[Rich W]

I tow a small pop-up trailer (Aliner) that weighs about 1850lbs. In addition, we carry two 12 ft kayaks side by side on the X along with a "normal" amount of camping gear. The resulting mileage is 10.7 to 11.5 mpg when driving in 4th (overdrive off). The same set up on my 98 Cherokee XJ yielded about 14-15 mpg when driving in 3rd overdrive/lockup.

With the overdrive off, the X seems to have little or no lock-up with the revs climbing at any kind of slight hill. With overdrive on, the lock-up is quite solid but I follow the manual and keep overdrive off. The apparent lack of lock-up in 4th is troubling in terms of transmission slippage and possible overheating. The Cherokee exhibited a solid lock-up in 2nd, 3rd, or 4th gear. I was wondering if using 5th/overdrive on the X would help mileage and minimize transmission heating.

 

[mike100]

I got 14-15 on my 6 spd X last year towing a 2000 lb 5x8 utility trailer with no other aerodynamic hindrances. This was over a 550 mile trip on mostly level ground.

 

[XVTer]

I get around 10-12mpg with my 6sp towing my 5000# camper. Don't have any experince w/an auto.

 

[JIMBO]

:clown: Yesterday, I losded up my TENTAX trailer with all our camping gear and tools, (trailer total weight 1150 lbs) tongue weight 120 lbs--

--We took a 60 mile drive up/back, to one of my sons places, at the top of Montecello rd looking down on Lake Berryessa (Napa, Ca.)--

--its a pretty twisty climb/dive road, so I got a good indication of how the trailer handles, PERFECT--lots of third/fourth/gear changes (6sp), did a little light trail runs to, on his property--

--64 miles of hiwy and 26 miles of mountain and dirt roads, I filled up last nite and it took 3.88 gals ==16.49 mpg--

--Here's a shot of it !!

--

--camping times are coming up---

-- --JIMBO

 

[Vinman]

The apparent lack of lock-up in 4th is troubling in terms of transmission slippage and possible overheating .

You hit the nail on the head.
4th gear with no lock-up sucks. I have a tranny temp gauge (sending unit installed in the tranny line that feeds the cooler) and the temp just keeps rising, I continually see up to 230 degrees and still haven't towed (3,800 lb travel trailer) in the extreme heat yet. I think I will add another tranny cooler with fan this year before it gets too hot.

Back on topic, I get about 10 mpg (US Gal) when towing the trailer but that is typically through mountain roads and windy conditions.

Vince :clown:

 

[jetydosa]

I towed my racecar (2400lbs) on a tow dolly (front wheels up) for ~2500mi, getting 14-15mpg. I found in a hurry that mpg varies dramatically with your speed. Anyhting over 65-70 and it goes down in a HURRY.

 

[Rich W]

Vinman
I was thinking of getting a trans cooler as well. I was wondering why Nissan didn't require one for towing. Which line does the aux cooler go in? The line to the radiator cooler or the return? Also which is which?

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Rich W]

Did a search for trans cooler and found that we already have one that sits in front of the radiator - I thought these were usually located inside the radiator. Maybe the stock cooler needs to be replaced by a higher capacity cooler to get trans temps down to more reasonable levels.

Rich W