mpg question..

I have a 2004 Dcab 2.7L

Does 18.5 - 19 mpg city and about 22 mpg sound about right??

it is the dcab, so it is a little heavier im assuming than an access or reg cab. ide like tro get 21 or more city.

what about an afe filter?? no k&n. Im not to fond of the oil

thanks for your help

 

sounds right for stock.
afe , opinions vary , mine i can feel an hp gain but lost mpg, i might pull it cuz i wanted an mpg gain.

 

Yeah that sounds about right. The only benefit to a lifetime air filter is that you will never have to buy another, which is reason enough for me. You might get another horsepower or two at the expense of fuel economy -- I drive like a sissy so I haven't seen any real change. I drive 80% highway and am getting 22.5mpg combined average in my 2006 2.7L 2wd automatic access cab. Check the 'fuel economy' sticky for other simple ways to get better fuel economy (air up tires, use engine braking, synthetic fluids, etc).

 

There are so many threads on this kind of stuff that it is ridiculous. The truth of the matter is that there is no cost-effective way you can increase your gas mileage over stock. You can do all the things DGXR said and get as close to rated mpg as possible, but you have a very unusual case if you can exceed the rated mileage. Most of those who claim they exceed rated mileage are not measuring their mileage correctly or accurately. At the same time, I have read of folks who claim disastrous mileage drops by increasing their tire size. Same thing, they forget their odometers are now reading less miles per tire rotation, so their measurements are off. Use a GPS for your speed and mileage measurements and you will be about as close as you can get outside a laboratory environment.

As for cost effectiveness of mods, say you spend $400 for a new cat-back system (you installed it yourself) you really didn't need, but just wanted to increase your gas mileage. Now let's say you are buying gas at $2.50/gal. So, you are lucky and your gas mileage increases by 2mpg. You were getting 21mpg, so that is about 12 cents per mile (250 cents/21). Now at 23mpg, you are spending 11 cents per mile. So it will make 1 cent per mile difference in your favor in your fuel cost. At $400 it will take you 40,000 miles to break even, provided your mileage hasn't dropped for another reason and provided fuel prices haven't dropped. After that you will start earning about 1 cent/mile. Will the muffler system last that long? Probably. Will you own the truck that long? Maybe.

The kicker is this: I challenge anyone on this forum to show me any single aftermarket add-on that has increased their gas mileage 2mpg over stock configuration - accurately measured mileage, then let's figure the cost savings per mile.