I am looking for advice or recommendations on improving fuel economy.
Any good experiences with "Chips" or "Modules"?
Any Un-Regular Maintenance actions (beyond the oil change)?
Mechanics observations?
Cheers,

2004 SE 4x4, Intake, Tow Hitch

sell you X and buy anpother vehicle. Plain and simple, they are NOT known for getting good mpg's. They are designed as arodynamic as a brick, and live up to it. YOu can try to read as much as you want, but no one has really come up with the big answer to this one.

You can try changing to synthetics, makeing sure your tires and inflated properly, keeping it tuned up properly, take your air dam off the top, and drive with your windows up, You MIGHT be able to get an extra mile or two per gallon out of it that way. Or be happy that you dont have mine, I get 14mpg NO MATTER WHAT, unless I am in 4WD, then it gets worse.

e207,
That is what I was figuring. it is not shaped for cutting through the wind, that is for sure. Ha.
Just wondering if anyone has had success with one product or another.
Did they adjust something mechanically and said "wow that went well"?
Figured this forum would be the place to find out. So much knowledge in one place.
We have a camping trip coming up soon and wanted to take action before the end of July.
Thanks for your comments.

Its been discussed very often, and there really hasnt been any cure for the poor mpg's.

only drive down hill with a tail wind.

I have had a few things that have helped my MPG.

Actually just today I took off my air dam, we will see if I get any increases there.

But last year I followed a process using seafoam to clean out my engine.
I dont know it the exact steps but you can find it some where on here.
but you put some seafoam in your a full gas tank along with in your oil. then you have a process where you pour some in a vacuum line.
I gained about 2-3 mpg after this but only lasted for about 6 months if that. I am going to put some seafoam in my next gas tank to hopefully clean out some things and gain something back

Also I recently turned the distributor so that the idle actually increases slightly. There was just one bolt that I had to loosen and it rotated easily. This helped it run more efficiently. Be sure to mark its original position with a sharpie incase you need to go back to the original setting due to a decrease of mileage.
This is something that you can move a few times until you find where it works best. I gained about 1-2 mpg after this adjustment.

I have a 2001 xterra se 4WD. I average 14.5 mpg and have seen as low as 10 while speeding and was actually only getting 12 when I bought the car w/ 77k miles on it. The seafoam treatment jumped me up to 15 for some months.
Currently 116k miles averaging 14.5

there is also the idea of cutting weight, of course there are a number of unique ways to do this.

overall we all know that xterras dont budge must here

My 2003 brick gets 15 mpg. across the board with 160,000 miles. But I love it!

Show off !!!! I get 14 accross the board, dont matter ,AC on or off, windows up or down, now,.. .if I use 4wd, now thats a different story !!!! lol

Best milage I got was when I left it sit for a weekend!

As a trucker fuel economy is a HUGE part of my entire livelihood. I have found a few things that work well both in my tractor and in my x.

-Slow down.
-When on longer trips use the cruise as much as possible.
-Avoid idling whenever possible.

X's have never been well known for their amazing fuel efficency but I've noticed that these things help a little bit.

Also, anybody have an actual nmpg for 4L on a rough trail? Seems like I burn through a tank in crazy speeds when I'm on the trails.

Wow, you guys are hurting with these low teen MPGs.

I average about 19, and even had a stretch of 22MPG last week as I cruised across Wyoming between Yellowstone/Tetons.

I notice a couple MPG improvement when I threw on a Volant intake and a NISMO exhaust. I don't really know where the improvement came from, as I performed both mods at the same time. I also cleaned the MAF (Mass air sensor) while I was there at the intake. A dirty MAF will hammer MPGs. My average changed from about 15 to about 19 after the mods/cleaning.

Headers will likely get another MPG or two, full synthetics (everywhere) will help, proper tire inflation will help, not using aggressive off road tires on the highway will help. In theory, dropping the belt driven fan for a thermostatically controlled electric fan will free up a couple horsepower as well, which would (again, in theory) have a small impact on mileage. I am going to change the fan and add headers/HFCs soon.

One thing I have learned about the X, is there is no MPG silver bullet; but there are combinations of things involving good maintenance, breathing mods, and parasitic reduction mods that if all done in concert, the benefits do add up. Where I am pushing 20 and most Xs are in the mid to low teens is (imo) justification to my argument. I love my X, and need a 4x4 like it to do what I want to do. But I do also need good MPG; as I spend most of my time on the highway getting to the trail or camping spot.

On my 22MPG stretch, I was near Jackson Wyoming where it is only a 45-55MPH zone for a hundred miles or so as you pass through the area. Keeping the speed under 65MPH will do more than any of the above.

I've tried alot of different tactics to help my gas mileage but it doesn't seem to help much. 20 mpg is about the best it can do unless I take it on a long highway drive up to Kelowna - got about 30 mpg on that one! lol

I found the K&N cold air intake helped alot, I frequently clean out my throttle body and run only premium gas. Change my oil every 7000kms with 10w30 Castrol and use a Nissan OEM filter.

I'm thinking of getting a second set of tires for the summer, maybe a touring type SUV tire?? I think the BF Rugged Trails suck for regular roads and don't benefit the fuel efficiency much.

REALLY? ... REALLY?

I currently run average of 15.5 to 16 MPG in my 01 2X4 manual...http://www.xterraownersclub.com/forums/images/markup_panel/default/bigger.gif (really needs an OD or 6th gear for higway travel...)

When I get home from Kuwait in Jan I'll be starting a MAJOR tune-up/overhaul of the X. I'm in the 195000 millage range and still on the original timing belt, so I'll be doing that job for sure. I'll be adding the K&N intake kit or a snorkel, replacing the MAF sensor, replacing the catalytic converters, and increasing the diameter on the pipes.

I'm also looking for somewhere that I can find some headers that do not require the elimination of the cats (since I have to pass an emissions inspection and they check to make sure you have them...) and possibly looking into a way to fab up a dual exhaust using 2 Super 44 Flowmaster mufflers.

If anyone knows where I could find some headers please let me know. Also if anyone has a dual exhaust set up I'd love to see pictures of how you have it routed. I like to do an X pipe rater than a Y and run 1 muffler on either side of the car.

thorleys are it, they are long tube and do deleate the first set of cats, or pre cats. you will still have the primary cats but some places are really picky about them. They will still pass if they just check for CELs, but if they do a visaual or the sniff test you might have some problems.

Yeah they do visual and an OBDII check... hence why I have to replace my Cats... figure while I'm doing that I'll do some upgrades to let the X breath a little better...

Dude ya! I was worried, thought maybe the gas gauge broke or something cause I was on the highway in the middle of no where. So finally the light comes on about 15km from the gas station.. I was very impressed.

I'm from south Texas (about 600 feet above sea level), but when I spent a week in Buena Vista, Co (at levels between 8000 to 11,500 feet above sea level) my average hwy mileage on my 2010 2wd Exterra rose from 21 mpg to 25 mpg! What is it about the high altitude that provided such a noticeable increase in gas mileage? Can that be duplicated with a chip to fool the computer to thinking it's in the mountains again?

Best mileage that I've seen in my 05 Xterra has been at altitude. It was especially noticable above 8,000 ft. I attributed it to thinner air, thus, less wind resistance. So a chip won't do any good in my opinion. I agree with the others who said that slowing down is the best option to increase fuel economy. When I switched to All Terrain BF Goodrich tires my mileage went down 1 to 2 mpg due to the more aggressive tread. I track mileage closely during our annual vacation from Toronto to Utah, New Mexico, California, etc. 30 or more tanks of gas in 3 to 4 weeks gives me a pretty good idea how various modifications or changes in driving habits impact driving. I should mention that using premium gas showed no improvement in fuel economy. Different air filters also showed no difference. Cruise helps but not as much as slowing down.

My 2010 SE gets 16 in the city, and if I put it on cruise control at 70 on the highway, I can almost get 22!

I have an 2012 with 1110 miles on it and have not gotten under 21mpg on it so far. My wife has an Armada and only get 16.7 mpg. 8^(

guy's today i would like to asks something relating to youir topic which is that i want to know complete information about fuel economy if anyone know here than contact here back i will appreciate you on this operating....?



I am a douche bag spammer

If you wanna monitor it for cheep look up this gauge its called the Eco meter I have one and its pretty dam accurate

only drive down hill with a tail wind.