That "sweet spot"

Lobstah Slayah · May 20, 2014

I still have trouble forgetting the emergency brake. Do most of you use it or don't bother?

boomer775 · May 20, 2014

I'm not an engineer nor an elementary school teacher, but I DID stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night

warmachine · May 20, 2014

I use the e brake when on a hill, never on a flat surface. Didn't know there was something in the manual about that.

cjlucas78 · May 20, 2014

I noticed my 12 seemed to get the best gas mileage around 75-80 and not using the cruise, but gently press the gas going up hills so the rpms dont jump up. I have never tried turning the ECO mode on/off though, may need to give that a try. Heade on a road trip this weekend, but I will be trading mine in for a 14 this week, so a nice long road trip to break in the new ride.

I never use the Parking Brake, except to hang air freshners from, lol.

dizzyD · May 20, 2014

My thought on best MPG, Keep your rpm's below the 2000 rpm's marker while driving. My 99 Durango gets it's best mileage at 1900, my 04 ram loves the 1800 mark and my 14 challenger does well at 1900. Anytime you pass, go up hills or constant stop and go, you kill your mileage. Rush hour traffic kills my challengers 30 mpg per tank, I think I see 20mpg for the 40 miles, one way drive, in the morning, with NO stop and go, I see 29, but I also do upto 80 on some of my spirited interchanges.

My Daily drive to work and back, my hand calc tank is 25-26 mpg, my 3 long distance trips, averaged 30-31 and I did have one trip where I was able to fill up with non ethanol gas and saw 35.4, hand calc'd!!! (almost 600 miles to one 17g tank!)

boomer775 · May 20, 2014

cjlucas78 said:
I noticed my 12 seemed to get the best gas mileage around 75-80 and not using the cruise, but gently press the gas going up hills so the rpms dont jump up. I have never tried turning the ECO mode on/off though, may need to give that a try. Heade on a road trip this weekend, but I will be trading mine in for a 14 this week, so a nice long road trip to break in the new ride.

I never use the Parking Brake, except to hang air freshners from, lol.

I actually go stealth with the air freshener - hang it on the driver-side seatbelt receiver between the seats, but not until the new car smell wears off. after that, vanilla-roma all the way

Lobstah Slayah · May 20, 2014

warmachine said:
I use the e brake when on a hill, never on a flat surface. Didn't know there was something in the manual about that.

I've never used one unless on a hill or with a stick. I wouldn't have mentioned it if it was only in the manual once. Damned if it isn't in there 5-6 times at least! :shock:

warmachine · May 20, 2014

Wow guess i better go take another look then

Durangutan · May 20, 2014

Lobstah Slayah said:
I still have trouble forgetting the emergency brake. Do most of you use it or don't bother?

I use it all the time. My understanding is that the parking pawl in the transmission has to handle the weight of the vehicle when the parking brake isn't used, so I have no problems using it. Wouldn't want the pawl to wear out. Of course, that was what I was taught years ago and never questioned it, so who knows.

And slayah, Indy is a seriously good dude and a great Durango ambassador. His style may come across as harsh but it's just his personality, and he cares a TON about Dodge and Durangos. Whether perceived rude or otherwise, he's a good egg so just roll with it. He has the site's best interests at heart at all times.

dizzyD · May 20, 2014

I use the e-brake at least once a month, keeps the self-adjuster in-tune.

tomk · May 20, 2014

Here in the snowy salty northeast, the rule seems to be that you need to use the parking brake 'always' or 'never'.

Anywhere in between, and someday your parking brake cable will freeze up with the brake on.

Snow · May 21, 2014

interesting question for sure... I'm heading to Barber in July with the bikes in tow, so this is a valid question. I have tried every possible speed in good ol flat florida and I'm not impressed by the D's MPG LOL then again my expectations were not that great coming from a 1500 RAM. My RAM got me around 10 MPG towing tow bikes ay 80, maybe I'll get lucky with the D and see 13? not a chance ROFL... never thought about turning off the ECO but will give it a shot. BTW I drive her like I stole her LOL will be interesting to see what I get currently getting 12.6 to 13 calculated not using the lie-o meter in the dash.

zethgryn · May 22, 2014

At best, I've found that driving between 50-60 mph in 8th gear in our V6 '14 Citadel will get us an average of between 28-30 mpg. RPMs are very low - likely around 1.2-1.3k (can barely hear the engine at all). At Interstate cruising speeds, 70-73 mph in 8th is likely around 1.5k-1.6 RPM, and we'll get 25-26mpg. We usually just keep the adaptive cruise on and let it practically drive itself. It does accel harder going up hills and we'll drop to 18mpg or so, but it'll eventually even back out to 25mpg+ again over flat terrain.

In very gentle city driving, we can get 19-21mpg and we always keep it in ECO mode. This transmission gets us into 7th gear in just a matter of seconds (by around 40-45mph it seems). More robust city driving with ECO mode off nets us about 15-16mpg. These estimates are all using the onboard trip computer. We only have about 1100 miles on the vehicle so far, but we're loving it.

That "sweet spot"

Lobstah Slayah

boomer775

warmachine

cjlucas78

dizzyD

boomer775

Lobstah Slayah

warmachine

Durangutan

dizzyD

tomk

Snow

zethgryn

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