Project QX4 MPG is go!

[MagicM]

Suddenly I don't feel so bad about my '01 Pathy.I regularly get over 550kms/tank with a mix of highway and city. my best recorded tank ever was 615. i ran it it till it started to sputter. It's 100% stock, still has the running boards and roof racks( although im going to take them off soon) and i run my tyres at 32psi. I drive on the highway at around 120.My trick is being a turtle off the line. i really do not give it much until i'm rolling and up over 50-60...Just some food for thought!

that's about the same distance i was getting on my old 01 LE pathfinder 3.5/4wd. just left in 2wd most of the time and got around 550 km as well.

[kamiar]

Hi, i drove to Niagara falls last weekend from Montreal and got 19.5mpg all the way... is that normal?

[carnal_c30]

the 3.5 definitely gets better mileage than the 3.3, plus with the 3.3 you really have to kick it to get the beast moving =p so that makes mpg worse.

I average 17ish-18ish on good days, but I've really noticed different areas really drive differently. In the Inland Empire Riverside area in SoCal people mash on it alllll the time and I find myself dropping down to 15-16mpg mixed just to keep up, yet when I'm in San Diego or Irvine my mpg averages go up to even 19mpg

[fukkeneh240]

bringing up an old thread, but at least im searching. haha

dont the 3.5 require premium gas.. so i dont think youre saving more money than the 3.3

but anyways, i was thinking of putting on 2001 rims/tires on my 1997 soon when i finally have a dry day here, but you guys think that will noticably reduce my MPG or L/100km's

oh, and the LEAFS SUCK! go Nucks! LOL.

Toronto Maple Leafs -> <- Vancouver Canucks

kidding.

[screwinitupagain]

I have 32's & still get the same MPG. I've take things off & put things on & I don't think its gonna make a good bit of Godamn I'm still only gonna get 16 MPG. Thats what I've gotten for 8 years & if I wanted better then I should have bought a different vehicle.

[W O T]

The qx4 runs just fine on pump 87

[Tamryn]

Good luck with your project.

[Chuck Tribolet]

While the knock sensor will allow it to run on 87 octane, it wll exploit better gas by advancing the timing, and get a little better gas milage.

[fueler]

I've take things off & put things on & 'm still only gonna get 16 MPG.

I have the same results. To the guy who asked if 19.5 mpg is good, HELL YEAH IT IS

[Qxxx4]

i stopped caring after gas dipped below $1 a litre. lol sometimes i evn put shell v power premium. i wrote down the kms but didnt calculate the mileage...ill do it later i guess haha

[nmpath]

I just got back from a trip to Colorado and averaged 18 MPG without tire corrections. I have 32" tires. I kept it around 65-70 MPH the whole way and it made a huge difference compared to my last road trip where I average 14 MPG at 75-85 MPH. I remember when my path was stock and I could get 400 miles on a tank!

[Buzzman]

oh, and the LEAFS SUCK! go Nucks! LOL.

Toronto Maple Leafs -> <- Vancouver Canucks

kidding.

Try being a Sens fan these days. Ouch! They suck.

[SnowSurfLax]

I just got back from a trip to Colorado and averaged 18 MPG without tire corrections. I have 32" tires. I kept it around 65-70 MPH the whole way and it made a huge difference compared to my last road trip where I average 14 MPG at 75-85 MPH. I remember when my path was stock and I could get 400 miles on a tank!

Yeah, I get that when I drive to LA at those speeds. You're not going to get massive increases without massive changes.

i stopped caring after gas dipped below $1 a litre. lol sometimes i evn put shell v power premium. i wrote down the kms but didnt calculate the mileage...ill do it later i guess haha

Yeah, I quit caring when gas plummeted and we bought the M35. Mine gets less than half the mileage now that its not the weekend car anymore. Sees less than 180 miles a week anymore.

Who knows if I'll still have this QX4 when gas shoots back up. Might have a 2004 or even a 2007 land cruiser. Or something better if anyone ever decides to build a truly capable, luxury SUV that doesn't look like a bubble on wheels.

[REZN]

ok so about gasmy car must not be doing so welli ran almost 130 miles and still have a half a tank leftis this bad or good?keep in mind i have the heavy rims on itand whats the difference between premium gas and regular

[chaonis]

judging by the fuel gauge is not accurate at all. to figure out you mpg, you can:1) fill up the tank, and reset the odometer to zero;2) drive3) fill up the tank again; write down odometer reading and reset it back to zero; after refilling, write down how much gas is pumped into the car;4) MPG=(odometer reading) divided by (gallon of gas)5) repeat 2) to 5) for the next MPG data.

try to find a level ground each time if you want more accurate reading; and the more gas you use between refilling, the more accurate it gets.

physical difference between premium and regular gas is the octane rating:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O...ating

If your car's manual says it takes regular gas, a premium gas is just like, you pay premium for the same thing.

[REZN]

my manual says to use premium but when i did use premium.. i didnt catch a difference.does it last longer? does it help the engine life?

[fueler]

does it [octane] help the engine life?

that depends. if youre mis-firing/backfiring with lower octane, then yes higher octane will help engine life. If your car runs the same on lower octane, then no octane will make no differnece.

[SnowSurfLax]

my manual says to use premium but when i did use premium.. i didnt catch a difference.does it last longer? does it help the engine life?

Actually, that depends. If you're light on the foot and don't run the RPMs up that much, doesn't make any difference.

If you like to pop up to redline a couple times a week, I'd recommend premium as it'll knock less (you'll never notice the knock as it gets retarded before you can notice, but it happens slightly).

I notice the performance difference on my M35 when I run premium. Infiniti recommends it, but not required. When I'm romping hard I get no hesitation in higher RPMs. But if I'm running regular, it has trouble getting up in the higher RPM ranges.

[xvanwilderx]

Have there been any additional updates to Project QX4 mpg?

[sicwitit]

I'm shocked no one has mentioned water injection yet as an alternative to premium fuel yet? that will save some bucks at the pump...oh and you can even run a mix of 50/50 water/alcohol and reduce the possibility of knock 5 fold.

some other things to think about...

skinner tireslighter wheelsI saw the mention of a light weight underdrive pulley..(I'm in the process of making a full set of light weight pulleys for the VQ35DE More to come on it when they are done.

what ever you can do to imporve aerodynamics and lighten mass, anywhere is going to save you. I've got some Bride rails for R50's and am looking at throwing in some Recaro seats when I get back home, I know the stock front seats weigh a ton, I wasn't doing it for weight reduction, but if it helps so be it.

Oh, and you might wanna call JET ecu tuning, they can reprogram your ECU for better economy too. that should be 1-2mpg alone.

Oh yeah, buy your gas at the coolest part of the day, usually right before the sun comes up. Gas pumps measure fuel in volume, not density. You will save on money with this trick, not so much on the milage..but they go hand and hand.

[lino]

my manual says to use premium but when i did use premium.. i didnt catch a difference.does it last longer? does it help the engine life?

Why wouldn't you use premium anyway .

[KyooX4]

I always notice a difference between 87 grade and 93 grade fuel. It's only a few bucks more anyways.

[W O T]

I dont use premium, car runs exactly the same without it, its a 11 cent difference per liter here in canada, 6-7 bucks a tank, no thanks

Id love to get ahold of a pulley set for this car though like sikwidit mentionned!

[sicwitit]

Well I can't get them going until I get back to the states, and go to a junk yard and tear some off a wrecked Pathy. as soon as that happens, or If I can get someone from the board here to help out with the project, I can't get them finished. I have a manufacture to make them, and the capital, I just need some samples to draw from and we are game. so until that happens, I'm kind of sitting on my hands with this pulley project.

[W O T]

How long til your back? I know of a VQ motor semi local I could tear the pulleys off of

[sicwitit]

I'm unsure at the moment, I might be back for thanksgiving, or it might be later in the snowboard season, I'm thinking Feb or so. but if either of those two dates don't pan out, I'll be waiting all the way until next July when my wife gets back from Iraq.

I'd be interested in the pulleys, if you can get every pulley you possibly can (crank, alt, power steering, A/C) the easier it will be. And there will be a set of upgraded pulleys in it for ya no doubt.

[SnowSurfLax]

This project is toast. I managed to save a few lbs here and there and worked with tires, etc.

But after gas dropped below $3.50 a gallon, nothing is worthwhile anymore.

That and this thing's turning into a POS PITA. All sorts of little things are breaking. It's either becoming a hobby car or getting sold cheap within the next year.

And if it becomes a hobby car, i'm yanking the engine and rebuilding it into a VG36 and boosting it.

[sicwitit]

if your going to turn it into a project, why not throw in a VQ40, or the V8 from the Armada?

[SnowSurfLax]

VQ40 possible - way too much effort for minimal gain compared to rebuilding engine.

V8 - not an option in Cali. not legal.

I've researched the living hell out of this and even have all details necessary. Given where I live and other projects I've seen, it's far easier to rip out the engine and rebuild it then try to drop a foreign engine into the bay.

[sicwitit]

Hmm, All I can think about is tearing down the stock 3.5, ballancing the crank, upgrading the stock rods, calling JE for some low comp pistons, O-ring instead of head gaskets, and slap on a pair of R34 turbos. 360hp should be easy with some tunning.