Before we purchased the Nissan Navara / Nova Caravan combination, we searched the internet to attempt to find out how much fuel a 2.5L, 4 cylinder Nissan Navara would use to tow the caravan. We actually didn’t get an accurate answer, only estimates and guesses. We have been keeping tabs on fuel consumption since the purchase and we are starting to gather some meaningful but sometimes confusing information.
We will be doing somewhere between 7000 to 8000 kilometers during this trip and will document consumption accordingly.
The caravan ATM is 2764kg, GVM is 2386kg and we are probably travelling around the 2.7 mark.
The Navara can tow 3000kg and with allowance made for additions to the Navara (bull bar, canopy, additional fuel), full fuel tanks plus our personal effects, we figure we are about 100kg short of maximum load limits of the Navara.
| Trip Leg | Weather | Tow % | Terrain | Litres per 100k’s |
| Sydney NSW to Canberra ACT | Wet, heavy rain at times, easterly winds | 99 | Hilly | 15.87 |
| Canberra ACT to Narrandera NSW | Overcast, very little wind | 97 | Undulating for first 100k’s then fairly flat | 14.93 |
| Narrandera NSW to Balranald NSW | Overcast, head wind for majority of the trip | 97 | Flat | 16.83 |
| Balranald NSW to Mildura VIC | Overcast, light winds | 99 | Flat | 15.54 |
| Mildura VIC to Renmark SA | Overcast, light winds | 90 | Flat to undulating | 14.76 |
| Renmark SA to Peterborough SA | Clear, very strong head wind for 90% of the journey | 80 | Flat to undulating | 17.50 |
| Peterborough SA to Port Augusta SA via Whyalla SA | Clear, light winds for the most. | 90 | Hilly crossing the Flinders then relatively flat. | 15.24 |
| Port Augusta SA to Pimba SA | Clear, head wind | 99 | Flat | 16.77 |
| Pimba SA to Coober Pedy SA | Clear, head wind | 100 | Flat | 17.70 |
| Coober Pedy SA (trip to Breakaways and around town) | Clear / overcast | 0 | Mostly flat | 11.46 |
| Coober Pedy SA to Marla SA | Clear, head wind | 100 | Flat | 18.70 |
| Marla SA to Erldunda NT | Clear, head wind | 100 | Flat | 18.50 |
| Erldunda to Yulara NT (trips to Uluru and Kata Tjunta) | Clear, little wind | 60 | Flat | 12.42 |
| Yulara to Erldunda NT | First half no wind then strong head wind | 100 | Flat | 16.34 |
| Erldunda to Alice Springs NT | Erldunda to Alice – headwind & 18.7lit per 100k’s. Calm afterwards | 40 | Flat | 14.81 |
| Alice Springs to Erldunda NT | Clear, slight cross wind | 100 | Flat | 15.90 |
| Erldunda NT to Marla SA | Clear, slight stronger cross wind | 100 | Flat | 16.53 |
| Marla to Coober Pedy SA | Clear, cross wind tending to head wind at times | 16.74 | ||
| Coober Pedy to Woomera SA | Clear, slight head wind at times | 99 | Relatively flat | 16.16 |
| Woomera to Hawker SA | Tail wind to Port Augusta then strong head wind to Hawker | 100 | Flat to Port Augusta then climb into Flinders Ranges | 16.88 |
| Hawker to Hawker SA | Head wind to Rawnsley Park (35k’s), moderate winds afterwards. | 18 | Undulating to and from Hawker, remainder travelling through the Flinders Ranges (some 4wd etc) | 11.38 |
| Hawker to Peterborough SA | Light winds – variable | 100 | Undulating | 16.33 |
| Peterborough SA to Broken Hill NSW | Light winds | 80 | Flat to undulating | 14.78 |
| Broken Hill to Wilcannia NSW | Tail wind | 100 | Relatively flat | 14.93 |
| Wilcannia to Cobar NSW | Tail wind | 100 | Relatively flat | 15.01 |
| Cobar to Dubbo NSW | Tail wind | 100 | Relatively flat | 15.02 |
| Dubbo to Sydney NSW | Tail wind | 100 | Undulating with Great Divide crossing | 15.45 |
Overall Average was 15.597 litres per 100k’s.