Gas mileage

[larryl]

I average 21 mpg R/T

[sdeveau]

Hi coming from south Germany and living in a city with 600.000 people.

Have no big experience on our Journey 2.4 MT (Manual Transmission), also 170PS as the US AT version, because we drive it only since 5 weeks and have just low kilometers on it. Last tankful was driven only under city conditions - engine don´t gets operation temperature and stop and go traffic etc. - so my consumption is about 19,4 mpg (12,2l per 100 km).

But I think after some more kilometers consumption will drop down - will see what will happen when we get a better city/country road/highway-mix.

At least one personally comment from my side - why you all wanna drive a Journey 6-cylinder? The Journey is no sportscar and in times of permanently fuel price increasing we all should look to more economic engines. The 6-cylinder is more comfortable - YES - but the 4 cylinder is doing the same good work. And you drive on your highways only 60 or 70 mph maximum.

Around my city directly the highways are limited between 62,5 and 75 miles, but then after some kilometers many highways are open and if traffic allows we drive normally 90-100mpg, sometimes if we want up 117,5 or what else is the maximum speed.

I don´t want to give you instructions, but in this times all commodities getting more and more expensive (for fuel, heating etc.) and our fuel prices are much higher than yours. So it´s time to use new technologies which give us more savings.

I can't speak for everyone, but I'll tell you why my husband and I chose the V6.

We test drove the four cyclinder. It had half a tank of gas and just the two of us in it. It had no "get up and go". We do alot of travelling and have a toddler. This means we always have lots of luggage, even for a two-day trip. We need a vehicle that is able to excellerate to pass or to merge as quick as possible.

The V6 isn't that bad on gas. Consider this: today's V6 or even V8 are better than 4-cylinders from 10 years ago. The technology has come a long way.

Besides that, the gas isn't THAT much more expensive, and to have a vehicle that you're not constantly encouraging to speed up quicker, it's worth the extra money.

We did consider the fact that it uses more fuel, which in turn increases our carbon footprint while driving. Like I said though, what is the point in having a vehicle that's always disappointing you because you can't pass anyone and it takes forever for you to get up to speed to merge onto the highway.

If we were using this vehicle stricly for city driving, then the 4 would have sufficed, but we don't, so it wasn't good enough.

On a side note: We have the Performance Steering and Suspension package, so it FEELS like a sports car, even if it's not.

[BloodyYellowCube]

At least one personally comment from my side - why you all wanna drive a Journey 6-cylinder? The Journey is no sportscar and in times of permanently fuel price increasing we all should look to more economic engines. The 6-cylinder is more comfortable - YES - but the 4 cylinder is doing the same good work. And you drive on your highways only 60 or 70 mph maximum.

Around my city directly the highways are limited between 62,5 and 75 miles, but then after some kilometers many highways are open and if traffic allows we drive normally 90-100mpg, sometimes if we want up 117,5 or what else is the maximum speed.

I don´t want to give you instructions, but in this times all commodities getting more and more expensive (for fuel, heating etc.) and our fuel prices are much higher than yours. So it´s time to use new technologies which give us more savings.

That is exactly why I chose the 2.4 L : Gas price. It was $1,50/L a year ago! Since then it drops to $1,00/L. I would have love all the extra options the SXT brings (mostly the folding passenger seat!), but I didn't want the 3.5 L. The 2.7 L would have been a great choice, I think, but it's not available in Canada. The 2.4 L is great with the SE+ (Canada-only config in America), but you must not need to haul anything big 'cause 1000 lbs is pretty small or live in a mountain area because it works hard in hill climbing.

[JourneyMan71]

Yes, the 2.4L is rated at better MPG's, but it must work harder to pull around the weight. The v6 is just right for the cars weight. The small gain in MPG's is not worth (to me) the lost power you will need from time to time.

[JKJavelin]

At first I was getting 16- 17 mpg. Now with 2300 miles it's 18-19. Not much of any highway miles, so I'd be happy with 20 mpg around town.

JK

[Remline]

I have the RT and get about 21 on average. I do a lot of HWY driving. I am curious. What gas are you folks using? I have been using 87 since 87 or 89 is allowed. Every once in a while it will idle a little rough. Wondering if I will get better milage using 89.

Well I started using 89. Gas milage went up at 1.5 mpg. Just got back off a 3000 mile road trip. Through the blue ridge mountains I got just under 21 going 70 -75 with a soft roof rack. On flat roads I got about 22. When I went on a side trip with no roof rack on flat roads doing about 60 I got 24.2.

[JourneyMan71]

I don't have very many miles on mine yet, but I filled it up when there was about 3/4 of a tank left. For the first 150 miles, mostly city I got about 19 mpg. Then for the next 150, all highway miles (with cruise on 65) I got 26 mpg. I would like to see a slight improvement around the city.

Chris

what size engine? I have 3.5l and get 16 mix,I would love 19 city,lol.

[fjpod]

I have the 2.4 l, 2009. So far I am not impressed...but then I only have 1200 miles on it so far. I do mostly local city driving. The first tank I got about 15.8. Second tank 17.0 and on a recent highway trip I got 18.3. I do use hypermiling techniques. These are all calculated by the mileage and fill-up method. I do have a scan guage which on my recent highway trip said I was getting as much as 25.5 or so, but it didn't jive with my fill-up method at all. Pretty sure I have the scanguage set right for my engine and all. time will tell.

[JourneyMan71]

I have the 2.4 l, 2009. So far I am not impressed...but then I only have 1200 miles on it so far. I do mostly local city driving. The first tank I got about 15.8. Second tank 17.0 and on a recent highway trip I got 18.3. I do use hypermiling techniques. These are all calculated by the mileage and fill-up method. I do have a scan guage which on my recent highway trip said I was getting as much as 25.5 or so, but it didn't jive with my fill-up method at all. Pretty sure I have the scanguage set right for my engine and all. time will tell.

I was told by the dealer service writer that it can take upwards of 12k miles to get the mileage to level off and get the true numbers. Remember the Journey is a 4000 pound crossover it sits up higher than a sedan and air flow under it causes loss of MPG's. The 2.4L works harder to move the same one than a 3.5L v6. I am sure at least I am hopeful you will get better MPG's the more it is driven. I also use Royal Purple synthetic oil in my Journey. That could help you out as well.

[brwengel]

Well I can tell you from my own experience that with my V-6 I am getting an average of 22mpg. My buddy has a four-cylinder and he tells me that with just about 6,000 miles he is getting about 26mpg hwy! Not bad for an under-powered overweight vehicle.

Happy Motoring...

[W_A_Watson_II]

Here is my Journey's MPG. The29 MPG was just a few local miles, and the 10 MPG was a few miles in heavy town traffic. My 19K mile average is 21.44.

Prior to the 8,000 mile mark I was using 89 and 90 octane, since then 97 octane. Most of the 89 mand higher octane here is 87 with a higher blend of ethanol, which is not as fuel efficient as gas.

[OhareFred]

I have the RT and get about 21 on average. I do a lot of HWY driving. I am curious. What gas are you folks using? I have been using 87 since 87 or 89 is allowed. Every once in a while it will idle a little rough. Wondering if I will get better milage using 89.

Hey all.

At first I used 87 and got about 14 mpg (in Chicago traffic in the city) and about 21 on the highway. On a road trip I used 89 just to see and got 25 mpg on the highway doing 72-75 mph. Now I use 89 all the time and am seeing my city milage to be about 17 and highway about 24. I plan to switch to synthetic oil and use a K & N airfilter and see what happens then. BTW, these numbers are not with me babying the Journey, just my normal driving, and I've got a big foot!

3.5 V6 HO w/FWD and 6 speed autostick. has about 10,000 miles and is just over a year old

[fjpod]

I was told by the dealer service writer that it can take upwards of 12k miles to get the mileage to level off and get the true numbers. Remember the Journey is a 4000 pound crossover it sits up higher than a sedan and air flow under it causes loss of MPG's. The 2.4L works harder to move the same one than a 3.5L v6. I am sure at least I am hopeful you will get better MPG's the more it is driven. I also use Royal Purple synthetic oil in my Journey. That could help you out as well.

I'm planning to switch to synthetic at my 3k mile oil change. I'll look into RP. Are you using 5w20 as recommended?

[JourneyMan71]

Well I can tell you from my own experience that with my V-6 I am getting an average of 22mpg. My buddy has a four-cylinder and he tells me that with just about 6,000 miles he is getting about 26mpg hwy! Not bad for an under-powered overweight vehicle.

Happy Motoring...

I am not saying that it is a bad engine,but it does have to work harder to move the same size auto than with the v6.

[JourneyMan71]

I'm planning to switch to synthetic at my 3k mile oil change. I'll look into RP. Are you using 5w20 as recommended?

I have the 3.5L v6, it calls for 10W 30

[Jcolmenar]

Just purchased a 2009 Dodge Journey RT 2.0L Diesel (in Australia) on the weekend and driven it 60km city driving and 300km country (total 225 MILES) has returned 7.2l/100km or 39.5mpg and its meant to get better as the engine is run in. Power seems fine for small motor. Haven't used the first tank of Diesel yet!

Ours is a RT 2.0L Diesel manual (in Spain), makes 35.3mpg driving at 80mph fully loaded with 7 people and a rigid box Thule Pacific 200 placed up in the roof (with 121 gallon capacity).

Without the roof box and fully loaded with 7 people at the same speed of 80mph it makes pretty good 45.1mpg.

If I drive alone at an speed of 60mph it makes 52 mpg.

I think that fuel consumption of the diesel version is really low specially if we think of the great size of the car (still low even if I compare it to my BMW 320d manual and diesel which consumes less than a cigarette lighter and at 60mph makes 65mpg).

The VW diesel engine works very well and gives more hp than the officially rekon 140hp (probably +150hp) which makes it quite a quick car (0-60mph in 11 seconds, and a max speed of 118 mph)

cheers :D

[ThePhotographer]

I have the 3.5L v6, it calls for 10W 30

Your 100% correct it does call for 10w30 in the 3.5 V6 . I switched to synthetic oil at 7500 miles and I'm now getting 23 city and 26-27 highway.

[JourneyMan71]

I just came back from a 600 mile round trip from Ohio to Kentucky and back to Ohio. I averaged 22.4 mpg. At one point I hit 27.3 mpg. I was amazed and thrilled :party2:

[brwengel]

I just returned from a weekemd trip to TN this past weekend. On the way home it was a rainy day and as a result pretty cool, so I decided to turn off the A/C (here in Atlanta the A/C is always on). I reset my fuel economy calculator and within a few miles my MPG jumped up to 28 !!! I thought this can't be right and surely it'll eventually drop but it did't. I filled up the gas tank before I got home and did the calculations, and sure enough it was about 3 MPG better than it had been. I guess I can turn the A/C back on and see if it drops back. Now this is very unscientific, and I can't believe the A/C sucks up that much gas, but now that fall is here we'll be able to drive a bit more without the A/C.

I'll keep you informed.....

[mikeymouse]

When I fill up, the dash says I can go 400 miles. Unfortunately I only make it about 325 and have to refuel. My average MPG is 19-20. I have a 2.4 v6.

[fjpod]

Just got back from a 400 mile road trip. Four cyl gasoline, 3 passengers with suitcases, almost all highway miles at 60 mph. Calculated MPG was 23.9. I did use modest hypermiling techniques. Tire pressure 40 psi. Engine oil M1 5w20. Limited AC use (about 25%).

[JourneyMan71]

Just have to remember MPG's can depend on alot of things. Wind,temp,how miles are on the Journey. I have been told by the dealer that the true MPG's won't show up till around 12k miles. I guess what can be expected from then on I guess a norm.

[WOLF]

hate to say this, but i managed before it went back (AGAIN) a staggeringly good 52.8MPG ... but that is from a UK spec'd CRD SXT DIESEL , and at a steady 50MPH over many miles on one trip!!

[OhareFred]

Well, got home today from about a 500 mile round trip from Illinois to Upper Wisconsin (north of Green Bay). My Journey just turned 12,000 miles on this trip. Its a V6 R/T with a K7N air filter and Synthetic oil, no other mods.

On the way out, mid 40's F, very windy and rainy, managed to average 26.3 mpg @ 70 mph.

On the way home, lower to mid 40's F, little wind, spottly snow showers to overcast, managed 28.5 mpg @ an average of around 70 mph! I was very happy and didn't believe the computer untill I figured it out myself. Hope it wasn't a fluke!

[W_A_Watson_II]

Just completed 1,342 mile round trip (65-75 MPH), and averaged 23.4 (hand calculated). Now have 22,500 miles on the RT