navara power upgrade

Don Pedro · Newbie

navara power upgrade

spida · Guru

I have a 2006 D40 - love it for towing except when in low gear trying to go really slow - very easy to stall. Reversing is a pain also if trying to inch back - hard to go slow enough!

Paul and Pam on Tour · Veteran Member

Don Pedro, D40 Navara's actually come with a variety of engines with differing torque values, 4 cylinder diesels with 404 nm, 450nm and one with I think 550 nm. We have the one with the 2.5L 4 cylinder diesel with 128 kw and 404 nm, 2012 RX model. We are basically happy with the vehicle, that is until we hook on our caravan, Jayco Outback (2028kg), firstly it is disappointing with its fuel consumption at around 15-18 L/100km.

The 'problem' as I see it is with its transmission, with the 5 speed auto fifth gear is overdrive, this is good on flat open roads where it will buzz along at 90km/h at 1800 RPM, however, when the slightest hill comes along the transmission will drop back to 4 gear and the tacho will jump to around 3000 RPM, this of course results in greatly increased fuel consumption.

I approached a Nissan dealership about this issue and was told that when towing I should drive with the overdrive disconnected, there is a button on the T bar for this purpose...I fail to see how this will help as following that advice would mean the engine is continually operating in the higher rev band.

Also, the D40 Navara, despite being load rated at 3000 kg with 300 kg on the tow-bar, appears quite incapable of doing so; the rear leaf springs are flat, in fact beyond flat!...at the above mentioned Nissan dealership I was told that I could install a suspension upgrade!, note that I compared our vehicle, now with 18000 km up with a new one and found that it too had flat leaf springs, unladen!.

So, it is my opinion that I could have picked a better vehicle as a tug, additionally, in my opinion the D40 Navara will also disappoint me if I ever decide to take it off-road; its a four wheel drive vehicle alright but it has one of the lowest ground clearance dimensions of all the 'main stream' 4x4 Dual cabs, it has a unprotected 'plastic' fuel tank just waiting for a stick or rock, it is possible that others are like this but I do not have a lot of confidence.

PeterD · Guru

Paul and Pam on Tour wrote:
firstly it is disappointing with its fuel consumption at around 15-18 L/100km.

That's just a fact of life. Most twin cabs of similar technology burn that much fuel. You are shifting twice the weight when you are towing. However you are only burning 50% more fuel. If you look at things this way then it appears good value.

Paul and Pam on Tour · Veteran Member

PeterD, I must disagree totally, I replaced a 2004 Holden Rodeo 4x4 Crewcab 3.5L petrol with my Navara, the Rodeo would return 17L/100 km consistently when towing, as ULP is generally cheaper than diesel and that the diesel engine requires additional servicing over the petrol engine I fail to see this 'good value' you mention. I blame myself however, had I carried out greater research the Navara would certainly not have been my choice.

KFT · Guru

Paul and Pam on Tour wrote:
Don Pedro, D40 Navara's actually come with a variety of engines with differing torque values, 4 cylinder diesels with 404 nm, 450nm and one with I think 550 nm. We have the one with the 2.5L 4 cylinder diesel with 128 kw and 404 nm, 2012 RX model. We are basically happy with the vehicle, that is until we hook on our caravan, Jayco Outback (2028kg), firstly it is disappointing with its fuel consumption at around 15-18 L/100km.
The 'problem' as I see it is with its transmission, with the 5 speed auto fifth gear is overdrive, this is good on flat open roads where it will buzz along at 90km/h at 1800 RPM, however, when the slightest hill comes along the transmission will drop back to 4 gear and the tacho will jump to around 3000 RPM, this of course results in greatly increased fuel consumption.
I approached a Nissan dealership about this issue and was told that when towing I should drive with the overdrive disconnected, there is a button on the T bar for this purpose...I fail to see how this will help as following that advice would mean the engine is continually operating in the higher rev band.
Also, the D40 Navara, despite being load rated at 3000 kg with 300 kg on the tow-bar, appears quite incapable of doing so; the rear leaf springs are flat, in fact beyond flat!...at the above mentioned Nissan dealership I was told that I could install a suspension upgrade!, note that I compared our vehicle, now with 18000 km up with a new one and found that it too had flat leaf springs, unladen!.
So, it is my opinion that I could have picked a better vehicle as a tug, additionally, in my opinion the D40 Navara will also disappoint me if I ever decide to take it off-road; its a four wheel drive vehicle alright but it has one of the lowest ground clearance dimensions of all the 'main stream' 4x4 Dual cabs, it has a unprotected 'plastic' fuel tank just waiting for a stick or rock, it is possible that others are like this but I do not have a lot of confidence.

We have a Navara D40 with the V9x V6 td and 7 spd auto. It tows our 2.8 t van with ease and has more power than I will ever need. Our last trip through FNQ and back to NSW along the coast returned an average of 12.5 L/100km.

With the load I have in the tub(drawers and 80 l fridge) and 250kg ball weight the springs were sitting on the bump stops. I had ARB in Tamworth upgrade the springs and shocks to 400 kg constant rated springs and that lifted the rear end by 80mm. now with the van on and the tub load it sits level and has 80mm of suspension travel.

I am happy with that setup as it is. We don't do off road travel so it suits us nicely.

frank

-- Edited by KFT on Friday 23rd of May 2014 08:24:48 PM