Well this is not totally off (Dakota) topic...
I took a trip down to Chicago thursday and remembered the recent thread
about fuel economy numbers and 360s and Rams. So I did something I've
never done before........... the speed limit...
I dropped my tail gate (also something I have never tried on highway
travel) - set cruise control right at 65 MPH (or 55 depending on the
posted limit) and only a few times exceeded the posted limit. I had my
windows up and only had the blower on - AC was off. At 65 MPG with
275/70/17 tires, 4.10 rear gears and a 360 with an auto, I run exactly
2000 RPM.
I traveled approximatly 250-260 miles - I regret I did not check the
tripometer when I got off the expresway. But based upon previous trips
- that is about right. I had slightly over half a tank of gas remaining
at the end of that trip. Now I didn't refill until I was on empty -
well into Friday night - by that time I had burned up the other half of
the tank in lots of stop and go city driving and that murdered my fuel
economy.
According to specs I have a 26 gal. fuel can on the Ram. Based upon that
I estimated what my economy was prior to evaporating half a tank of
gas in $hitcago. Here is what I found:
13 gal of gas (approx half a tank) divided by 255 miles (estimated
miles) = 19.6 MPG!
My actual MPG by the time I filled up was 14.7 MPG - after having
traveled 309 miles and having used 21 gal. of gas. When I filled up, I
had just over 1/8th of a tank on the dash.
I drove back saturday morning. I had to work sat afternoon so I had to
haul ass back north. I was also hauling about 400 lbs of decorative
fower pot and pedistal - solid concrete, and about 40 lbs of sheet
metal. (dont ask!) Tail gate was up this trip obviously and I had the
windows down most of the way. I was doing 70-80 mph most of the way...
slowed down to 55 for a construction zone.
The numbers I got for that were pretty much what I expected. When I
left Chicago Saturday, I already had 28 miles of city traffic on that
tank. When I filled up again sunday night after work I had driven 306
miles and the low fuel light was on (below 1/8th a tank). I had used
22/5 gal. of gas for a number of 13.6 MPG.
At 75-80 my RPM is around 2500-2700 - I didn't pay close attention LOL
My conclusions? I like to cruise at about 72-73 mph. Not quite 10 MPH
over the limit and not too slow to be passed by everyone. If I can get
my engine RPM down to 2000 or less for crusing on the highway - I'll be
happy.
-- -------------------------------------------------------------- ***** Countdown to 2004 DML BBQ (70) Days Left! *****Terrible Tom -- AIM & Yahoo Name: SilverEightynine http://members.aol.com/silvereightynine/
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