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Need to improve mileage and performance!?

16K views 25 replies 14 participants last post by  Nerrad 
#1 ·
I own a first time owner of a 2004 Titan and is interested in knowledge about after market performance parts to improve mileage and performance? I would like to know the best brands, products, and any data on the outcomes of those performance parts if possible; especially far as the mileage. I would like the best product for my buck! Thank you. :ipod-big:
 
#3 ·
While I will not be a short with my answer, I agree that the Titan is not a fuel efficient vehicle. The stock Titan is going to get your best mpg, any increase in performance will also be a decrease in mpg. There was a lot of research and testing done before the Titan ever came onto the market to achieve a lot of goals including mpg. So much gos into it so far as air flow, back pressure etc., that messing with it will throw off its design. You may want to try to lighten your unsprung weight, (wheels and tires) and maybe go with the newer low rolling resistance tires.
 
#4 ·
The more performance parts you put on the truck (ie: exhaust, intake, tuning etc....) the heavier your right foot becomes.

I have to agree with Bixll, keep it stock and get some of those low rolling resistance tires.....

I didn't buy the Titan for gas mileage, luckily for me I drive less then 10 miles a day so it's a non issue unless i'm taking a road trip, but even then I LOVE DRIVING the Titan!
 
#5 ·
While the T is horrible on gas, so are most pickups. The more mods you do, the worse your gas mileage gets. With all my mods, I lost 1 MPG. Of course, the thing is fast off the line, which is what I was going for. The only mod I did that improved gas mileage was the Hypertech with econo-tune, but I switched it for the Bully Dog GT Tuner because the Hypertech would not give me the 2 degree advance. Of all of the tuning mods, the 2 degree advance is the one I notice the most when it is not applied to the truck. The Bully Dog GT with econo-tune did nothing for my gas mileage. Of course, the hypertech only gave me an extra 1 MPG, so add that to the 1 MPG I lost with all of the mods I've done and I'm actually down 2 MPGs. However, I didn't notice the change. Where I did notice the change was a brief moment to stupidity when I put bigger and heavier tires on the T. I lost 3 to 4 MPG and that really hurt. But, after going and complaining to Discount Tire, they gladly swapped out all four tires for Michelin LTX M/S 275/60 R20s taking the truck back to the stock setup for the tires and all is well.

If you are still reading this long message, then you might be interested in one I did regarding MPG last year. I don't drive the truck as much now, because I bought a beater car. Yes, the gas finally got to me too, but I still get to play in the T and still drive it on week ends. Anyway, if you have to have a pickup, you might find the rest of this reply interesting. If you don't have to have a pickup, and you are worried about gas, go back and buy a car.

(Posted in 2010 on another website):

Chevy, GMC, and Dodge all claim they get better gas mileage and maybe they do. However, I did the math. I average 14 mpg driving 80 mph on the Hwy. (Yes, that was me that passed you. Get over it because I'll do it again tomorrow.) Now, let's say I get 20 mpg out of a 2011 Silverado... no wait, let's just say I can squeeze 28 mpg out of it! You'd think I would JUMP at the chance, but not so fast.

In the Dallas/Fort Worth area, if I want an LTZ Chevy with the Navigation and Entertainment packages, I'd be doing REAL good to buy one for $52,000. I paid $34,900 for my 2010 LE loaded with the Navigation, and Entertainment package. That's a difference of $17,100. So it would cost me an extra $17k to buy the better gas mileage truck.

Now let's say hypothetically I can actually get 28 mpg out of the Chevy. There's a difference of 14 mpg. 14! Basically it would mean that I would need to double my gas tank every time I fill up. (Stay with me here...) So, the math:

Titan = $72 ($3 per gallon in a 24 gallon tank.)
Imaginary Chevy = $36 ($3 per gallon in a 12 gallon tank. Remember that it only costs me half as much gas.)
Difference between the two is $36.
Take the $17,100 and divide by 36 and you get 475. That's 475 fill ups to get my $17k back.

So, I will get my money back after 475 fill ups. What's that mean? Well, currently I fill up twice a week. (Yup, I put close to 40k per year on my truck.) So twice a week times 52 weeks equals 104 fill ups per year. 104? Nope, still not to 475. OK so for me to get back the extra $17k I put in to buy the Chevy, it would take me a little over 4 and a half years. At 4.6 years, I would start making money on my purchase.

4 1/2 years... By then I will have 180,000 miles on the truck. By then I will be looking to get another truck. I'd never break even because I don't keep trucks that long.

Now, if you change to a Ford Escort, are you going to save money? You bet. You'll save on the car note and gas, so you'll save a chunk of change, but will you be happy? Will you be able to tow your boat? What will you do when you need the pickup bed? What's that? You don't need a pickup? Well, then why did you buy the dang thing to begin with? You can't possibly complain about the gas mileage of a pickup, if you don't need a pickup. How about reality. Let's go back to the 20 mph that Chevy is claiming the truck will get. Will I get 20? No way, but for the sake of argument, let's say I do get 20. In reality, I will not start making my money back until 9.1 years if I fill up 104 times per year. 9.1 years people!

Do you want a truck? If so, the Titan is the cheapest truck you can buy in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Does it suck gas? You bet, but you can buy a WHOLE lot of gas for the money that you save. I'm the extreme driver. 40k per year doing 80 on the freeway, when I can. Most of the time its stop and go. There aren't that many driving that many miles per year. That means that those who drive less will take longer to get their money back. Go ahead and find a comparable model Chevy/GMC/Dodge for the same price as the T. You can't. If you can buy it and I'll continue to pass your azz on I-35, only you won't be able to catch me in one of those other trucks ;-)
 
#6 ·
No idea why it double posted. Sorry about that.
 
#7 ·
The best you can do to "increase" gas mileage on a Titan is to keep the speed down and use the cruise control. The faster you go the more wind resistance. The Titan looks slick but it has a huge frontal area just like all the other trucks. You can also experiment with tow mode. There is a great thread on here called "Tow Mode Saves Gas." I recently rode with a friend in his Ford Expedition 5.4 and the computer showed an instant 14.5 mpg on the highway, so I figure he's getting the same we are. Only the super gas mileage versions (XFE?)of the Chevy and Ford are going to crack 20 and they're 2WD and don't tow or haul much. The Hybrid Chevy only tows 5,000 lb. Not much. Why buy them if you can't use them as a truck. Most mods will get you more noise, more acceleration and more fun, but not more MPG. Search around on the threads here, you'll find lots of good info.
 
#8 ·
scotty-
cool write up, very explanitory. gives me the heebeejeebee's that i MAY have to invest in some stockers for my MPG to be A LITTLE better than now.....cuz this fuel cost is a killer.
 
#9 ·
No kidding ,nice write up but should the 285/70/17 ( 04 off road ) go to 265/70/17 ? for better mpg's? k&n drop in and some ltx m/s the cortex is fun but the fuelsaver is the same as stock with a little more power.use the cruise and coast alot!
 
#10 ·
This should make you feel good about your gas mileage.

I average 8.5 MPG.

Pick up a beater car/motorcycle for longer drives. It's the only way to really save money on gas.
 
#11 ·
I recently put on a Tonneau cover, injen CAI, JBA cat back, and the BDGT and have see a small increase in MPG. I drive a ton of highway miles and prior to these upgrades I would see a solid 16-18mpg per tank. I now see 18-20mpg per tank. The problem that I see is that I can easily get 22-24mpg on the highway only to be killed with 6-8mpg on the street. This is all based on if you can stay out of the throttle and I can tell you that is hard to do. Good luck
 
#13 ·
I disagree with some of the earilier post. I just added a cai, jba and bully dog gt with performance tune 87. My first tank I increased 1.5 mpg to 17.5 overall 50/50 driving following the driving coach on the gt. My average on the hwy at 65mph is 21 mpg on the gt. I have yet to take a long hwy trip but the gt was close on the first tank average.

To get the best mileage out of the titan you need to keep the tach under 1800 rpm while accelerating and coast when you can. Be very easy on the trottle and you will get better mpg. The 4x4 ain't going to get 17 mpg but he 2wd win 2.94 rear axle is very capable. I have seen 19.5 on the hwy twice in the past so im looking for 20+ now with the restrictions of intake and exhaust improved.
 
#14 ·
It has been shown and tested on this site long ago that simply removing restrictions from intake and exhaust does not always compute to better mpg, in fact in many instances it has actually reduced mpg. The VK56 is set up for optimal performance/mpg with the correct formula of intake air and backpressure from exhaust. Messing with that formula can actually inhibbit performance mpg rather then improve it. You must know what you are doing, not just simply bolting on intakes/exhausts because you like the look/sound/name of it.
 
#15 ·
Easing up the restrictions worked with my 05. I definitely did not see a decrease in mpg with the bolt ons.
 
#16 ·
One example I can think of is when a former member JetTech added the shorty headers. (all that was available at the time) his dyno numbers, and mpg were so poor he had to take his Volant off and put the stock air cleaner on to get his numbers up where he wanted them. This was all back in 04 and 05 when we were constantly running dynos to check out different mods to see where we could go. There was no such thing as a programer for the titan yet, and we just tried different combos and checked to see what we got out of them.
 
#17 ·
So for those that know,the crew cab long beds have a 37 gallon tank. I typically get 600 miles on about 33-34 gallons. So last week I tried to change my driving habits and so far (this is not a lie) I'm at 576 mile and my distance till empty gauge says I have about 126 miles to go!!! I'm shooting for that 700 mile mark on one tank. If I get it on 34 gallons I'll AVERAGE 20 miles per gallon and now I can do it every time. Right now I'm using the cortex with the 91 performance tune and next tank will be trying the 87 tune.I'm convinced from my 06 kc and my current 09 that flex fuel t's get better mileage than the non ff t's. I'll keep everyone posted tomorrow eve if I'm still on track for the 700 mile mark.
__________________
 
#18 ·
My 05 is a flex fuel truck. I have people tell me all the time ain't no titan gonna get 20 mpg. I have got 19.5 twice with mine on the hwy.
 
#19 ·
Hey there mnkyluv,I just noticed you're from Braintree. Wow,small world, I grew up there and the last time I drove up there 11/2007 I was surprised to see how few Titans and Tundras I saw. I still have alot of family up there and in the Weymouth area.
 
#21 ·
I am loving it in Braintree. I agree with you there are hardly any Titans or Tundras over here. There is even a Yota dealer just off RT.3 and I have yet to see a new truck around or even people taking a test drive. I am moving down to Plymouth next month, hopefully there are more Titans around down there.
 
#20 ·
Night, the mark I'm shooting for is WITHOUT going on the highway. In fact mostly staying under 60 mph.Here's a tip to try that's working for me. When you're cruising down a semi flat road (crew cab model),going about 50-55,what the mpg bar increase if you drop the rear side windows bout 2 inches each (with vent visors on the windows) and then drop the big slider in the rear all the way down.
 
#22 ·
LOL... I'll have to give it a try. I have been getting off the throttle and coasting down hills as much as possible. I have noticed my Titan does better at 63-65mph than under 60mph. The Bully Dog GT is set at a goal of 18mpg and by taking off with the truck shifting below 1800rpm's, coasting down hills and never exceeding 65 mph I have a "A" on the driving coach. I have a buddy with a 2010 4.6L Tundra that is driving just like I am getting 21mpg.
 
#23 ·
I'm almost there. I have 639 (yes that's right)miles on this tank and the dte(distance till empty) guage says 89 miles to go. And as usual that should be a total of 34 gallons used. I'll know more by tomorrow night,cause that's when I'll have to refuel. I'm gonna hit the 700 mile mark,then next tank I'm going for more.
 
#24 ·
I didn't know the long beds have a 37 gallon tank. That's cool.
 
#25 ·
I finally had to fuel up last night and the end result was 700.7 miles on 35 gallons. It's a totally obtainable goal every tank now that I've done it. The hardest part is forgetting about anyone riding behind me that's in a rush,but, they're more than welcome to pass when it's safe. No, I'm going to try and better it every tank. If anyone has useful tips other than the obvious ones, share them please.
 
#26 · (Edited)
really?

i get 10 mpg's. doesn't matter how i drive.....i know i did it to myself and i can live with that. i truely bought the titan for looks and performance. by default i have to live with the 10mpg's. althoug i'm sure it will go up when i re-tune.
i had uprev on my frontier and mpg's went from a 15 to 18 on the hwy. on the titan with uprev (not tuned at austin where i should have got it done,frontier was done in austin) i went from 16 to 10.............but i have a lift and all kinds of fun stuff.

the only other option is to drive a dodge,chev,ford and look exactly like everyone else witha 6" lift, 35's bfg at's, pocket flares....
 
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