4 Bangin, Fuel Sippin, Full Tank Challenge!

Saw a commercial last night that the new Ram 1500 V6 will get 18MPG city and 25 MPG highway. Do you think that is a bunch of bull ****?

 

I've heard the 8-speed automatic has a lot to do with that rating, could be legit with good gearing.

But does it have balls enough for average buyer? I'm happy with my I4 but most here aren't happy with the V6 Tacoma.

 

No.

Lighten the truck enough, and if they're using the same technology that GM is using to shut down cylinders on the highway, that's very possible.
My buddy's been getting well over 22 highway from his '08 Silverado.. I think he's got the 5.0 but it might be bigger.


One problem remains. It's still a Dodge.

 

Most here wouldn't be happy with an 8.0 and a 6-71 blower sitting on top

 

What is being described here is 'flow'. In manufacturing, in driving, and life in general, flow is key to optimization. And if folks would just alternate cars from lanes at the merge, everyone will benefit. But too many folks are self-centered, so they will disrupt the flow by cutting someone off. I agree that folks need to consider one another and serve the greater good, even if it's to burn another quarter gallon to help maintain the flow. Suboptimization of the one for the greater optimization of the whole is a good tradeoff.

 

OK - colder weather is impacting the MPGs. This is my first Fall/Winter with the Tacoma, so I'm a bit surprised at the losses so far. Only a couple tanks in, but it looks to have dropped about 7%. What's throwing me off a bit is that I've had a few changes on the truck over the past couple of months, including a new aftermarket cat after it was stolen when it was at the garage for an EVAP problem. I'm wondering if the new cat constricts the flow and is contributing to part of my FE losses. I might need to wait until Spring/Summer to confirm that though.

Getting Summertime FE numbers is next to impossible with the winterblend and cold temperature, so new challenges for the cold months to keep it interesting.

 

Hitting the highway in the morning. Just filled up a partial so this trip will be my first few readings after the new intake, header n cat back n spark plugs.

 

Have not seen him on here or on fuelly.com for quite a while now. and his account is closed on fuelly.

 

I got the deckplate installed, so I will start getting some data pretty soon. I will post what the startup intake air temperature is and then what the temperature is once I am up to temperature.

First impressions on the install: see if you can get a 3" deckplate because you have to do a lot more modifications to get it to fit. The stock intake diameter is about 70mm, so 3" is perfect.

 

Time to come clean...

I've wondered the same myself, a lot, about being able to draw in some of the warmer air that is emitted from the hot engine through the air box. Especially since the airbox is close to the exhaust.

I've never admitted it on here, but the side of my airbox, the side you did your deckplate on, is littered with holes that I drilled through it. In the idea of trying to draw in some of that warmer air.

I'm not sure what, if any difference it's made. The intake temp will definitley rise with idle however, thats a fact. I was mostly wondering about the idea for idle temps really, since idling+cold+2TR-FE=shitty MPGs.

I've even pondered the idea of acutally directly piping in hot exhaust into the airbox. Would be kinda neat to set up some kind of system where a small pipe, is threaded (ie an o2 sensor) into the exhaust somewhere and led back up to the airbox.

I didn't go the giant hole route, don't want critters/nests in it. Maybe you could cover you're opening with some screen? I also did mine with consideration of water, since I've been in some. I didn't want to just immediately suck in a big helping of H2O, should such a situation arise.

 

Heated intake was standard on most carburated engine. Maybe this will give you some ideas.

The air cleaner had a 2-way heat/vacuum controlled valve to draw air up from the exhaust manifold which had a heat absorber shroud. The intake manifold and heads also had ports the allowed exhaust gas to flow through the intake. All to help the engine intake heat up faster for quicker drivability.

The shroud says Dodge on it and the duct is hanging from the air cleaner with the 2-way valve on the snorkle.

 

WOW! some of these numbers are IMPRESSIVE!! how does one get those numbers for a 2003 4 banger auto extended cab prerunner? Send a PM, as i'm not on here as much as i'd like to be. the only "mod" is Hankook Dynapro MT's, grilleguard, and tow hitch minus the rear bumper. any help would be greatly appreciated as i'm about to "broke as a joke" come monday or tuesday.

 

Most it's driving slower, there are no mods to make significant gains. If you avoid braking hard and accelerate while keeping the rpm low you'd do a lot better.

 

Bingo.

No mods or gadgets or chemicals will ever pay for themselves in fuel savings... and very few will even make a statistically significant difference.

Save one....

Duct tape and an egg.
Mount this mod to the accelerator and don't break the egg.

 

Ok, at least I'm not totally stupid with my idea/thinking. I may pursue it further. It probably wouldn't be uber complicated to make a basic metal shield.

 

I wouldn't say that. You started with a theory and now you are considering modifying it...sounds pretty smart to me!

 

Oops. I ment to say "I'm NOT totally..."

Edited.

 

Thanks for posting the picture WW. I remember those foil ducts - always got crushed and distorted.

I'm wondering about a heatsync approach, perhaps a metal rod attached to the exhaust manifold/block that runs inside/along the intake duct.

With the volume of air flowing through the intake, it seems that warming it enough under driving conditions might be a very difficult challenge. But at start up/idle where MPGs suffer significantly, maybe the warmer air would make a more noticable gain?

 

Yes...much better.

 

I will probably end up with some screen over the gaping hole and possibly run a dryer hose across and over the headers. I was going to give it a little time to see what the baseline looks like. I will likely put several tanks through it in the next few weeks so I should have a pretty good idea where I end up.