Hey Everyone,
It's been a bit, but I have been researching a lot of stuff. Nissan does make a van that could rival the new Transit, it's called the NV400, but it's not available in the US
... Morons!
There probably is a reason for it not being available though, maybe some gov't regs, compliance etc.
The dodge folks are touting their Fiat Van, but I didn't goo too far into that.
So, I too like the Ford Transit, I still like my Nissan NV, and am not too fired up about the Fiat.
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Mileage for my Nissan using some Hypermiling techniques has allowed me to haul 2K worth of freight from Detroit, MI. to Bristol, CT. 793 miles loaded using I75 to I80 to I81 to I84 to Bristol which is just up CT8 a few miles. The techniques were as simple as running the tires at 72 psi (the max is 80psi cold) all the way around, coasting on the downhills in neutral and coasting when coming to a stop. Driving at night like I usually do, I'm able to safely do the coasting. If traffic pops up, then I leave it in gear if it needs to be. When I coasted down the hills, I was able to maintain 60-65 mph+, and also ran 60mph on the flats and didn't let it go under 55mph on the uphills. I did have a tailwind that reached 25-30mph which helped the Cargo Hurse obtain 22-23 mpg for the 250 miles in PA, and an overall 20+ mpg for the trip.
So, I guess the first nut that I tweaked was the one behind the steering wheel...(as the saying goes) and it has been working well for my personal cars, too.
This thread is mainly about the Nissan and it's fuel mileage. I wanted to post this to encourage all of us in that we can make small changes in our driving habits to keep more of the money in our bank and not in the oil companies or governments. Some of the techniques would only work in a van and would actually be dangerous in a bigger vehicle. Neutral in a big truck on a hill is a major accident waiting to happen, so please read this with common sense in mind!
Overall, I have to say that the fuel mileage that I can get out of this Cargo Van has not ever gone below 13 (I haven't seen that in a long time) and has surprisingly hit a high 23.6 loaded (Calculated at the pump). I would have to take away the tailwind and say that without it, I probably would have seen 22 as the average in PA.
Maybe, if I coordinated my passing of gas after a bumpy portion of highway I could increase the mpg's at least by .1
Oh well, it's a work in progress.