only 1/4 or 1/2 tank each stop or drive until empty before filling rather than always topping off to full, keep up on maintenance etc.

Sounds boring. I’d rather just fill it up and drive the f$ck out of it

 

[BowDown]

Again you're right, the math from the pic says I was doing 65. That's wrong, but I guess I'm a horrible person for clarifying the example provided. And the pic was to prove 23 mpg is possible with 3.92 gears, not how fast I was going.

Since math is fun, let's provide another example. Yesterday after work I did a quick run across the highway - 20 km or 12 miles. I stopped just off the exit at the mall to text my wife, then she called me and we chatted for a few minutes before I parked and went inside. Total travel time to my destination was 20 minutes. By that math (12 / 0.33 = 36) I was doing 36 mph on the highway. The math is right, so I must have been doing 36 not 68 because math doesn't lie.

Again, you can say what you want, it doesn't change the fact I was driving 68 on the highway.

And those who claim it's impossible to hit 23 mpg in a truck with 3.92 gears are clearly wrong.

Hell, I can take a pic proving 99 mpg is possible but that doesn't mean its accurate.
For your argument, lets clear something up, NO ONE believes 23 mpg isn't possible with 3.92 gears. Its just that its not possible at the speeds you keep citing evidenced by the many owners here saying exactly that. Secondly, you again are cherry picking mileage in favorable conditions and calling that your highway mpg, that's inaccurate and no one looks at or measures fuel economy in that manner.

Since math is fun, let's provide another example. Yesterday after work I did a quick run across the highway - 20 km or 12 miles. I stopped just off the exit at the mall to text my wife, then she called me and we chatted for a few minutes before I parked and went inside. Total travel time to my destination was 20 minutes. By that math (12 / 0.33 = 36) I was doing 36 mph on the highway. The math is right, so I must have been doing 36 not 68 because math doesn't lie.

If your engine was running and consuming fuel, is that not part of your fuel economy? The fact you fail to see this is why you are coming up with a suspect and inaccurate accounting of MPG. When most of us that actually track mileage, we don't hand calc out idle time, time the engine was running when talking on the phone, going up hills, stop lights, head winds ect. We calc the fuel consumed and the mileage between the last fill up and the current fill up. You're getting on the highway, getting up to speed then hitting reset on your trip computer and calling that your highway economy.

As for math is fun, you need to understand that mpg is calculated by fuel use, operative words being fuel use, so yes, your example of 12 miles and 20 minutes travel time do indeed equal 36 mph average because you chose to spend fuel sitting still. Notice what you said and what I said, you claimed 36 mph on the highway, I said 36 mph average.

Again, make claims you need to make to make yourself feel better but don't pass it off to us like were stupid and expect us to believe it. No one has a magical truck that's able to achieve what others cant in terms of fuel economy.

Now, be real and go drive 100, 200, 300 , 400 miles on the highway and get your real economy

 

[DeanM2]

If mileage is really important, why did you buy a full size pickup with a big V8? There's plenty of other options with better mileage.

Having said that, in theory yes you will get slightly better mileage with taller gearing. However your wallet probably won't notice the difference after paying for the swap. RAMs come with 3.21, 3.55, or 3.92 rear ends and your driving habits will likely make a bigger impact on MPG than the gearing. I chose 3.92 for max towing capacity although I only tow about 5k, so the engine and tranny doesn't work as hard with the lower gearing. I get 22-23 driving on the highway at 65-68 mph with two people, a full tank of gas and empty truck. A bed cover doesn't make any difference either, but I have a hard cover for security and to keep my spray-in bed liner clean.

I recently grabbed a pic from a highway run of about 40 miles and hit 23.6 mpg. I reset my trip as soon as I was on the highway and up to speed, and set the cruise at 68 mph. I'm driving a CDN truck so it shows in km but I have the mpg set as US gallons for direct comparisons. I took this pic when I stopped at the light at the end of the off ramp where it dropped to 23.5 as seen in the pic below (click to enlarge):

View attachment 165883

Mileage (money) is always important.
I find that my average highway speed is more like 75+ mph, which is what other traffic is doing. So I am thinking taller gears would help mpg.
Also. Living in Kalifornia, I pay about $1.50 per gallon more than other states.

 

[BowDown]

The only things that will help over time are pretty simple - keep the truck as light as possible - i.e. no extra gear in the bed or storage spaces if you don't need it. Make sure tire pressure stays as high as appropriate, accelerate slow and anticipate stops, drive in ways that maximise auto start/stop and MDS, keep fuel levels lower by filling up to only 1/4 or 1/2 tank each stop or drive until empty before filling rather than always topping off to full, keep up on maintenance etc.

Man that's race car at the track S, I aint doing all that in this truck (now my car, I do that all the time ). Short of pulling a loaded trailer, nothing I carry in the truck has effected mpg. To me this is 100% two things, the chosen rear gear and driving styles

 

[BowDown]

Mileage (money) is always important.
I find that my average highway speed is more like 75+ mph, which is what other traffic is doing. So I am thinking taller gears would help mpg.
Also. Living in Kalifornia, I pay about $1.50 per gallon more than other states.

It absolutely would, I'm in the same situation as you and purposely sought out and bought a 3.21 truck for this very reason. My previous truck was a 3.92 truck and I towed with it maybe 10 times over the time I had it but drove in Dallas and Dallas to Houston frequently; 3.92, never again. Best I managed with that truck was 20 mpg going north on I35 from San Antonio to Dallas and that was with a tail wind. Dallas to Houston was never better than 17-18 mpg in that truck at 65-68 mph which strangely seems inline with 5th gen 3.92 trucks.

 

[23RAM]

Mileage (money) is always important.
I find that my average highway speed is more like 75+ mph, which is what other traffic is doing.

Unfortunately for us the speed limit here is 100 km/h or 62 mph. If I was doing 75+ (120+ km/h) tickets would start to pile up.

So I am thinking taller gears would help mpg.

Taller gears would help if you don't need/want towing or cargo capability.
But then I have to question why buy a full size pickup if you don't need the cargo/towing capability?
I bought the RAM for it's capabilities, not for a daily driver to work and back.

Also. Living in Kalifornia, I pay about $1.50 per gallon more than other states.

Yeah I get that...we're paying over $6 a gallon here too.

 

[23RAM]

For your argument, lets clear something up, NO ONE believes 23 mpg isn't possible with 3.92 gears. Its just that its not possible at the speeds you keep citing

Except the whole purpose of my post was to prove that 23 mpg absolutely is possible at 68 mph with 3.92 gears. If you don't believe it...ok...fine.

 

[cskindt]

Except the whole purpose of my post was to prove that 23 mpg absolutely is possible at 68 mph with 3.92 gears. If you don't believe it...ok...fine.

With a tail-wind?

 

[23RAM]

With a tail-wind?

Nope, no tailwind.
I regularly hit 23 at 65-68. But not 70+ where the mpg drops off fast when the engine hits 2k rpm and the VVT starts to open it up. The key is watching your rpm and speed - don't go over 68 or 2k rpm with 3.92 gears and let it cruise along. I hit 24+ at 50-55 daily driving to work.

Oddly enough I had a hilly 1 hour drive recently and I thought my mileage would really suffer because of the uphill climbs. But no, the downhill runs kick in MDS and get crazy high mpg which averages out the drive. My SUV doesn't do MDS or similar so hilly drives with the V6 is pretty close to the RAM with a big V8. I was expecting much worse mileage with the big and heavy RAM, but I've been pleasantly surprised with it's fuel consumption for a truck that weighs 1700 lbs more than the SUV.