fuel economy

[akley88]

ive been averaging 17-19 mpg, with a majority of hwy miles. since mid feb i have put 4k miles on mine. i also have a v6 and drive at abot 80mph on the highway. ive had cars with worse and with better but i cant complain.

[ThePainClinic]

V6 and no mods, I get about 17 mpg. Mostly around town with a 15 minute highway work commute. I'm wondering how bad the lift will kill the mpg? Maybe I should of just gotten the V8...can't be that much worse..

[Zen_master]

It's common for the V8, Titan guys have it even worse from what I've read.
:

I spend a lot of time in a Suburban (company vehicle) and it doesn't do much lower than my PF, but obviously doesn't have the performance. Another coworker has an Armada and it also gets relatively poor mpg...16ish on average. I'll be disappointed when I have to buy a new vehicle now that the PF has been neutered and the 4Runner looks like a fish.

Too true. The new Pathfinder is essentially a minivan in my opinion. That is why I finally stepped up to the plate and bought my 2011. Figured I would have zero chance of buyer's remorse due to wanting the new model.

You could always go Jeep Grand Cherokee. Those look pretty nice.

[Lost Kiwi]

The Diesel Model for a 2 Tonne truck sips fuel,
I get 9.5 L/100km (25MPG) on average and have gotten down to 8L on a country trip, (30MPG)
And looking at my Log the engine is still freeing up (less than 6000 Miles) as the consumption still seems to be coming down.
The 2 things that really seem to make the biggest difference to these numbers are the use of the right foot (you can hear the turbo suck your money away) and hills at 4000+ pounds it uses a lot of grunt to lug it up hill.

[CPLTECH]

The Diesel Model for a 2 Tonne truck sips fuel,
I get 9.5 L/100km (25MPG) on average and have gotten down to 8L on a country trip, (30MPG)

Here in North America, someone has determined that the American public can easily afford vehicles that get poor mileage vs. the diesel. Count yourself fortunate to have the diesel & manual transmission option. Then they add 10% corn ethanol & are now fighting to mandate 15%. In the past year was able to get a tank of 0% ethanol & recorded a 10-12% increase in MPG. Tell me how I reduce the importing of oil with such ethanol mandated logic. Seems like forced support of the farm industry with little overall gain, if any. I will agree that a small % of ethanol seems to make the air cleaner.

[ShipFixer]

Tell me how I reduce the importing of oil with such ethanol mandated logic. Seems like forced support of the farm industry with little overall gain, if any. I will agree that a small % of ethanol seems to make the air cleaner.

It doesn't even do that though. It's a complete boondoggle.

Since ethanol has a significantly lower heat of combustion and lower specific energy than gasoline, increases in ethanol must result in decreases in efficiency. The numbers are such that no amount of ethanol really makes sense in terms of "saving" oil or gas. This is basic, incontrovertible thermodynamic truth and yet it doesn't come out in policy discourse.

[disallow]

I've read a couple articles that put forward a compelling arguement that ethanol is actually energy negative, as in it takes more energy to farm, process, denature, and distribute ethanol than the energy created when you burn it.

I was perfectly happy with ethanol before they put it in my gas tank. It belongs in a 26oz bottle in my liquor cabinet!

Not to mention the impact on third world countries when the price of corn went through the roof due to increased demand. And all of the big nasty seed companies that are GMing the shit out of corn now.

t

[RacerZX]

So steering back to the original question...

Anybody have a feel for how much fuel savings you get from taking off the roof rack cross bars? Or turning off the AWD mode for LE models?

[NVSteve]

Anybody have a feel for how much fuel savings you get from taking off the roof rack cross bars? Or turning off the AWD mode for LE models?

No clue. But, I don't see a noticeable difference between having my kayak racks up top as opposed to not having them. Then again, that's a summer/winter thing, which does go back to the additives/"winter blend"/CRAP they put in our fuel during the white months.

I've kind of given up caring anymore. I know that, overall, I'm at about 16.4 mpg. That includes highway, city, mountains, flatlands, high elevation, low elevation, headwinds, tailwinds, off road, etc. NOT looking forward to my next vehicle purchase, especially since everything will basically be just a car with SUV or Crossover in the title. Cars simply won't cut it for me. I need the 4x4 and I need to be able to get to certain places for recreation.

[skinny2]

So steering back to the original question...

Anybody have a feel for how much fuel savings you get from taking off the roof rack cross bars? Or turning off the AWD mode for LE models?

I don't have my cross bars on and didn't notice a difference when I removed them. It clearly would only come into play on the highway. I'm not familiar enough with how the AWD works on these to comment, but my guess is that Auto does impact something or you wouldn't have a 2wd option.

[doctahjones]

So steering back to the original question...

Anybody have a feel for how much fuel savings you get from taking off the roof rack cross bars? Or turning off the AWD mode for LE models?

in my style of driving, having it in auto does suck 1-2mpgs. but then again i have my foot into it pretty good most of the time. from what i can tell once you go over 50% throttle (an arbitrary number really, i don't know where the 'line' is), it starts applying power to the front (you can really tell when turning) which means less efficient powertrain (since 4 wheels are getting some sort of power rather than 2).


jury is still out on mpgs vs my spark plug change. i'd like to say i'm up 1-2mpg, but that's just speculation off of 1 tank.

[disallow]

So steering back to the original question...

Anybody have a feel for how much fuel savings you get from taking off the roof rack cross bars? Or turning off the AWD mode for LE models?

Hey, this is my post and I can go off on a tangent if I wanna!

Seriously, though. I really doubt if the cross bars would affect anything at all. Though I did put them on backwards once and they whistled like an SOB.

On the AWD I think Doctah hit the nail on the head, if you keep your foot out of it, I bet there is no difference.

Hows that V8 treating you otherwise? Do you miss your supercharger?

[smj999smj]

On my 06 LE V6, I haven't noticed any difference in MPG whether it's left in 2WD or AWD, although it does state in the owner's manual that best gas mileage would be in 2WD mode. I used to run almost all the time in 2WD, but after reading the good article at these forums describing how it works, I keep it in "AUTO" mode all the time, now. I also haven't found any difference in MPG whether I use premium or regular unleaded. My 22 mile ride to work with combines about 10 miles of flat, highway driving along with the rest on bumpy back roads and some minor hills, nets me 17.5 MPG. I took a trip yesterday of 310 miles between Johnstown, PA, and my house in VA and got 18.6 MPG. Keep in mind this was a lot of ups, downs and curves going over the Appalachians, 75-80 mph on I-81 and I-64, almost all in the rain which got heavy at times. I was happy with that. Making the 400 mile trip to my old home in NJ gets me 19.5 MPG and I see as much as 22 MPG on some parts of I-95.

[Zen_master]

Just an update on fuel economy for my V8 LE. Been using GasBuddy's fuel logbook since May 9th and have filled up four times.

My fuel economy has steadily risen over that span. I'm sure much of this is driving related (less city/traffic, and more highway) but I wonder how much is also a byproduct of warmer temperatures? I recall reading something many years back that higher operating temperatures resulted in more complete fuel combustion. The month of May began with frost advisories some nights in my area and the end of may is pushing 90 degrees during daytime highs.

Here's what I've experienced thus far:

5/9/13-5/13/13 = 16.82 mpg
5/13/13-5/22/13 = 17.54 mpg
5/22/13-5/31/13 = 18.16 mpg

For the month:
Total gallons is 74.949
Total cost is $262.02
Average $/gal is 3.494
Average MPG is 17.51

[forgottenzone]

Fuel Economy.... Whats that?
All the mods and making my V8 LE lighter, I should be getting Good fuel economy... Yeah if my foot was not that heavy.
I actualy was making 20mpg on highway driving 70mph with changing to electric fans. but I am sorry i just cant drive my V8 pathy like a sunday driver. I dont have any roof rack at all.
But after changing to 3.356 gears, my foot just keeps getting heavier
I now get 10mpg mixed driving.
Now my pathy is at 4,500lbs not counting my weight.
I am looking into changing from oem 18x7.5 to 17x8 wheels and lighter tires
So far I found 17x8 wheels at 21lbs each and tires at 34lbs each, my current tires are at 37lbs, oem was at 39,lbs. and believe the oem 18 wheels are around or over 30lbs each. so should be shaving off 15lbs of rotational mass from each wheel tire combo. 15 x 4 = 60lbs equal to 60 x 3 = 180lbs of removal of dead weight
I also run only 93 octane.