Took my X out for the 4th of july and drove 350 miles at around 80-90mph. My MPG was around 14-15. When i drove in town(around the black hills) up and down hills with lots of downshifts and a car full of people I got 17mpg. Is this common for everyone at high mph to get crap mileage?

I calculated mine on a trip approx. 350 miles, I was driving 70-80 and got about 17 mpg.
That is with stock wheels and tires.

I have never calculated for city driving...

do you run anything bigger than stock wheels or tires?

nope stock with the basket taken off the top but deflector still in place. Air was on but otherwise nothing. Even used cruise to see if that made a difference and it was still 15mph or so. Like I said I did better with people and on hills. I also hauled a jetski a few weeks back and got 16.8mpg doing 65 all the way with hills so getting less for strait highway seems wierd for me. Like I said the only thing I can think of is higher speeds

I get around 20.1 all the time. I have owned my X for 3 months now and have almost 12,000 miles!

I average about 18.44 per gallon. It has been as much as 21.9 for two tanks of gas (long road trip). It has been as low as 16.44 while towing two Jetskis and with about 650 lbs of gear in the cabin. My normal driving is a mixture of interstate and city driving every day. I have been tracking every tank since I bought it new in May, so that's about 5200 miles thus far.

I average about 18.44 per gallon. It has been as much as 21.9 for two tanks of gas (long road trip). It has been as low as 16.44 while towing two Jetskis and with about 650 lbs of gear in the cabin. My normal driving is a mixture of interstate and city driving every day. I have been tracking every tank since I bought it new in May, so that's about 5200 miles thus far.

Ditto.

I get exactly the same.

I average about 20 mpg.

I get paid for my mileage because I use the truck for work...so I have miles driven and gas used data.

I just weighed the beast on a truck scale, again, loaded...I am running around at 5,460 lb. (Ouch)

If I go way too fast, so that the brick like aerodynamics act as a parachute, etc...I can drop that down into the teens pretty fast.

The X is way happier at 65 than at 85....you are giving up about 30-35% of your mpg going from 65-85.

if I get 20 mpg at 65 mph, I get 13-14 at 85 mph, etc.

Think of it this way...at $3/gallon for your gas:

If you pay $3/gallon and get 20 mpg, going 85 mph and getting 13 mpg is the moral equivalent of paying $4.60/gallon.

If you drive 15,000 miles a year at 20 mpg, you are using 750 gallons of gas.

At 13 mpg, you are using 1,154 gallons of gas, or an extra 404 gallons a year, at $3/gallon = $1,211 a year to go 85 instead of 65 mph.

You are paying about $100/month to go 85 mph instead of 65 mph.

If you can afford it/its worth it to you...there is no problem.

If that's $100/month you'd rather use to buy mods or booze, or whatever, then go 65 mph instead.

No wrong answer.

:D

Damn TJ!! That's one heck of a post. Do you drive daily with you sliders and skids on the truck?? How much of a difference did you notice when you put the rear bumper on? I opted to take my sliders and 2 skid plates off to loose some weight on the truck. When I put my rear bumper on, I got 120 miles out of a full tank of gas. If I get my manifold fixed and the exhaust leak fixed, my milage should go up.

And one more thing....you start to loose gas milage when you start to go around 5 mph over. In a 65 mph zone, I tend to do 69 mph. Never over 70. Things tend to get a little tipsy over that. Don't particularly want to roll my X.

I wheel for work.

:D

So I am not only always fully armored, but I'm carrying hundreds of pounds of equipment, tools, and of course me.

:D

I didn't notice any change in mpg when I put the Shrock bumpers on.

There's NO frrekin WAY I'd take th time to take off skids or sliders every time I didn't need them either.

I don't have enough free time to take a decent crap, let alone shit like that.

:D

I'm getting around 300 miles between fill-ups, taking around 15 gallons/fill-up.

120 miles on a tank?

Damn, that's like single digit mpg.

You must be doing it wrong.

TJ, That's an impressive way to look at things with the mileage. I never really thought about it as such. Unfortunately I have something of a lead foot. Fortunately we are hovering around 2.55 per gallon, not that it's an excuse to drive faster... I would love to see the gas prices drop down, but just don't think it's going to ever do so.

Just to throw in my 2 cents.....I get the best hwy mileage when I strip everything off the top, even the deflector, the best is under 17mpg driving around 68mph...never in much of a hurry I get a whopping 44.5 cents per mile also!

That's why there's no wrong answer...or we'd all be riding bikes.

:D

Its ALWAYS a compromise between economy and speed.

I argue with people who bought a diesel mercedes to get better mpg/lower fuel costs, but turbo'd it to make up for the lost performance...and when I do the math, I get that adding the diesel + turbo options made the payback costs for the potential savings in operation require a payback period of 10-15 years...and that if they had merely bought the gas version, it would not only perform better, overall, it would be cheaper for the first 10-15 years,

and

If they took the $ they WOULD have spent on diesel/turbo, and invested it...they'd be WAY ahead.

:D

I get around 400 kilometres before my gas lite comes on then about another 80 -90 kilometers till she shuts off. Not sure the conversion to American from Canadian.

I get around 400 kilometres before my gas lite comes on then about another 80 -90 kilometers till she shuts off. Not sure the conversion to American from Canadian.


Just wait ...I'll bet someone will jump in here with a metric conversion........................................ .....................................

O! and Taylor, Hope ypu had a nice birthday:biggrin:

Just wait ...I'll bet someone will jump in here with a metric conversion........................................ .....................................

O! and Taylor, Hope ypu had a nice birthday:biggrin:

You know the funny thing about Canada ( & the rest of the World ) -vs- America with the metric system/standard system is that every tool set I have comes with both.
:auslachen2-big:

We took our X on a trip down the coast this weekend. We got around 17mpg on hwy 101. Which is full of twists and hills. Hope it improves a bit once it is broken in.

so why do all of you get good mileage when I get 220-230 miles on a full tank of gas. thats full to the top to completely empty too. doesn't matter how fast, how slow, city or highway, it's the same mileage. is there something I can do to get better mileage.

I'm logging around 200 miles a day commuting to and from the metro, and doing service calls. My mileage is around 20 to 22 on the hwy. A little less in metro. What the guy said about speed is right on, I lock the cruise at 70, the Xterra sucks gas faster than the Titanic sucked water at speeds over that. 70 and below, they do fine. By the way, remember I bought mine new in march, well I'll turn over 15K miles the end of this week. A very strong runner.

Driving styles are typically the issue.

What makes NO sense of course is that you always get the SAME mpg, regardless...which seems to indicate that either you are not tracking the mpg properly, or, you really have an electric X, and a gas tank with a leak, and its just a coinsidence that you think it uses gas.

:D

One of the BIG mpg miscalculation errors I see is people who don't actually track it properly, especially if they have upsized their tires.

For example, if I swapped on 33's instead of the 29's my truck came with, when my speedo says 65, I am really going 75 mph.

Obviously, driving a brick at 75 is going to get 2/3 the gas mileage of a brick going 65, as wind resistance starts to build dramatically at around 50-55 mph, and ramp up steeply from there.

Add to that the odometer being off by about 15% as well, so when I fill up, the gallons are correct, but I am dividing by a smaller number of miles, so I am getting a false low mpg...lets say the Odo says 230 miles, you may have actually driven 265 miles, etc.

Combine going faster (Using more gas in real life), with going further than you thought you did, and its easy to see how you'd think you were getting horrible mpg.

:D

If your tires are stock size though, as the SC is only rated to get around 15 mpg anyway by the EPA window sticker, 19 gallons times 15 mpg = 285 miles/tank.

Assuming you are not actually putting in 19 gallons/fill up (Running on vapors every time?), that's only a 55 miles buffer zone, maybe 3 gallons or so difference per tank - like about the reserve capacity when reading empty.

:D

The more aggressive your driving style, the worse the mpg. If you drive where its hilly, etc...lower mpg. Lots of short trips, lower mpg. Drive over 55, lower mpg. Flooring it from stop lights, etc...lower mpg, using higher gear up hills, so you are floored, but only maintaining 40 mph, lower mpg, etc.

If you go with the flow, and go cruise mode with traffic, the mpg goes up.

Drive the load, not the speedometer...as in let it slow up the hill, and accelerate down hill, following the terrain.

Find the gear that results in depressing the gas pedal the least distance for a given speed. (Sometimes a lower gear up a hill will be more economical than a higher gear, etc.)

If you commute 20 miles each way to work...and you average 55 mph, it will take you about 21.8 minutes.

If you do the 20 miles averaging 75 mph, it will take you about 16 minutes, so you save 5.8 minutes.

That's assuming you can just cruise at each average...in real traffic, just going with the flow at 55 is stress free conga line commuting...and running for daylight/trying to get around the blue hairs in hats going 12 mph in the fast lane requires you to go 120 mph to get around them, etc...so you are not going with the flow, you are club racing your suv, weaving and braking and accellerating to weave your way through the rolling road blocks in your way.

:D

So, leave 6 minutes earlier, and keep the extra gas money.

:D

If you pay $3.25/gal for premium for an SC, (and you are driving 40 miles/day, for a week that's 200 miles) and you are dropping your mpg to 2/3 by going faster, its really like paying 1/3 more per gallon...

I get around 20 mpg, so for me, 200 miles requires 10 gallons

At 15 mpg, it would take 13.3 gallons.

2/3 of 15 = 10 mpg, and would require 20 gallons...or, an extra 6.7 gallons/week, times $3.25/gal = $21.75/week more for gas going 75 instead of 55.

Your trip is 21.8 minutes at 55 vs 16 minutes at 75, so at 5.8 minutes x 2/day = 11.6 minutes, times 5 days = 58 minutes...call it an hour.

That means you are being PAID ~$21.75/hr to go 55 instead of 75.

:D

Or, if you need that hour back..you are PAYING $21.75/hr to get it.

:D

TJ

You forgot the rotational G force of the Earth. If youre driving with the rotation of the Earth then you will get better milage than if you were driving against it.

You also forgot about the effects of atmosphereic density, and the volumetric efficiency of the air quality.

:biggrin:

wow man, guess I am getting about what it should. My rig has an ARB bumper and a winch on the front and a shrockworks rear bumper/tire carrier with a fullsize matching spare. for tires I am running 265/75R17. not sure if thats the stock size tire though. they are goodyear MTR's. they are sucking mileae down I am sure. I did not know the supercharged motor was only rated at 15. thats pretty low.

Here is a post I made a few days ago on www.thenewx.org.

Ok, I know there are a ton of threads on MPG, etc...this is a bit different.

Each time I get gas I write in a little book, the following info.

Date
Station Name
Station Location
Price Per Gallon
Total Cost
Total Number of Gallons
Odometer
Trip Odometer (reset at each fill-up)
Type of Gas

I also note the date and mileage of my mods.

I decided to enter this all into a spreadsheet and see what numbers I come out with. Here is the summary.

Average MPG:
Stock w/ Dino Oil: 15.5218234
Lift w/ Dino Oil: 14.5080771
Lift, Front Bumper w/ Dino Oil: 14.5002732
Lift, Front Bumper w/ Synthetic Oil: 14.2961943 *This shocked me
Lift, Front Bumper, Tires w/ Synthetic Oil (I used 3.7% for the change in tire size): 13.0536942

Yearly Stats (7/14/05 – 7/11/06):
Total Miles: 22145
Gallons of Gas: 1495.753
Average Price Per Gallon: 2.490816327
Total Cost of Gas: 3728.67
Average MPG: 14.80525193
Best MPG (between fill-ups): 18.0507678 (hi-way from Pittsburgh to Detroit)
Worst MPG (between fill-ups): 10.6271658 (weekend of wheeling)

Driving styles are typically the issue.

What makes NO sense of course is that you always get the SAME mpg, regardless...which seems to indicate that either you are not tracking the mpg properly, or, you really have an electric X, and a gas tank with a leak, and its just a coinsidence that you think it uses gas.

:D

One of the BIG mpg miscalculation errors I see is people who don't actually track it properly, especially if they have upsized their tires.

For example, if I swapped on 33's instead of the 29's my truck came with, when my speedo says 65, I am really going 75 mph.

Obviously, driving a brick at 75 is going to get 2/3 the gas mileage of a brick going 65, as wind resistance starts to build dramatically at around 50-55 mph, and ramp up steeply from there.

Add to that the odometer being off by about 15% as well, so when I fill up, the gallons are correct, but I am dividing by a smaller number of miles, so I am getting a false low mpg...lets say the Odo says 230 miles, you may have actually driven 265 miles, etc.

Combine going faster (Using more gas in real life), with going further than you thought you did, and its easy to see how you'd think you were getting horrible mpg.

:D

If your tires are stock size though, as the SC is only rated to get around 15 mpg anyway by the EPA window sticker, 19 gallons times 15 mpg = 285 miles/tank.

Assuming you are not actually putting in 19 gallons/fill up (Running on vapors every time?), that's only a 55 miles buffer zone, maybe 3 gallons or so difference per tank - like about the reserve capacity when reading empty.

:D

The more aggressive your driving style, the worse the mpg. If you drive where its hilly, etc...lower mpg. Lots of short trips, lower mpg. Drive over 55, lower mpg. Flooring it from stop lights, etc...lower mpg, using higher gear up hills, so you are floored, but only maintaining 40 mph, lower mpg, etc.

If you go with the flow, and go cruise mode with traffic, the mpg goes up.

Drive the load, not the speedometer...as in let it slow up the hill, and accelerate down hill, following the terrain.

Find the gear that results in depressing the gas pedal the least distance for a given speed. (Sometimes a lower gear up a hill will be more economical than a higher gear, etc.)

If you commute 20 miles each way to work...and you average 55 mph, it will take you about 21.8 minutes.

If you do the 20 miles averaging 75 mph, it will take you about 16 minutes, so you save 5.8 minutes.

That's assuming you can just cruise at each average...in real traffic, just going with the flow at 55 is stress free conga line commuting...and running for daylight/trying to get around the blue hairs in hats going 12 mph in the fast lane requires you to go 120 mph to get around them, etc...so you are not going with the flow, you are club racing your suv, weaving and braking and accellerating to weave your way through the rolling road blocks in your way.

:D

So, leave 6 minutes earlier, and keep the extra gas money.

:D

If you pay $3.25/gal for premium for an SC, (and you are driving 40 miles/day, for a week that's 200 miles) and you are dropping your mpg to 2/3 by going faster, its really like paying 1/3 more per gallon...

I get around 20 mpg, so for me, 200 miles requires 10 gallons

At 15 mpg, it would take 13.3 gallons.

2/3 of 15 = 10 mpg, and would require 20 gallons...or, an extra 6.7 gallons/week, times $3.25/gal = $21.75/week more for gas going 75 instead of 55.

Your trip is 21.8 minutes at 55 vs 16 minutes at 75, so at 5.8 minutes x 2/day = 11.6 minutes, times 5 days = 58 minutes...call it an hour.

That means you are being PAID ~$21.75/hr to go 55 instead of 75.

:D

Or, if you need that hour back..you are PAYING $21.75/hr to get it.

:D

:talk2much:

J/K TJ. How much of a difference do you think it would make to take my air dam off??

wow man, guess I am getting about what it should. My rig has an ARB bumper and a winch on the front and a shrockworks rear bumper/tire carrier with a fullsize matching spare. for tires I am running 265/75R17. not sure if thats the stock size tire though. they are goodyear MTR's. they are sucking mileae down I am sure. I did not know the supercharged motor was only rated at 15. thats pretty low.

Hey 03 do you always buy premium? I have always used 91 or 92 octane (according to the r=m2 method) wandering if this might be a good time to experiment with lower grade....the manual says you might notice a funny noise as the supercharger is bypassed
On the overhead air deflector; I notice less turbulence when the hatch is open with it removed, and noticed better areo on hwy also. But with the safari rack with the deflector and the factory deflector, its like pulling a trailer

most of the time I do buy premium. I get the same exact mileage with all grades of gas but I notice it runs a little better on premium. that and the sticker on the door says to run premium also. haven't experimented with the roof rack at all though. will try that.

I found I could drop the wind resistance by getting rid of ALL the roof plastic...some people have kept just the fairing, but the fairings don't seem to really reduce resistance...they were mostly to help reduce wind noise due to the basket plastic.

:D

Interestingly, the rotation of the earth and your driving direction, and its effect on your mileage can be measured, as can the effects of atmospheric density...the volumetric efficiency of air quality is not a meaningful term though.

:D

Ironically, there is some evidence that driving towards the rotational direction, as the earth is rolling towards you under the truck, is the most efficient direction, rather than driving in the direction of the rotation.

If you are driving towards the oncoming rotation, your destination is being brought to you...and the atmosphere and other resistance factors are moving static to this direction due to laminar flow and momentum....whereas driving in the same direction as rotation involves the same static surface conditions, albeit you, and your destination, are travelling at the same rate.

:D

As for density....a perfect example would be driving up into the mountains...a lot of people have made the mistake of filling with Premium, thinking they'd need the extra power to make it through the mountains, etc...

In reality, unless you have an SC or other engine tuned for premium, you get no extra pewer from it anyway...and worse...as the atmospheric density subsides with altitude, you would actually want LOWER OCTANE gas, rather than higher octane gas, at higher altitudes.

The effects upon the flame propagation kernal are substantial, and this is why we have "Regular" grade gas in the mountains of Colorado, etc, with lower octane than "Regular" gas available at Death Valley (Low altitude).


I don't think air quality can HAVE volumetric efficiency, per se.

The temperature of the air, its humidity, oxygen content, etc, can have an effect on performance of course.

:D

So TJ,

Here's one from left field.

How do you feel about the "myth" which claims that, having your AC on is more efficient that driving around with your windows open?

So TJ,

Here's one from left field.

How do you feel about the "myth" which claims that, having your AC on is more efficient that driving around with your windows open?

That myth has already been busted. Windows down is more efficient.

i found myself driving and wandering if I was going against the earths rotation or with it, is humid air more thick, and harder to break thru? Is it better to have less rubber touching the pavement? Does TJ wear a lab coat and have a pocket protector ? All these questions swerling in my head?????
It makes me want to ponder these things with some inexpensive merlot....and it is friday

I last wore a lab coat at work, hmmm...a few weeks ago.

No pocket protector on my lab coat since the early '80's though.

I needed the pocket protector because the damn pens would otherwise leave these colored lines just above the pocket.

If you could see me then, lab coat, pocket protector, a slide rule in a holster at my hip....UBER NERD!

:D

Humid air is denser and harder to get through, but, denser air carries more energy...so at intial acceleration, the density of the air improves performance, but, as speed builds, the wind resistance overwhelms that advantage.

Depending upon the Cx of the vehical, it can cross over anywhere from 45 - 65 mph under otherwise std conditions.

Merlot?

Gay people have Xterras too?


;)

The wind resistance is a function of speed cubed. 75 mph is only 15% faster than 65 mph but it takes 53% more power to overcome the wind resistance and 93% more than going 60 mph The X isn't exactly a streamlined sports car. Slow it down and you'll burn less gas.

That's correct!

:D

As the X (And most trucks...) have the aerodynamics of a brick wall, it does make a huge difference in MPG.

So, for a given Cx, the above is dead nuts.

:D

so why do all of you get good mileage when I get 220-230 miles on a full tank of gas. thats full to the top to completely empty too. doesn't matter how fast, how slow, city or highway, it's the same mileage. is there something I can do to get better mileage.


03 supercharged gets the worst mileage of them all. It kept me from buying one.
I am happy witht the '05. I question some of TJ's explanations though. I drive 80 to work, 72 miles roundtrip, and get 410 miles per 20 gallon fillup. Just my case though.

here is another tool.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/findacar.htm

You drive 80 mph to work and back, Your tank holds 20 gal, and you wait until you are empty each time?

You live for danger doncha?

My tank only HOLDS 19 gallons.

:D

If you have one of them thar new fangled X's..then Yes, you DO get better mpg than the 'ol schoolers.

Now, lets say you dropped the mph down to around 55 mph instead of 80 mph...your mpg would climb as your mph dropped.

Then you'd REALLY show us old timers a thing or two.

:wink-big:

I usually let it go to empty. Why not? There are gas stations every ten feet on my way to work. Usually I don't have the time to stop.

I tried going 55 mph, I got passed by a kid on a big wheel!!! You can not go that slow on Texas highways. You will get killed! :auslachen2-big:

Also, the sound of the 4.0 is great. I have gotten as little as 16.6 mpg. I eventually tuned out the sound of the engine and let up on the gas and immediately got back to 20 mpg. It is just fun to drive this X.

I love my MEXterra! :love-eyes2-big:

Yeah, the new X's rock.

:D

bass turd.

;)


Seriously, running the tank to empty risk sucking down whatever the gas station's tank also had at the bottom. Do not trust the "filter" in there for that...trust me.

Try to fill it a hair sooner, just so I won't worry about you so much.

Doesn't it pull from the bottom whether it has a full tank or not. It would have to have a floating suction tube to not pull from down below. Seems like crap would get sucked up even when full. Maybe I am wrong.

I think it gets more shmootz when all that's left is shmootz.

I know the pick up is typically NOT at the very bottom, just to try to AVOID sucking on that that pool of shmootz that collects there...

And why you might have the engine starve for fuel going up or down a steep hill, but NOT either, depending upon what you're driving...

That's why many OEM's recommend draining/cleaning the tank from time to time, etc. (Shmootz)

:D

The lowest I ever let mine get is 1/4 tank.

03 supercharged gets the worst mileage of them all. It kept me from buying one.
I am happy witht the '05. I question some of TJ's explanations though. I drive 80 to work, 72 miles roundtrip, and get 410 miles per 20 gallon fillup. Just my case though.
You sound like you drive almost as much as me, I'm logging 1000 miles per week. I'll have 20k in another week. I have made some observations in the past few months I've owned my 06 X. As TJTJ says, I get my best mileage at about 65 (22), though I set the cruise at 70 being that's what the speed limit is on the I35. My mileage goes way down if I roll one or more windows down rather than run the A/C, running the A/C is better. Also, roll out of lights and stop signs real smooth. Maybe TJTJ can explain the window thing.

The window thing is simple drag....an open window breaks the laminar flow of air along the X, inducing turbulance and also a braking effect.

Of course, the AC itself produces drag on the drivetrain, as the pulley resistance adds up too.

Some AC systems bog you down more than others, but an effecient system may provide less drag overall than an open window.

At the speeds you mention, the window drag wil tend to be more than the AC drag.

If you are talking about 55 mph or less, you are typically at the break even point...and less than about 45 mph, I think the AC will rob more power than an open window. (Conceptually, obviously the particular conditions and so forth can nudge these ranges in either direction)

MythBusters had a show where they tested the open windows vs the AC theory. But I thought they'd left too many variables out of their testing. They used 2 Suburbans at ~45mph on a racetrack and concluded that the AC was marginally worse.

They didn't take into account variable wind velocity, speed, and the other things that TJ listed above.

Still an excellent show none the less. :)

That show rocks

I have the in channel wind deflectors on my windows. I wonder what effect, if any, they have on this.

they also ran the ac at full blast the whole time they did that test....they guy driving the car was freezing.....i love my ac to be on cold....but i don't know anyone who drives around with the ac full blast after the car cools down....i think they should have retested it with the air at a normal level and see what the difference would have been

-john

they also ran the ac at full blast the whole time they did that test....they guy driving the car was freezing.....i love my ac to be on cold....but i don't know anyone who drives around with the ac full blast after the car cools down....i think they should have retested it with the air at a normal level and see what the difference would have been

-john

There would be no differnece as the A/C compressor only runs at one speed. It's either on or off.

i never thought of that.....i guess you still do learn something everyday....or in my case learn something, drink beer, and forget it....thanks

-john

The thing that I like about Myth Busters is the concept and the two guys chemistry between them.

What I don't like is that they're bone heads.

They never seem to realize what's an important variable, and what's not.

2 Examples:

1. They NEVER calculate the lift capacity vs acceleration vs control surface minimum velocity vs nozzle size or shape for ANYTHING THEY LAUNCH.

Half their shit blows up on the launch pad, or, if it takes off, it flails out of control because they used fins that require a higher velocity to impart stability....the nozzle sizes are too restrictive (BANG!) or too small (Fizzle), etc.

2. They cheat the variables until the experiment doesn't show what they claim its showing.

They tested driving drunk vs driving on a cell phone...through an obstacle course, trying to solve brain buster puzzles for example while driving...But they refused to get drunk enough to be "Drunk" (0.08), stopping at 0.07 or so...(Yes, they had cops do breathalyzers on them...).

Well, they did worse "drunk" than on the phone, but driving with one hand through an obstacle course trying to figure out who's sister your grandma would be type of crap degraded the phone driving part badly.

I think a passenger yaking at you and making you do the same tasks would be the same for example...and, their drunk wasn't drunk...but, they draw their conclusions anyway. (They do retrospectively discuss why things didn't work...but they are not always right)


IE: They get in over their heads....and never seem to realize it.

I watch anyway - stuff blows up. :wink-big:

My 02 X gets 15.5 in town with the air. To darn hot to go without it. I only get about 230 miles/ tank. I think I'll try upping the pressure in my tires a little, that did better back when they made real trucks. LOL

Hysterisis incurred drag can rob you of a few mpg all by itself.

From a MPG perspective, we'd be riding on thin titanium hoops or hard rubber bicycle tires, etc.

Everything else is a compromise for better ride/handling/traction.

I use the OBA to pump up to 45 psi or so for long trips for example...like this week I'll be driving between NJ/NY/CT/Toronto.

:D

I use the OBA to pump up to 45 psi or so for long trips for example...like this week I'll be driving between NJ/NY/CT/Toronto.

Stop and say 'ello if you find yourself in Rochester :wink-big:

PM me your address w/zip - and I'll punch it into the GPS.

:D

There would be no differnece as the A/C compressor only runs at one speed. It's either on or off.


This is true, but it has to stay on longer when on high, thus using more gas. I NEVER even think about that crap, too little difference in price. I run the AC during the winter as well (TEXAS). I have my house set to 72 deg. There are some comforts not even worth the worry. If I couldn't afford running the AC, I would have bought a civic!

:auslachen2-big:

This is true, but it has to stay on longer when on high

How's that? It doesn't use a thermostat to regulate temp like a home system... so "high" just refers to fan speed, doesn't it?

Hello Everyone. I am averaging 365-385 miles per tankful on fillup of about 17.5 gals 87 oct (CITY miles). I couldn't believe it myself.
I have a '00 Xterra SE, 2wd, v-6 etc etc. I use amsoil full synthetic and literally change my oil every 25k miles and use the amsoil air filter. I have had my truck since '00 and have tried everything under the sun except body/engine mods to try to get better fuel mileage. At best 18 mpg @ 25-2800 rpm no more than 75 mph.
Then I find out about another Product. OH OH!! It's claim is cleaner emissions, better fuel mileage, horse power etc, etc. What caught my eye is the military has been using it (I'm Army 18yrs) for over 5 yrs and CNN, FOX, and NBC put out a bit on it.
Has any of you heard of Ethos gas reformulator? I have done reading on the Net about it and took a chance. Hell I got a free 4 oz (2 oz per 10 gal) bottle of it and tried it. I can't believe it. The drive feels the same but the gas gauge is moving quite slower. Has anyone in here ever use it before? I have only used it 4 times and when I didn't use it my numbers only droped 10-20 miles. Also what I found out was you can add it to your oil! Haven't tried that yet because I want to get about 3months of fuel data to compare.
Please, anybody with info drop me a line. But 'til then my Bitch (my suv's aka) and I Thank You.

Hello again. Reading past posts and I want to add something about AC vs No AC driving. In the city windows down better mpg but highway driving AC = better mpg. WHY? I'm no scientist but you have less drag with the windows up. Any others with the same result? Thanks.

Looks like we are both getting about 20 mpg...except I have a 4wd, am on 33x12.5" tires, and am loaded with armor and equipment...so no mpg surprise is coming from myself...but, I also use full synthetics, etc.

As for the windows and AC, yeah...if you go fast enough to make the wind resistance a factor, you can exceed the drag of the AC with the drag of the open windows.

TJ how the heck are you geting 20mpg!? i don't even get that.
I drove to philly and back and used a half a tank....
but maybe that's about right.


on a side note: i saw a red lamborgini on the way home... :love-eyes2-big:

I get about 15-16mpg. I got 19ish last weekend traveling to the finger lakes wine region, because I was only travelling about 50mph.

The keys for me are full synthetic lubes, even the wheel bearing grease...and timing the traffic rather than point and shooting, and driving the load instead of the speedometer.

I have a 5 speed, which also helps...and the 33's act as an overdrive gear effect. Most of the terrain I am on is flat...when I am in hilly terrain, mountainous areas...the MPG plummets drastically, as the nice flat lander overdrive means I'm in 3rd to not get hit from behind on a long steep hill, etc.

I just pick whatever gear gets me the lowest engine rpm for a particular speed w/o bogging.

Mt worst mpg is off road, as I'm idling/in low gear a lot (Gallons w/o miles...).

I also try to keep the overall speed down, and just leave earlier if possible.

That said, I've done my share of bombing runs, where I do none of what I'm describing...but, if I do...it has to be justified somehow.

If I am on the typical NJ/PA back road I am toodling along at 40-45 mph...preemo mpg range for the most part.

If I nudge that up just a bit to 45-50...the change in mpg is swifter than you'd think, as around 45-50 mpg, wind drag starts to become more of a factor.

Ironically, adding the Shrock front bumper seemed to decrease my front drag. Maybe because it has a less massive frontal surface area than the OEM Fantastic-Mess-O Plastic, and very little surface area square to the oncoming wind...most is rounded or swept back, or both.

Removing all the foo foo roof plastic did help too...and also made it so I can actually enjoy the sun roof.

:D

TJTJ thanks for the reply. So nothing about Ethos?

I find most of the miracles are about a effective as stains under overpasses and faces that appear on pancakes, etc.

:D

I've also seen many items advertised as "Tested by the Military"...but never as proven to WORK by the military.

A 20 mile difference in a fill up of 17.5 gallons is well within normal variation...not evidence of an effect.

If you get 365-385 miles in 17.5 gallons (An odd amount to get at every fill up by the way...I bet THAT varies by some range too) that's ~ 21 - 22 mpg.

Is there anything else I might be missing that is giving me the increase mileage. And it's not exactly 17.5 gal (17.3, 17.69, 17.29) What about a more accurate way to check? My next step is to go back to not trying it at all and see what the numbers are. I have to admit I don't think the numbers will stay the same. Thanks again.

Easy way to figure out MPG.

First you have to fill up the vehicle. You can’t just put $5 one time and $10 the next, etc.

If you want a very accurate calculation use the same pump at the same gas station every time. You also have to not over fill. This means, left the pump click off and then stop. Don’t try to top off or round to the nearest dollar.

Fill up the tank and get a receipt.

On the back of the receipt write the mileage.

Fill up again and get a receipt.

And repeat with the mileage on the receipt.

After 3 or 4 fill ups, so the math.

Figure out how many miles you drove since the last fill up and then divide by the number of gallons you put in the tank.

Is there anything else I might be missing that is giving me the increase mileage. And it's not exactly 17.5 gal (17.3, 17.69, 17.29) What about a more accurate way to check? My next step is to go back to not trying it at all and see what the numbers are. I have to admit I don't think the numbers will stay the same. Thanks again.

Depending on the time of year you saw the jump, it could be summer blend gas vs winter blend gas.

Thanks and done exactly like that. I didn't know that there are different blends of gas during the year.

Tire pressure is good too.

The more psi, the lower the hysterisis losses/lower rolling resistance.

Of course, too high, and you prematurely wear out the center line of the tire tread. (And make the handling a bit bouncy, etc...)

A new tire costs about 2 tanks of gas, times 4 = ~ 8 tanks of gas to replace.

If the mpg goes up enough to save that much, it can be worth it...otherwise, that's your point of diminishing return.

:D

Figure on 1-3 mpg boost from tire pressure boosting...depending upon your starting pressure, etc.

WOW, this is good reading people.... I have 2500 miles on my 06 and have gotten 20-21 every tank so far. 90% of my driving is at 70 - 75 interstae driving. On a side note my 02 frontier 3.3 5 speed with a shell on back got 19 - 20 for all of its 69,000 miles...no mods on either one.

Has anyone gotten better mileage with a C.A.I.? I have been seriously pondering one but the 4x4 shop i use said i would be lucky to see 3 to 4 tenths per mile better.

Brian in Colorado

everything TJTJ says is true! i get an average of 15 mpg on my xterra driving like the way i always do. on the other hand if i drive like theres an "egg" under my accelerator, meaning slow acceleration, no going past 2500 rpm, and more coasting than usual, i found out i got about 18 mpg. and if you drive like an asian like i always do, expect to see about 13-14 mpg. hahahaha

and if you drive like an asian like i always do, expect to see about 13-14 mpg. hahahaha
lol hilarious

Drove 1300 km's or approx 800 miles this weekend on the highway. Drove at 100-105 km/hr, that's 62 to 65 mph. Fuel economy worked out to 22 mpg. I'm pretty pleased. This is a 2001 with a V6 and 4 wd.

Getting about 16mpg with mine. Less than 500 miles on it so far.

http://www.4x4parts.com/public_html/shop/index.php3?page=shop/browse&category_id=22e663875d6a75175310872d5449ed17&ps_session=a8aaa50a52cfb1e8247d4bccba71cc87

I found in my '00 4x4 that maintaining about 70mph with the A/C off I could consistently get right at 21mpg on a trip. If I had the A/C on it went down to right around 19mpg (also on a trip).
My '07 gave me 21 mpg with A/C on when it only had about 1K miles on the odometer. I am pleased with that and expect it to get a bit better as it breaks in.

mine gets at the most 18-19 highway and 13-15 in town.

which would not be to bad, but compared to my superduy, it sucks considering my superduty is bigger, heck of a lot more power and pulls a constant 20mpg on the highway and 14-16 around town.

to bad they don't have diesel xterras.

i have a 08 f-350 diesel and it only gets about 10-11 mpg i picked it up with 43 miles on it and in about two weeks it now has almost 2k on it.....

well, the 6.4 gets way less thanks to the emissions hogging it up, courtesy of the epa.

diesels get better mpg when broken in also, around 5-7 thousand.

Milage is improving now 17-18mpg combined city/highway. 780 miles on it.