How to increase your MPG
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26" wheels are bigger and heavier. You're losing 1-2 mpg by running bigger, heavier wheels. Take them off and you'll re-gain that loss.
Unload all unnecessary gear from the truck. The more crap you carry around in the truck, the heavier it will be. The heavier it is the lower the MPG.
Take off EASY from stoplights. Keep the RPM low. You don't have to drive that truck like you're fleeing from law enforcement. Lighten up on the throttle, OR place a block of wood under the accelerator pedal.
When gas prices were at their peak I planned all my errands so I could acclomplish them in a single trip rather then multiple little trips. Oddly enough I even tried to organize my routes where I could make right turns only. Making right turns minimizes the amount of time you're sitting still idling at red lights. Idling is burning fuel and not gettting anywhere. It also lowers your MPG, and idling is hard on the vehicle (esp during the hottest months).
Lastly, change all the fluids over to HIGH QUALITY synthetics. Air up the tires to the maximum recomended pressure and keep them there. Low tire pressure = lower MPG.
My .02
Unload all unnecessary gear from the truck. The more crap you carry around in the truck, the heavier it will be. The heavier it is the lower the MPG.
Take off EASY from stoplights. Keep the RPM low. You don't have to drive that truck like you're fleeing from law enforcement. Lighten up on the throttle, OR place a block of wood under the accelerator pedal.
When gas prices were at their peak I planned all my errands so I could acclomplish them in a single trip rather then multiple little trips. Oddly enough I even tried to organize my routes where I could make right turns only. Making right turns minimizes the amount of time you're sitting still idling at red lights. Idling is burning fuel and not gettting anywhere. It also lowers your MPG, and idling is hard on the vehicle (esp during the hottest months).
Lastly, change all the fluids over to HIGH QUALITY synthetics. Air up the tires to the maximum recomended pressure and keep them there. Low tire pressure = lower MPG.
My .02
smh and i just ordered some 30'sI put 26's on last year and lost 2-3 mpg, takes a lot to turn them wheels.
Loosing the roof rack will help, in addition to lowering wind noise. Maybe .5-1 MPG, which might not sound like much but if you're concerned, every little bit helps. On a truck that gets around 14 MPG that a solid percentage increase. If you live where the roads are particularly crappy (like New England) airing the tires up will give you better mileage, but fancy suspension aside, you're going to feel it and your ride comfort will suffer. I picked up almost a full 2 MPG on my diesel by airing them almost all of the way up (they were Load Range E, which is up to 80 PSI) but at that point you might as well not even have a suspension since the tires are doing all the work and you're bouncing everywhere.
Those 26s are murdering your gas mileage, I'd agree that you'd get back 1-3 MPG if you went back to 22s...
Some would argue that lowering the truck would help too, since the air you're pushing will go around the truck easier. Sound like a stretch? Not if you're trying to talk your wife into a Kelderman air-ride!
The all synthetic swap is an excellent idea. Not going to be cheap but a tangible benefit nonetheless.
Those 26s are murdering your gas mileage, I'd agree that you'd get back 1-3 MPG if you went back to 22s...
Some would argue that lowering the truck would help too, since the air you're pushing will go around the truck easier. Sound like a stretch? Not if you're trying to talk your wife into a Kelderman air-ride!
The all synthetic swap is an excellent idea. Not going to be cheap but a tangible benefit nonetheless.
One way to shed about 75 pounds is to remove the spare. I keep a tire plug kit and 12V compressor in one of the saddle boxes so I'm good for most flats. I came to the conclusion that hauling around that extra weight all the time wasn't worth the rare event that I might actually use the spare. I've only had one flat so far and I got that one plugged before all the air leaked out. If something really bad happens to a wheel I figure I'll have it towed anyway.
That's a good suggestion. The Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep SRTs come with either run-flats or spare tire repair kits and no spare tires to save weight...for performance, but it works for gas mileage too.
I'm getting 12.9 with the factory 22's. 72 miles round trip from house to work everyday. Half the drive is on the Interstate and the other half is stop and go from traffic light to traffic light. Running 36psi all the way around in the EXT.
Normally I wouldn't argue with wisdom shared by 91 year old guy
but I think your results are not typical of the average end user's experience with CAIs (my own included). I've never been able to appreciate any real gain in MPG after adding a CAI. With the high cost of the average CAI you'd have to drive a vehicle for 15 years to see a CAI pay for itself.They do make the engine sound :cool2: though.
'Zactly. Anyone buying a CAI to increase their mileage (or HP/torque for that matter) is going to be sorely disappointed. Even provided one could keep their foot out of it, which would prove difficult in light of the increased bitchin' sound, a $300 +/- CAI is gonna take a long azz time to pay off MPG wise. But if it helps you slide one past the bride, good on ya, I'm not that fortunate because mine knows better!Normally I wouldn't argue with wisdom shared by 91 year old guy
They do make the engine sound :cool2: though.
I have a feeling the 26" rims and tires are a bigger overall diameter. If that is the case you are traveling further than you would with the stockers. So the gas milelage readings are artificially low. Also your speedo is reading slower because of the reduced wheel speed. You need to get a GPS to see your real speed and calculate from there. Then the best thing to do is have the speedo recalibrated.
I brought that up in another thread I started and several gentlemen pointed out what should have been obvious (at least as far as comparing 18s to 22s is concerned); they're effectively the same diameter and the speedo would only be off around 1MPH.
icejava was one of the guys that schooled me...
"As long as the overall diameter is the same, the speedo will not change.
Stock 18s = 265/65 = 31.56"
Stock 22s = 285/45 = 32.06"
About 1mph diff.
http://www.1010tires.com/tiresizecalculator.asp"
Check out that tire size calculator link and you'll see if your mileage with 26s is even worse...
Hi everyone I'm new to this Forum and just want to give my 2 cents on this CAI (Cold Air Intake) issue. I've been modding cars for the past 14 yrs ranging from Japanese to European to American Muscle. My last car was the BMW 550i and I always believed in CAI until my car went on the dyno and actually saw the results. My 550i actually lost 13 hps and 9 lbs of torque with the AFE CAI. Eloy the owner of RPI told me that the CAI actually sucks in more hot air then cold air and thats why it tends to lose HP and Torque unless you live in a cold part of the country. If you think about it the CAI has no insulation to keep out the hot air so your cars intake would suck in all that hot air your engines producing. After I saw the results I still didn't believe that it would make my car lose all that HP so I told him to put back my stock air box and we ran it on the dyno again and the car gained 13HP and 9 lbs of torque. And this is with out letting the ECU adapt to the stock intake so if I drove the car for about 300 miles the car would gain alittle more HP back. As for MPG, I didn't see any gain from installing the CAI. So from now on I'm sticking with the stock airbox. IMHO stick with your stock airboxNormally I wouldn't argue with wisdom shared by 91 year old guy
They do make the engine sound :cool2: though.
ICEMAN 316 brings up a good point. CAI (Cold Air Intake) is a misnomer. The majority of the aftermarket intakes out that are NOT true CAIs and pull in warmer than ambient temperature engine compartment air. That's not conducive to increasing power. Intakes like the Volant and Banks for example are true CAIs and pull in air from outside the engine compartment, and are typically sealed off from engine compartment air. Of course, they don't look as dead sexy as a highly heat conductive chromed tube or colorful filter...so the honeys will just keep walking by your ride at the car show...
The problem with the CAI itself is there's nothing cold about it...they don't make the air it's taking in any less cooler than it was to begin with, at least without artificial (i.e. chemical) help, which the CAI really has nothing to do it...just call it an intake for crying out loud!
The problem with the CAI itself is there's nothing cold about it...they don't make the air it's taking in any less cooler than it was to begin with, at least without artificial (i.e. chemical) help, which the CAI really has nothing to do it...just call it an intake for crying out loud!
And now the CTS. I brought my lade in for warranty service this week and they gave me an 09 CTS loaner. I was looking it over, checked in the trunk. Look, no spare tire. What's this gizmo latched down in the middle? It was a 12V plug in compressor with an integral can of tire patch sealant. You pump in the sealant, then pump up the tire. No jack. The owner's manual showed the jack and spare, no mention of the new system.
My first impression of the CTS was, "I want my lade back." Sitting down low, short seats, cramped in, poor visibility, rougher ride, hot leather seats w/ no AC. What a shock. The 3.2 DI ran well but I felt like I was driving a sewing machine. Car handled well.
Getting my lade back was so nice. Damn I'm spoiled.
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