What's new
By:
5thGenRams Forums

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

HOW TO SAVE GAS?

DoubleDee said:
Hey guys, just incase I want to lol....how do I save gas? This truck has no modes like eco mode... yes it has the eco light that tells you that you are in 4 cylinder mode...but it barely ever comes in lol...any advice?
Click to expand...
If you are concerned about gas...you should never have bought a truck ;)
 
Actually I somewhat disagree with the "eggshell acceleration". A couple of us on here discovered a while ago that it's better to have a more confident and brisk acceleration, but don't over do it either. Just get up to speed relatively quickly and then immediately feather it once you're there. The idea is to maximize the amount of time your truck sits in MDS or in low rpms. When you accelerate slowly, you drag out the amount of time your truck is revving up.

That's the theory, I no longer use MDS so I don't know how accurate it is anymore, but just another approach you could try.
 
silver billet said:
Actually I somewhat disagree with the "eggshell acceleration". A couple of us on here discovered a while ago that it's better to have a more confident and brisk acceleration, but don't over do it either. Just get up to speed relatively quickly and then immediately feather it once you're there. The idea is to maximize the amount of time your truck sits in MDS or in low rpms. When you accelerate slowly, you drag out the amount of time your truck is revving up.

That's the theory, I no longer use MDS so I don't know how accurate it is anymore, but just another approach you could try.
Click to expand...
I refuse to do anything like that, takes all the driving fun out of it...
 
Gasoline's blended with Ethanol will lower MPG in most engines. The EPA says Fuel efficiency can decrease by 1.5% to 3%.

Also summer blends contain about 1.7% more energy than winter gasoline. ⛽
 
securityguy said:
Sorry...but anyone that buys a RAM and then looks to save on gas is...well.......................
Click to expand...

Nobody "buys a truck to save gas". Many people buy a truck to do truck things, but still want to maximize the MPG when the truck is not doing truck things. I'm not sure why this is such hard a concept to understand, but ............... :)
 
silver billet said:
Nobody "buys a truck to save gas". Many people buy a truck to do truck things, but still want to maximize the MPG when the truck is not doing truck things. I'm not sure why this is such hard a concept to understand, but ............... :)
Click to expand...
Enjoy your truck...it's an 8-cylinder HEMI that wants you to stomp on the accelerator. What will you save each month by attempting to hypermile a HEMI...$5 in gas? I get the "concept"...I just feel it's...well.......................
 
securityguy said:
Enjoy your truck...it's an 8-cylinder HEMI that wants you to stomp on the accelerator. What will you save each month by attempting to hypermile a HEMI...$5 in gas? I get the "concept"...I just feel it's...well.......................
Click to expand...

I don't try to save gas. I run around with MDS disabled, remember?

I bought my truck to tow my travel trailer, and it's also my daily driver. I'm sure you can imagine that a small portion of the life of my truck is working pretty hard, the rest of it is just sunday strolling around. It's perfectly understandable if some want to reduce their gas. Others buy a truck because it's a large, comfortable, and extremely capable "family hauler" that can go anywhere and do anything and haul stuff from Home Depot. Perhaps the 3.6 is the better choice there, but still.

But yeah, agreed, that hemi does encourage one to bury the foot.......
 
silver billet said:
I don't try to save gas. I run around with MDS disabled, remember?

I bought my truck to tow my travel trailer, and it's also my daily driver. I'm sure you can imagine that a small portion of the life of my truck is working pretty hard, the rest of it is just sunday strolling around. It's perfectly understandable if some want to reduce their gas. Others buy a truck because it's a large, comfortable, and extremely capable "family hauler" that can go anywhere and do anything and haul stuff from Home Depot. Perhaps the 3.6 is the better choice there, but still.

But yeah, agreed, that hemi does encourage one to bury the foot.......
Click to expand...
AMEN Brother...right there with you my friend! My truck is just one big TOY. It will see mulch in the bed twice a year and that's about it :ROFLMAO: I've always loved trucks would never buy anything less than a V8, and the HEMI is one sweet motor mated to the excellent 8-speed tranny. My foot is always depressed hard into my accelerator so I can hear that beautiful HEMI rumble:)
 
One tip you guys forgot was to avoid accelerating up hills. If no one is around, avoid using more gas at all up hill, and catch the speed back up going downhill. Especially with something like a truck that weighs 5,000lb, even going up 10ft in elevation is a lot of energy. Accelerating 5,000 pounds in addition to building the potential energy due to gravity may feel like pressing the gas a little more, but over the course of a tank of gas it's a considerable difference.

As far as stopping goes, every time you stop you're turning that gas you just burned into heat. Again, if you don't have a reason to get to a stop immediately, just coast. staying on the gas 500 feet before slamming on the brake for a light is way less efficient and way harder on the truck than seeing a red light 500 feet away lifting off the gas, and letting the drag of the truck (and eTorque, if you have it) slow you down. For eTorque, some light braking will let it turn even more of that energy into electricity versus one second of braking. It's a habit a lot of people have, but trust me... the light will still be red regardless of how fast you get to it. Around town if no one is around, some lights are short enough I can just coast until they turn green again - less fuel burned, less wear on the truck, and I'm even faster through the intersection than had I come to a full stop.

On idling, as others have pointed out, it's still a big V8 with port fuel injection. We don't have the complexity of a high pressure direct injection system - which is great - but that also means the fuel delivery at idle is less precise so you're going to burn ~2 Oz of fuel every minute (as mentioned before), and it's WORSE when the engine is cold because it's running richer to combat detonation.

TL;DR - drive gently or coast going up hills or toward stop lights, and avoid idling and hard driving when the engine is cold (this is also in the owner's manual).

Yeah, trucks aren't designed to be efficient, but if you need a truck you need a truck. No reason to spend more on gas and wear/ tear if you don't have to.
 
Last edited:
My truck has 2800 KM on it and I am averaging 17-18.5 MPG combined, which I think its pretty good.
 
Just took a 500 mile trip...250 miles each way. Averaged 80 mph on the highway and 16.3 mpg. Kept it on ACC 90+ % of the drive.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)

Site Vendors

https://www.jasonlewisautomotive.com/

Members online

Total: 468 (members: 46, guests: 422)
Back
Top