Fuel economy

[sierra]

after 70000km, Bullbar, winch lights on the roof & bullbar, side & rear bars and a few hundred kilos of survey gear and timber pegs in the boot + roof racks i still get about 10.5lt/100km or there abouts on a highway run. or about 615km off 60-65lt. I'm happy with that. Was about 8 when i first got it without any add ons.

I wonder what will happen when my 33's finally go on in 3 weeks.

Must be the 3.2 Tricky? It must be almost run in at 70,000km.
It just shows how much extra fuel is used to push those extras through the air. The extra weight would chew fuel in the city with stop start driving but have little impact on highway driving, mainly extra tyre friction I would have thought?
So that's 25 - 30% extra fuel consumption, maybe more now the engine's freed up a bit?
The Triton manuals are so much more efficient than the autos yet the latest 6 and 7 speed autos have the edge over the manuals for performance and economy. That 5 speed auto is way overdue!

I'm assuming all these figures are actual figures by calculation and not an estimate by the computer?

[FreestyleCab]

With all the shit hanging off my Triton i'm averaging about 14 to 15 LHK (according to my ScanGauge). Thats an tank average for my daily 60km commute to work through town and errands around town.
Every accessory makes a difference. My high lift jack and shovel mounted on the roof rack adds 1 LHK.
It gets better on a highway run....usually about 11 to 12 LHK. Nothing like the first run I did when my ute was new....a trip down the mountains to Penrith used about 8 LHK!!

I really need to look at the carbon buildup as I think my ute is well down on power compared to our new Triton we have at work. I reckon carbon sludge is a big factor in poor fuel economy in our utes...

[Homer]

Great so now I have to drive like a taxi driver

Maybe driving style is a part of the problem because I've never regarded taxi drivers as a particularly slow breed of driver?

Just try and get to the airport when you're a little pushed for time. Taxis will be the main problem tootling along at 55kph in the right lane.
Actually that isn't what I meant. It was the foot to the floor - total deceleration - foot to the floor - total deceleration - that so many cabbies do. That is what they are recommending in the article as fuel conservative driving.

[Naff]

Funny you should mention the carbon Brett - when mine was decarboned today I asked the service guy (who actually spent the time tell me how it all works) whether or not the carbon build up would affect fuel use as over the last few months my consumption has increased 1 to 2 LHK. My driving hasn't changed and nothing else has changed on the ute - he said it's possible, just because the exhaust gases aren't escaping as freely.

I'll be able to comment more in a few tanks time.. especially on the trip to Melbourne - I'm hoping to get my high 8's and low 9's again.

[sierra]

This is not a Triton but will be relevant to the MN diesel if it has a particulate filter.
Fascinating how obscure the cures are becoming these days!
Copied from 'Complaints Corner'.

"We bought a 2006 diesel automatic Pathfinder about 4 weeks ago with 18,000km and were very disappointed to see its fuel consumption around 15/100km, instead of nominated 10 litre mark.

After reading lots of web sites, we decided the most likely problem was incorrect oil (despite the car only having had Nissan dealer services) causing the diesel particulate filter (DPF) to constantly regenerate and burn more fuel.

We replaced the oil with a low-ash oil (similar to that specified in the handbook). Fuel consumption (not towing) has dropped to about 9 litres/100km.

The oil filter was replaced and the air filter cleaned. The mechanic added a fuel additive (I don't know which one). He also thinks that the injectors might need future attention, but we'll see how the fuel consumption pans out before looking further into that.

Hope this helps others.

Megan"

[Quinny23]

Whats classified as a low ash oil... ???

[sierra]

Whats classified as a low ash oil... ???

Here's a bit from the Penrite website.


Vehicles with DPFs must use Enviro+ or Diesel SP.
SAE 5W-40, API CI-4/SL, ACEA A3/B4, MB 229.5, VW 506.00/506.01, Global DLD-2/3

http://www.penriteoil.com.au/products/m ... r_diesel_5

[daryn]

413 km's with approx 100k around town, the rest freeway.

11.46l/100km as per fuel calculator (corrected)
12.5l/100km as per car calculator

[waveriders]

Well after nearly 3000klms I am averaging 11.2 l/100klm which just about lines up with what the car display is telling me.

[keith and coral]

I've got a ML diesel. Got new suspension with about 1 inch lift as well as a snorkel fitted.

I'm averaging about 9.5l/100km

Thats 50/50 highway and suburban driving.

My trip display seems to be pretty accurate with that too, always displays around 9.5l +-2 usually

[rawlos]

done just over 6000 km from perth to gold coast with all the running around twoing a trailer we are gettint 10.1ltr per 100 km .We changed back to standard tyers for this trip back in perth we run 265 75 16 and even on the long runs we get 11.5lts per 100 km this shows how much more fuel the bigger wheels use ,this has be caluclated by gps km from my garmin and also my car tracker witch both gave the same reading on km so i would think that it is spot on
Julian

[sierra]

The tyres aren't that much bigger, maybe it's the brand and type using up lots of energy through heat and noise?

Mine has dropped off for the last couple of fill ups, all city driving 2 - 10km trips from cold and back.
8.6 and 8.5L/100km
I'll have to stop getting into it to see if it improves?

[sam]

Well we've put a few tankfulls through our new ML and must say very happy so far re the economy
Last fill up taking it easy with a fair bit of round town stuff and highway at 90 to 100 kmh it returned 8.65 lt's /100km
Even when giving it stick was approx 10.5 so will see how it goes with big wheels ,bull bar etc later on.

[Buzzy]

On a run down the pacific a month ago following the old man who was pulling his camper I got the best economy I have ever got. That includes when the thing was new with no extras or 33's

We sat on 90-100 all the way, taking it steady.
Done exactly 400k's (on my truck) which corrected was actually 435k's. Checked this with the old mans Pajero.
Used 39.5L
Thats 9.08L/100 or 31mpg

[NTBB]

just did 2 tanks first one all hiway @ 110km/hr (gps)14l/100km the next 70%hiway 30% town 13lt/100 the only mods are bull bar and canopy never have i broken sub 11's WTF its starting to get me down big time. Towing a tralier home tomorow 700km might have to check with the bank manager if i can afford to . Love that car just cant afford to drive it

[sam]

I take it it's a 3.2 but whatever it is that's just

[borngeek]

i am starting to get fluctuating economy... (gone from solid 11.5 on dash to 13's!!)

i have noticed it going up as i have been doing a lot more city driving.

When i tramped it down the M5 i noticed on the way home the economy reading started to drop again. (down to 12's)

so i reset the thing again and it showed my usual 11.5 ave for about 100km and started to creep up again a day or two later.

so i found a side street and went for a burn in 2nd on the rev limiter for about 30 seconds. Notice a bit of smoke and dust come out.. Economy went down again!

I read in another thread (i think one of the ChipIT guys did this?? sorry cant find it ) that they had a similar issue and pulled off the catalytic convertor and blew it out with a air gun.
There was a report in a drop in boost doing this too...

I have EGR blocked (since about 5,000km from memory - 21K's now) and logic tells me the polution that clogs up intakes is going somewhere?

Going to try and pull it off and give it a go myself.. Although i have no idea where it is and what it looks like i am assuming it must be closish to the engine and part of the exhaust assembly.. now where are my tools??

[snowman]

borngeek,

have you replaced your aircleaner yet?

[daryn]

borngeek,

have you replaced your aircleaner yet?

Currently comparing STD Mitsubishi filter with unifilter for fuel economy.

I am curious about the cat clogging up, I wonder hmmmmm.

[borngeek]

borngeek,

have you replaced your aircleaner yet?

no i havent.. i have checked it a few times its still very white.

Will pickup a new one anyway, hoping to get time to do the cat this arvo will be interested to see if its a factor..

[chris_s]

My auto MN gets 8.9Lp100Km country and around 10.5Lp100Km with only 2,300 Km on the clock.
No add-ons at the moment, but have larger BFG all terrain 265/75R 16 tyres from new. I sit on about 95kph on the highway.

[Naff]

The difference between 95kph and 100kph is quite a lot in terms of fuel usage.

When I was in WA the roads I was driving on were generally straighter with no inclines.. driving here in VIC I've seen my usage change up to 3L/100km. Some of this is obviously due to my addition of AT tyres. However, I don't think all if it is. I've noticed driving in the last week (because I have actually had the car, not the missus) that I can change the usage just dependant on speed, if I sit at 105, I'm typically using 0.5L/100km more than if I sit at 100. This is just based on the gauge, and we know the gauge is wrong, but lets assume it is wrong linearly. I will test over the next couple of days to see if sitting at 95 further reduces it.. this will probably mean me getting out of bed when the alarm goes off rather than snoozing a couple of times further and then find myself rushing to get ready and get to work.

Whatever little work Mitsubishi did do when I asked them to check the manifold seemed to have a positive affect on the fuel usage.. almost 0.5L/100km, so the new software might be responsible for that. Unfortunately, there's no proof that it was all that because I cleaned my quite dirty unifilter at the same time.

Cruise control doesn't help fuel usage (I think some guys were discussing this at the last Bindies trip). Without cruise engaged, we see hills and accelerate prior to reaching the hill. If cruise is engaged, it waits until speed has already dropped before accelerating, which means it is accelerating longer through the incline rather than before it (some theory on momentum could be inserted here).

Having said all that, I'm currently averaging 10.5L/100km with the big ol' ATs on and that is driving over the Great Dividing Range everyday

[chick_magnet_0001]

would like to here about what you have found daryn with the uni filter, mine seems to have slowly crept up over time still undersided if its driving style, summer heat, air filter or intake manifold blocked im going to wait till the 30k(28k atm) service and get a new air filter and see wat happens and compare like you to the uni

[chris_s]

The difference between 95kph & 100kph isn't much in time but can be a lot with fuel consumption. That's 5 Km in an hour IF you can maintain it for the duration. That 5Km will take 3 minutes longer IF both vehicles can maintain that steady speed. On my trip to NW Aus via the Canning Stock Route and Gibb River Rd (17,000Km return in 3 months), I calculated I saved an estimated 350L by slowing down a bit in my Patrol. Between fuel stops, my mates were only waiting a max of 4 minutes at any one place, but I saved an estimated $600. The price of fuel in NW WA was around the $2.20 - $2.50 in 2008 when I did the trip, Melb was $1.85 when I left.

[SANDSPITTER]

Bad fuel economy sucks.Do everthing you can change oil regualy clean filter pump tyres up to what you feel is agood ride. Hope you score a tail wind.I have 09 auto get 12/12.5 regulary bar conopy 265/75 tyres and lift with chip it power chip.Overall for a shit hot 4wd im prety happy.