Increase Mileage Switch ??

[AShoe]

Take off the winch and bumper.
Narrow, hard tires. Probably 245-75-16 that you can inflate to 60-70psi.
Run a thin gear oil in the differentials and transfer case. Redline lightweight shockproof comes to mind, I don't know what is avaliable in europe.
Have your fuel injectors cleaned and flow checked.
Advance your timing 3-5 degrees.
Landtank's maf.
EMS type exhaust and new cats.

I would suspect these, combined with gentle driving would net you 3-6mpg increase.

 

[CycloSteve]

OK, perhaps sell the rig and buy the diesel version?...may cost you a little more in the short-term, but a lot less a few years down the line.



Steve

 

[hawaiicruz]

No real MPG increase when I switched to part time 4wd <1 mpg

 

[JDUBinCO]

Ever try acetone in the gas? I am just starting to try it in my LX so I don't have any trial results yet but in my old 4runner with a 22re it bumped the 19 mpg to 23 mpg. It didn't do a thing to the mpg in my 1.6l nissan motor so we will see.
You dose the fuel with about 2 oz of acetone per 10 gallons of gas. I did this on and off for 5 years in my 20 yr old 4runner and never had any fuel system issues with the rubber. It is a very small dose. It evaporates pretty quick so if your tank of gas does not get used in about 2 weeks then the results will be diminished.
I know I will be BASHED for posting this "snake oil" trick up. The nay-sayers will ask - if it worked why wouldn't it already be in gas? Acetone eats rubber! blah blah blah
I say give it a shot - you might be surprised. If it doesn't work then you put 4oz of acetone in your gas tank one time - so what?
John

 

[MountainBum]

Ever try acetone in the gas? I am just starting to try it in my LX so I don't have any trial results yet but in my old 4runner with a 22re it bumped the 19 mpg to 23 mpg. It didn't do a thing to the mpg in my 1.6l nissan motor so we will see.
You dose the fuel with about 2 oz of acetone per 10 gallons of gas. I did this on and off for 5 years in my 20 yr old 4runner and never had any fuel system issues with the rubber. It is a very small dose. It evaporates pretty quick so if your tank of gas does not get used in about 2 weeks then the results will be diminished.
I know I will be BASHED for posting this "snake oil" trick up. The nay-sayers will ask - if it worked why wouldn't it already be in gas? Acetone eats rubber! blah blah blah
I say give it a shot - you might be surprised. If it doesn't work then you put 4oz of acetone in your gas tank one time - so what?
John

This is the old increase octane trick. It does work, but only on vehicles that have good ecm's. The ecm will reduce fuel output to compensate for higher octane resulting in a bit better mpg. There are better additives though than acetone to increase octane. I can't remeber the name of the chemical right off the top of my head, but it is in just about every Pep Boys octane booster on the shelf. Get yourself a straight up gallon and you can increase octane to your hearts content.

edit: I have occasionally put mid grade 88/89 octane in all my vehicles from time to time and I see maybe 1.5-2mpg increase for that tank.

 

[jamie_scotland]

As above sell it and buy a diesel!

I was tempted by how cheap I could pick up a petrol 80 but when I did the calculations it didn't work out.

Even though I only do about 10k miles a year it would cost me £1750 ($2800) EXTRA each year to run the gas model.

Adds up to a staggering SAVING of £8750 ($14000) in just 5 years!

The diesel also maintains reasonable fuel economy when worked hard or used offroad. Mine never drops below 20mpg even when towing 7500 lbs.

Tweak a diesel 80 and with careful steady driving 30 mpg should be easily possible.

Jamie

 

[1000-oaks]

I'm curious how much an air dam would help, I added one to a BMW years ago and it improved mileage by several MPG (maybe 5?), as I recall. But the bottom of the BMW dam was very close to the ground, I don't know if going from 18" to 12" on an LC would make much difference.

 

[Czar]

I would try the air dam under the front bumper, but in Spain everything has to be "checked" by legal authorities. If it is "home-made" they can hit you with a very severe penalty.
I don't care about the mileage when doing offroad. I know is going to be a lot. I care about the 150 miles or the 200 miles I have to do in the highway to reach the weekend toyo meeting now and then. That's why the 2WD conversion is a good way of achieving it, but it is very expensive for me.
I am searching for someone in Europe who sells this kit.

Best advice to increase gas mileage/cost = move to a non-EU country . Seriously, with the expected inflation (increase in fuel prices,increase in tax caused by declining tax revenue) about to hit certain EU zones, I would seriously consider it.

 

[maybe_a_80...]

255/85/16 tires to decrease tire weight and frontal rolling resistance. this is relatively effective if you are driving longer distances on pavement to get to the trail.

look into PM in the engine compartment related to air flow on both the intake and exhaust sides of the engine (could include cold air intake a la snorkel). How old is your air filter? EGR system - are the vacuum hoses working correctly? PCV valve tubes on top of engine. New plugs, wires, rotor, cap. Flush coolant and replace with new coolant. New belts. Change fluids if they are old. rebuild axles to include new wheel bearings. Anything related to how the vehicle tracks - ie worn driveline, steering, and suspension bits.

MPG is so rough with a vehicle highlighting the aerodynamics of an international shipping crate!

 

[Ozdunc]

A snorkel seems to make a difference at highway speeds to my truck, no difference round town.
But with a 3" lift, 285/75 MTRs and an alloy bullbar I get 15-16mpg.
The snorkel gave me 1-2mpg of that.

 

[RichElliott]

A snorkel seems to make a difference at highway speeds to my truck, no difference round town.
But with a 3" lift, 285/75 MTRs and an alloy bullbar I get 15-16mpg.
The snorkel gave me 1-2mpg of that.

Are you saying the snorkel gave you better mpg at highway speed?

 

[jchico77]

Thanks for all the responses. I am searching to modify the kick down of the trans.
About the acetone, I don't think I'll go for that. Octane of gas over here is 95.
I will not consider the air dam, acetone, changing anything in the car because what I save in MPG I will spend it in the changes and they don't offer "for sure" savings. I may change the rotors, plugs and wires, belts, etc... and be still the same MPG.
The air filter, I clean it now and then.
One question: I have the intake of the snorkel facing backwards because for offroad has to be that way, but, how about in hiughways? Would that increase the air intake pressure and generate an increase in MPG?

Does anyone know how to tune the kick down of the tranny?

About the disesl....I had an 80 diesel. 92 HDJ80. Loved that car, but came with only central locking, no winch, single suspension, no interior extras. I changed to the LX450 because I had to spend more than 7000€ to have the same amount of equipment in the 92 diesel. And the LX is 96 with 80K miles only. The diesel had already more than 180K miles. That is the reason. If not, I would still have a disesl for sure !!!

For example: Changing the wheels would cost me around 850€ and that means 3 MPG of difference in 2 years of use........... no enough saving for the cost.

 

[LifeOverland]

As above sell it and buy a diesel!


Tweak a diesel 80 and with careful steady driving 30 mpg should be easily possible.

Jamie

Which engines are those running??

 

[Dave 2000]

30+ miles to a gallon...............go diesel....go diesel....

But to be fair (I am also in Spain) as I live along the south coast the roads tend to be quieter here except for August, but as already mentioned ease of the right pedal. As an asides, you may also need to have your permiso altered assuming you declared the mods? If this is the case and you have to pay for the engineers report then it will be a long while before you recoup any savings.

regards

Dave

 

[Grench]

About running tires to max inflation....I have a question here. My front tires show "MAX 60 PSI" and my rear tires show "MAX 50 PSI". Show I run them at 60 and 50 PSI? if I don't go over 60 and 50 wll there be any risk if I am running only in roads and highways?
I am planning to do that and running lower pressures when I go into offroad, and back to 60 and 50 when I hit the road again.......

BTW, why I run a LX450 in Europe????....easy.....I love it. I'm just trying to get this love less expensive !!!!

Two different pressure limits on the sides of the tires? Exactly what brand and what size and weight limit are each of the tires?

These trucks really don't like having different diameter tires running on them. Even within the same 'tire size', different manufacturers end up with different rolling diameters.

If you like having taller than stock tires, going to skinny tires might help. In Europe you might even be able to get 9.0R16 in a non-military tread. That or check into 255/85R16 as an option.

Also - if you're going this route - pay attention to individual tire weight. It's kind of like boot/shoe weight when backpacking. An additional pound of boot weight is like 5 pounds in the pack.

No matter how you slice it though, these are not great gas mileage vehicles.

IMHO YMMV

 

[Dave 2000]

If you like having taller than stock tires, going to skinny tires might help. In Europe you might even be able to get 9.0R16 in a non-military tread. That or check into 255/85R16 as an option.

As mentioned earlier the OP may have trouble changing tyre size without attracting attention from the authorities. I had a clients car fail it's yearly inspection becaue the owner had taken out the rearmost seats on his Discovery, the spanish love a bit of paper, if it staes 7 seats it must HAVE seven seats!

The tyres are the first thing checked after exhaust emissions and they get a good going over, years ago the testers let a lot through but they are tightening up on the regulations and are getting quite thorough, a change in tyre size may require a change in paperwork and a few hoops have to be jumped through.

regards

Dave

 

[Grench]

As mentioned earlier the OP may have trouble changing tyre size without attracting attention from the authorities. I had a clients car fail it's yearly inspection becaue the owner had taken out the rearmost seats on his Discovery, the spanish love a bit of paper, if it staes 7 seats it must HAVE seven seats!

The tyres are the first thing checked after exhaust emissions and they get a good going over, years ago the testers let a lot through but they are tightening up on the regulations and are getting quite thorough, a change in tyre size may require a change in paperwork and a few hoops have to be jumped through.

regards

Dave

The OP said he had large tires that max at different pressures front to back. I interpreted this as him having larger than stock tires already. That they have different pressure limits leads me to believe that they are either from different manufacturers or from different lines at least. He also has a lift, bumper, winch, etc... His vehicle isn't going to 'slip through' as unmodified in any event.

I encourage him to post up the brand and size of his existing tires. If they are particularly wide tires in a soft compound or mud terrain tread he could save significant amounts of fuel by moving to a skinny road tire in the same (or very close) diameter.

You're right, though, I do not know or understand the paperwork required on a modified four wheel drive in Spain. If the restrictions are that tight... how does he get it licensed now?

 

[Dave 2000]

The OP said he had large tires that max at different pressures front to back. I interpreted this as him having larger than stock tires already. That they have different pressure limits leads me to believe that they are either from different manufacturers or from different lines at least. He also has a lift, bumper, winch, etc... His vehicle isn't going to 'slip through' as unmodified in any event.


You're right, though, I do not know or understand the paperwork required on a modified four wheel drive in Spain. If the restrictions are that tight... how does he get it licensed now?

I interpreted the OP post the same way and assumed he had been through the engineer route to get it through the annual inspection however, as his post was about saving money on fuel, and he was talking about different wheels/tyres ect if he added the cost of them to the cost of another engineers report (about 600 euros + tax @18.5% last time I checked) it did not seem to be a worthwhile route to take due to the time taken to recoup his outlay. You are right about the paperwork here in Spain, for example if you take your vehicle to a workshop and have a towbar fitted the car then has to be taken for an inspection and this is added to your 'permiso' or log book if you like, a year or two later you remove it as it is now surplus to requirements and then get stoppped by the Guardia Civil you can be fined for not having the paperwork adjusted to indicate that the removal has been checked by an engineer!

Having a modified vehicle in Spain is not a problem as long as you have taken it to an engineer who will rip you a new arse with the bill!

regards

Dave

 

[xprmntl]

Some cheaper options

3. Adjust your trans kick down cable out to 2 or 3mm. This will lower the shift points and will keep the rpms down. $0.00

With stock gearing and oversize tires, this will only help if you keep you keep your foot light. To accelerate, you'll be trying to push a bigger gear than is optimal for certain situations (when kickdown doesn't occur). I drive with a heavy foot, so I've found that with my oversize tires (285/75R16), turning off overdrive around town increases my gas mileage about 1-2 mpg because I'm not trying to accelerate in too high a gear. Overdrive on for the highway.


If going back to stock tire height is okay with you, another tire to consider is the 235/85R16 which is same height but about 1.5" narrower. I ran these and liked them, but didn't notice much mileage improvement even at 70+ psi.

 

[jchico77]

i have increase mileage 2-3 mpg with good driving techniques, but i want to go further with little cost.

I have been talking with a friend of mine who knows a lot about electrónics. He claims that if i am able to modify the signal from the O2 sensor, i could eventualy make the ECU think that the engine should run leaner......

....is this theoretically posible? Could it make any harm to the engine?