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Are you happy with your 4.7L V8?

  • Love my 4.7

    Votes: 193 41.5%
  • Kind of wish I went with the 5.7

    Votes: 134 28.8%
  • REALLY wish I went with the 5.7

    Votes: 103 22.2%
  • I'm not picky..

    Votes: 35 7.5%

Poll: Happy with your 4.7?

143K views 379 replies 148 participants last post by  woody31 
#1 ·
Me personally, I wish I would have spent the extra coin for the 5.7.. it wouldnt have been that much more expinsive, and with the MDS system you get the same MPGs as the 4.7.

I stuck to my budget and the only thing I HAD to have was a black CrewCab. I just wish I would have added 5.7 and dual exhaust to that list lol.

Oh well.. it was my first purchase of a new vehicle so all I can do is learn.
 
#55 ·
I dont know how much truth there is to it but when I was looking at trucks I tried out a Avalanche FFV (before buying my Ram) & the salesman said he has driven a Avalanche with both E85 and Regular 87 octane, he said you can notice more power on ethanol but fuel mileage sucks, could be true I guess. E85 is supposed to have a rating of 105 octane which would allow the computer to run more advanced timing....I would think someone on here would know, Id try it for myself if we had it here in Maine.
 
#57 ·
I wouldn't trust a salesman to his word if my life depended on it! They lie through their teeth all the time. There is no way he was getting more power regardless of the octane rating which a lot of people don't understand. Your compression doesn't go up even though your octane goes up and though they may change the A/F ratios thats all they're doing on the motor. Mileage goes down and more air/fuel gets burned so you're converting corn into noise and smoke without all that added lovely power. NOBODY I've spoken with has run E85 and gotten more power, or mileage. The stuff is just garbage.
 
#59 ·
wish I woulda gone w/ the HEMI well I wish I had a 24v CTD but this was very low miles in my budget and its a Chrysler v8 so its powerful and reliable I'm happy
 
#62 ·
I agree^

First gen 4.7L typically get about an avg of 15-17mpg.
Second gen 4.7L typically get about an avg of 16-18mpg.

This is what I've noticed from the various 4.7L's in my family and some friends, and others posts on this forum...

I seem to get along the higher end, about 17-18 avg but it's mostly city driving. If I do all hwy I can get around 22 or maybe more at 65-70mph. I also have the tuner though.
 
#65 ·
glad to see so many people love the motor that doesn't get all the attention! Regardless of what some hemi owners may say, the 4.7L is still a great motor, and even better than most of the competition's big boy motors. We can't help it that dodge made two great motors.
 
#67 ·
I love my 4.7L. For comparison though in the past I use to own and drive a 4cyl Jeep Wrangler, 4cyl Hyundai Elantra, 5.4L F150, a 2nd 4cyl Hyundai Elantra, and a 4cyl Jeep Patriot.

Never realized I haven't owned a 6cyl. Now my parents have a Chevy 2500HD. I would really like a diesel but my pockets aren't that deep. My fiance had a 3.5L Charger. It scoots along just fine and can break a tire loose from a stand still. It is more than plenty for her.

I do plan on doing a few performance mods for my 4.7L, like exhaust, intake, and programmer. I am in no way expecting the same results that a Hemi would give me. I think the 4.7L is more than enough.

I have only 400 miles on my truck and my EVIC is telling me I am getting around 15.5 mpg. That is pretty much 90% city driving. Starting from a stoplight I like to get on it but once up to speed I drive conservatively. I am curious on what kind of mileage I will get once everything is broken in and I stop driving it like a kid with a new toy.
 
#69 ·
I bought my truck on 12/26/10 with 127K miles on it. It's an 06 QC 4x4. They wanted it off the lot and offered it to me for $11,997, I took it. It has always been a bit of a slug but I learned to drive with it instead of against it. I was happy enough. Recently a friend sold his Durango and I bought his Cortex superchip 3950 tuner. I did the 91 octane quick tune and adjusted for tire size. WOW! what an improvement. If this truck had a manual transmission, I'd have it all. I get good MPGs too.
 
#70 ·
2010 Crew Cab ST 4x4
4.7L
3.55
17" Wheels

Over the last 6000 miles my fuel mileage has ranged from 18.3 US MPG to 20.9 US MPG. I dont have an EVIC so thats hand calculated.

I dont have any need for more power in a 1500. You run out of chassis and brakes before you run out of power.

While its possible under carefully controlled conditions for the 5.7L to beat the 4.7L in fuel mileage it seldom seems to happen in the real world.
 
#73 ·
Good thread, learned a lot.

I traded for my 03 used, it has 27k, a 5 speed stick and 3;92 gears with 20 inch wheels and original tires. Stock under the hood totally, with new air filter element.

I have put about 1500 miles on it, most of it hauling a loaded trailer down to Table Rock lake in Mo.

It got 12 pulling the trailer, mostly at 70+ mph. 15 on the hiway, on the return trip without the trailer, but the bed was loaded.

Lots of down shifting in them hills, especially pulling the trailer.

I would like to have the Hemi, as I have one in my Challenger and love it, 13s and 28mpg.

But, the 4.7 is starting to win me over, and I look forward to learning more about it, and hopefully improving it's performance.
 
#109 ·
I just got the full motivation to get some mods done to this motor.

I was pulling my empty aluminum trailer back from Tablerock Lake, 560 miles north to Chicagoland on Tuesday.

The headwind was so strong, I could not maintain speed in 5th gear. It didn't matter if I matted the thing, it just wouldn't pull and would gradually drop down in speed.

I ended up trying to draft most of the way behind 18 wheelers when possible, the rest of the time I was having to run in 4th.

Just found me a 2008 intake, and will be ordering the adapter from Ramair soon.
 
#74 ·
I hate mine.. my heads up display say's im getting around 8.1-9mpg just driving to and from work. i had to pull my wifes car on a trailer ones, it was about a 8min drive to where i had to take it and it drunk about quarter a tank of gas... idk, but i think something is wrong with my truck...
 
#78 ·
the only aftermarket things on my truck is the tires (that i know off) and i had the stealership go in and fix my speedometer since it was off with the tires, and that is when my mpg went down. before then i was getting like... 10 or 11 around town and 12 on the highway.
 
#79 ·
It dropped with the tires, or with the dealerships speedo fix?

What size tires? and what gearing do you have? If you're anything under a 35" tire I'd expect you to be getting better mpg than what you are getting. My dads 4.7L 2005 truck gets 17mpg city or hwy avg...
 
#81 ·
Yeah that's basically a 33.5-34" diameter tire, not toooo huge, although also very wide, definitely some mpg loss there. You'd gain some back probably with 3.92's or 4.10's...but that's another topic...

I'd try the dealership and tell them what happened and maybe they'll have an answer for you...Seems like the problem started with them...
 
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