D40 Fuel Economy

[Martin'sD40]

Running my Diesel on Gas , I just completed a trip to QLD and back (Wisemans Ferry NSW) loaded and 5% above the limit everywhere my returns were 8.4L/100K , around the hills of Wisemans Ferry loaded and no higher than 90kmh I average 8.8L/100k

Cheers Marty

 

[SOLID D22]

Running my Diesel on Gas , I just completed a trip to QLD and back (Wisemans Ferry NSW) loaded and 5% above the limit everywhere my returns were 8.4L/100K , around the hills of Wisemans Ferry loaded and no higher than 90kmh I average 8.8L/100k

Cheers Marty

Gas is awsome isnt it, i cant stand not driving with it on and i strongly recommend people get it fitted especially if doing a lot of km's. Basically every 3rd/4th tank of diesel is for free.

 

[KraftyPg]

I'm loving this Perth traffic, around Perth and Freo I'm still getting low 10's creeping into high 9's. Man if only the traffic in the eastern states was this good there would be no one bitching about bad fuel economy.

Heard someone on the radio doing a traffic report the other day and they said it was peak hour traffic on the freeway, the car in front of me was nearly a full car length ahead and no one was trying to get in between us. I say bring on peak hour traffic like that on the eastern state freeways.

 

[4BYFOR]

hey guys thought i'd let you know about my shocking fuel consumption on my 2007 d40 stx auto.. im fueling it up at around 70liters when light comes on and get around 550kms until the light goes on again sometimes ill get 480kms and yes i have a lead foot but thats still gay consumption.. im trying everyhting atm to bring it down so yeh and suggestions??

 

[KraftyPg]

Being a lead foot isn't the be all and end all of of bad (or average) economy there is many other factors which effect economy. Tyre pressures, tyre size, weight, wind etc etc. If you drive accelerator brake accelerator brake economy will be worse than someone who lets the car slow down and speed up gradually.Driving conditions and the driver themselves can have a huge effect on economy and if your worried that your economy isn't what it should be then maybe being a little bit more conservative is the go.

Not sure what sort of driving you do either but you'd be surpised just how much fuel you will save on the highway if you drop you're speed below the speed limit. I sat on 97 across the Nullabor and clocked under 10's, sure it's ideal roads and good conditions out there but the times where I did have the car sitting at 105 scangauge was telling me I was using 10.3 per 100 or higher.

I've seen people talk about getting 13 - 15 per 100 when driving long trips and while conditions vary between cars and days taking into account the entire 3700ks to Perth I saved over $280 in fuel to someone who can only get 15's on the same trip. Of course it's all relative in that I didn't get mid 9's the entire trip but the highest daily average I got was about 10.5 yet I still sat on 97ks. And doing 3 ks less than the speed limit didn't add a great amount of time to my days either, although if it did the saving of fuel certain out weighed the extra few minutes on the road.

 

[Old.Tony]

On a highway, part of the trick is getting your car to its "sweet spot". At the point where the engine develops its maximum torque, the fuel going in is being used as efficiently as the engine can manage it.

One or two hundred rpm in either direction won't hurt a lot, although going faster does have an impact because of aerodynamics - which the Navara doesn't score well in, but we didn't buy Porsches!

 

[cowboyfan]

Bought my Diesel auto STX about a month ago and am getting around 12L/100k. That is town/hwy combined. Was told they get a little better as everything wears in. Time will tell.

 

[kipper31]

Well il have to agree with the bit slower theory. Ive done just over 30,000 td auto d40 and i constantly get 10.5 ave around city and on the open road i ave about 10. The other day i had to do approx 100k trip back from port wakefeild so i filled the tank to the brim. I sat on 100k on speedo which realy is about 92/93km and refilled and i got 8.6 litre per hundred. Im not going t complain about that for the size of the car.

 

[WIR35]

My D40 V6 auto is most efficient at around 120-125kmh surprisingly. It may have something to do with the big diameter tyres (305/35R24). The M1 between Brisbane and Gold Coast is great for my economy.... And the police don't seem to mind 10-15 clicks over the limit (unless you have P plates and/or a sporty modified car)

 

[KraftyPg]

My D40 V6 auto is most efficient at around 120-125kmh surprisingly. It may have something to do with the big diameter tyres (305/35R24). The M1 between Brisbane and Gold Coast is great for my economy.... And the police don't seem to mind 10-15 clicks over the limit (unless you have P plates and/or a sporty modified car)

Wouldn't try that in Vic to often, we don't even get a tolerance unless the copper has filled his quota for the day.

My old man had several pathfinders a few years back and he reckons both of those improved dramatically over night, he wasn't sure exactly what kilometers they had travelled when the improved but he reckons he went from average to great economy when the change happened.

I don't know if I've found the sweet spot for my car or not but i do know at 97K (according to scangauge and GPS) my economy is quite good. I'm not interested in traveling at different speeds to see whether there is a better option at this stage because when I do the calculations at the end of the day and I'm getting under 10's on the open road for a car thats only just done 5K I'm happy.

 

[cowboyfan]

Dont forget that D40 speedo's read 9km's fast.

So 1090km's covered on the odometre is actually 1000km's covered.

Dave.

I thought that too but apparently the speedo and adometer use different sensors. The speedo according to ADR regulations can be up to 10% out (normally reads high) the odometer is a lot more accurate although not perfect. I compared my odometer and my gps on a recent 400k trip and found that although my speedo was 8k,s out the difference travelled varied by only 3km,s.

 

[skyline_man]

My manual titanium edition is pretty efficient. Went on a camping trip to Rapid bay with the back fully loaded with gear and driving 4 people. drove about 400k's around Cape Jervis area, the road being windy with slightly steep hills and decents. Then drove around town for another 300k's until the fuel light came on.
All in all the car did 700kms when the light came on, so I guess it is pretty darn efficient.
I think the secret is to try and keep the revs in between the 'powerband', ie keep it between 2000 and 3000rpm when accelerating or going uphill. Revving the motor past 3000rpm is just throwing fuel out of the exhaust. When the road is flat and your cruising, you can keep it at around 1800rpm.

 

[cowboyfan]

What is this scangauge that keeps getting mentioned?

 

[Old.Tony]

The Scangauge is a little box that connects to your OBD (On Board Diagnostics) port. It reads information in real time from your car's computer (ECU) and provides that information to you on its two-line display.

Buy the Scangauge from http://www.scangauge.com.au.

 

[blue boy]

my o8 model only gets just over 500km before the light comes on. it doesn't seem to differ between high way and around town?? it's got 32 000km on the clock and was wondering if its worth getting it dyno'd. i'm sure for the $200 or so it's prolly worth it.

they claim to only use 9ltr per 100km (perfect driving situation) it's still a big difference considering the pedals never hit the floor.

if i can get an extra 1km a litre out of it . it would'nt take long for it to pay for itself. an extra 70-80km a tank.

cheers blue boy

 

[Pete22]

I thought that too but apparently the speedo and adometer use different sensors. The speedo according to ADR regulations can be up to 10% out (normally reads high) the odometer is a lot more accurate although not perfect. I compared my odometer and my gps on a recent 400k trip and found that although my speedo was 8k,s out the difference travelled varied by only 3km,s.

Yeah you are right on there cowboyfan......my GPS and odometer are within 2-3 km of each other....and...the GPS is spot on with the digital speed signal from the ecu as read by ScangaugeII. I think the error is in trying to translate the digital signal to the analogue dial-type readout on the dash.

 

[trappedonblack]

The Scangauge is a little box that connects to your OBD (On Board Diagnostics) port. It reads information in real time from your car's computer (ECU) and provides that information to you on its two-line display.

Buy the Scangauge from http://www.scangauge.com.au.[/QUOTE

Sounds great, where is the OBD port?

 

[Old.Tony]

Sounds great, where is the OBD port?

On the D40, it's just to the left of the steering column, behind the plastic covering that your left knee bashes into when a fat guy sits in the rear passenger seat and farts. It's right at the bottom, so if you run your fingers down that covering, as they reach around behind you'll hit it.

Look for a white connector about the size of the side of a box of matches.

 

[KraftyPg]

In reference to the speedo's and odo's being out. I know my speedo is out by about 9ks at 100 going by 3 different GPS readings and the scangauge and so is my odo.

Coming into Norseman a few weeks back when I was testing out just how far I'd get on a tank, well making it to the next servo really, the odo matched the speedo and the scanguage was reading lower. Over 1 tank full the figure didn't dramatically effect my fuel figures but there was an obvious difference.

At the end of the day when I come to trading the Nav in I'll be able to tell the person buying it that I've actually done less k's than the odo is reading and therefore the car is worth more. I'm sure a dealer will accept that line, either that or it's the kind of line they'll use to sell the car to the next buyer.

 

[KraftyPg]

As stated in another thread having just done my fuel figures for the trip across the Nullabor and around Perth my best tank by tank economy was 9.2 per 100 and the worst was 11.3 with the average being 10.3. Overall I'm impressed enough not to want to trade the Nav in but will be interesting too see if I can better it on the way home.