Pathfinder MPG and/or Performance Upgrades

[mdmellott]

I am toying with my second Pathfinder, trying to improve its mpg and/or performance. Out of the box, it's a great vehicle but there is always room for improvement. I had my old '91 until about six years ago. With over 250K miles racked up, it ran great until it t-boned. Nobody hurt. There were very few things I was able to do with that '91 4WD Pathfinder to improve the stock package and I am seeing that is the case with my current '02 4WD Pathfinder as well. These are great machines so I find it a fun challenge to improve on what was already designed so well. I've added modest upgrades to the ignition system and the front wheel drive hubs to improve my mpg and performance. Please share what improvements you have made to make your ride a better one.

[mdmellott]

Replaced the hub flanges with Warn free running manual locking hubs to free up the front end differential and drive axles from being turned by the front wheels when driving in 2WD mode. This gave me an extra 2 MPG and made the steering more responsive. Yeah, I have to get out and manually lock the hubs when I want to go 4WD but it's not often. Replaced the ignition coils with WeaponX Performance EFX coils which gave me another 1 MPG average increase and a stronger acceleration punch when moving from a stop or merging into freeway traffic. There are scores of pros and motor heads that balk at the idea of hot coils making any difference but these WeaponX coils are designed completely different than any other high performance coil. I know an extra 3 MPG doesn't sound like much but in terms percentage increase, going from 15 to 18 MPG around town, that's a big improvement. Any other ideas out there?

[nickelghandi]

You can remove the resonator in the front of the air intake. It makes the engine sound throatier and gives noticeable throttle response improvement. Less restriction improves MPG a little bit as well.

Adding larger tires can help if you do more country roads driving than city. Larger rotating circumference, so you are going faster and farther with each RPM. It will definitely hurt in the city and in hilly terrain though as the larger radius also means more engine work to get off the line or up a hill.

A more open exhaust will help as well and deleting some of the resonators will reduce weight. Anything that gets air into and out of the engine more quickly and in more volume will help MPG and power.

I regularly see 18-20MPG and I am lifted 2.5" riding on 32" BF Goodrich A/T's, have a grille guard and have the sport roof rack installed. I might consider adding those ignition coils for a little extra power though.

KNN drop in filters are a joke on these vehicles and will wreck your MAF. Not too much data on the full intake kit though.

Weight reduction can help significantly because these R50's are under-powered for their size. Spare tire, back seats, carpets, etc. Just depends on what you are willing to live without.

[mdmellott]

Thanks for the exhaust tip. My standard muffler is rusting out but still holding air (so to speak). Something more in line like a MagnaFlow or Flowmaster alternative does make more sense when the time comes to replace the exhaust system. I have a stock single muffler set up being fed by both exhaust heads. I can't do a dual exhaust but I could give it a larger throat and make it breath easier. Not sure what you meant about removing the the resonator in front of the air intake. Are you talking about a performance cold air intake system?