CAI or not
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184 Posts
How big were your gains....granted i have a leveling kit and 35's im thinking with my aFe stage 2 Dry filter a cat-back borla exhaust and a DSP ill see at least 3-5 mpg better.....?is that a good guess or am i chasing false hopes
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1,384 Posts
You might see 3MPG (if you can keep you foot out of it), but I doubt you'll see 5MPG IMHO. I wish they'd hurry up and break the '11-'12 codes so I can get DSP though!
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747 Posts
Here is a little write-up that I recently did. Hope this helps.
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"This is my review of the mods that I have done to my truck, I would like to hear your's as well to get idea's for myself and others.
2005 quad cab, short bed, 4wd, 1500, Ram Hemi. When I bought it the truck had 35x12.5.20 Toyo M/T's so that is my starting point.
Driving the truck stock I could feel that it had power, but IMO it lacked below 3k RPM, it just felt dead so I made some changes. The following is my mods in order with my review/impression.
Sprectre intake (part # 9932). The truck was louder under acceleration, created a deep intake growel.
Performance wise I didn't notice much (up to 12hp wouldn't be a night and day difference, hp gain reality alone meh). The mid-upper RPM range felt slightly smoother, but nothing to brag about. Fuel economy I noticed no change.
Diablosport preadator tuner (part # U7137). I opted for the 91 octane tune "modified". After my final adjustents with the trans shift points (upshift and downshift) and throttle sensitivity I was vary happy with the money spent. There was a noticable increase in power (which is a first for me with a tuner, Hypertech has let me down in the past) and drivabilty was improved a lot. Fuel economy in town was about the same (the slight increase I believe was due to the tire/speedo correction). On the highway I went from a best of 18mpg to just over 19 mpg, so a 1 MPG increase. Aside from their "quirks" I have no complaint about this product. Once it works properly the tunability is awesome.
Trans line pressure booster. This was a $5 mod (I had most the parts, otherwise $15 tops). The firmer shifts coupled with the above mods made for a better driving truck. Being better for the tranny, and so cheap, getting quicker and firmer shift is a must IMO. (2.2K resistor, 1ft of 14-16 gauge wire, a few connectors and shrink tube)
Lastly comes the exhaust. I purchased an 18" Magnaflow muffler (part # 12249). I had the muffler welded inplace of the stock muffler and the resonator removed. Start-up and idle it has a nice deep mellow tone. Driving off throttle it sounds no different than it stock, give it a little gas you get a nice deep growl with no rasp. Interior wise there is some resonance, but minor. Its a slight rumble in the background if anything. Power wise it's pretty noticable, similar to the gains from tuner. Fuel economy in city has improved more than I expected. I have a short commute to work, but there are a lot of turns, hills and stop lights. With the above mods (minus exhaust) I would average 9.8 MPG at best. I know it sucks, but two months+ of calculating I would end up with the same result. Now with the exhaust my average MPG is up over 1 MPG (11 MPG) and I feel that I have been driving a bit more "spirited" to hear the exhaust tone. I'm still skeptical, and will continue to test. I will have initial long range highway MPG tomorrow.
I have had a lot of vehicles, all have been modified (what can I say, I got bit by the mod bug before I got my first car), some mild and some ....well...not so much (I love F/I).
I know the results are cumulative and the gains are not represenative of each single modification. I just wanted to start this thread to outline my results and see other people's set-up and reviews. With the mods I have done, my truck drives awesome, I wish it drove like this from the factory. Best of all I still have some transmission "fine" tuning to do.
I look forward to seeing your set-ups. "
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