Mileage - Getting the most for the buck!

It appears that people either don't really realize what there looking at or assume that the highest number in the estimate is the mileage they'll receive on their new vehicle. Okay, I'll admit I fall into the above category.

But what it really boils down to is that I didn't buy the Dakota Quad Pickup for the mileage, I bought it for it's features and it's appearance.

Even though it's classified as midsize pickup it's practically a full sized pickup minus about 6 or 8 inches in width. What you have to remember about the Dodge Dakota Quad is that your pushing around a lot of steel and to move that much steel you need more gas, which is fine by me, because I'd rather be driving a truck than a tin can.

As of this installment the the Dodge Dakota Quad Cab basically comes in 3 flavors (engines), the 6 cylinder, the 4.7 V8 and the 5.2 V8.

Below you'll find a chart with estimated mileage for the type engine your Dakota came with.

Engine Size / Mileage

What I notice about actually comparing the manufactures stickers with the different engines in the Dakota Quad is that the 4.7 engine was about 1 or 2 miles less gas efficient than the 6 cylinder (3.9 L) engine and about 2 or 3 miles more efficient than the 5.8 L engine.

Choosing the 4.7 for me was a no-brainier, the gas efficiency between the 3.9 and the 4.7 was insignificant and gaining 60 more horsepower, very significant. The 5.8 L engine weighs about 200 pounds more (1 to 1.5 passenger) offered only 15 more horsepower and used more gas per mile.

For those choosing an engine type, base it on what you really plan to use the truck for. If you bought it to just drive around in and look good and want to save money on gas, get the 3.9 L engine. If your want to look good, and plan to haul or tow a majority of time get the 5.9L. If you want to look good and drive a "bad ass" then get the 4.7 L engine. Or can I just recommend you make your own decision.

These paragraphs are dedicated to a majority of emails I've received concerning poor mileage on Dakota Pickups that are barely one or two months old, less than 3000 miles.

Being from the old school of cars, I was taught that a brand new car with a brand new engine had to be broken in. We were instructed to not drive above 50 miles an hour for the first 1000 miles or so, and not to accelerate harshly.

Today's manufactures seem to shy away from yesterdays guidelines on breaking in the engine, possibly believing that today's machining practices and standards excel those of the past, in which they do, but I still believe that the final fitting takes place only after the engine components have mated and have had a chance to be "aged" by actual driving.

An engines anatomy consists of many moving parts, each as important as the other for proper function. Of those having the most significant impact on mileage are the: pistons and rings, valves, carburation.

As an engine operates, volatile gas is induced into the void of the engine block known as the cylinder cavity, here it is detonated to produce a somewhat controlled explosion that forces the piston to travel back and forth through this same void. On the circumference of the piston are piston rings which friction seal the piston to the cylinder cavity of the engine block. This force of the above mentioned explosion is routed to the crankshaft which rotates to transfer torque to the transmission which in turn is transferred to the front or rear axle's that rotate the tires. If the fit between the piston, rings and cylinder wall are less than perfect some of the force from the explosion is lost and transferred into the crankcase then dissipated to the atmosphere. This translates to less miles per gallon then what you could receive at optimum engine performance. As an engine and it's above mentioned components mate, the fit becomes better, resulting in less blow by and increased mileage and engine performance.

As in all life cycles there is a beginning and a end, or an overhaul. As time passes the fit becomes sloppy, friction on the moving part cause them to wear and change dimension, the perfect fit is no more and you will begin to see a decrease in mileage and performance. Here's wishing for a long life, at least 200,000 miles!

Anyway, for those of you concerned about poor mileage on your brand new spanking pickup, wait till you get about 3000 or so miles, than email me and let me know if your still getting mileage below the manufactures listed mileage range. I might not be able to help you but if enough people email me on this subject I'll approach Daimler Chrysler and try to get there comments on the matter, not that I exactly expect to get a reply, but I'll try.

Your Mileage

If you haven't figured it out by now, I've only been receiving email concerning poor mileage. Personally I'm content to the extent that my mileage is within the manufactures claims. Would I like to get better mileage, ...you bet, ... would I trade in my Dakota, no way!

If your satisfied with your mileage and want to brag a bit, email me, below, I'd hate to think I'm the only person getting the mileage range stated on the sticker.

Well that's about it for this installment, on the next update to this section, I'll be covering how where you live and how use your vehicle determines that mileage you actually get, how to get better mileage and what mileage I'm actually getting with my 4.7 engine.