1st 551 hy miles=19.3 mpg 73mph

[PHOEBISIS]

I finally bit the bullet and scraped up $24864($22680+TTL- in Jefferson parish,Louisiana tax is 8.75%) for a Red Brawn XE KC 2wd with just side curtain+side airbags+PP.The "invoice" with the Airbags+PP was about 22303,so it was an average deal,but I wanted that color,and the Airbag pk is hard to find in the XE's.I got it in Bedford,TX.Flew in from New Orleans and was on the road by 3pm,home by midnight.
I checked the mileage 551.2 miles 28.5 gallons=19.3 mpg.Average trip speed was over 61mph,my actual driving speed was ~72-73.Stopped 3 times-maybe 35 minutes all total which.I used cruise control all the time,but being aware of the admonition to not keep it at a constant speed I would change speed every few minutes,and drop it into 4th every few minutes(with the manual button-fun).The 1st 250 miles is slightly hilly,gently,low hills, with a total drop of -I don't know,New Orleans is ~sea level,Dallas??The rest of the trip is flat.
The mileage is better than most reported here,but this was pure hy driving,on interstates,with very little traffic,and very little braking,and I doubt I went over 80 mph,or over 1/2(ok maybe 80%) of full throttle at any time.Except for the fairly high speed,and varying the speed a little,I was driving for max mpg.The 19.3 mpg should mean about 12-13 mpg in the city driving I do.The mpg was a better(17.2 vs 19.3) than what I would get with my Tundra Accesscab,but I expect the city to be ~1mpg less than the 13.8 city the Tundra did.This is also the lightest,and lowest,smallest mirrored Titan so that probably helped,and maybe-maybe- the KC has less drag than the CC
A couple of questions
1)Has anyone measured the height of the 18" wheel tire combo.The XE 17~31.2".
2)How do you change headlight bulbs.Manual says bring to dealer-BS.How do you take the whole lense housing off.Thanks,Charlie

[bestatchess]

Originally Posted by PHOEBISIS

I 2)How do you change headlight bulbs.Manual says bring to dealer-BS.How do you take the whole lense housing off.Thanks,Charlie

Leave the lens housing alone. Reach through the wheel opening, disconnect the electrical connector, turn bulb counterclockwise to remove. Service Manual p. LT-32

Good MPG, probably really good after about 5,000 miles.

[ben95m]

Glad to hear you got such good gas milage, I hope I get something near that when I take a road trip to Mexico City this summer.

[PHOEBISIS]

bestatchess,thanks for the tip on the bulb removal.I plan to put in higher wattage bulbs(maybe 100-800once I get a heavy duty headlight wiring harness.
ben95m,the mpg was a pleasant surprise.I was hoping for 17hy or so,and had girded myself for 14-15 hy,the 19.3 was very good.I did drive with mpg in mind,and there was very little traffic,and very little braking except for the 1st 20 miles of early evening-2:45 pm to 3:25 -rush hour Dallas traffic.II had some doubts about the actual distance(thought maybe my odometer was off,because I didn't expect over 18),but Rand McNally shows 499 Dallas to New Orleans,and I stated about 35 miles from the east edge of Dallas in Bedford(which is close to the west edge of FW).Combined with the 3 stops(maybe 5 miles total),and getting lost(again) in Shreveport(maybe 10 miles),the 551 miles is very close.
The low rpms at speed(thanks to the 5 speed,and the low RPM torque to push such tall gearing) are what allowed this to beat my Tundra.The Accesscab does~ 2300 rpms at 73 mph,the Titan turns 1825 rpms at 73 mph.Turning 26% more RPMS apparently offset the 19% bigger motor.The moly pistons and whatever other low friction magic Nissan worked.If I had bought the Hemi Ram,I would have made Ripleys with 19 mpg(I like it,and was close to buying,but it was hard to find side curtains without special ordering).
Well,I am happy.Toyota beats it on trim and maybe fit and finish -the feel of the switchgear and plastic "stuff" is very nice on Toyotas-the Titan is much quicker,and gets better hy mpg-big surprise.Thanks,Charlie PS Does anyone have any idea on how to make the "puke yellow" plastic on the doors more appealing?Contact paper?Maybe use window tinting film??Anything?
PPS Anyone have any factory mats for sale KC-Sand/steel

[outahere]

Originally Posted by PHOEBISIS

bestatchess,thanks for the tip on the bulb removal.I plan to put in higher wattage bulbs(maybe 100-800once I get a heavy duty headlight wiring harness.

I would be concerned about melting or distorting the headlamp housing with the additional heat put out by these bulbs. Not to mention the possible attention you will now get from the police. Even with the stock bulbs, some folks on this forum have been getting flashed by other drivers.

[Austin]

The truck is spec'd with a 28 gallon fuel tank.

If you managed to fill it with 28.5 gallons in one fuel stop, you must've been driving on fumes and had to coast into the pump...

Good job!

[keane]

I can really see the difference in hwy to city driving. Only got aprrox 230miles on a tank all city. Went on a 200 mile trip yesterday and I only used half a tank. I am hoping this is the sign of things to come. I only have 700 miles on my truck sofar. I should have filled up to test my exact mileage, but our gas is $2.70 per gallon and I am waiting to see if it drops a bit next week :-(

[juma]

Startling results - I have a KC, 2WD, XE too. yesterday, I left Branson, Missouri, with 35 miles on the tank and drove nonstop to Evanston, Il, and got 22 mpg. It was flat running, little traffic, and no air used except for the last 50 miles or so. I gassed up and ran over to Beckley, WV, again with no stop, running the air, light traffic and a lot of mountain driving - got 20 mpg. My mileage is 4300 and on the way out to missouri I was getting 18-19.3. Looks like I made some kind of break-in break through. This is about what I wanted gas mileage-wise. I have no bed cover and exhaust is stock. hopefully, I'll get a little more out of those mods when I do them. I ran 70-75 almost the whole way with a tire pressure of 42 pounds. JUMA

[stevemis]

Originally Posted by outahere

Even with the stock bulbs, some folks on this forum have been getting flashed by other drivers.

I haven't been flashed yet, but did have the displeasure of driving our other car in front of the Titan at night.

I couldn't get away from those darn headlights. The intensity in the side mirrors made me want to put my sunglasses on.

Best I can tell, the headlights are properly aimed.

I can only imagine what our Titan has to be like when it's coming at you.

-Steve

[PHOEBISIS]

Austin,I'm not that lucky.I stopped early-145.7 miles and put in 7.4,then made it home 405.5 and put in 21.1.The 1st tank was 19.7 mpg,but I was forced into slightly lower speed by the traffic in and outside Dallas.
Juma,20 mpg sure wasn't what I expected,but you proved it is possible.When I got the initial 19.7,it occurred to me that if I slowed to 65,and didn't vary the speed,I could probably hit 20 mpg.Well,the trip was long enough,so the cruise control was generally at 73-74 with me kicking it up and down a couple of mph ever few minutes,and dropping it into fourth every 20 minutes or so.I did use the AC 90% of the time.
Now,I was curious what city mpg would be,so I short tanked-56.1 4.4 gals=12.75 about what I expected.Now I actually put in just 3.9 gals because I stopped at the 1st stop,but on the 1st 2 tanks I didn't,so I added .5 gals which is how much it took after the 1st stops on the initial 2 tanks.I intend to stop at the 1st stop in the future,just overfilled on trip,just in case.
The KC XE's should get the best mpg,lightest,tall rear end,narrower tires,small mirrors.I would expect SE,LE KC with 18" and no Big tow to do as well,maybe better since they might be turning 50 fewer RPMS,and the weight is very close.Has anyone measured the 18" wheel tire combo?The 17 XE is about 31.2" Charlie

[pluckyew]

the best milage i've gotten on a highway was barley over 15 mpg.

around town i get anywhere between 8 to 12 mpg.

[PHOEBISIS]

Pluckyew,I was pretty surprised also,bit sceptical too,so I checked a map-Rand McNally,and the trip distance was 534 without the 3 stops,and getting lost in Shreveport.Now,I was as accurate as possible about the driving speed(about 73 mph),and I'm pretty sure it is very close.The actual trip took 9 hours,or 61.2 mph.With the 3 stops-maybe they were 10-15 minutes-and the few stops and slowdowns(road work)subtracted 71-74 mph is right in the ballpark.We drive just as faster-frequently faster on our trips the Flagstaff,AZ,and the 1500 miles takes 25 hrs-~60mph trip speed(no stops except for gas,food,and walking dogs,stretching legs).
I used cruise,and I drove to get good MPG-used cruise to accel and decell,and try to stay off the brakes as much as possible.Real world I checked my city mpg on 56.1 miles,and it was about 12.75(I stopped filling at the 1st stop,so I added .5 gals to the 3.9 gals it took.I the trip I put about .5 gals in after the 1st stop ,because I was on the road,and wanted the best range.I routinely stop at the 1st pump stop now).My real world city mpg is going to be 12-13,just like your's.I was pleased that it doesn't downshift from 5th on upward grades,bridges,and overpasses.The Pilot downshifts on the slightest grades if it is in cruise and it sometimes drops all the way to third(3400 rpms or so at 70 mph) on bridges and mild Interstate upgrades.It gets just 16.7 mpg on long trips running 75 mph with an overloaded l roof basket.
Wow,you get 25 with your Element AWD-very good.We get just 14 mpg city on the Pilot(rated 17 mpg).I got 21 mpg on the Pilots trip home(about 65-68 mph),so I wasn't surprised at the 13 mpg the Titan is giving in the city.How do you like the Element?
The Big Tow rear end probably costs 1-1.5 mpg in the 70 mph range,the 4wd 1 mpg,just as it says.

[Deepwater]

Originally Posted by keane

I can really see the difference in hwy to city driving. Only got aprrox 230miles on a tank all city. Went on a 200 mile trip yesterday and I only used half a tank. I am hoping this is the sign of things to come. I only have 700 miles on my truck sofar. I should have filled up to test my exact mileage, but our gas is $2.70 per gallon and I am waiting to see if it drops a bit next week :-(

With gas prices that high I hope it dose go down for you! These gas prices are getting out of hand! Anyway I thought I would let you know that I have noticed the same thing with my truck. Big change in mpg. from city to highway . I just got back from some serious Walleye Fishing and about 600 miles of hwy driving. I have just over 5k miles on my truck now and my hwy miles have gone up alot!! I went up north about 220 miles and used just over a quarter of a tank of gas! My gas gauge was not even in the middle of 3/4 and 1/2 tank mark. it was closer to 3/4 of a tank. And I went through alot of small towns where I had to slow down to 30 mph. After a week up there I filled up with gas, my gas gauge was a little below 1/4 of a tank and the low fuel light was not on. It only took 18.7 gal. of gas to fill up the truck!! So when I was below a 1/4 of a tank I still had about 10 GALS in there!! That is alot of gas left in the tank for being below a 1/4!
I think my truck is just getting brooken in and with my cover on the bed it is helping with wind drag. This increase in mpg that I have noticed has happened after I went over the 4k mark.
I"m very happy with my mpg!! Now if I could only get a few of the problems fixed with my truck, it would be perfect!