holden 3.8 v6 fuel consumption

[85bj71]

Hi im running a 3.8v6 in a suzuki vitara on 35s, $100 fill (full tank) will get between 200-250km depending on how heavy my foot is.

its stopping me from using my 4wd as it is so expensive to run, Im thinking of upgrading the ecu to one of these http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors/car-par ... 636811.htm

but rather would rather look into a diesel swap if im going to be wasting my time

Who else runs a 3.8 v6 ? what sort of economy do you get?

[Crash bandicoot]

so at the moment assuming the price of fuel is $2.09 you are looking at just under 48 litres. The wifes VY averages around 9.8 litres per hundred kms on the open road and 10.4-11 around town...

assuming you gearbox allows you to do 100 kph at around 1800 rpm this is what you should get.

[tow99]

Which comodore motor and ecu are you using? I just drove my ecotec vs manual to Auckland and back on about 150 ltrs.

[mudlva]

[oldyella]

Na your wifes vy is not turning 35's mate. I would think acceptable fuel consumption might very between 13 to 15 litres per 100km on a good day. Also depends how much tread your 35" tyres have. Before spending any dollars. Do some basic checks like plug colour. Air filter clean. If it is only a slight problem. Get an air / fuel ratio sensor stuck up the tail pipe by your local dyno / vehicle tune place. Im hoping to get under 15 litres per 100km in my rover v8 running new 32" tyres.

[Crash bandicoot]

Na your wifes vy is not turning 35's mate. I would think acceptable fuel consumption might very between 13 to 15 litres per 100km on a good day. Also depends how much tread your 35" tyres have. Before spending any dollars. Do some basic checks like plug colour. Air filter clean. If it is only a slight problem. Get an air / fuel ratio sensor stuck up the tail pipe by your local dyno / vehicle tune place. Im hoping to get under 15 litres per 100km in my rover v8 running new 32" tyres.

agreed.

[Petemcc]

yea way more likely that your ecu is not making it use more fuel but it's what it's pushing and the revs you are pulling as well.

As Pete said get the air fuel ratio looked at if you can then you will know where to spend the money.

[85bj71]

Which comodore motor and ecu are you using? I just drove my ecotec vs manual to Auckland and back on about 150 ltrs.

89-92 model commodore engine and ecu with 4 speed auto, 4.1 diffs and 35's

im getting around 20-25L to 100km so it is bad

cheers for the advice, Ill start with the hose up the tailpipe and see if it is running rich then go from there!

[tow99]

I would try a plugin memcal before swapping ecus.there's a guy on trademe selling them and it made a noticeable difference in my commodore.if it was running that rich you would see it black smoking under load.how many ks has the motor done?

[Pico42]

This thread on Auszookers went into a lot of detail on getting the 3.8 to run well in a Vitara.

http://www.auszookers.com/forum/viewtop ... =4&t=30857

[Ashohman]

also what ratios are u running cos I know the 3.8 ecotecs like to cruze at 2k rev @ 100kms and if you got a non ecotec 3.8 well they are just plain thirsty haha. I get 400km out of myn its in a 86 pickup hilux 31's n 4.88's atm also gota make sure u got all the sensors n dat hooked up and they are running correctly so it doesn't go into limp mode and churn threw the gas.

[slidenyo]

I dare say its ^ in limp,
clear all the codes from the ecu an see what pops up,
have you still got the service loop in your loom?
if you haven't it may be a bit tricky.
I assume its a series 2 non ecotec from a vs
which should pull 12-14l per 100 openroad

[shortylux]

My VP V6 Hilux with 4.8s, beadlocked 35" Simex and an after market memcal did betwen 5-7 ks per litre. Which is 15-20l per 100k.
I don't really have open road figures for you as it only ever did open road stuff followed by a day of low range thrashing.