V6 Rodeo fuel economy

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13-11-2021, 01:37 PM
Three O'Three

V6 Rodeo fuel economy

Hi all. I have a V6 Holden/Isuzu rodeo which is quite thirsty and with the raising fuel prices I'm forced to drive it a lot less. I like driving it and have no intention of getting rid of it so I'm wondering if anyone on this forum has found ways/tricks to get better mileage. Depending on driving conditions I get between 6-8km per litre of fuel.
Thanks
13-11-2021, 01:54 PM
Beetroot

No experience with that particular engine and vehicle but that fuel economy sounds similar to other V6 petrols.
For what ever reason it seems that a petrol V6 in a ute/4x4 doesn't seem to give any better fuel consumption than a bigger capacity V8, meaning that both a V8 and V6 are going to be thirsty.
8km per litre is about 12L/100km which is about normal for open road driving, 6km per litre is what I would expect for towing or stop start city driving.

If you are doing lots of towing and city driving a diesel is probably going to cheaper to run, if it's mostly open road stuff then I'd stick with the petrol.
13-11-2021, 02:03 PM
Vod Ka'nockers

hehehe... ive got a v6 pajero and i get 5-6 km/l.
i think im going to have to buy a wee car since its costing me a frikken fortune in gas too. Bloody shame since the Paj is super comfy for a tall fat bastard like me. Im going to look ridiculous driving a swift! (Tho i do actually fit in a swift.. just look like im driving a big shoe rather than a car.)

towing a 3 ton boat will be fun with the swift, safe as, just keep it below 50.
13-11-2021, 02:21 PM
veitnamcam

Keep tires properly inflated.
Dont cart round any unessacary crap.
Accelerate gently, anticipate traffic and stops to minimize brake use.

If it hasn't been serviced well recently an oil change, plugs and all filters will probably help to.
13-11-2021, 02:50 PM
bunji

@Three O'Three We had a 07 V6 Rodeo TC we brought SH from a local farm , the wife used it to tow her Horse Float, they are just a thirsty motor .I had a mate l rode motor bikes with chip &dyno it to give better performance while towing & it improved economy with normal driving , from memory it made added around 20HP more,+17NM & 15 KW,this meant more torque at lower RPM ,meaning earlier gear change at lower Revs & much better economy with normal driving .If you are going to keep it may be worth looking at getting done ,the factory exhausts are choked off as well,l reckon they are a good knock around ute for the price & while we have these ridiculous pricing on vehicles l would be keeping it .

@Vod Ka'nockers Back when we living in Arnhem Land we picked up a ex Aboriginal land council Pajero DLX (or what ever the top of the line is ),for next to nothing as they stopped driving it after its owner died while out on a camping trip in it. It sat at the camp site for 2 months with doors open & when we got out there with a new battery ,the swag & all the gear they were camping in was all still just sitting there.

Jumped in & put new battery in & it fired right up ,apart from the interior looking 10 yrs older than it was from the weather damage it was one of the best 4WD's l have ever owned drove like a car on the Hwy &b still great 4wd performance.I would have brought it home if l could as they had it all rigged with suspension /bar/winch options .I am a Tojo man from years back (currently run a 2018 hilux TC & Land Cruiser on the Farm),but IMO Pajero's are one of the most underrated 4wd out there.
13-11-2021, 02:57 PM
Vod Ka'nockers

Quote:

Originally Posted by bunji

@Vod Ka'nockers
but IMO Pajero's are one of the most underrated 4wd out there.

yep, im gonna miss 'the blue pig' when we finally part company... im always surprised off road, it climbs like a pretty nanny goat in hillbilly country when fitted with decent tyres.
13-11-2021, 04:02 PM
Finnwolf

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beetroot

No experience with that particular engine and vehicle but that fuel economy sounds similar to other V6 petrols.
For what ever reason it seems that a petrol V6 in a ute/4x4 doesn't seem to give any better fuel consumption than a bigger capacity V8, meaning that both a V8 and V6 are going to be thirsty.
8km per litre is about 12L/100km which is about normal for open road driving, 6km per litre is what I would expect for towing or stop start city driving.

If you are doing lots of towing and city driving a diesel is probably going to cheaper to run, if it's mostly open road stuff then I'd stick with the petrol.

I get up to 11litres per 100kph open road driving in my 7 litre unstreamlined hot rod so the OPs consumption is fairly hefty!
But I understand most V6 utes are particularly thirsty especially if pushed.
13-11-2021, 04:16 PM
Ben-tard

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vod Ka'nockers

hehehe... ive got a v6 pajero and i get 5-6 km/l.
i think im going to have to buy a wee car since its costing me a frikken fortune in gas too. Bloody shame since the Paj is super comfy for a tall fat bastard like me. Im going to look ridiculous driving a swift! (Tho i do actually fit in a swift.. just look like im driving a big shoe rather than a car.)

towing a 3 ton boat will be fun with the swift, safe as, just keep it below 50.

I get around 9 -9.5km per ltr in my 2.7 V6 grand vitara, towing the caravan that drops to 5 - 6km
I had a swift prior (and am neither short nor skinny) but it was a fun wee go kart. 1.3L 5 speed and under a ton (before I got in) round town it did about 17km per ltr
13-11-2021, 04:21 PM
Vod Ka'nockers

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ben-tard

towing the caravan that drops to 5 - 6km

lol... i towed my boat from Nightcaps to Milford sound and back and the fuel use gauge was topped out at 33/100 the whole way... i fuelled up in Te Anau and had to refuel on the way out (90 lt tank). Poor Paj had no idea what hit it. As an aside , i have at v6 2stroke 175hp outboard on the boat and it aint cheap to run either!
13-11-2021, 04:50 PM
Allizdog

My 3.2 Ford ranger averages 11ltr per 100km. I drive it conservatively. 2018.
13-11-2021, 06:12 PM
XR500

Quite a long time ago the Firm purchased a bunch of petrol Rodeos. Took one from Waiouru to Linton and back. Owning a Landy I was well used to driving conservatively, and keeping fuel logs. Fuck me!!! 16mpg:omg:
13-11-2021, 06:24 PM
Marty Henry

Convert it to coal.
Totally off track but a steamer on the Murray did 5 miles to the ton of firewood triple that on coal.
13-11-2021, 06:43 PM
Three O'Three

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beetroot

No experience with that particular engine and vehicle but that fuel economy sounds similar to other V6 petrols.
For what ever reason it seems that a petrol V6 in a ute/4x4 doesn't seem to give any better fuel consumption than a bigger capacity V8, meaning that both a V8 and V6 are going to be thirsty.
8km per litre is about 12L/100km which is about normal for open road driving, 6km per litre is what I would expect for towing or stop start city driving.

If you are doing lots of towing and city driving a diesel is probably going to cheaper to run, if it's mostly open road stuff then I'd stick with the petrol.

@Beetroot. Its almost all open road driving.
13-11-2021, 06:47 PM
Three O'Three

Quote:

Originally Posted by bunji

@Three O'Three We had a 07 V6 Rodeo TC we brought SH from a local farm , the wife used it to tow her Horse Float, they are just a thirsty motor .I had a mate l rode motor bikes with chip &dyno it to give better performance while towing & it improved economy with normal driving , from memory it made added around 20HP more,+17NM & 15 KW,this meant more torque at lower RPM ,meaning earlier gear change at lower Revs & much better economy with normal driving .If you are going to keep it may be worth looking at getting done ,the factory exhausts are choked off as well,l reckon they are a good knock around ute for the price & while we have these ridiculous pricing on vehicles l would be keeping it .

@Vod Ka'nockers Back when we living in Arnhem Land we picked up a ex Aboriginal land council Pajero DLX (or what ever the top of the line is ),for next to nothing as they stopped driving it after its owner died while out on a camping trip in it. It sat at the camp site for 2 months with doors open & when we got out there with a new battery ,the swag & all the gear they were camping in was all still just sitting there.

Jumped in & put new battery in & it fired right up ,apart from the interior looking 10 yrs older than it was from the weather damage it was one of the best 4WD's l have ever owned drove like a car on the Hwy &b still great 4wd performance.I would have brought it home if l could as they had it all rigged with suspension /bar/winch options .I am a Tojo man from years back (currently run a 2018 hilux TC & Land Cruiser on the Farm),but IMO Pajero's are one of the most underrated 4wd out there.

@bunji. Yeah I've though about getting it put on a dyno. I have removed the cat from the exhaust, might look at getting some extractors for it.
13-11-2021, 07:06 PM
Allizdog

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mauser308

What are you doing to it? I get 8.6L/100K around town... Open road gets down to around 7.5 or so. The ranger is extremely aerodynamically sensitive though, if you have one suffering from "Ranger bum, tm" with a sagging rear suspension fuel consumption goes through the roof. Load springs or the like are worth it in fuel savings.

Bought brand new. Only done 35000km now. Nothing changed on it. Thought that must be normal for a 3.2. I know the newer ones have smaller engines which is what I would expect for the milage you stated, but yours is a 3.2 yes?
15-11-2021, 10:50 AM
Bobba

Quote:

Originally Posted by Allizdog

Bought brand new. Only done 35000km now. Nothing changed on it. Thought that must be normal for a 3.2. I know the newer ones have smaller engines which is what I would expect for the milage you stated, but yours is a 3.2 yes?

Yer something not right there @Allizdog . My 2014 3.2 Ranger was about the same as Mauser 308 until I fitted steel rims and larger muds. Now it's about 9.2l/100k
15-11-2021, 10:59 AM
Finnwolf

As a side issue and apologies in advance if this is teaching you granny how to suck eggs!
For those unaware: fitting bigger diameter wheels/tyres fool you speedo into showing you’ve done less km than you have actually done. And your speed will show as lower than it actually is.

So in effect it could show your mpg (or metric equivalent!) as lower than it actual - ie your economy will show as worse than it actually is.
15-11-2021, 12:30 PM
Allizdog

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bobba

Yer something not right there @Allizdog . My 2014 3.2 Ranger was about the same as Mauser 308 until I fitted steel rims and larger muds. Now it's about 9.2l/100k

I think I have an idea what it could be. Or contributing anyway. I only drive about 10km each day to work. The operating temp is only just getting moving by the time I get there. Cold running?
17-11-2021, 07:11 PM
Three O'Three

Quote:

Originally Posted by CheekiBreeki

There is no way to improve the fuel economy of a petrol motor by adding forced induction, especially a supercharger (which adds more mechanical losses). The denser charge of air means more fuel needs to be added to keep the air:fuel ratio stoichiometric.

The only exception to this rule is where direct injection is implemented along with a turbocharger and the manufacturer deliberately selects a smaller motor for the application(see VWs 1.2/1.4 motors that they put into everything). This is not something you're going to be retrofitting to any motor not specifically designed for it.

The only engine mod you might consider to improve the efficiency of a petrol V6 is to increase the compression ratio (thinner gasket/machine the head) but you'd really only want to do this on an engine with knock sensors implemented, and be prepared to pay for a higher octane fuel as well. The pay-off normally isn't there for this

The only modifications for the wider vehicle that are cost-effective and make an appreciable difference to fuel economy on most vehicles would be a) aerodynamic b) reducing rolling losses (low friction diff oils, low rolling resistance tires), c) changing the gear ratios, probably in that order of precedence.

As for the OPs question, in petrol utes and 4x4s the issue is almost always gear ratios, they are geared short to keep load carrying and towing performance with softly tuned, low compression ratio (and torque) V6s. Unless you can find a set of final gears inexpensively off a wrecked vehicle there's not much you can do. Is the vehicle manual or auto?

@CheekiBreeki. Mines a manual 2x4
17-11-2021, 07:15 PM
Bol Tackshin

Not related to a V6, but I serviced my wife's Subaru 2.0 non turbo. First time I've used a fully synthetic oil, and fuel consumption dropped from 7.4 to 6.8 l/100km without any other changes.