Our Fuel Consumption on the Madigan Line Simpson Desert
In this post we take you through our fuel consumption when we recently completed the Madigan Line in the Simpson Desert.
After reading several posts and comments online about the Madigan Line, fuel consumption was one that I was starting to doubt my previous Simpson Desert experience. Reading stories where consumption in similar V8s was well over 20 litres per 100kms. Whenever we do a Simpson Desert trip, we always work off 25 litres per 100kms, even though we have never come close to consuming this much fuel. So, I knew we would have no worries, but sometimes reading too much can lead to doubt and I was wondering what the Madigan Line might throw at us based on others fuel consumption being so high.
I will discuss several things in this post. Including my observations on the conditions of the track, potential reasons why some might have high fuel usage, steps I took to minimise my consumption, and the fuel consumption of not only our 76 Series Toyota Land Cruiser, but also the 200 and 79 Series Land Cruisers that travelled with us.
I am no expert so take this into account when reading my thoughts. I have however done several trips into the Simpson Desert, so I have some experience travelling in this area. These are my thoughts and if you have anything to add or disagree with anything below, please share your feedback in the comments section below this story.
State of the Track & What This Could Mean for Fuel Consumption
After completing the Madigan Line, my observations of the state of the track led me to believe that there could be a few reasons leading to high fuel consumption for some.
Drop Your Tyre Pressures
Firstly, tyre pressure. The state of the track highlighted that many people are driving with far too high tyre pressures. People have said to me, well if you run too low tyre pressures then your fuel consumption will be worse. I would agree with this statement if we’re talking about driving down the black top but, when it comes to the desert I completely disagree. If your tyre pressures are too high, you need to drive that much harder when the sand gets thicker. This means your RPMs are way higher than they need to be resulting in worse fuel consumption.
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- Difference Between 20PSI
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- And 15PSI
If your tyre pressures are spot on for your type of 4WD, the weight you are carrying, and your type of tyres, you will find that it is far easier going, and there is no need to get hard on the throttle to get through the thicker sand when required. As a result, you idle over the dunes and your fuel consumption is overall better for it. The number of people we have seen having to absolutely send it to get over a dune when we can just slowly idle over one, highlights that they are not running low enough tyre pressures. The other benefits include a far more comfortable ride, and you leave the track in good condition for others after you.
Be Aware of How You Drive
The second thing I believe is how people drive. Running the correct tyre pressures will influence this but, from what I have learned over the several Simpson Desert trips that I have done, how you drive has a significant impact on your fuel consumption.
When driving in the desert, you need to take it slow. There is no point in rushing. You have made a huge effort to get to the desert, so why rush now. Take your time and enjoy the beauty and isolation that the desert has on offer. The tracks are always going to be bumpy and slow going, so go slow and enjoy the company of the person in the 4WD with you as well as the stunning scenery all around you. As you will constantly be going over bumps, it is extremely easy for your foot to constantly be putting pressure on your accelerator. You might not notice it at first, but once you do, you then realise how often you are pushing up the RPMs slightly without any impact on your drive only your fuel.
If you have a throttle controller, you can protect yourself here by setting this to economy mode which requires you to really push down hard on your accelerator to do anything. This then stops the RPMs increasing slightly every time your foot bumps the accelerator. If you do not have a throttle controller, which we no longer do, you need to be aware of what your foot is doing and try to not constantly bump the accelerator. It is a lot of work, but try it next time, you will notice a significant improvement in your fuel consumption.
Weight is Everything
The third and final point I would make is weight. Obviously, the less weight you are carrying the better your fuel consumption will be. It is pretty simple, and we all know this.
This is highlighted by the fuel consumption of the three 4WDs in our party. The heaviest vehicles, being Bill’s 200 Series and our 76 Series, had similar fuel consumption. The lightest of the vehicles, being Rick’s 79 Series, had ridiculously low fuel consumption. Rick’s 79 Series does not have a huge fancy canopy with all the bells and whistles. He still has many bells and whistles, but he has been smart with how he has set this vehicle up. I would assume he was at least 300kgs lighter than our 76 Series. Unfortunately, I cannot say exactly what the weight difference is, as Rick did not weigh his. But we did do some quick calculations on what he is carrying, it would be somewhere near that figure. We weighed our 76 Series before we left for this trip, fully loaded with 60 litres of water, 235 litres of fuel, and two passengers, we came in at 3.4 tonnes. You need to carry lots of water and fuel but try and be as weight conscious as possible. The better your GVM, the better your fuel consumption.
What is the Right Tyre Pressure?
I highlighted the benefits of running the correct tyre pressures above. So, what is the right tyre pressure you might ask. Well, my response is this, it really depends. I am not one to tell you what tyre pressures you should run. Every 4WD is different, so not all tyre pressures will be the same.
For our 76 Series Land Cruiser, fully loaded to a GVM upgraded 3.4 tonnes, running 33-inch BFG KM3 mud tyres, and 63% of our load over the rear axles, 16 to 18 PSI in the rear and 16 PSI in the front is perfect. Having fun at Big Red and driving up some of the steeper tracks, then no more than 15 PSI all around is where we go. Remember as well that if you are dropping your tyre pressures when they are cold, they will increase at least 4 PSI when they get warm. Factor this into your calculations. We run tyre pressure sensors, so we always have transparency of each tyre’s pressure.
Load and type of tyres will affect what pressures are going to be optimal for you. For example, Rick in his 79 Series running legal 35-inch mud tyres and hardly any load, at 20 PSI in the rear looked like he had not dropped his pressures at all. He had to go even further and down to 15 PSI to start to see a decent bulge in his rear tyres. Our 76 Series with far more weight in the rear and a smaller mud tyre, had a far bigger bulge at 18 PSI. You will know when your tyre pressures are right by how easy it is to drive over the dunes without needing to send it, plus the improved ride comfort. If you are struggling over every sand dune, and it feels like you could get stuck at any moment, you probably need to go lower. Trial and error will get you to the optimal tyre pressure for your setup.
Our Madigan Line Fuel Consumption
Enough with the lecture, lets get into our fuel consumption when we did the Madigan Line in the Simpson Desert.
Our decided route meant our last fuel stop was at Finke. The other popular route and last fuel stop is through Mount Dare. The distance between Finke and Birdsville is 700kms. I believe Mount Dare to Birdsville is slightly more at approximately 750kms however, do not quote me on this. As we have a Long Range Automotive 85 litre auxiliary fuel tank, we have 215 litres of fuel, but we also carried a 20 litre jerry can in case there we had any issues or someone else had a problem and needed some assistance.
Working off 25 litres per 100kms, we had a range of 860kms (excluding the 20 litre jerry can). This provided us more than enough comfort that we would not run into any fuel issues completing the 700km route from Finke to Birdsville via the Madigan Line.
Out of the three 4WDs travelling in our party, the worst on fuel consumption was the 200 Series, followed by our 76 Series, and then the 79 Series. It was pretty much what we expected. Bill in his 200 Series used 128 litres of fuel. We used 126 litres of fuel in our 76 Series, and Rick used 112 litres in his 79 Series. Both Rick and I did multiple runs up Big Red, with Bill only doing the one. Our fuel consumption was 18 litres per 100kms, Bill’s was 18.28 litres per 100kms, and Rick’s was 16 litres per 100kms.
- 200 Series Toyota Land Cruiser: 128 litres at 18.28 litres / 100 km
- 76 Series Toyota Land Cruiser: 126 litres at 18 litres / 100 km
- 79 Series Toyota Land Cruiser: 112 litres at 16 litres / 100 km
From the data above you can see that the fuel consumption across all three of the V8s doing the Madigan Line was impressive. Rick’s fuel consumption in his 79 Series was far better than expected, highlighting the effect weight has on your fuel. All three vehicles had tyre pressures below 20 PSI and we all drove to the conditions and took our time.
We did have some rain on our first night for about 30 minutes which had an impact on the track and probably helped us use a little less fuel. However, the track was still rough and extremely slow going. We did have a party one day ahead of us in a Prado towing a trailer which did mess the track up in places over the dunes. But we did drive slowly, take our time, and enjoy the experience.
Other Useful Information
If you are looking for any other useful information about the Simpson Desert including tracks, fuel consumption, planning tips, and more, read our other stories here. To read our two part daily trip log on the Madigan Line, you can find it here.
Thanks for reading our story on our fuel consumption while completing the Madigan Line in the Simpson Desert. If you would like to keep up to date on any of our future stories, please join the 4WD Adventurer Community here. For more regular updates, follow us on Instagram.
The thoughts of Peter.
14/06/2023 @ 6:00 PM
As a first timer to the Simpson Desert driving a 200 series this is a very helpful & informative post. Thank you. FYI We plan to cross conservatively from west to east via the French & QAA lines but will no doubt return to do the madigan line with more experience under our belt.
06/07/2023 @ 9:12 AM
G’day Joe,
Thanks for reading and your feedback, much appreciated.
Good luck on your first Simpson Desert crossing, you will hopefully love it. Probably the best route to do your first crossing, as there are always a few other people about if you ever run into any issues. There is also plenty to see and do along that route with a good start at Dalhousie and an amazing finish at Big Red and Birdsville. Just plan on using 25 litres to 100 kms and you will have plenty of fuel left over.
Enjoy the adventure and thanks again for reading.
Cheers,
Peter