RD28 Fuel economy

[Gerry]

Hi,

on a recent trip I was a little unhappy with my fuel economy, I was towing a 7 x 4 trailer with camping gear on board and returned about 14L/100K I was sitting on between 100 and 110 Kph. It will do about 13L/100K without the trailer. I mate of mine has a 80 series cruiser with a 4.2 factory turbo diesel and he can get 12L/100K towing a small poptop van and can get under 11L/100K with out towing. Doesn't seem to make sense I have a smaller motor about the same gearing and get worse fuel economy (and heaps less power). Would a snorkel help?

[Cuppa]

Makes sense to me.
Smaller motor working harder uses more fuel.If you get 13l/100k without towing, 14l/100k seems pretty reasonable I'd have thought.
Just to be clear though, I have zero experience of RD28's, so hopefully others who do will see uour post & comment so you have something to compare to.

Cuppa

[BigRAWesty]

X2 with you cuppa.. your 2.8 has less power than the 4.2 so your relying on the turbo and fuel to give you what you need.. the 4.2 has the balls so it can chug away easier..
I get 12/100 from my 4.2 gq and 16 towing a 1.1t camper..

Kallen Westbrook
Owner of
Westy's Accessories (http://www.nissanpatrol.com.au/forums/showthread.php?15134-Westy-s-Accessories.-A-small-back-yard-builder.)

[krbrooking]

I have an rd28 and those figures sound pretty good, I have a snorkel as well. I did notice a very slight diff in power/eco but nothing to write home about, if you want a noticeable increase in power& Eco your best bet is an exhaust and chip all the way. Snorkels are good for water crossings and to keep the air slightly cleaner but not much else IMO. The other thing to do is get a good tune and maybe service/upgrade intercooler, assuming none of this is done of course. These are all things on my list of up and coming mods, so let us know what you end up going for if any.

[steve4377]

Your fuel economy is about right. It’s a simple matter of physics – 2.5 tonne car towing a laden trailer, you are going to burn extra fuel. 3 - 4 litres per 100 penalty is about right when towing your trailer.
As for your mate towing a pop-top and getting 12 to the 100 and under 11 normally, well mate he’s been watching too many replays of the movie The Castle, so – tell him he’s dreaming!!!
My mates with Landcruisers get very similar economy to my Patrol – not surprisingly. 80 Series and Pop Top van is not gonna get 12 litres/100 – unless it’s on a towtruck maybe LOL…

[Hodge]

Sorry to barge in and ask a silly question, but how do you blokes work out the economy. I'm about to receive my 09 GU tomorrow, and one of the first things on will be the tyres, followed by exhaust, EGR blank etc... SO to monitor economy precisely, do you blokes just calculate km's done compared to the tank or can you get some sort of a trip computer which shows fuel etc... ?

[Gerry]

I don't have a trip computer so relied on old method of calculation, I have 3in exhaust and chip. Looking at putting a 4.2 out off a GQ and sticking an aftermarket turbo on, that should sort out power and economy issues.

[P4trol]

There's an app for android called fuellog.

Does all the hard maths, just put in your odo, litres of fuel, and fuel price

[Gerry]

My RD28 has about 7-8 PSI boost at 100K/h and my mate 4.2 turbo 80series is just starting to boost at this speed, it surges. At 110k/h Im pushing about 10psi boost and at 120k/h Im using full boost at 13psi only bout 1/3 accelerator though.