ASD Dad

I'm looking at the MXP and almost ordered one today but we're going back out of town for the holiday and it would have arrived then so will wait until I get back. I also read some complaints about noise when at full throttle like pulling a heavy load up a grade but others say it is by far the quietest intake for these engines. I know all open intakes are noisy but I dont want it too loud. Looked into Uprev and they are the best but seems only if you have the other additions - headers, full exhaust, engine mods, etc. Superchips and Bully Dog's canned tunes both get decent reviews for relatively mild upgrades on this motor or even a stock motor. I like BD's additional monitoring and support so would pick them if I go that route. Headers and exhaust would definitely add in some noise unless properly tuned or adding a proper Helmholtz resonator. I am not aware of any off the shelf exhaust that would fit so would need to find something close and a decent shop. You can make a very free flowing exhaust with zero drone and similar noise as stock, just takes proper work to get it done and I dont know of any local shops to try it. I am guessing the JBA's would mount with little mods needed. I only know of one guy with a SC and he is on here. Found him a while back, didnt he pop his transmission? Not good but he was a guinea pig for the install. EDIT - http://nissannvforum.com/topic/276-stillen-stage-2-supercharger/?hl=supercharger I know coming from the Tundra the TRD factory SC added serious gains with up to 550ft/lb of torque, you just needed to run premium. It also kept the factory warranty! If you went long tubes and full race exhaust along with a special BD tune you could all see gains in the 100hp range. For me, Intake will most likely be first followed by the BD if needed. I've got 5000 miles and dont want to start pissing off my local NV dealer for warranty work just yet. I am well aware of the Magnuson Moss Warranty Act but still dont want to test those waters!

If your dealer is stonewalling you or incompetent and the new dealer wont work with you I'd start contacting any consumer advocate sites, trade publications, auto blogs, etc. You have a commercial van, right? You can always put a nice vinyl wrap on it with a big lemon and the dealerships name or maybe your issues along with Nissan's Corp Number. You're out and about all over the city, I am sure it will get attention. I dont know if your company's info is already wrapped on the van so that could be an issue... We had problems on one of our old campers. Dealer actually caused the problem but were denying everything. Manufacturer didnt want to help even though it was brand new (and their defect caused the issue in the first place). I started posting on their FB page, Twitter and all the RV forums I could find. I then sent another email to the company with links to all said posts and the "lovely" reaction they were getting. Two days later I got a call from corp telling me to send to another dealer to have things fixed right for free. Does CA have an effective Lemon Law? Keep taking it back for the same problem and have it documented and ask for paperwork each time. Call the states AG or BBB against the dealership. Have any local news stations that do the consumer advocate pieces? EDIT - found the Lemon Law - http://www.dca.ca.gov/acp/pdf_files/englemn.pdf Point is, start making some serious noise and somebody should listen. It's not "right" but you have an expensive vehicle that isnt working and cant get resolution through normal channels.

Rick - What does your dealer say? radinson is correct that it is under warranty and any dealer should be able to service it for free. What does the dealers service manager say? Are they are a large, prominent dealer in the area? If the dealer is stonewalling you is there another dealer who is willing to look at it? I dont get why nobody is willing to try and diagnose your van out there. When I originally had problems with my local dealer I contacted a larger dealer who unfortunately was over 2 hours away but he was more than happy to step in and take a look at things to get the ball rolling.

Never said it had a problem, I said going up a 6-7% grade pulling my TT I had to nearly floor it in 3rd to maintain 65mph. My Tundra had more torque and way more hp while weighing less so of course it would pull harder. Had I lost speed going up those grades then I'd say I had a problem. Regardless I'd like more power so I'm still looking at options to help in that department. I'm guessing since we all get close to the same mpg when loaded or unloaded we have the same amount of power.

Fred - I pull a 6600# Surveyor SP295 bunkhouse. 32' long, we have 5 of us plus two large dogs and all the stuff to go along with 3 kids. I use a Tekonsha P3 brake controller and Blue Ox Sway Pro hitch. Love both items. I just towed through the mountains of TN, NC and KY and the steepest grades were 7% according to the truck warning signs. I could maintain 65mph uphill in 3rd gear with the van floored (2015 NVP 3500HD SL V8). We have the rear row of seats removed for more storage space. I could definitely not pass anyone but I could maintain speed. I averaged just over 8mpg over 1000 miles on that trip.

Thanks Rick!

Call me crazy but I cant seem to locate the Gross COMBINED Weight Rating for the NV3500. I can find the Vehicle rating but not combined with trailer in tow. I'm looking at a bigger camper after this last trip and was curious how close I'll be to maxing this van out...

I have to believe something is running very rich with your van to get that bad of mileage. Anyway you can pull a spark plug to check it since you're hanging around waiting? Would the dealer do any diagnostics prior to hearing from Nissan Commercial? I can see running around in city traffic being bad but not worse than pulling a 7000# trailer in 3rd gear floored!!

I was telling my wife a few times how I wish we had more power. We were loaded down inside the TT and NVP since we were going to be gone 10 days in two campgrounds. Went up 26 to 40 and then up 75. Through the Smokies and NC near Ashville it didnt matter if I floored it or not, it would just barely maintain speed at 60-65 in 3rd gear on the steep grades. On just the rolling hills it would drop to 4th or maybe 3rd and have no problems at all. Wife wants a bigger TT and I am a bit worried about the power. New TT we want comes in at 7700# dry so I am guessing we'll push towards 9K loaded.

I'll have to try the search. Caller ID works with any inbound call. If they are in my contacts book their name shows up. If they are not just the number pops up. Outbound it shows the name and number of person I am calling (I think..)

Really only one intake gets the best overall reviews - Airaid MXP with the dry tech filter. 521-284 is the model but we need a small extension according to some people, you can simply use a rubber plumbing coupler to extend it the needed distance. That intake has the most consistent dyno results across multiple tests for our engines.

Just got back from a 10 day, 500 mile one way camping trip through the eastern mountains of NC, TN and KY and wanted to post a quick review. '15 NVP 3500 SL, family of 5 (3 small kids) and two large dogs (75# and 90#). Towing a 32' Surveyor SP295 camper. Approx 6600 pounds loaded (weighed on a CAT). Grades of 4-7% were dealt with. Towed around 65 mph for most of the trip (speed limit was 70 for a lot of it). I have upgraded load range D LT truck tires on the TT to handle extra speed and the weight of camper. Forest River seems to think that less than 100# of max load capacity per tire is just fine, after two blowouts doing under 65mph and within the load rating we disagreed! Average MPG for the trip was a dismal 8.3 mpg. Used Tow mode and also used manual shifting for parts of the trip, didnt seem to matter. Going up the grades I was floored in 3rd gear and it would just barely maintain speed. Dropped to 4th on any slight grade. So did it perform? Yes. It was nowhere near the power of my old Toyota Tundra 5.7 hauling the same load and same hills. I could pass people uphill with that rig. Mileage was about the same, maybe a tad worse with the NVP. I expected that, it is larger, heavier and more wind resistance. Overall we really liked the NVP for the trip. Tons more room than the Tundra and it met expectations for what it would do towing. It was pretty comfy and quiet for the trip as well. That's not to say I wont be looking into helping out the motor before our next trip. Already been researching the Titan and Armada forums for motor help and may be adding an intake, Bully Dog or UpRev and possibly even exhaust. I dont want it to get too loud and there are no off the shelf intakes or exhausts so need to do some more research. Intake will fit with minor mods. Exhaust needs more tweaks. BD and UpRev both have tuners that will work with the motor. One slight hiccup - the manual mode stopped working on one leg of the trip. The button wouldnt engage it to turn on. Stopped for gas and started the van back up and it worked fine since.

I checked with two local fab shops and both quoted me about the same price as Aluminess. I figure there has to be somebody around here and we have a pretty decent offroading community but I just cant find the right shop yet.

I PM'd my email. I am interested as well.

Rick - Just got back from our long trip and had some info to share. Caller ID works on Bluetooth (NAV screen) when they are in my phone book, otherwise just number shows up NAV DOES work while on a BT call. If I am on a route it shows the turns and distance with small icons on the right side of the screen. Generic maps do not work, only if I have a route in and I am on it. It does recognize name and number when calling out quite well. I have not had to search yet so dont know about the scrolling.

Happy to hear this mod is working for others! I still think I may add an Airaid intake in the near future. Titan and Armada owners swear by them, even ones that have done this mod.

Welcome and congrats on the new road trip vehicle. Post up photos when you are doing the conversion!

Do you think Nissan has no customer support due to the Commercial Line being a very small percentage of overall sales? I see way more Leafs running around than I do NV's of any type, 200, cargo or NVP. I am starting to see more NV200's but even those are few and far between. I'd like to see overall sales by model and I bet the NV line is at or near the bottom of the list. At the bottom I am guessing there is the Skyline GTR, that terrible Murano Convertible and maybe the Cube being lower in sales vs. NV's. GTR is a halo car and priced accordingly. Murano Cabrio should never have been made, Cube is no longer being sold I think... I bet Chris would know overall sales figures since he was just at that big meeting. I am just curious how these stack up.

Rick - No NAV while BT is active for a call. Annoying. BT voice recognition works fairly well. I can tell it to call my mom or friends and it gets their name right most of the time. It then brings up all their associated numbers and I need to pick one. Havent tried looking up a name, I know who I am calling! Nobody has called me yet but it does show the name for texts that come in and it will read them aloud if I want.

I'll be taking plenty of photos so will try and get some up here. This is our first time camping in KY. I have family in OH that is coming down to camp with us and the park gets really good reviews with lots of stuff for the kids to do. We normally camp south or along the coast. We head out 3-5 times a year with one two larger trips and the others more local and try to stick with State Parks. My tires are brand new so cant swap them out just yet unless they just dont work out for us on more trips. I think I will definitely be upgrading to more of an all terrain when the time comes.

Happy they helped!

Nice photos! Are you using stock tires? I have Firestone Transforce HT's on mine and they dont seem to have much traction at some of the state park dirt roads we have been on when they are wet. They also like to hold gravel and then fling said gravel against the underside once on the road. I am on gravel about once a week since we buy all our dairy from a local farm and his access road is gravel. I'm thinking of upgrading to something with a bit more bite on dirt that will still eject stone before getting up to speed. We leave this Thur for a 10 day camping trip. 6 or 7 days at Big Bone Lick State Park in KY and the rest in the Smokey Mountain National Park, TN. First big tow with the NVP and it will be a good one through the Appalachians.

RICK is correct, mine was built in March 2015. Nav works really well as a Nav unit, I like the rerouting when XM traffic detects an issue. I had that save me twice already from being stuck in bumper to bumper traffic due to an accident. The BT phone integration leaves much to be desired but it works... (sort of).

Is there a national number you can contact? What about your home dealer, can they get involved on your behalf? If you take your NV for service there I would hope they want you to keep coming there.

Rick, seems that the average mileage for a V8 NVP is in the 14 MPG range which is right where I sat. My best tank so far is highway at 70-75 mph at 15.3 mpg. I know that speed is too high for optimal mpg but speed limit is 70 and I am not about to hold up traffic to gain one or two mpg. Your mileage seems crazy low! I would be selling my van if I only got that mpg and they couldnt figure out what was going on.