Improving fuel economy in a 4x4?

wirehairmax

I have a 2006 Mitsubishi Pajero 3.2L LWB commercial. With the price of diesel so high I'd like some ideas on how to improve fuel economy. I try not to drive too fast, dont over-rev, jeep is regularly serviced etc. Are there any other add-ons, modifications, tips to improve fuel economy out there?

headmaster

Keep sun roof closed, same with windows. A/C is a big no-no, leave heat off, radio and c/d off, lights only when you need them. Anything that uses energy requires power and this doesn't only come from the battery. So, i guess you should buy a sleigh with the winter on the way, good luck.

btb

buy good diesel, got nearly 15% increase in fuel economy on my T5 when I changed from buying from large supermarket forecourt to lower priced local oil distributor.

paddy147

wirehairmax wrote: »

I have a 2006 Mitsubishi Pajero 3.2L LWB commercial. With the price of diesel so high I'd like some ideas on how to improve fuel economy. I try not to drive too fast, dont over-rev, jeep is regularly serviced etc. Are there any other add-ons, modifications, tips to improve fuel economy out there?

Get it chipped/remapped with a diesel tuning box/commander box.

Thats what i did with my L200 crewcab

visual

Less use of the skinny pedal will make the biggest difference ( adjust driving style )
have a clear out only carry what you have to. ( weight cost money to pull around)
Tyres make a big difference, correctly inflated ( few extra psi ). If buying new tyres road tyre's of min width for your vehicle will give you greatest saving.
When I switched to over sized AT I lost a couple mpg Big MT will lose even more.
I don't recommend driving with lights off the saving is very small for the trade off in safety.

Good service and air filter will make it run better but contrary to believe doesn't increase mpg.

Top Dog

I know some people view it as some sort of snake oil, but I've tried Dipetane in my yoke and noticed a marked improvement in the fuel consumption. Didn't do a clean out, nor alter my driving style, but have still managed to stretch an extra 50+ miles out of a tank. Best so far is 540 miles to a fill up!

wildefalcon

Dipthene is very popular.

For a big lump like a L200 the single biggest difference, aside from driving style, is tyres.

When you think about it, the tyre is the thing that does the rolling!

So, if you have big fat tyres, then change them to the thinnest tyres you can find, and keep the pressure at the max permissible for the tyre.

Deadly Dave

wildefalcon wrote: »

then change them to the thinnest tyres you can find, and keep the pressure at the max permissible for the tyre.

What you save on diesel wont cover the repair costs when you rear end someone though, and then you find out that your insurance wont cover you because you used thinner than manufactor recomended tyres !!

YouTookMyName

wildefalcon wrote: »

Dipthene is very popular.

For a big lump like a L200 the single biggest difference, aside from driving style, is tyres.

When you think about it, the tyre is the thing that does the rolling!

So, if you have big fat tyres, then change them to the thinnest tyres you can find, and keep the pressure at the max permissible for the tyre.

Won't help you grip the snow either.

_Conrad_

Sick of saying this at this stage..... Just don't buy a 4x4 if one of your main concerns is fuel economy, they're workhorses, big heavy machines with with much heavier duty parts and transmission systems than cars. Some of them aren't too bad on fuel considering what they are, but they'll never beat a car for economy on the road. Most still have awful aerodynamics too.

doctorchopper

Don't know if they make them for the latter model pajero's but manual locking hubs will give you a extra few mpg's. Dipetane does work, but the price of it will probably out weigh the savings.

101sean

IMHO, free wheeling hubs make feck all difference and are another thing to go wrong, automatic ones are even worse. Plus the time you forget to engage them is when you're in the middle of a lake of poo!

Just drive economically, run quality road bias tyres unless you really need AT/MTs and run them at the correct pressure.

Had a bush problem with my 110 last time I was in the UK which meant it was a PITA to go over 60 on the motorway, I averaged 31mpg, normally I get 25-28mpg.

vibe666

one of the best things you can do is keep an accurate log of your fuel consumption and you'll soon find that you'll see patterns developing based on your driving style and where you fill up and that kind of thing and before you know it, you're trying to beat your own record for a tankful.

it's pretty easy to cobble together a spreadsheet that will do most of the calculations for you (I have one I did for myself if you're really stuck). the best way i found to keep an on the fly log of what i get out of every tankful was to dial it into my phone as a number and press dial after every fill, so that any time after that i can just look at my outgoing call log and see the time & date of the fill and the important numbers, such as 452741479 would be 452km and 74 litres @ €1.47.9, then just zero the odometer and you're ready to start again.

that way you always have your phone to hand to input the info and it only takes 5 seconds to do and you have it then until you get a chance to update your spreadsheet, even if you've filled up 5 times since you last did it, you still have the important info logged on your phone.

also, if i remember where i filled up i add that info too, plus any time any work was done on the car or if i've used any fuel additives or had it serviced etc.

before long, you have a very accurate log of exactly what your MPG is on an ongoing basis and you can try various things to see what makes a difference if any, such as lightening the load by emptying the boot or changing tyre pressures slightly or any of those kinds of things.

Zimmerframe

wirehairmax wrote: »

I try not to drive too fast, dont over-rev, jeep is regularly serviced etc.

You are doing all you can m8, there is nothing else you can do other than sell it.

scotchy

_Conrad_ wrote: »

Sick of saying this at this stage..... Just don't buy a 4x4 if one of your main concerns is fuel economy, they're workhorses, big heavy machines with with much heavier duty parts and transmission systems than cars. Some of them aren't too bad on fuel considering what they are, but they'll never beat a car for economy on the road. Most still have awful aerodynamics too.

Indeed, but that’s not the sort of advice the OP was looking for.
I drive a 4x4 too, and am fully aware that a small car would use less fuel, cost less to tax/insure/maintain etc.
But that doesn’t mean I am not interested in keeping my fuel bill manageable and trying to save a few euro here and there.

.

Pkiernan

YouTookMyName wrote: »

Won't help you grip the snow either.

All else being equal (tread type, rubber compound etc) thinner tyres grip better in snow and ice than wider tyres.

doctorchopper

another big thing is to check to see if your speedo is running acurate, I thought my navara was getting great mpg's but turned out it was 12 kp/h out :mad:. Check it against a gps and if its out by a good bit get it re calibrated. The othe rthing is it just you that drives the jeep cause this will make a big differance as well because you can be gauranteed that your wife or other half isn't going to be as easy on it as you.

wirehairmax

_Conrad_ wrote: »

Sick of saying this at this stage..... Just don't buy a 4x4 if one of your main concerns is fuel economy, they're workhorses, big heavy machines with with much heavier duty parts and transmission systems than cars. Some of them aren't too bad on fuel considering what they are, but they'll never beat a car for economy on the road. Most still have awful aerodynamics too.

Not really helpful. I have a jeep for a reason. To everyone else, thanks for the replies and advise

_Conrad_

wirehairmax wrote: »

Not really helpful.

No not particularly....

but it's a fool's errand you're on really. For all the effort/cost you'd put into "modifications" to improve fuel economy you'd lose most or all of the benefit they'd give you. All you can do is keep everything in order and drive sparingly, but that should be obvious to anyone as it's common sense

wirehairmax

Im doing over 40k a year so if there was some modifications to improve economy, I would have to weigh up the benefits for myself. I've already said I drive sparingly and sensibly so the common sense must already be in place, thanks

doctorchopper

depends on how much you want to spend, free flowing exhaust (larger diam), better intake system (K&N air filter) and have it re mapped, should get 5 maybe 10 more mpg, be expensive though.

paddy147

Yous are still going on about how to improve fuel economy.

Obviously,nobody bothered to read what I posted.Typical.

_Conrad_

paddy147 wrote: »

Yous are still going on about how to improve fuel economy.

Obviously,nobody bothered to read what I posted.Typical.

Oh dear how awful.....


What you said isn't even correct or logical. You said both get it "chipped/remapped" and suggested using a "tuning box", those are different things. Tuning boxes are rubbish and usually simply fool the engine into running more fuel, they're dog rough, crude technology which will not give better economy.

A properly designed chip or a remap can give better economy to an extent but it's more effective when used with increasing power as the main objective as that's easier. If you get remap done well, and don't drive any harder then you may in some cases notice a slight improvement in mpg, but few people resist the urge to use the extra power. If yo got it mapped primarily for economy then you'll lose power, and end up pushing it harder when running loaded or towing, to make up for the lack of power

Zimmerframe

paddy147 wrote: »

Yous are still going on about how to improve fuel economy.

Obviously,nobody bothered to read what I posted.Typical.

Ring Mitsubishi, and tell them about the "box" and you will be a millionaire.

YouTookMyName

paddy147 wrote: »

Get it chipped/remapped with a diesel tuning box/commander box.

Thats what i did with my L200 crewcab

Many miles on it? Head/Head gasket ever been changed?