Some stats' on VX mileage

[morgan-tec]

One thing to keep in mind is that mpg will be effected by the elevation you live at, this is commonly forgotten. My Axiom has an onboard info center that tells me i get 17.5 avg mpg with a very heavy foot and my 22s. I did notice a solid 1.5-2 avg mpg increase with my intake kit, and another .5-1mpg with my exhaust. Even with the way i drive which is very agressivly i still get decent milage. Remember that my Axiom is quite a bit heavier than the VX but has the ecact same drive train. The biggest factors to good mpg are clean air filter, regular oil changes with quality stuff, and good gas. I have found the last one to be a big factor in my area, if you get the cheapest gas you can find from the "U pump it"you will get a noticable amount less mpg than with a quality gas such as Shell or Texaco.

[Ron Pfeiffer]

I noticed that I get about 290 miles to the tank (310 corrected for Nittos) in the winter, but can squeeze 310 (332) out in the summer. I live in northern VA, so the differences are noticable, but certainly not what I would call extreme.

Colder, denser air = more oxygen content per given volumer = more aggresive combustion?

My Yakima rack with full-sized spare costs me about 20 miles per tank. Interestingly enough, my rack WITHOUT the tire has the same penalty.

Ron

[engfant]

I maybe able to add to this. I am a former owner of a VX (and will be again in the near future as $550/month wasn't doing it for me )

I now drive an 81 Olds Cutlas with 30K original miles (bought it with 17k)

NOW, over the past 18months I've also noticed that I am getting like 15MPG and this is after 3 tune ups.

I decided to do a little investigating. Has anyone ever thought that the gas stations are WATERING DOWN THEIR GAS???!?!?!?!?!?!

I can ONLY drive my car on 93 octane and anything lower causes EXTREME ENGINE PING. This has only started to happen and is MUCH MORE NOTICEABLE in a carborated engine.

I asked the dude over at the local Valvoline and he didn't DENY this is happening, just isn't in a position to start pointing fingers.

(ps. STOP HATING ON THAT VX. There are plenty of us out there that would LOVE to be back in theirs )

[Bulldoggie]

I decided to do a little investigating. Has anyone ever thought that the gas stations are WATERING DOWN THEIR GAS???!?!?!?!?!?!

I don't know about water, but they have been busted before for altering the electronic in the meters and I think they are doing it again! Three times I've gotten reciepts for more than the capacity of the tank and I didn't push it in.

[SPAZZ]

I purchased my VX in SanDiego April of 2001 where I was stationed in the MArine Corps from Sep 1995 to Oct 2003. Right after I purchased it I drove it 55mph for the break in period and then was kind of easy on it and accelerated slowly and went only 65 - 70 mph max till I reached a few thousand miles then I decided to drive aggresively. I still got 400 - 410 miles per tank. I drove it home to Colorado which is like 1,000 miles one way, drove another 1,000 miles while there over a month period and then drove it the 1,000 miles back to base.

California puts that detergent in your gas that burns cleaner emissions, but gums up your fuel system. So, the further away I got from Cali the detergent was worked out of the system with the nontainted gas. Also, in high altitudes I was able to use the available 85 octane gas and my mileage was boosted to almost 20mpg. I never was able to get better mileage than with the 95 Octane fuel even though I was driving up and down through the mountains. As soon as I got back to Cali and that crappy detergent gas started to gum things up my mileage would drop drastically to 15mpg. once I passed 12,000 miles on the Odometer it was all downhill from there. till rockbottom at 200miles per tank.

So, I was able to drive in Colorado's high elevation 400 Miles per tank and then go to driving SanDiego's sea level elevation at 200 MPT. That is all on a stock VX. That was when I started to mod for better performance. A unibody lexus weighs more than the VX and gets better mileage, how??? The Trooper gets better mileage and weighs more than the VX...is it the true 3.5 engine with 3.5 heads and not the VX's 3.2 engine with 3.5 ported heads even though the light weight???

Our VX should have a V8 and get the performance for the mileage that it gets and not poor mileage from a 4,000 pound vehicle with a V6. The Monteros have less horsepower and torque than the VX, weigh more, and they perform just as good on road(offroad the VX blows it away) how do you figure??? teh VX is the poorest financial investment in terms of automobiles, but the best mental personal investment in terms of offroad for me. maybe a Hemi would just about do it in the VX...get the horsepower for the mileage. I bet it would just about be the same off road and better on the highway for mileage.

[mbeach]

The Monteros have less horsepower and torque than the VX, weigh more, and they perform just as good on road(offroad the VX blows it away) how do you figure???

I agree with the VX needing a more powerful motor, but with more and more research I'm starting to accept that more CCs is not the way to go.
I'm assuming that you're referring to the body-on-frame Monteros, which have a very similar construction to the VX, and also displace 3.5L. They also get 17mpg, regardless of city/highway -I've worked on quite a few and if I could find a '99 SR, I wouldn't be driving a VX.
It really boils down to a weak engine in a heavy truck = poor mpg.

With appropriate gearing, tires and a diet, the VX could be a competitor in the milage events, with very little work done to the engine (just basic performance mods).
The fact is, most of us add things (like big tires, big stereos, racks, etc.) that KILL our gas mileage. Someone's sig says it best:
[I]The price you pay to be different[I]

It is my personal opinion that the single worst feature of the truck is the transmission. I can just feel this thing sucking up horsepower.
I think that if someone manages the 5 speed swap, we can expect 20+ mpg all day long.

[cascabel3]

I would have given anything for a 5 speed manual tranny on the VX. The one thing I didn't like about the VX was the lack of that option. Granted, in heavy traffic an automatic is better, but although I live in LA basin I manage to avoid traffic for the most part. Like MBeach stated, the tranny is a big part of the waste.

Spazz also answered one of my long sought curiosities; when I road-tripped in my '91 Trooper I noticed that I got better mileage once out of California. When I drove through Colorado where I spent a bit of time above 8000 ft, My mileage was insane. At times I though my gauge was broken, the needle just wouldn't budge. I deduced back then that this was due to following causes:

At higher altitudes electronic ignition will lean the fuel/air mixture to compensate for thinner air, the reason Jets fly as high as they do (leaner mix, less friction and catching certain currents) and the fact that on these Colorado mountain roads my average speed was ~45MPH. Now I can add Spazz' California fuel factor and complete my theory.

[volume311]

Colder, denser air = more oxygen content per given volumer = more aggresive combustion?

Ron

Colder air is denser so yea better for combustion but because it is denser it is worse for aerodynamics. The tradeoff isn't the eaull so I don't know which one wins.

[xdfarrx]

I get 300-375 depending on driving style-