tjfn
11-16-2005, 09:31 PM
Hello everybody, I am a recent convert from Tacoma to a new 06 Dakota Quad Cab with 3.7L V6. We do camping trips to Appalachians and as the family got bigger, we grew out of the Tacoma. After shopping around different brands, the new Dakota was a clear winner size/price wise. So far I haven't done any mods to the truck, only very simple experimenting with air filters and gas mileage. When I bought the vehicle my combined city/hwy mileage was about 16.5 mpg. Then I replaced the original Goodyear Eagle touring tires with Michelin LTX M/S tires and got an ARE camper shell that weighs about 180lb. With these my mileage dropped below 15 mpg.
The first mileage improvement that I thought about was, of course, to replace the air filter. I considered K&N filters but after reviewing the filter test for GM Duramax diesels (http://home.usadatanet.net/%7Ejbplock/ISO5011/SPICER.htm) it didn't seem such a great idea. Then, after some more web-research, I found Amsoil EaA filters (http://www.amsoil.com/StoreFront/eaa.aspx). These are based on Donaldson nanofibers that are used, amongst the other things, on Abrams tanks in Iraq. Based on Donaldson literature (http://www.donaldson.com/en/filtermedia/support/datalibrary/003313.pdf) this seems pretty serious filtering technology that has nearly HEPA filtering capabilities without compromising the air flow.
So, long story short, I expected a modest mpg improvement...but my mileage went to 17.4 MPG, which is better than it was without the camper top and the M/S tires! I can hardly wait to see what my highway mileage will be.
The first mileage improvement that I thought about was, of course, to replace the air filter. I considered K&N filters but after reviewing the filter test for GM Duramax diesels (http://home.usadatanet.net/%7Ejbplock/ISO5011/SPICER.htm) it didn't seem such a great idea. Then, after some more web-research, I found Amsoil EaA filters (http://www.amsoil.com/StoreFront/eaa.aspx). These are based on Donaldson nanofibers that are used, amongst the other things, on Abrams tanks in Iraq. Based on Donaldson literature (http://www.donaldson.com/en/filtermedia/support/datalibrary/003313.pdf) this seems pretty serious filtering technology that has nearly HEPA filtering capabilities without compromising the air flow.
So, long story short, I expected a modest mpg improvement...but my mileage went to 17.4 MPG, which is better than it was without the camper top and the M/S tires! I can hardly wait to see what my highway mileage will be.