I'm wondering what kind of gas mileage you guys pull off. i want the average mixed result, not your max on highway or anything. please include year, engine, driving style, and any performance mods.

myself i pull off an even 20mpg with a 2002 2.7L. my driving style is extremely aggressive. i floor it almost always, and when possible ill stay 100+mph. so 20mpg really isn't that bad. my only performance mod is a K&N filter.

Thanks in advance for sharing.

I get about 27-29 mpg mixture of city and highway driving 30%/70% around 55-60 mph (on the highway part) and I get about 31-32 mpg on 5%/95% (65-70 mph) highway driving on my 1997 3.5 24v SOHC. My secret is the K&N drop in filter, 89 octane-10% ethanol at stations on the "Top Tier Gas" List http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html only, and lightly accelerating in my car so then the engine runs under 2k rpms at all times.

those are some very nice numbers you are putting up with that engine. i wish we had ethanol mixtures up here where I'm at (Metro Detroit) but we don't. i have used ethanol before though and its nice.

o BTW welcome to the site. if you have any questions we will do our best to help you out.

Thank you for your welcome. It took me a while to get this kind of fuel economy. I used to commute about 400 miles a week. During this time, I needed something to keep my mind occupied, so I drove my car different ways to see the difference in my fuel economy results. I drove in rural, dead (population wise) areas which allowed me to accelerate as easily as I pleased. If you haven't noticed I'm very cheap:D! Sorry to hear they don't have Ethanol in your area. I get much better fuel economy with ethanol and my engine runs better as well. The best tools on the car to get that kind of fuel economy are the overdrive, tachometer, and the cruise control (on flat road conditions only). Keeping the auto transmission in overdrive as often as possible. Most of the roads I drive on are pretty flat, that makes a difference.

as important as overdrive, tachometer, and cruise control are, i would have to say teh best way to save gas is discipline, which it sounds like you have. i lack it, but I'm still young and hope to develop it soon. i drive about 300-350 a week, but I'm a commuter to college. i wish we had teh ethanol up here, but i can't do anything about it. how does it help your engine run better?

Actually I'm also a college student, just one motivated to save gas because of a limited budget and living on campus. My engine just runs better when I fill it with ethanol than it does with just ordinary gas and gets better fuel mileage and my friends have found the same to be true.

Ethanol helps the engine with the fact that the fuel burns cleaner. It leaves less deposits. The different mechanics that I have talked to claim that it helps to clean the fuel injectors as well. I don't have the link anymore, but there was a study done on cars that could run on E85 (85% ethanol), such as certain versions of the 3.3 V6 equiped Intrepid, where they ran some on 100% gasoline and others on E85, and the cars that ran on E85 had much less wear on the engine.

Your right about the discipline part though. The tools of the overdrive, tachometer, and the cruise control will help you get that kind of fuel economy with the discipline. Edmunds did a fuel economy test where they tried different rumors on ways to save gas and the most effective way to get better fuel economy was driving it the car while being easy on the gas pedal.

When I have the money to waste. I intend to get myself a nice Hemi powered Ram (screw the gas mileage) and make up for lost fun:D!

I had a 2000 intrepid with a 2.7 i put 165,000 miles on it and traded it in. I still got 27mpg with Spark plugs that were almost completly gone. You just have to use cruise control and take it easy. OH.. and use Mobile One sythetic oil.

Well my 1994 eagle vision with 168k on the odometer gets around 25-26 mpg and still runs great, except for the oil leaks it has.I got a reg paper air filter in it and use texaco high mileage oil and basicially keep the tire pressure to its accurate level and put fuel system in it and now and then get the fuel injectors cleaned.Other than that its bone stock and no mods to it at all(daily commute driver as i keep my 01 ram off the miles).The car has been in the family since day 1 and still a good running/driving car for a car thats almost 12 years old..

thanks
pat

last hockey road trip we drove over 300 miles at or around 100MPH and i got 23MPG which is one of the best i have ever gotten. that includes 2 other hockey players and equipment.

ORIGINAL: 97 3.5 Intrepid

I get about 27-29 mpg mixture of city and highway driving 30%/70% around 55-60 mph (on the highway part) and I get about 31-32 mpg on 5%/95% (65-70 mph) highway driving on my 1997 3.5 24v SOHC. My secret is the K&N drop in filter, 89 octane-10% ethanol at stations on the "Top Tier Gas" List http://www.toptiergas.com/retailers.html only, and lightly accelerating in my car so then the engine runs under 2k rpms at all times.

Suprisingly you get better gas milage with Ethanol... USUALLY it decreases gas milage and it also gums up in your fuel system easier. As far as using E86, you shouldn't see any improvement over 82. E82 burns cooler and in winter it burns worse. The only good thing about E82 is it has more detergents. Higher octanes are for vehicles with higher compression and need cooler fuel to prevent detonation. Which in turns means it won't burn as complete in a lower compression engine... Stick to E82

1994 Intrepid, 3.3 flex fuel, 204,000 miles
15 city and 30 highway, so the average would be 22.5 mpg. I drive like an egg was under my foot. Gas isn't getting any cheaper.
Steve

I'm trying to get to the bottom of my car's mileage problem... the mileage is 17-19mpg max on the highway, running even 93 octane. I did get 23mpg for a fluke when running 93 *and* fuel system cleaner, but without the fuel system cleaner the mileage drops again.

So far I've done the spark plugs since it has 65k miles, and the transmission flush.

I get 25-27 with my driving style. I like to hover around 55-65. I usually accelerate quicker than most well say. I have a 2001 2.7L. I believe we got about 30 mpg driving to my college in Ohio. I dont know how you guys get good mileage with your cruise control. Mine, you can just watch the needle move down when cruise is on. Thus why I dont use it.

First off I would stop using 93 octane. Regular fuel is fine. Second, I would switch to synthetic oil.

Wow, what a topic starter!! First I'd like to say I have a 97 3.5 and get from 23-29 MPG with a lead foot. I use mid-grade fuel and clean the injectors with a can-o-stuff ever now and then. I change my fuel filter periodically and also the air filter. The air filter can cause poor mileage and can dirty up fast in some conditions so the K & N spray and lube type is nice but expensive. I have always just used the cheep throw away kind, if this is what you use make sure to change often.

From my experience (other than driving habits) the major contributors to poor fuel consumption are:

1. Dirty injectors and fuel filter
2. Dirty air filter
3. Weak spark
4. Poor compression

If the car isn't malfunctioning, then the answer must lie in the filters & injectors. While gas is also important, it isn't as important as some believe. I live near a CITGO gas terminal (where the barges bring the fuel in) and nearly ALL the gas stations use the same gas!!! I spoke with one of the drivers and asked how they fit all the different grades/quality fuels on the tanker and in the terminal tanks. He chuckled and said “it is the same gas for nearly all the stations; they just add their secret ingredient prior to filling the truck" (I think there was 1 he had told me that actually trucked in their own blend). This is the trade mark of all fuels, their additive. To me, it's just as well to add my own favorite cleaner additive and buy the cheapest gas on the market! Some don't like to go to that trouble and just pay the higher premium at the pump.

As for octane, yes higher compression engines require a higher octane or they will PRE-detonate (octane is a retardant and makes fuel LESS combustible but is required with higher compression engines or you get the pre-det knock). The 3.5 engine has a nice feature many don't know about called a "knock sensor". What it does is if you are running a cheep low octane gas, it retards the timing so the engine is less likely to pre-detonate. Of course that also translates to less performance and the adjustment can only do so much.

Any way if you really want to run better performance I heard from a friend about a kit to mix hydrogen to the fuel/air mix which will give a 40-50% increase in MPG, and increase torque/power while decreasing emmisions! I have not done any research to confirm or deny it, so if any happen to try this new tec., please post it!

New eddit..........

Here is one link the the hyd kit I mentioned above.
http://www.greencarcongress.com/2006/02/hydrive_begins_.html
Kurt

ORIGINAL: nickoman01

myself i pull off an even 20mpg with a 2002 2.7L. my driving style is extremely aggressive. i floor it almost always, and when possible ill stay 100+mph. so 20mpg really isn't that bad. my only performance mod is a K&N filter.

Thanks in advance for sharing.


Are you insane doing that to a 2.7?!
That engine was poorly designed and NOT made to throw that kind of weight around...
There's a better kit than K&N... http://www.dodgeintrepid.net/ Ask JoeKD or go to http://www.j-intakes.com/

My car when floored all the time gets 25 minimum. It's amazing when it's about a ton heavier than regular civilian cars. Police package!! 3.5L High Output, JoeKD intake.

i aint drove it much but i put 4 gallons as soon as the gas light came on, i have went 53miles and the gas light is almost on thats 13.25mpg!!! i drive it pretty aggresive, its a 95 3.3l with 124k on it, i just changed oil 4 days ago, havent checked anything else cus i got a wobbly sound coming from the tranny, but the tranny was rebuilt in feb at 113k, the kid just beat the piss outa this car and i think the flexplate is wobbly now. but this car is a dog on gas!!! wtf i traded a 90 honda civic 4 door new motor for this, sorry guys these cars look sexy and drive sweet but they are pos cars, bad trannys, bad milage bad oil leaks, lol, my v6 GTU chevy BERETTA was way bad too it got like 14 no matter, and it had the stupid mpg gauge to insult you that it was for sure!!!lol but this car says its supposed to get 20-28mpg wtf!!

It souds like the kid ripped you off lol!! Did you every do a compression ck? Kids who "beat the piss" out of cars, usually sell them when they notice a drop in preformance or increase of repairs. If you put the time and $ into repairs, (to include that "wobbly" sound), I'm sure your new car will do just as well as ours!

ORIGINAL: kurts2

It souds like the kid ripped you off lol!! Did you every do a compression ck? Kids who "beat the piss" out of cars, usually sell them when they notice a drop in preformance or increase of repairs. If you put the time and $ into repairs, (to include that "wobbly" sound), I'm sure your new car will do just as well as ours!
it drives sweet, plenty of power, it was actually his moms car, she had it rebuilt, he wanted rid of it for a honda, and when it started making the noise he really wanted rid of it, just like as soon as my timing belt kept slipping at 5grand and my clutch was slipping at 4 grand i wanted rid of the honda too
i notice the air box screws wont open so im geussing that dirty as hell, i just dont want to pull no more damn trannies, and these gotta be heavy as hell!!! but if the flex plate is bent or cracked i got little choice...im going to get it up in the air here in a few hours and pull the inspection plate and see what i can see

I have the ES with all the bells, today while on a rod trip I thought about your problem and thought I'd take a few notes, they may be insightful. While on an open road, I set the cruise at 65 and monitored the real time gas consumption via theoverheadcomputer(this is a lot slower than I normally drive, so the consumption rate is a bit higher than my normal). At @ 2K RPM, 65MPH, and on a moderately flat road, I was between 32-38 MPG. I normally drive faster and also with a lot of city traffic, so the average stored in the computer for my car is 23 MPG.When I have taken road trips in the past with the monitoring computer reset, (also resisting the urge to exceeded 65 MPH), I got 32 MPG. It my be if your engine is fine, your poor gas performance comes from the shifting side of the house. What do you have? Auto trany, stick, an onboard computer or without one, RPM gauge, ECT and what drive conditions?

2004 Trep w/ 3.5L I get about 22-23mpg average. In my 2000 2.7L I was getting 27-28. I'm going to try a few things with the 3.5L as I just got it about a week ago.

'99 with a 3.2. My daily commute is a mix of in town and highway, and I average 23.9 MPG. When I actually lived in town, it was 21.9. Long trips out toward Kansas and beyond, 29+ if I keep it under 80, around 27 running 90+. Going the other way (into the mountains), about 27 @ 80 MPH. I accelerate harder than most people, but it ain't floored all the time.

just like as soon as my timing belt kept slipping at 5grand and my clutch was slipping at 4 grand i wanted rid of the honda too


Timing belts only get to slip once per engine in a Honda.[sm=bustedsign.gif]