Thread: V6 Rodeo fuel economy

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

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.

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?

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

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.