• Welcome to the ElgrandOC forum.

    You will find that the majority of the forum is locked, but do not worry. You can unlock more content by registering to the forum completely free. Sign up is automatic, does not require email confirmation and is instant. Feel free to browse through the sections to see what topics have been covered before you register.
    You can register for an account by CLICKING HERE

    Once you have registered, you will unlock more of the forum content. You will not unlock all of the content until you have reached 10 posts. This is to give you an opportunity to chat to existing members and help to integrate you into the forum community.
    We are a friendly and helpful community and there is a wealth of infomation contained within the forum. Please feel free to register, introduce yourself and get to know your fellow members.

    Feel free to look at the Frequently Asked Questions section, the Meets/Events section and the Competition Section without having to register.
    We look forward to getting to know you and help you with any questions or problemd you have with your Elgrand.

Fuel Economy

Apart from not planting the foot to much I found higher tyre pressure 40 psi..makes the old girl cruise along quite economical.
 
Nice, cat removal in the e51 definitely changes things and should be done to ensure longevity anyway. Can you give more details about the stainless steel exhaust? I've heard good things about Doug Thorley headers and exhaust but it is even more costly to do than the Cams
Hi.
Yes I had a full system done, 200 cell metal front cats large centre silencer and a large rear silencer mine is a single outlet all in 2 1/4 inch piping so it is nice and quiet. It was fitted by Powerflow.
I only had it fitted because I didn't like the front cats being ceramic just a precaution more than anything else.
 
The standard exhaust system looks pretty inefficient but it is quiet though.
Yes I know what you mean I wanted my quiet and to be honest with you it is quiet I had large centre silencer and a large back box as well it doesn't annoy you that's the most important thing and it does have other benefits as well so I'm happy.
 
If you use the power button how much does it improve MPG and is it ok to leave it in power mode all the time Thamks
 
It just holds the revs longer I think.
 
Has anyone tried modifying the cams in their engine? I've had my E50'S VG33E upgraded to use the SJWT S1 Cam... Unfortunately haven't been paying much attention to the fuel consumption lately although I did notice that i can maintain 100km/h at less than 2500rpms now whereas the rpms were closer to 3000 before for the same speed. Have lost some of the power at low revs in exchange.
Interested to see how you get on with new cams. Whether there's any fuel improvement etc. My 3.3 already cruises along at 100kmh at under 2.5 rpm and all standard. So not sure why yours was revving higher in the first place...
20191204_182854.jpg
 
Interested to see how you get on with new cams. Whether there's any fuel improvement etc. My 3.3 already cruises along at 100kmh at under 2.5 rpm and all standard. So not sure why yours was revving higher in the first place...

Gearing (plus torque converter slip) is the only thing that affects the ratio between road speed and engine rpm... So if the engine previously revved higher than it does now (now with new cam) at 100kph it must have been because it was in a lower gear or because the tc wasn't locked up at 100kph before. . The standard cam should be good for torque around 2500rpm so wouldn't think the driver would need to put foot down more with the standard cam (causing the box to use a lower gear or unlock the tc) to cruise at 100kph. Wonder if something else was amiss before the cam change which was fixed as a side effect of fitting the new cam? Something amiss could be as simple as worn original cam, or putting right something like cam timing / disturbing a sensor / even disconnecting the battery. On other make vehicles (especially old design pushrod engines) when a new cam is fitted owners notice the difference in engine performance between the original cam and new cam and some put it all down to the difference in cam spec even if the spec of original and replacement is very similar, but the biggest change may come from replacing an old worn cam with a brand new cam or replacing lifters / followers etc.
 
100kph it must have been because it was in a lower gear or because the tc wasn't locked up at 100kph before
I find I can't always tell when gear changes actually happen but before I changed my prop shaft (bearing and staked in joints worn) it used to lump a little bit into top and from memory it would do this around 100kph so depending on throttle press maybe higher RPMs were seen as it was in a lower gear.
 
Hi everyone,

I only had the cam changed to the JWT S1 - the lifters were still in good shape apparently because the original cams are too weak to wear them out.

I'm not very technical, so don't really know the details of how these things are all supposed to work. However, perhaps you might have a better idea after reading my research material.

Here's what I found researching cams on several forums discussing the VG33E engine where they all found improvements after installing it which is why I went ahead with that.

This first article is from Mike Kojima (MorePower2) who is famous in the NISMO circles.





 
Last edited:
By the way - I don't know if perhaps there were issues with my CAM install or not - I have noticed now that when the engine is still cold,there is a strong smell of fuel emanating from the exhaust, it even sprays droplets of fuel sometimes.

Is it the same with your cars? I didn't pay attention before.

Also, do your cars take about 5 mins to reach operating temperature? I unfortunately drive very short distances mostly which is why I haven't been paying much attention to fuel consumption. I do have a 2000km road trip coming up soon, so i will definitely take better note of the consumption during that trip.
 
By the way - I don't know if perhaps there were issues with my CAM install or not - I have noticed now that when the engine is still cold,there is a strong smell of fuel emanating from the exhaust, it even sprays droplets of fuel sometimes.
Thats doesn't sound right at all, be very cautious of over fuelling destroying your cats.

Also, do your cars take about 5 mins to reach operating temperature?
Doesn't sound unreasonable depending on outside temperature, not sure what your weather is like, probably about that in summer here say 20C but at colder temperatures say 5C or lower then longer. In winter at around 0C then by the time I've got to the garage which is about 10 mins driving mines just about up to temp. Probably wants a couple minutes more but then the next bit is on dual carriageway so gets extra wind cooling at higher speed.

Mines the VGQ35 rather than VG33 but shouldn't be dissimilar.
 
With my NE51 2.5L from 2005 running on Petrol91, I reccently did 21mpg(13.5L/100km) going probably 60mph (100kph or even less sometimes) on highway and a little city driving.

I know I shouldn't worry too much on gas, but going on a longer road trip now I'd like to save some money.

Do you reckon those are normal numbers ?
Any advices ? Maybe driving around 80-90kph, or running on Petrol95 ?
I also didn't find how to access the fuel economy on computer
 
I thought only E51'S had cats? Mine is an e50
The e50 3.3 & 3.5 both have 2 cats, 1 on each bank, roughly under the driver and passenger foot wells. The e51's have 4 cats, 2 on each bank.
 
Thanks! So it is the dual cats that causes issues in the E51'S and above then. Never heard issues about cats on the e50 so I assumed they did t have one. I'm armchair mechanic :)

The e50 3.3 & 3.5 both have 2 cats, 1 on each bank, roughly under the driver and passenger foot wells. The e51's have 4 cats, 2 on each bank.
 
Apart from not planting the foot to much I found higher tyre pressure 40 psi..makes the old girl cruise along quite economical.
I've found the same thing and ensure the tyres are accordingly pumped up. Highway driving for the though - have an interstate trip planned next weekend and will be monitoring accordingly!
 
Thanks! So it is the dual cats that causes issues in the E51'S and above then. Never heard issues about cats on the e50 so I assumed they did t have one. I'm armchair mechanic :)
Yep thats correct 👍🏼
 
Thanks! So it is the dual cats that causes issues in the E51'S and above then. Never heard issues about cats on the e50 so I assumed they did t have one. I'm armchair mechanic :)
Our front cats are needed for annual emissions tests and would be expensive to replace, not sure you have the same thing but I mentioned it for that rather than the blockage problem.
 
Expect poor economy. Really. I'm not gonna lie to you.

They are a 2 tonne bus with pretty appalling aerodynamics and large engines. They are designed for comfort and luxury, not for cheap motoring.

As a brief run down:

E50 QD32 3.2 Diesel - 26mpg average. 18mpg around the doors. 36mpg on long runs at 55.

E50 ZD30 3.0 Diesel - 28mpg average. 20mpg around the doors. 40mpg on long runs at 55.

E50 VG33 3.3 V6 - 18mpg average. 14mpg around the doors. 28mpg on long runs at 55.

E50 VQ35 3.5 V6 - 16mpg average. 12mpg around the doors. 28mpg on long runs at 55.

E51 VQ25 2.5 V6 - 22mpg average. 18mpg around the doors. 32mpg on long runs at 55.

E51 VQ35 3.5 V6 - 20mpg average. 16mpg around the doors. 30mpg on long runs at 55.

These are worst case scenarios. If you are getting less than this, you have a problem (either with your engine or your right foot). If you go into buying an Elgrand with these figures in mind, then you won't be swearing 6 months down the line when you are on first name terms with every petrol station attendant within 30 miles of your house.

This is very true. But I love my pebble so much I dont care. Btw pebble is what my Elgrand is come to be known as, dont ever no how it happened just stuck lol
 
Back
Top