I recently wanted to see how good of gas mileage I can get. So during my last fill up, I put in 17 gallons of 87 and drove her all the way down to about a half gallon during the week. I shifted at 2500 or less regularly, only going above 3k a few times, and redline once or twice. I have 18 inch rims that arent super light, and it's a 5spd. All of this translated into 515 miles on 16.5 gallons of gas. Over 31 mpg average. And I probably could've squeezed a few more miles out of her too. A wonderful surprise, but I dont really see how this is possible. Why would Nissan advertise much lower numbers if results like mine are ubtainable? Has anyone else had similar mpg success, or is my car just a freak?

 

car must be running super lean. Of course if you don't floor it all the time, it shouldn't be a problem. I drive the exact same way with maybe 60-70% city, terrible oil leaks, running rich, and I'm getting 25mpg...

 

There are many factors that can contribute to good gas mileage. For example, just for the hell of it I drafted a big rig (staying around 100-150 feet) on a trip and averaged about 33mpg.

If I baby my car, I usually get between 29-30mpg all highway. 31mpg isn't completely unheard of.

 

The thing is, about 65% percent of that is city driving. I hit at least ten stop lights everyday on the way to and from work.

 

You know having bigger rims can throw your mileage off by a few miles so add that all up and there you go, just a thought.

 

I hate every one of you who gets better than 22-23 MPG.

I don't know how you guys do it, I can't get better than 23.

 

Mine is amazingly consistent. 27-29 every time, no matter city or highway. It's a 5-speed, and if it had a taller 5th gear I could easily exceed 30 mpg highway.

 

maybe its those boat anchors you have for wheels

 

Ive been getting ~23 after I installed my y pipe, ran a bottle of fuel system cleaner, and cleaned up the air filter. Did this all on the same tank of gas so I'm not sure which one did the trick

 

I'm open to contributions to my "light wheel" fund

 

Something must be wrong unless you gun it at every intersection.

Notice lack of power? Knock sensor? HEAVY city traffic?

 

No sir, other way. Big rims mean that the car would go further than it thinks it's going, so distance would read LOW and therefore mileage would also read low. If his tire diameter is bigger than stock, he's getting better mileage than calculated.

As for the OP, there's a possibility of a bad fill here. If you filled at different pumps, and especially if you were on different slopes, the cutoff will come at different points.

That being said, the only reason I suspect a bad fill is that you said your tank was mostly city. I calculate my mileage every tank and have gotten 32 MPG a couple of times, filling at the same pump in and out, and a couple of those were even consecutive to confirm.

And to answer your question about advertised mileage, this is a common misconception that people have. As is apparent in some of the responses to this thread alone, a lot of people have difficulty getting even the rated highway mileage on these cars. This may be because of any number of issues, from mods to maintenance to tire pressure to driving style to fuel used to route taken. Manufacturers these days always advertise their vehicles' mileage based on the EPA rating, which is a very precise test done on a dynamometer. It is possible to beat the EPA rating in any vehicle by a good margin, and it is also possible to do much worse. The ratings are not intended to be accurate for everyone, but they provide a basis for comparison. If you can get 30 MPG in a Maxima with your driving style and normal routes, you can likely get 45 in a Sentra under the same conditions.

 

I was averaging 26mph highway until I put a cone filter in. Since then its been about 28mpg with a 5 speed. I def. agree the cars would be better with a higher 5th gear...or i should just get a 6 (I wish).

 

after i did my 01vi swap i gained about 2-3 MGP, from about 25 to a mostly 28ish(my drive to work is 15 minutes 3 stop lights and going 45-35 on CC)
but i also did a whole engine tuneup- replacing most everything that i could reasonably.
funny you say that about the cone filter because that was when i saw the biggest gain in gas milage, i put the short ram on 2 weeks before my swap.

i wish i could swap in a 6 as well, my girlfriends audi TT gets better gas than me and she drives it in sport mode all day long...sigh...

 

my 95 5spd gets excellent gas mileage, usually 32mpg highway as long as I do speed limit. if not, that'll drop to about 26mpg which is still impressive.

City however is a different story, average 23-24 driving like I stole it and a good 25-26 if I drive like my mom

 

Same here, at first I was getting like 18-20 but since the fuel filter was changed, I gained a huge improvement of...1... so now its 21 MPG.

Maybe I need a CAI and free flow exhausts and all those goodies to make my engine breathe better.

 

BEST I ever got was 450miles to the tank of 93 to the gas light. So I could of gotten another 25+ more around until spanked. It just all depends on driving habits, temp, how much you drive type of gas you use as well as brand mixture,(went from Mobil to Shell back to mobil) What the wind conditions are. (like drafting) All come into play. I think OP needs to do a lot more tests before he can come out to an average of 31mPG

 

LOL, you can't be serious. There is nothing wrong with his car. Tons of people would kill to get 23mpg in their max.

 

Obviously I need to check something out on my car cuz I get 12.5-13.5mpg. And I don't drive heavy footed nor speed on the highway my commute is about 13miles and maybe 1 mile of that is city :[

 

wow.. the best mileage ive ever seen was a full tank on cruise control at 70mph.. i got 21mpg. err well, i got 22mpg on the tank immediately after i put on a new knock sensor.. since then its been 20 or less..
it is a lot of city driving but still.. wow.

maybe i need to get my fuel filter replaced and run a tank of fuel system cleaner..

i do have a y-pipe.. so in theory that helps.. right? lol

 

My 97 auto is the same way. I have 108k on it. Took a trip from Pittsburgh to North Carolina, and I averaged 31 with my sister and grandmother in the car, and enough stuff for three people for a week (so basically four people). The windows were all about 2 inches down, and the fan was blowing full speed. By the time we were in Raleigh, my sister was so pissed because I wouldn't turn on the A/C until we got to a gas station so I could check the mileage. I used cruise and set it to about 70mph the entire way. If I had a five speed, I bet I could do 33 or so. Thats with Y-pipe, K&N and a 2.5 inch exhaust (the muffler is an over-sized glass-pack design so the flow is pretty smooth), which should improve mileage as long as you use a light foot, hence the use of cruise. Also, I always use the highest octane at a given gas station, so 91-93 I suppose.

I get 24-26 city, with a heavy foot. I would think getting less than 20 would signify problems with the car. That assumes a basically stock engine.

 

Those of you getting less than 20 have some serious issues with your cars. I have 17" (5.5 gen.) wheels on my car (5 spd.) and I average 24 around town driving like a total jackass. On the highway I can get 29 or 30 driving at 70. My old auto car was even more impressive on the highway (but much less so around town).

 

Very possible. On long highway trips with a 5pd if you put it on cruise control.

 

I get about 20 at best, its an auto.

 

I get this WITH the A/C on though.. I dont hold back from getting nice cold air on a hot *** day, I dont care if it costs me a little more

 

If your calculating your mileage off of an odometer reading that is skewed from a larger overall tire diameter than you are going to see better results, just putting it out there as you said you had 18's and didn't mention the exact size I'm assuming the diameter is bigger.

 

For my job this summer I had a 115 mile roundtrip every day. I drove my 96 to keep the miles off of my 01. I put over 6000 miles on that thing and every tank was 30mpg or better. Rolled over 170k as well. Man I love that car. Gets way better mileage than my AE, I'm lucky to get 26 or 27 on the highway with it. If you keep your tires inflated, and stay under 70, you should easily be able to get 30mpg. Heck, I've gotten 35 in my 96 before as well.

 

I hear ya. It seems like almost 3000 rpm for 70 mph is a little high in 5th. But i hit 31 on my last tank, and thats a mix of highway and city, and i generally get up to speed pretty fast too I love my max

 

Im in an Auto and i drive like a pissed off teenager half the time and still pull at LEAST 21... Im talkin racing the engine to 4 grand, driving 80 MPH on the Highway at all times, using 87 Octane every fill up, and my EGR's been clogged since god knows when... There was a month i drove real niice though and got almost 27 to the gallon, that consisted of shifts at 2500 RPM's never exceeding 65, ect..

I do have a QQ if anyones willing to just PM me an answer... I've searched a bit and not managed to find a solid answer... i recently found that a gas station nearby sells what i believe is Gasohol, 93 Octane. its 2.50 same as 87, Now ive read that people claim that you'll lose power and mileage in some cases, and it'll eat the injectors/rest of the fuel system, some people just shrug and say it runs fine.. does anyone have a better answer than that for me? casue i recently went ahead and pumped around 8 Gallons of it into the max and shes never run better.. i went on a trip to the Chi and went almost 200 miles that day on less than 1/2 a tank... Anyone?

 

Most I got from my Max's was in my 96 auto... 660 from a full tank. Drove from Dallas to Galveston and back on one tank.

 

whats that website that logs your gas fill ups and calculates mileage? Its like a facebook of MPG..

 

I got 35 mpg on a trip to my cabin once. And mine is an auto so 31 doesn't sound nuts. I was going 60-70 mph most of the way except for 20 minutes of bad traffic.

 

To the people saying my test may not be correct due to the size of my wheels, I know this not to be true because all of these miles are to and from work. I know my job to be exactly 25 miles away from my house, and I have to drive back and forth twice a day, totalling 100 miles a day, 5 days a week. There's 500 miles right there. And to the person
who said I need to do more tests, I consistently record my gas mileage, and I regularly get 475 miles a tank not even trying. This time I wanted to see what the absolute best mpg I could get was.

 

i average about 24 city/highway commuting. I've gotten 34 going down the freeway following a moving truck @ 65mph

 

you mean like a notebook, and a calculator, and a pen?

 

what size are your tires? xxx/xx/xx?

 

If I were you , I wouldn't care about MPG......you have an awsome Max

 

i get 10 miles to the gallon with my max when i drive like an ironic idiot... but i get around 30 just regular driving with the overdrive on. o_O

maybe you should feel proud that your car gets great gas mileage.

 

Just pulled 30.5 this week in city MPG, be advised that half of my trips are barely under power, and I'm just coasting around because most of my trips start uphill and end uphill (yay for living in a hole!).

I have still yet to acheive anything but 26.5 on the highway though... except on one trip where I got 28.4, but there are many varying factors to why I get 26.5...

 

235/40/18