[The_Jackfish]

Hey guys. New to the forum and the Intrepid scene. It aint to big up here in North-western Ontario. Rice bucket imports are everywhere. Anywho, my car is a 2004 Intrepid SXT. Has the 3.5 H.O. looming under the hood. I simply love driving this car. Now i found that the fuel mileage it gets is rivaled by my old truck..... Is there any easy way to get noticeable fuel mileage increases? Im saving up for a K&N 57 Series. And ive upgraded to Iridium spark plugs. What do you guys suggest? Keep in mind i work out of my drive way and this is my daily driver. So it cant be anything that puts my car out of commission for too long. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Until next time.

[bh1992]

when it comes to spark plugs, our cars seem to prefer champions and NGKs. Most people here have found that bosch plugs don't seem to work worth a damn and cause the engines to run rough. as far as anything else, do you have any trouble codes or anything like that?

[The_Jackfish]

Ive got Champions in her. Wouldny use anything else in a Chrysler. Itr keeps flashing a general evap code. but it hasnt affected my mileage.

[gardidien]

I have a 2003 SXT with the 3.5 HO. I calculate my mileage by hand and also use the EVIC reading. They're generally within 0.5 MPG of each other. I get about 15 City 21 Highway. 16-17 on average with mixed driving. It was much worse before that, but I got new tires, timing belt and water pump changed out, NGK Platinum plugs (wouldn't use anything else), and I keep up on regular maintenance. What kind of numbers are you getting?

BTW http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/19844.shtml

[paintballdude05]

Welcome from fellow Ontarian! I have a 2002 SXT and my millage is in the low 20's. Keep in mind that's USMPG not Canadian. If you have an OTIS it reads USMPG. The intake will probably not help your gas millage much but it sounds good and there's a small noticeable difference in the bottom end pull. Like the others have said, go with NGK Lazer plugs, they are the best choice for these cars. How many miles are on the car?

[Avenger]

Hello from southern Ontario. For fuel mileage you should be expecting to get anywhere between 11 to 12L/100km. I average about 10.9L/100km (22mpUSg) on the LHS and 12L/100km (20mpUSg) on the R/T (R/T is several hundred pounds heavier). If you have a lead foot, expect numbers to be slightly worse. To put this in perspective, I average 6.1L/100km on my Civic.

[The_Jackfish]

I have the high end Champion Iridium's in it. I get, on average city driving, no lead footing, 15L/100KM. Im coming from 4x4 Dodge trucks to this and its awesome in comparison. But still seems awful considering a quarter of that tank will be spent highway. Its 100km to work and back every week. And not to sound Newfagish, but whats an OTIS? My car is completely stock for now. I have plans for a nice deep rumbley exhaust, and the 57 Series intake. Later on when i get it paid off more i will invest in other more serious upgrades such as ECU re-flashing and engine parts. Id also like to know what you folks would recommend for replacement coils. Mine are starting to go. They show a little bit of burn through on themselves and ive lately developed a low rpm shudder.

Also, on the highway, at 90Km/h my tach reads at about 1800-1900 RPM. Is this a normal range? Coming from my V8 4x4 which turned 1600 RPM at 100Km/h to this seems high to me. As my work truck has a Slant 6 4.2L that turns 1600 RPM at 100Km/h as well.

The car has 167xxx Km on it. Im doing the timing belt, water pump and serpentine belt at 170000KM. Along with a full synthetic transmission service and full synthetic oil change. Ive been reading about how these cars have a hereditary transmission problem. But mine shifts fine. Ive been thinking about finding a shift kit template. Anybody have any sort of luck with that stuff?

[bh1992]

OTIS stands for onboard trip information system. if you have one, it would be up on the ceiling (shows information such as gas mileage - instant and avg., trip odometer, elapsed time, and temperature). Your rpm is in the "normal range". You have to consider that your work truck probably has a bit more torque and so it can be geared higher. As far as the transmission issues go, when there is an issue it is most often a solenoid pack that has to be replaced.

To help give you something to compare your vehicle to for gas mileage, I have an 02 chrysler 300m with the 3.5HO. If all I do is highway driving, I can usually get about 25mpg. In town driving for me is usually closer to 16mpg. Driving in the city usually gets me 22-23mpg (add in about 120 highway miles).

[The_Jackfish]

I see, no i dont have an OTIS. Ya, i figured that but still wanted to make sure it was normal for the car. In town works out to 15 mpg for me. Are there any basic upgrades that have yielded fuel mileage increases for you guys? Im thinking things like tire types, coil choice, valances and spoilers? My front valence got ripped off of my car a few weeks ago and i havent really noticed a difference so i dont worry about it,

[peva]

...overhead trip information center?

[micholob]

Overhead travel information system according to 'the google'

[bh1992]

that may be it, its been a while since i've looked at the manual for the car

[peva]

...and according to the FSM.

[concordefreak]

As avenger said 11-12L/100km.

Mine averages 11.6L/100km mostly on 20/80% city hwy. basically 250km for a half tank @ 120-130km/hr (also running 18 inch wheels) so with 16 inch I hit 300km to a half (at most).

I actually had to stop driving the car, I take my parents 00' accord since I average about 8L/100km as my daily. I drive about 500km a week, plus I enjoy driving a standard.

Also try running higher octane, the HO engines suck on regular. You should get about 1-2 mpg better (I found). I use regular all the time though.

[Avenger]

15L/100km is kinda high......you say your coil packs are on their way out?
Transmissions in these cars should not have too many issues.......mostly issues with $10 (in the USA) input/output sensors. Your RPMs are normal for this type of car, I wish my Civic could stay below 3000 on the highway :( This is the wrong type of car for shift kits and other engine modifications if you're looking for options. There are only a few fairly standard performance mods.