Mds

[rule18]

How do you lock it out

Using the gear selector, limit the transmission from going past 7th or 8th gear.

 

[scott lass 18]

I d deleat mine in a minnit if I could with a tuner ! have u seen the old mds in older truck plastic crap brakes when taking out ! the new mds is metal one s hummmm so think they know what crap plastic one are doing ! seen one look like it melted ? worse idea I ever seen !

 

[boblonben]

MDS has been in Ram trucks for years with no issues. You can lock it out if you want but I just let it do its thing and have since 2007. It's not worth complaining about for sure.

Red

Amen.. nothing wrong with MDS and certainly nothing to get all wound up ab out. To many get hung on this subject which has NO meaningful value to the rest of us!!!!!!

 

[eddie046]

Anyone remember the last time a car manufacturer tried this? It was GM in the 80's or early 90's, the old "8-6-4". Huge failure.

The V8-6-4 concept was sound it was just that the computer power available at that time just couldn't make it work well then. I will give Cadillac an A for effort and being innovative. MUCH better than those horrible HT4100 and 4500 engines that followed!

 

[eddie046]

No, I'm in the way back machine. Late 80's early 90's Caddy's (possibly other GM vehicles) had what they called the 8-6-4. Yes it was cylinder deactivation, but back then they had way more problems than successes. It wasn't received well and it didn't last long, in that iteration of it.

V8-6-4 came out in 1981 and only lasted a couple of years. Most of the cars converted to normal V8 operation.

 

[mikeru]

The V8-6-4 concept was sound it was just that the computer power available at that time just couldn't make it work well then. I will give Cadillac an A for effort and being innovative. MUCH better than those horrible HT4100 and 4500 engines that followed!

I had the HT4100 in an 87 Sedan de Ville. Daily drove it to work for about 2 years. Very comfortable to drive and I never had any trouble with it. But I had to do a yearly coolant service on it. They would flush and refill, and add a special stop-leak during the service. Engine had decent power for the day, but really needed have more power because of the size of the car. It's not an engine I would choose after owning one, but it served it's purpose well for me at the time.

 

[Fireman48]

I got it. It doesnt bother me whatsoever on a lifted Ram with 35" tire. I really don't know why this is such a constant complaint.

 

[Octane]

I have a '13 Ram.Mds on wide open interstate I "might" notice 1/2 mile per gallon improvement.But I have to really try.I run with mds off and it at least has 8 live cylinders as any self respecting V8 should have.In todays world folks think a few ounces of gas saved will save the planet.If that is the case...screw the planet.And the **** sapiens.Lol.

 

[pacofortacos]

MDS on the interstate won't kick on if you have AT tires/lift or really any head/side wind @ 70+ mph for the most part.

Running in MDS in the Fl Keys @ 50 mph, my hemi w/3.92's can get 28-30 mpg.
@ 70+ mph stock it never exceeded 17 mpg with highway tread tires and only stock Outdoorsman height.

 

[Octane]

MDS on the interstate won't kick on if you have AT tires/lift or really any head/side wind @ 70+ mph for the most part.

Running in MDS in the Fl Keys @ 50 mph, my hemi w/3.92's can get 28-30 mpg.
@ 70+ mph stock it never exceeded 17 mpg with highway tread tires and only stock Outdoorsman height.

With no city averages figured in my hemi with 3.55 gets 21-22 mpg on flat long runs on interstate.Drove it once or twice from Conyers Ga to Anniston Alabama and got 20.5 to 21.0 on I-20. At 62 to 65mph.

 

[ramffml]

MDS is more useful to Ram than it is to us drivers. I regularly get 23 to 25 mpg with it turned off, all highway, mostly flat etc. The thing to remember about MDS is that it is so weak, it can only be active when the truck is just holding its own, which means, you're already basically using almost nothing in terms of fuel so dividing nothing in half you get half of nothing.

Engineering Explained on YouTube did a great video on using 0w-16 oils, and how this was driven by cafe regulation. They are literally saving a fraction of a percent in terms of fuel economy in each car, but overall it boosts their corporate MPG and this is important.

So yeah, same deal with MDS. Completely useless feature that bugs us more than it seems to help. It's not for us to save fuel, its for Ram to look better on their spreadsheets. Thank goodness we have the ability to turn it off, because on the GM trucks you can't (though admittedly their system is far more advanced and less intrusive than the simple 8-4 system employed by Ram at the moment.)

 

[mikeru]

MDS on the interstate won't kick on if you have AT tires/lift or really any head/side wind @ 70+ mph for the most part.

Running in MDS in the Fl Keys @ 50 mph, my hemi w/3.92's can get 28-30 mpg.
@ 70+ mph stock it never exceeded 17 mpg with highway tread tires and only stock Outdoorsman height.

With no city averages figured in my hemi with 3.55 gets 21-22 mpg on flat long runs on interstate.Drove it once or twice from Conyers Ga to Anniston Alabama and got 20.5 to 21.0 on I-20. At 62 to 65mph.

It's great that you guys are seeing some benefit from using MDS. And by all means continue using it if you like. But from your descriptions, you're driving on flat roads and at fairly constant speeds. There really are no flat roads where I live. At least not within my normal driving area. Lots of hills. Lots of speed rated corners. No interstate. I've done my own testing, and have concluded that MDS does virtually nothing except annoy me on the rare occasion that it does come on. When I had a stock exhaust I didn't even notice it. But with an aftermarket exhaust it's very obvious when it is active. I might live with it if it saved me on fuel costs. But since it doesn't I choose to deactivate it. It's as much of a habit for me as buckling up.

 

[Hanover Fiste]

I have a 20 Limited with the Hemi 5.7 and on my sheet it has a $2,000 option for the e MV. Option trying to look up what that is it says it increases the horsepower to 315 and the talk what does all this mean is it any good question.I correct it the HP is 415

Sounds like you have the eTorque option. It has a battery pack (40v?) behind the rear seat that provides an additional 130 lb-ft of supplemental launch torque.

 

[Octane]

It's great that you guys are seeing some benefit from using MDS. And by all means continue using it if you like. But from your descriptions, you're driving on flat roads and at fairly constant speeds. There really are no flat roads where I live. At least not within my normal driving area. Lots of hills. Lots of speed rated corners. No interstate. I've done my own testing, and have concluded that MDS does virtually nothing except annoy me on the rare occasion that it does come on. When I had a stock exhaust I didn't even notice it. But with an aftermarket exhaust it's very obvious when it is active. I might live with it if it saved me on fuel costs. But since it doesn't I choose to deactivate it. It's as much of a habit for me as buckling up.

What I am saying is basically there is no benefit to mds, the government likes mds tho.

 

[pacofortacos]

It's great that you guys are seeing some benefit from using MDS. And by all means continue using it if you like. But from your descriptions, you're driving on flat roads and at fairly constant speeds. There really are no flat roads where I live. At least not within my normal driving area. Lots of hills. Lots of speed rated corners. No interstate. I've done my own testing, and have concluded that MDS does virtually nothing except annoy me on the rare occasion that it does come on. When I had a stock exhaust I didn't even notice it. But with an aftermarket exhaust it's very obvious when it is active. I might live with it if it saved me on fuel costs. But since it doesn't I choose to deactivate it. It's as much of a habit for me as buckling up.

Are all hills where I live, but there are some country roads that have 45 mph speed limits.
I can see a small benefit.

It really is dependent on where you live and drive as well as driving habits, I can drive and make it almost never turn on and other times I can try to keep it on as long as possible just depends on my foot and mood.

I often actually get better mpg locally than on the highway at 70+ mph. thank you 3.92 gears.

I will actually get better mpg going from OH to Breezewood on the turnpike over the hills and mountains that I will on flat interstate I 95 from South Carolina to the FL Keys. Same speed same load. Almost 2 mpg more in the hills due to high mpg going down the hills.

I would bet it would irritate me more if my exhaust was louder, I currently have a 6.4 tailpipe (behind the muffler) that is actually more quiet than the stock 5.7 exhaust. Bigger but quieter. The 6.4 muffler made the truck whisper quiet. Also hurt low end power.