Hello from CentralValley of California. Dodge Cummins and Ford Focus Wagon
 

Hi all,
I live in scenic Modesto...lol. Working on a 2004 DodgeRam 2500 w/ a 5.9 cummins turbo diesel. It does great for mileage considering its weight. 7090lbs...21-23mpg highway. Also have a Ford Focus Wagon...it sucks. I expected 30mpg. Averages 21mpg, best ever seen was 27mpg on a long freeway trip. I will be reading and stealing ideas for mods.
Thanks,
Dave

Welcome Dave,

The best view I've ever had of Modesto was in my rear view mirror ;). You're doing great with your Ram 2500. The Focus can return good mileage if you don't push it too hard. Try a tank with maximum speed of 60 mph, and accelerating slowly, so it shifts at 2000 rpm (not 2500, or heaven forbid - 3000 or higher). Fill your tires to their maximum sidewall pressure, and I think you'll easily see mid 30s mpg.

Why not try shifts at 1500 or 1800rpm? This is definitely doable in an automatic version of the car...

I find it quite difficult to convince an automatic to shift at 1500-1800 unless I'm accelerating very gently. My truck does it more easily because it's very torquey but most do not cooperate.

Maybe if a car is equipped with tiptronic, +/- buttons, or other interface meant to encourage manual shifting of an automatic, it would obey those shift commands.

Well then try accelerating gently? Actually what you really need to do is find out the shifting thresholds. For example on my truck, it won't shift until at least 5mph, then 15mph then 20mph and then 25mph. Vehicles have their own minimum shift points so you'd be best to find it out yourself. (It's also sometimes listed in the owner's manual)

thanks
dave

Welcome to the forums.

I was looking at a 2004 5.9 Cummins because the manual version is very fun to drive. You can glide through the gears without ever touching the throttle.:D

Went to the wedding of a friend of a friend in Modesto once...the most memorable thing about it was that there was a guy there who looked EXACTLY like Colonel Sanders!

If your Focus has an automatic, your mileage, if it is mostly around town, is probably pretty close to right on. I have a co-worker who has a Focus wagon, I'll have to check with him to see what kind of mileage he gets...he never drives over about 35 on city streets, and maybe about 50 on the freeway...