MPG / 2000 Dodge Gr Caravan 3.3L

[SFCP]

I took a trip this weekend to my brothers home which is 235 miles each way. On the way there, by calculating it after I filled up, I averaged 20.8 mpg on the way there. On the way home, upon filling up when I got back to town, found that I averaged 19.4 mpg.
Using Valvoline MaxLife 5w30 and 87oct fuel, veh as loaded down with luggage, 3 adults and 3 kids. Does my average mpg sound about right? Veh is rated at 24mpg highway. Would I do any better with an engergy conserving oil, or not? Any of you out there with Dodge Caravan 3.3L experience?

 

[ARB1977]

Thats the beauty of experimenting with different oils. Who knows you could of had some head wind or the tires could of be alittle low from the drive over it could be anything. Ive been running redline and amsoil for the life of my truck and soon im about to try some auto rx and castrol gtx for the clean and rinse cycles. If i notice some difference then ill use Castrol syntec and maintence doses of auto rx.

 

[flatlandtacoma]

You will have a lot bigger impact with tire pressure, driving style, lowering your speed by 5 mph, etc. than you ever will see by changing engine oil.

Actually I recommend a scangauge II at ~ $150. It will help save gas by showing you results in real time and show you what techniques work and what doesn't.

 

[Buick92]

I have a 2005 GC with the 3.3L, over all I average around 21 MPG in mixed city/highway driving. On a 1,100 mile trip this past weekend one tank I had averaged a little over 25 MPG doing around 75 on the highway and no AC on, there are so many factors that can vary the mileage, I use 5w20 conventional in mine no preference to brand.

 

[rriddle3]

The EPA mpg rating for your vehicle is not figured at the type of weight load you were carrying (I believe they figure it at driver plus 1 passenger), so that is one major factor in the difference between it and what you actually showed. Was there a strong wind blowing during either leg of your trip? That would also have a negative impact, along with running the a/c, low tire pressure, driving style and speed, engine tune-up condition, etc.

 

[Smitty]

The wife drives a 98 GC 3.3 and gets about 19 mpg. She drives like a Bat out of you know where......would make A. J. Foyt and Richard Petty look like they were backing up! We frequently make mandatory donations to the South Carolina State Highway Patrol.

 

[Curious Kid]

ouch Smitty.

Also factor in elevation changes - gravity assist on the down-hill leg, while you must work against it on the up-hill sections. At some point I imagine, the gains from less intake restriction and egr operation as the throttle opens become over meaningless as overall fresh air and fuel enrichment takes place, with the potential for down shifting equating to an increase number of combustion cycles per unit time, as does torque converter "slippage" if the vehicle has an AT. NOt all fuels are of equal quality, just like colors on printed wall paper of different lot numbers.

Ambient temps, fuel-rich warm-up times and degree of operation during such, atmospheric air pressure, etc.

Take care.

 

[javacontour]

Aside, isn't it funny how that works with the manditory donations.

I had an SVT Contour, modified with 8psi of turbocharger boost, making about 300HP out of 2.5L. Never made any manditory donations while driving that car.

However, our Mazda MPV with the same 2.5L without the turbo earned me two speeding tickets.

And all the auto reviewers said the MPV was underpowered with the 2.5L Duratec, what do they know, LOL

 

[brianl703]

Never made any mandatory donations while driving my Mustang 5.0. (Except for that one time I had a safety inspection sticker about 5 months out of date...)

Made two mandatory donations while driving two different Contours.

 

[thinshavings]

Quote:

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I took a trip this weekend to my brothers home which is 235 miles each way. On the way there, by calculating it after I filled up, I averaged 20.8 mpg on the way there. On the way home, upon filling up when I got back to town, found that I averaged 19.4 mpg.
Using Valvoline MaxLife 5w30 and 87oct fuel, veh as loaded down with luggage, 3 adults and 3 kids. Does my average mpg sound about right? Veh is rated at 24mpg highway. Would I do any better with an engergy conserving oil, or not? Any of you out there with Dodge Caravan 3.3L experience?

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I have the same exact vehicle.
On highway trips with 5 passengers and loaded with luggage, front and rear air on it would get 21 to 22 mpg at 70 mph.

Trips without air, luggage and just two passengers it got a best of 25 mpg.

 

[Steve_Stang2003]

Quote:

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I took a trip this weekend to my brothers home which is 235 miles each way. On the way there, by calculating it after I filled up, I averaged 20.8 mpg on the way there. On the way home, upon filling up when I got back to town, found that I averaged 19.4 mpg.
Any of you out there with Dodge Caravan 3.3L experience?

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I have a 2000 Caravan 3.3l, same thing with 3 kids and wife.
Bottom line is I have owned it since it was new, now has 130,000 miles and it and it has NEVER been good on gas.
The 3.3L is a fuel sucker and that's with any brand of oil you can find.
I've tried driving easy, fast, 55mph solid etc and nothing seems to matter.
The best I get is 23mpg (straight highway long trip) the worst is 20mpg (mixed suburban driving).
It never seems to change.

FWIW my fire breathing 2003 Mustang GT gets a solid 27mpg on highway trips and is never below 21mpg and that car encourages driving with a heavy foot.

My theory is that the horrid torque spec on the 3.3l leads us to be constantly mashing the pedal, even though we may not realize it.
My theory kind of fails though because a friend has a 2000 Grand Caravan and his mileage with the 3.8 is even worse than mine.

Other than that, the 3.3l is a gas guzzler, although it makes up for it in reliability. In the 7 years I have owned my Caravan, just about everything else broke (under 100k mile warranty thank goodness), but the motor has been solid.

Here's the list:
PCM (highly intermittent no start)
Two steering racks (clunking)
Tie rod ends (clunking)
Sway bar bushings 3x squeaking.
Input and output transmission sensors (dropped into limp mode).
Battery (after 5k went dead open).
Struts at approx 20k (leaking oil)

But I digress.....

See if you can fit the gang into a Mustang

 

[Triple_Se7en]

Quote:

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I took a trip this weekend to my brothers home which is 235 miles each way. On the way there, by calculating it after I filled up, I averaged 20.8 mpg on the way there. On the way home, upon filling up when I got back to town, found that I averaged 19.4 mpg.
Using Valvoline MaxLife 5w30 and 87oct fuel, veh as loaded down with luggage, 3 adults and 3 kids. Does my average mpg sound about right? Veh is rated at 24mpg highway. Would I do any better with an engergy conserving oil, or not? Any of you out there with Dodge Caravan 3.3L experience?

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Your brother must have fed your family real well with food & drink. That's the only logical explanation for the mileage drop-off coming back home.

 

[SFCP]

Quote:

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Quote:

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I took a trip this weekend to my brothers home which is 235 miles each way. On the way there, by calculating it after I filled up, I averaged 20.8 mpg on the way there. On the way home, upon filling up when I got back to town, found that I averaged 19.4 mpg.
Using Valvoline MaxLife 5w30 and 87oct fuel, veh as loaded down with luggage, 3 adults and 3 kids. Does my average mpg sound about right? Veh is rated at 24mpg highway. Would I do any better with an engergy conserving oil, or not? Any of you out there with Dodge Caravan 3.3L experience?

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Your brother must have fed your family real well with food & drink. That's the only logical explanation for the mileage drop-off coming back home.

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LOL!!! and yes...we did in fact eat much more than was necessary...

 

[Ross]

I have a 2000 Dodge GC 3.3 Owned it since new in July 2000.
The mileage varies drastically with conditions. I have 115,00 miles on it and am using GC 0w30 with maintence does or auto-rx. I just got back from a 1600 mile trip to Wisconsin Dells. 20.5 total MPG for the trip. Any type of headwind will suck the gas. Also driving 75mph isn't good for the mpg. My van likes 60-65mph with a sligh tailwind,
Then I get about 24mpg. BTW this has been the most reliable car that I have ever owned. only issues were a clock spring and end links, both under warrantee. BUT, I do things like change brake fluid, PS fluid and ATF + 4 every year regardless of mileage. It's overkill, but I like clean fluids.

 

[Aldaris]

Brand new company 07 Caravan gets about 20mpg all highway too. Just a very poorly designed drivetrain.

 

[SFCP]

From reading all this, I've found its not just me. I love the reliability of this engine from a mechanical standpoint, but my g o d!!! ther performance sucks, and it sucks the gas right out the tailpipe!!! What gives, Dodge?