First Impressions....Almost a Month....
Thread Starter
MMMmmmm.... Grits!!
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,031
Likes: 11
From: HEART OF, NC
Update: 2 month mark(4,000 miles added)
The Good:
No CEL's, still love the tranny, nice power for a STOCK truck. Gets up and moves into and through traffic very well. Looks great. The Brilliant Black paint is the perfect color for this truck. We've been out twice with the camper and hadn't the first issue. In tow/haul mode with the brake on it really seems to shrink whatever load is on the back of the hitch. I love a four wheel drive, but the rack and pinion steering on a one-ton is just the thing to make it seem car-like, but know that the toughness is there. It is so very quiet, but I am getting a little tired of it being called a VW TDI or a Sprinter.
As far as driving it, I don't beat on it alot. I just make my target RPM to be 1600-1800 in whatever situation I'm in. I don't let it lug along at 1200-1400 any. I use the auto-stick all the time. As soon as I put it into D I go ahead and set the A/S to 4 or 5 depending if I'm in the city or on backroads. 6th is strictly for open highway. I always use the exhaust brake everytime it is started. It is a little annoying having to do that as there is no way way to make it automatic.
I've had all of the applicable updates done to the powertrain, and the recall was done prior to me having it so that is all good. Not much else I'd change or do to the truck as it will be my favorite and best one yet.
The Bad:
It is the worst mileage diesel I've owned. It's looking as though with everyday driving it will give me 15-18. Towing looked to be around 10-11. Some will say wow that's great with one of these, but remember that this is a two-wheel drive. My previous '03s were getting near 23 on a daily basis. I know apples to oranges......
The Future:
I do plan on getting some dyno time with it to get some numbers on it. I want to get the as-is numbers and then disconnect the egr plug to see if all fresh air makes any difference. Then of course some track time to get some baseline numbers. Then again I shouldn't say baseline, because it's not getting any mods. STOCK STOCK STOCK . Of course there will be more to come later on.
Chris
The Good:
No CEL's, still love the tranny, nice power for a STOCK truck. Gets up and moves into and through traffic very well. Looks great. The Brilliant Black paint is the perfect color for this truck. We've been out twice with the camper and hadn't the first issue. In tow/haul mode with the brake on it really seems to shrink whatever load is on the back of the hitch. I love a four wheel drive, but the rack and pinion steering on a one-ton is just the thing to make it seem car-like, but know that the toughness is there. It is so very quiet, but I am getting a little tired of it being called a VW TDI or a Sprinter.
As far as driving it, I don't beat on it alot. I just make my target RPM to be 1600-1800 in whatever situation I'm in. I don't let it lug along at 1200-1400 any. I use the auto-stick all the time. As soon as I put it into D I go ahead and set the A/S to 4 or 5 depending if I'm in the city or on backroads. 6th is strictly for open highway. I always use the exhaust brake everytime it is started. It is a little annoying having to do that as there is no way way to make it automatic.
I've had all of the applicable updates done to the powertrain, and the recall was done prior to me having it so that is all good. Not much else I'd change or do to the truck as it will be my favorite and best one yet.
The Bad:
It is the worst mileage diesel I've owned. It's looking as though with everyday driving it will give me 15-18. Towing looked to be around 10-11. Some will say wow that's great with one of these, but remember that this is a two-wheel drive. My previous '03s were getting near 23 on a daily basis. I know apples to oranges......
The Future:
I do plan on getting some dyno time with it to get some numbers on it. I want to get the as-is numbers and then disconnect the egr plug to see if all fresh air makes any difference. Then of course some track time to get some baseline numbers. Then again I shouldn't say baseline, because it's not getting any mods. STOCK STOCK STOCK . Of course there will be more to come later on.
Chris
Registered User
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 105
Likes: 0
From: Alberta
You'll be missing out on 3-4 mpg if you stay stock. depending on how much you drive, it may be as much as $500.00 a year in fuel savings. (this kinda covers the cost of the mods). Plus the added power is kind of addictive... consider this at $1.25/litre for diesel(currently).
Registered User
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 8,803
Likes: 0
From: Northern Virginia
Chris, with no highway miles on my last tank except for traffic miles getting home after work, My last tank netted me exactly 17 mpg. I have had no worse than 15.7 and it is usually just over 16 mpg. I can't believe it but I have not even put any highway miles on mine since deleting parts so I have no results for that yet.
What you need is one of the horns I just got for mine. I have a thread in the Perf/Parts section with a soundclip.....
What you need is one of the horns I just got for mine. I have a thread in the Perf/Parts section with a soundclip.....
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