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Jag
Dodge Dakota
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5/20/2004
18:12:10

Subject: Mopar ECU and MPG
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My R/T has a Mopar ECU in it. I am currently running 91+ octane as recommended by the previous owner.

1. Is it necessary to run 91 octane with the aftermarket ECU?

2. Does the Mopar ECU provide better or worse gas mileage.

I drive very easy...never really even use the power. With the way gas prices are around here...I can't afford too. I have putting premium in this truck and have been thinking about switching back to the stock ECU. Will my fuel mileage increase with the stock unit in?



Jag
Dodge Dakota
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5/21/2004
12:25:11

RE: Mopar ECU and MPG
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Anyone have a Mopar ECU? How was your power increase? Negligible?





?
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5/21/2004
13:57:03

RE: Mopar ECU and MPG
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You probably will Not get an increase in mpg
with stock ECU , But you will be able to
use 87 or 89.
Are there any other " mods " on truck ?



S Dave
Dodge Dakota
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5/21/2004
14:46:12

RE: Mopar ECU and MPG
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Potentially, there may be a gas mileage increase with MP pcm since the MP pcm brings in more total advance. But any gas mileage increase will be offset by the higher cost of premium gas. If you are doing a lot of city driving, I doubt you see much improvement. Highway driving may be another story. If you do drive carefully like you say, you may be able to do an accurate comparison between the two. If you try to enjoy the added power the MP pcm gives you even on a limited basis you will probably see reduced gas mileage. I have a 94 Dakota that was basically stock when I added the MP pcm. I saw a 2 mpg drop in my case if I remember correctly and I was trying to do the same thing, compare gas mileage between the 2 pcm's. I don't remember how easy I took it when I compared the two. But take into account, that this was a few years back when it was easier to find gas to give good performance with MP pcm. So there was a noticeable power increase with addition of the MP pcm and i can't remember how I drove it.



S Dave
Dodge Dakota
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5/21/2004
14:49:25

RE: Mopar ECU and MPG
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And you have to take into consideration the difference between the 94 MP pcm and the 99 MP pcm. I am sure that they are not the same.



Jag
Dodge Dakota
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5/21/2004
14:59:44

RE: Mopar ECU and MPG
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So has anyone tried running a lower octane with a Mopar ECU and had any bad results? I am thinking about trying it to see if it can handle it. I have never driven my R/T without the Mopar so I wouldn't know what stock performance is like.

Mods include: Mopar ECU, 52mm polished TB, K&N panel.



S Dave
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5/21/2004
17:52:28

RE: Mopar ECU and MPG
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Yea, I have tried using regular unleaded with the MP pcm. It may run alright for a while if you don't get on it, but my truck got to where it hesitated and stumbled badly at times when I was trying to accelerate. Once it began doing that it would ping easily and often if though I tried to accelerate at a careful pace. So what you need to do is just swap the pcm's if you want to run regular. I'd say that would be a good idea since the price of gas is rising with no end in sight.



Jag
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5/22/2004
09:14:17

RE: Mopar ECU and MPG
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Well...I put 15 gallons of 87 into my tank that was 1/4 full. 30 miles home from Jax it drove great. I will see what happens. My guess is it would be worst in warm weather. I wonder if my 180 degree thermostat will help matters? I will keep everyone posted.

What kind of HP increase does the Mopar ECU supply anyways in the R/T?



01Motorsport
Dodge Dakota
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5/22/2004
19:51:13

RE: Mopar ECU and MPG
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I can't speak for the R/T, but I had a '92 5.2 with the MP computer. It was listed as a 25 hp upgrade, which performance-wise seemed about right. My Dak was sensitive to octane, pinged on 92, had to run 93. However, I added the MP at 160K miles, and older vehicles require more octane, anyway. Before the MP, I ran about 50/50 87/93 mix. Before you get down on premium, consider that the difference between 87 and 93 (usually 20 cents/gal.) is a smaller percentage at $2/gal (10percent) than it was at $1/gal (20 percent). You may try a 87/93 mix that suits your engine without pinging. From an economic standpoint, midgrade should be 90 octane instead of 89 to get your money's worth.



01Motorsport
Dodge Dakota
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5/22/2004
19:58:54

RE: Mopar ECU and MPG
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I didn't address the MPG issue. Various road tests over the years have shown a minor increase in MPG with the MP computers (including R/T's), usually 1 mpg, not more than 2. The increase came only when air intake and exhaust, and sometimes camshaft changes were made as well, and the MP computer optimized those changes. It was ALWAYS noted that driving for MPG after the changes was TOUGH because the extra horsepower was hard to resist! LOL.



me
Dodge Dakota
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7/16/2009
21:22:58

RE: Mopar ECU and MPG
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nitrous.com




why
Dodge Dakota
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7/17/2009
06:26:53

RE: Mopar ECU and MPG
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Why are you writing to a Five year old thread?



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