SoOhio2k

First of all, I'd like to say Hi to everyone. I am a new member and a first time owner of a Nissan. I have a 2k GLE that I just bought in October with 49k miles on it. My wife and I are in love with it. It is probably the nicest and solid car we have owned to date. So far we've put about 1200 miles on it.

I have been reading all the specs I can find on the car and most places I have seen, city mileage is estimated at 23 and highway is around 29. My wife uses it mostly to drop the kids off at school and hit the grocery, all within a radius of 2 miles from the house. Been running 93 octane for the past month. I tried to get by with 89, but noticed some ping and saw the advice here, so I switched to 93. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like we are only getting 15-18 mpg in town, haven't seen a road trip yet, so haven't been able to measure highway mileage. Has anyone experienced gas guzzling around town, or is it the nature of the beast? My Dodge Intrepid (yuck) saw the same type of service, but I didn't think we went through the gas as quickly.

TIA

fishhouse

iTrader: (1)

personally, i have used a couple of different things to try to increase gas mileage:

- K&N filter (intead of stock air filter). or at least make sure yours is clean
- air intake
- 93 octane of course
- BG 44k fuel injector cleaner

all have seemed to help. i DON'T have any hard evidence or proof. COULD BE ALL IN MY HEAD!

but i'm sure many here will claim the same. just my .02

BigDogJonx

iTrader: (7)

See the problem is that your wife is doing the driving in the 2mile radius. The car doesnt really start getting efficient until 8-10mins into the car. If you start it up and go, and its only 2miles, most likely the car aint even fully warmed up.

That is why you are getting the bad gas mileage which is normal. It takes anywhere from 2-5miles to get the car in normal operating temperature.

Dixit

CCS2k1Max

iTrader: (2)

My commute is 23 miles one way and my mileage is down to 23 from 26 mpg mixed since it got cold. I can now see the fuel needle drop as I leave work... j/k

It's normal and you'll see a ton of threads regarding gas mileage by January.

PoLo

iTrader: (7)

agree with dixit....it takes the cat alone a good 6 miles to warm up to optimal temperatures. you will never get good mileage in such a short distance.
but hey, just cause you got it used i would still go for some BG44K, doesnt' hurt to know that you fully cleaned out the cars deposits when you got it. at least then you'll have something to work with other than "well i wonder how the prev. owner treated it...is it bad? i dunno?"

Mom's2kGLE

My mileage is in the crapper lately too thanks to snow tires and winter formulated gas in the northeast. Went from 23 in town to about 17-18. Gotta love winter.

irish44j

iTrader: (38)

I also use BG44K, 93octane, have a frankencar intake, and have apexi filter.
Pre-mods (the firstt couple months I had the car) I got no less than 20mpg and no more than 23mpg on any tank....that included commuting, long road trips, and local driving. With the intake, I get a solid 22pmg for the last 15 tanks. Some of these tanks have been 100% highway driving...others have been 100% city driving...doesn't seem to make any difference. I do have a thule roof rack, so that probably knocks a few mpg off on the highway at higher speeds due to drag.

darrelfsu

2000 GLE as well; Sometimes, I think my gas mileage suck as well, especially compared to my parents 96 GLE which gets AMAZING gas mileage. On tomorrow, I'm going to clean the throttle body tomorrow and hope that improves things. Also, I've ordered new ignition coils from Dave B and will replace them as soon as they get here.

Ammi

iTrader: (26)

I would also suggest getting a can of BG44K. It won't hurt to clean out your entire fuel system. Previous owner could have treated your car like crap.

jmd102

Your gas mileage is in the ballpark for this time of year and short drives make a huge difference. It takes the average V6 engine approx. 20km or 12miles of driving to get it 110% warmed up and up to full operating temp.
My Chev Lumina (junk) gets better mileage than my Max cause it goes 20 miles plus on the highway everyday. My wife putts the max to work and back a return trip of 6 miles and wonders why the mileage sucks. Of course there are many more factors involved which the other guys suggest but what can you do sometimes????????
Mark

SoOhio2k

I made a road trip to Lexington last weekend. Filled it up before I left and drove about 250 miles round trip....got home and it was driven a few times to the store the rest of the week. Next fill-up, I calculated 21 mpg.

I probably will be getting some of that injector cleaner. I am just curious, is this a dealer recommended cleaner? I did notice that my owner's manual says not to use any fuel system treatment or cleaner. Don't remember the exact wording....it was something to that effect. ;-)

I also have not peeked at the air cleaner. Should have done that today while the weather was nice! oh well, I'll probably check it tuesday when I am off work again.

Thanks for the input everyone!

S

desperado_45

In short well all agree that it is not the most fuel efficent car, your mileage is kinda low though. Definately 92-93 octane and a new or clean air filter.

CCS2k1Max

iTrader: (2)

I get worse mileage on the highway cause of my lead foot. I went to Indy last September and averaged 21 mpg, but that was at 85 mph average, with several stints at 100-110 as long as the left lane cruisers allowed.

Seriously, I called the parts dept at my stealer and they told me that BG44K was part of the stealers 15K mile svc and so on (the stealer does the "enhanced" svc to charge ~$100 on top of the svc NNA recommends).

fishhouse

iTrader: (1)

offically, nissan DOES NOT recommend use of fuel additives. so...it is really up to you if you want to use them or not. all i can say is dozens of guys here have used BG 44k with positive results (or atleast NO negative results that i have read).

also, BG 44k is used by many, many new and used car dealerships. call some of your local ones and ask if they use it. my local Ford, Jag, Nissan, Chrysler and CarMax uses it specifically. not to mention the ones that might use other name brands of cleaners.

but again, this is one of those things people love to argue about. some recommend it - some don't. talk to a mechanic you trust and make the call yourself.

fishhouse

iTrader: (1)

also, FYI - check out this post (and the links on Post #25):

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....&highlight=44k

maximo-SE

iTrader: (7)

2003 with its happy 3.5L engine has a 20.2 mpg on highway, and 20.0 mpg on the street.... haha .2 better... sucks.. but still happy with 3.5L

husker_max

Just returned from a 1,000 mile round trip and happy to annouce 27 mpg on the highway...cruise set at 78-80 the whole way!

Ran BG 44k through a few tanks ago and love the results!

thrasher

I am amazed at how poor of gas milage you guys get. I get about 24.5 to the gallon with my 6 speed, and that's right now, in the dead of winter, only city driving. On the highway I get around 30mpg

CCx

iTrader: (2)

Have never gotten over 21.5 (20 or less is common, 21 on the highway) in my 2k - rarely accelerate over 3k, have done the BG44k, never use anything but 93 octane, etc. - kind of accept it as normal with this car, was expecting more when I got it but it is what it is - I'm thinking maybe the only thing left is coils/plugs but I can't see how that would help....if I knew for definite I'd pony up the money in a second and have them delivered tomorrow