First post - just bought a Navara

[skippyjason]

Hi All

Just bought a 2007 D40 STX 6sp manual, and thought I'd join. Good too see there's a lot of info in these forums.

Been wanting a dual cab ute for a while now. Used to own a CX9 but i was precious about throwing all my kids gear in the back.. I thought with a dual cab ute wouldn't worry too much.

So I ended up getting one that had a canopy, snorkel, long range tank (not sure how big but it could be as large as 130L), bull bar. Should provide some fun.

It's done a 100k on the clock, and on the first service I did I ended up getting a rubberised flush mount accessories plug put on the side wall at the rear of the tray so I could plug a 3 way fridge in for trips.

Couple of questions I had:
- I can see there's another post running on what fuel economy people are getting out of their vehicles. I've never owned a diesel vehicle before, and I'm interested to know if there's any tips on driving it so that I do get the best fuel economy out of it? Should I be getting into the turbo revs all the time, or should I be hovering just below? Is there an optimum rev range?

- I bought the manual vehicle because I like manuals, and I thought I may get better fuel economy out of it. However I have seen some negative feedback about the quality of the clutches. I figured I would take the risk and be prepared to swap it over if the clutch goes. It seems fine at the moment and theres nothing in the service history to indicate its been replaced. I'm wondering if anyone has had experience of going to a different clutch - an older style and more heavy duty - probably not as soft but will last longer? I heard that might be a cheaper option even though the ride may be different?

- The vehicle has the rack mounts for roof racks, but no roof racks on it. I think they must have been taken off by the previous owner. Potentially they are geniune nissan ones. Is there an easy way to tell, and any ideas about how much I'd be looking at for a couple of aero style racks to go in the rack mounts?

Thanks all - again - looks like a top forum.

 

[FatBoy89]

Congratulations and welcome

 

[KraftyPg]

Welcome Jason nice choice of Nav.

Tips on driving a diesel:

It's not a racing car don't treat it like one by taking off like a Dunnydore driver at every set of lights.

In most cases these cars do consume a lot less fuel at 95-100 rather than 110 and revs around the 2000 mark.

I'm not sure what the optimal rev range is in an 07, for mine I barely get over 2100 and lately I've really been watching my scanguage and the fuel usage and despite averaging high 9's for most trips around Perth at the moment I'm also noticing I can get up to speed on the flat without having the LPH gauge go over 10. Sure it takes a bit longer and some impatient pricks behind get narky occasionally but screw em, it's not like taking off slowly means everyone will be late for work, and if they are it's not my problem.

Not up enough with the Nav clutches but there is a number of threads here that discuss what others have done.

Maybe a pic of the mounts might help others to figure out which brand they are.

 

[Goldie67]

Hey Jason,

welcome, I am new here too with a 2004 D22 3lt.

Don't know anything about the D40, but have a R51 Pathie. Bought it with 50k on the clock, now has 150k. Clutch has always been a concern of mine, use it to tow a 3 ton horse float. Start offs are a real worry but so far the standard clutch has held out. I fitted a DP31 chip to it and made a huge difference, still not great but better on start offs. Fabulous with everything else. Wish I could find something this good for the ZD30.

On that note, I do hve a DP31 chip for sale if you or anyone else is interested for the 2.5lt, simple plug and play, takes a couple of minutes to install and great driving results.

Cheers, Dave

 

[Tappet]

Congrats on the new Nav Jason.
Newbie here to and still waiting delivery for my STX king cab. New to navara but not to 4WD diesel. As KraftyPg metioned just take it easy. Generaly you'll be in a gear higher than you would in an eqivalent petrol powerd car. In my current vehicle, a stock 2.8 turbo diesel dual cab. I don't worry about the boost side of things Just try to keep the revs as low as posible without the engine labouring. In return I have received some quite amazing economy for what is, very old style purely mechanical injection. Touch over 9 L per 100. (city) If I really try hard I can even better that.
What really always amazes me is people who have a red light infront of them but still keep there foot on it. That heat off the brakes comes from somwhere- the fuel.
Driving technique has the greatest saving on fuel over any gadget or mod.

 

[Old.Tony]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the purchase!

With our D40s, the turbo brings on the torque at about 1800rpm and the initial rise slows at about 2000rpm, with it increasing more slowly with higher rpm as the horsepower builds.

Horsepower gets you moving, torque keeps you moving. To cruise at the most economical, keep your rpm as close to 2000 as possible, because that's at the top end of the rise of the torque curve. It's where your turbocharger is producing the most boost for the least amount of fuel.

If you get a chip, that curve will change, but hopefully they'll dyno your car and show you where the torque starts really climbing up and where it starts to level off ("plateau"). Just at THAT point is where you cruise more economically.

As for clutches, yep, when your Dual Mass Flywheel (DMF) causes your clutch to pack it in, get a single mass flywheel and a heavy duty clutch (Exedy, I think they're called).