Quote:
Originally Posted by Gringo-Gaucho
Ok, so back at the economical minivan ranch- a few weeks ago I said we were headed south to get a lite-ace, which we have now done. Van is a JDM 1996 toyota liteace 2.2l turbo diesel with true 4x4 (not AWD)manual hubs and manual transmission. All the things we need. Smaller than imagined, but still seats 8 total humans, plus gear space. So far, with 600kms traveled, we are seeing right at 29 mpg's. Not bad, but not as good as our hopes. I suspect this is because the toyota 3c-t diesel is being revved at 3100 rpms to maintain 100 km/hr (60 miles/hr) This is very high, and must reflect the different driving realities of Japan, where I have never been.
My first thought is to use a larger diameter tires/wheel setup, but even 2" diameter increase only equates to an 8% reduction in rpms(I think?) so around 2800 rpms at 60.
Second thought is to alter the gear ratios somehow, but I'm not sure how hard that is to do- but ALL the gears seem really really low to me. I don't need 1st gear from a stop unless on a steep hill, and I can use 5th gear by around 25-30 mph.
Ecomodders, what ideas for improving this van, and also ,what minivans can beat this mpg?
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The highest speed limit I saw during my visits to Japan was 80 kph (50 mph) on a raised freeway.
For 4 years my wife and I rented a campervan in Vegas for the week of Thanksgiving and toured the National Parks around the area. It was a Dodge Caravan converted with a kitchen, fridge, and fresh water / grey water tanks.
Even with the extra weight we averaged about 28 mpg (30 mpg on the trip computer)
That was driving mostly 2 lane highways at 55 - 60 mph.
