I have 2003 6 spd maxima and I am getting crappy milege...I fill up with 93..and whether I am havin fun with the max or driving normal i get the same numbers...im getting roughly 220 miles per tank...that seems awfully bad...anyone know if that is right or is somthing wrong? I have 20,500 miles on it...thanks...and the only mod i have is a frankencar intake

 

My mpg calculator in the car read, as of this morning, 33.3 mpg. This is driving approx. 12 miles of city driving and 30 miles of highway (55 - 60 mph) each way per day. If I drive around the city a lot, I get between 23 - 25 mpg. On the highway below 65 I usually get about 34. On the interstate at 70 I get around 32. All these numbers are based on the car's calculations so it could be more or less if really calculated by hand.

220 miles per tank seems awfully low (~12 mpg). I think I get over 500 per tank. Do you do a ton of stop and go? Have you changed out the air filter and is it breathing properly (even a conical style filter has to breathe and be cleaned)? Do you keep your car tached up? Do you launch like a bat out of hell? Do you run your AC all the time (keep mine in Econ most of the time)? There are a few reasons I could think of that are purely the car's fault that would make your car get terrible mileage but let's rule out the driver possibility before discussing the car in great detail.

 

220 per tank is awfully low... im getting about 290, even though the gas calculator says my dte is 380....

 

The trip computer in our cars is WAY off. What he's talking about is how many miles he gets from a tank of gas. How many miles do you get before you fill your tank?

 

Barc - I highly doubt anybody can get 500 miles per tank out of a Maxima. I had a 4 cylinder Honda Accord that, when the conditions were right, eke out 400, so yeah. Not in a Maxima.

That said ... I'm on my second Maxima, my first was an automatic. On that one, 250 or so was about right for all city driving (I'm measuring this by going until the light comes on). On the 6-speed I can get about 270-300 or so with mixed city and highway. So if you're doing all city and you're a little bit agressive, than 220 might not be that farfetched.

Nissans (at least for me) have never seemed to have the best gas mileage. And I definitely am not a crazy driver or anything.

 

I guess the original poster was talking about all city driving which is normal.

 

I had a 94 Accord LX 5 speed that routinely got 33-35 mpg and got 500 miles per tank.

The Maxima is sensitive to throttle inputs and can suck down gas fast if you are aggressive. I have gotten a worst of 350 a tank to a high of mid 400s. I average about 400 miles to a tank and fill up at 1/2way which is usually around 200 miles. I hit 115-125 miles on a 1/4 tank.

 

Why don't you guys just get a calculator and do it the REAL way, divide miles you got per that tank over the gallons you needed to fill it back up. or MPG.

The computer in the car is way off.

But, in your guys words,
I usually get 200 miles at half tank and have to fill up at 380 (fuel light is on) which equates to about 23 MPG. ( 380/16.5)

Though a bit off from my typical calcultion ACTUAL mpg/tank, 22, it's pretty close.

 

There is a lot of confusion going on because everyone has his own method of measuring the gas mileage. Our cars' gas tanks have the 18.5 gallon capacity, and I highly doubt that everyone is driving until the gas tank is completely empty.

I fill up as soon as the light comes on. In my car, the light comes on when there is still roughly 4 gallons left in the tank. How do I know? Because once the light is up, it takes about 14.5 gallons to completely fill up.

 

True

Hmm 14.5 gal

 

Doubt all you want, but here's a little calculation for you to do. I drove from St. Augustine, Fl to NC (nearing Rocky Mount) on I-95 on a single tank driving at interstate speeds and above (70+ mph) and still had over an eighth of a tank left. Over 500 miles? Yes. Better than 28 mpg? Yes. Not very hard if you keep your foot out of it and simply set your cruise.

I also drive almost 90 miles per day in mixed traffic as listed. I buy gas once a week with about a quarter tank left. That's 450 miles per tank easily, very easily.

What's so unreal about it? I've owned a T-Bird with a 5.0 that I got better than 30 mpg and consistantly got better than that if I was able to keep the cruise set (2.73 gearing helps). My most recent car was a 3.4 V6 and I got over 34 mpg in it plenty of times. Heck, my old CRX got better than 43 mpg. These are all MEASURED mileages, by the way. Its all in how you drive. And as you can see, I drive mostly to conserve gas but fast enough to stay with most traffic.

I'll make you a bet. I bet you a month's supply of gas that I can beat 28 mpg in my car (500 miles per tank). Seem like a good wager? I'll even let you pick the type of gas (so long as its 93). And I'm getting gas tomorrow so I'll be sure to write my mileage down then and next Friday when I get gas again.

While you can highly doubt that I can get the kind of mileage, I can highly doubt you've driven your car in a matter to get higher mileage out of a gallon of gas. Do you set your cruise or keep your foot on the pedal? Do you let your car linger in a lower gear when you could have upshifted? Do you run your AC constantly or do you press Econ? Do you speed well over the speed limit or keep it within 5 mph or so? Do you take off from a stop quickly or take off at a pace consistant with normal driving? Do you change your oil at the scheduled intervals or let it stay in there an extra few thousand? Do you check your tire pressure regularly or do you only do that when one looks low? Do you change your air filter regularly or is that an afterthought? Do you use 93 octane fuel only? Or do you drive it like you stole it inside the city and act like every stop light is a drag race not caring about the car until something else breaks? I highly doubt anyone can get less than 22 or so mpg inside the city without doing that. 12 mpg is 60's era muscle car gas mileage or big SUV gas mileage, not V6 Maxima gas mileage. 22 mpg is what a lot of mid-size SUVs get, not what Maximas should get. You should be able to get at least 26 mpg and that's still suspect to me if you drive like you have sense on the highway and the car is running properly.

As I say, doubt my mileage all you want, but ask anyone who drives long distances with an average speed of 50 mph and 95% of that in 6th gear what their mileage is and I'm sure they will tell you the same or very close to it. And if you are still having doubts, try doing something different yourself and learn something.

 

I dont see how the hell anyone gets 400+ out of their car. I drive 55 miles one way all from Fredericksburg VA to Richmond VA. I fill up twice a week. I just changed my oil last month (Mobil 1 Sythetic and Air Filter) and I average between 300-350 a tank. My in car estimate is around 26 MPG. I check how much I get EVERY TIME i fuel up. 400+ in this car no way. Unless your are driving at 55, on cruise control, for the entire tank I dont see how its possible. I have an auto. Manuals do get slighly higher mileage because of the gear ration. My best friend has an 03 Manual and he gets roughly 1-2mpg higher with the same driving conditions. It seems most people get around 300-350(max) through about 5 different threads I have seen on here. So to answer the first guys questions, 200 IS WAYYYY LOW even with stop and go driving you should get easliy 250+

 

Well if you get 26, and your friend gets 1-2 higher, than that would mean 27-28, whcih mathematically equated to just shy of 500 Miles/tank.

 

No, he was right. 18.5 gal

 

I do see how the hell I get that kind of mileage. I see it at every fill-up.

Fredericksburg to Richmond is a haul and all on I-95 if I remember correctly. And I think I-95 is 70 mph posted through there. That's about 75 mph for most people and about 80 mph for others. I generally get over 28 mpg at 70+ mph. If you are getting 25 mpg in an auto then that's about right at 75 mph or so. Slow down to what I have to travel (NC to VA, all on roads that go from 45 up to 55 back down to 35 mph) and you'll get close to 30 (maybe better), no sweat. Drive my car with the manual and you'll top out at more than 30, easily.

I really wish you had posted how much gas you got at a fill-up. If you got 14 gallons or so (which is what I estimated for the mileage) you get 25 mpg. Not that bad for the drive you have, especially considering the traffic you have in both cities and that on the interstate.

And yes, I drive an AVERAGE speed of 50 mph, mostly in 6th gear (I shift into 6th whenever I can) with the cruise set at 59 mph most of the time (unless I'm in the city, of course). And, by the way, where I live is COMPLETELY flat. No hills. Well, there are the obligatory overpasses and intercoastal waterway bridges but you have to come back down the other side! I am positive that helps my mileage as I don't have to pull uphill unless I get to coast back down the other side.

I still don't understand why people are in shock and awe and a state of disbelief. Its not that hard, folks.

 

there you go again, you are arguing about the true MPG without specifying how many gallons do you exactly mean by "a tank".

BARC- on that famed trip, from the fill-up, how many miles did it take for your light to come on? Once you've used up your "tank", how many gallons did it take to completely refill? You can't trust the fuel gauge. It is very reasonable to get 450 miles on a tank of gas in a Maxima only if you use up all 18 gallons, but none of us is taking that risk of driving the car "til it dies", you dont want to get stranded on hwy.

 

I get an average of 22.5 mpg in my 02 se auto. This is a mix of stop and go traffic and 50 mph cruising. This yields me somewhere between 340-360 miles per tank. So I would think that there is something wrong with your car, either simple stuff like a very dirty air cleaner, or something more complicated such as a pretty hefty vacume leak somewhere.

 

I'd shoot myself first given the choice before driving 500 miles at 59 mph to get better gas mileage.

 

You didn't understand me, I know both the 4th adn 5th gens have 18.5, but usually there are only 2 gallons left when the light goes on, and doesn't come out to 14.5.

 

Fire away. I don't like getting tickets. My insurance is high enough. Thanks!

On my trip, I had just purchased the car, and this was in the first of October, 2004. I took a cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to San Juan to St. Thomas to St. Marteen to Nassau if you care to know. Since I live in NC, I drove the less than week old to me car down to Fla and then back. And it was about 17.5 gallons of gas that I put into the car. Are you happy? Now that I've answered ALL your questions, please answer mine. And please drop the accusatory attitude. If you want to call me a liar, then do so. Obviously, you think I'm full of it. Honestly, I don't care. I'll let you live in your world where all Maximas must perform just like yours or something is wrong or they are lying.

I think I've been more than considerate in answering your pointless accusations and no one has proven me wrong yet. You, on the other hand, want to harp on how I could not have possibly done something you have never even tried! And as War once said, "Take a little trip and see..."

And for a car that costed more than $32K new (yes, I have that sticker in my glove box), I would expect better quality of electronics. Gas gauges that don't work. Incorrect display of mpg. What else is not displayed correctly? Does the speedometer give me a reading within 10%? How about the tach? It would seem to me that if so much is off with the guages, there would be ton of lawsuits against Nissan... I've yet to find one. Not to say that you're making this up because I know that the display for mpg is proven to be inaccurate but its not off by more than 10%. Which, on my particular car, is STILL over 30 mpg!

I'll end by saying that I'm sick of people telling others (especially in an online forum) what they can and cannot have accomplished having never tried anything like it themselves. Try it before you knock it. You might learn a little something.

 

Sorry, my bad. Hehe. Guess I shouldn't be second guessing senior members.

 

No flaming so long as you stay out of the left lane at those speeds...

p.s. I like getting tickets; ball game ones...

 

And it was about 17.5 gallons of gas that I put into the car. Are you happy?

Look there is no need to get an attitude, people are having a normal reaction. You are making a serious claim here, and everyone just want to know about it, and have every right to question the validity of your observations. There is no hostility from everyone, we want you to be happy and get not 500 but 750 miles per tank. It is your right to answer questions or not, if you won't then we'll think you are full of it, but why should you care. So relax.

So you had a bit less than a tankful (you cant know for a fact that you had 17.5 gallons there) and drove for 500 miles. How many miles have you traveled for when your light went on ?

 

I get 21-23 MPG in the city, and 29-31 on the highway. I have seen several 500+ miles per tank, the first one being when I had to drive back to Kansas from my home state of Georgia for a funeral just 2 days after I purchased the car. Our tank holds 18.5 gallons. I usually run it to where there are 2 gallons left in the tank. The most miles I have gotten out of a tank of gas is 521 (and I filled it with 17.2x gallons of gas). That's pretty close to 31 MPG I think (this is just off the top of my head). My car is in tip top shape, I have 54,xxx miles on it, regular oil and filter changes of Mobil 1 5w30 (every 6K miles), regular tire rotation and proper inflation, and frequent use of the cruise control. I believe the cruise control usage is the key to my high mileage overall. I know for a fact you can absolutely throw out the car mileage indicator and distance to empty numbers, as they can be as much as 10 MPG off actual numbers. In short, your car is getting crappy mileage.

EDIT -> There are (at least on a 5th Gen) 3 to 3.5 gallons in the tank when the light comes on, and it is a very accurate indicator of how many gallons I have left (I've never had any cause for concern on this issue - it's always right in my case in my car).

 

yes all the bustle about 500+ miles on a tank of gas is without a cause. The only real way to calculate mileage is total miles divided by gallons of gas, not for a single fill-up, but over many fill-ups. Yes, it is possible to get 500+ miles on a tank of gas, but not when you're in stop and go traffic and have a lead foot like I do.

 

I've never had the light go on other than at that time and as stated, it was over 500 miles. I generally keep it up over 1/8th of a tank.

One more time for the folks in the back rows and to recap. Where I live is flat as a pancake for the most part. I drive my car quite conservatively on mostly highway roads at speeds less than 60 mph for the most part. And, I don't act like a fool behind the wheel. I get better gas mileage (usually 30+ mpg) than several folks so I must be lying about it.

So far as my attitude is concerned, I hope you realize where it is stemming from. Being accused of being a liar is not something I had in mind when I posted to the gentleman's comments / questions earlier today. I think I've owned enough cars to know how to measure gas mileage and how to improve my own. And I honestly don't like being called a liar, be it in innuendo or bold faced. Plus, seeing as how not one of my questions have been answered, I appear to be the one who is making this all up when in fact it would seem to me that you are afraid to answer because I have hit a nerve. This is not something I just thought "hey, I'll make some stuff up." The guy asked, I spoke my peace. End of story. And so far as it being a "claim" is concerned, its the gas mileage I get; I'm not saying I have run over a Yeti or seen a UFO here. Get over it, guy. You think I have an attitude? Take a look in the mirror.

Someone answer my questions now. Who drives their car like they stole it and then complains that they are getting poor mileage? Or if you don't complain, you are now coming out of the woodwork calling me a liar? Sorry, I don't drive my car like that. I need my car to last a while and I like keeping money in my pocket, not in the pockets of my insurance agency, my law enforcement officers, my courthouses, nor in my gas stations.

The original poster probably wants to know why he is getting poor mileage and how he can get better mileage, not why you think I don't get better gas mileage than you. As I originally said, answer the questions on how you drive first before we delve into the mechanical, electrical, pneumatic issues that may be causing your problems.

 

Thanks for you reply. I thought I must have had a freak or everyone was just crazy. And I realized the mpg indicator was off (by 10 mpg!?) but I was pretty sure the gas guage was as close as could be to being accurate.

Its good to know that someone on here drives sort of like myself and gets similar mileage. I was beginning to think I was being taken to the firing squad for telling the truth about my decent gas mileage.

 

Good point. Considering I've had the car about 2 months now, I should probably start that and see what the average mileage is.

Just doing the math in my head gives me an average of just over 30 for my driving conditions but I'd really like to get a concrete figure rather than saying that ABOUT 450 miles = ABOUT 15 gallons. I would like to know what the "true" average is.

 

I just saw this and started chuckling. I generally drive like that back and forth to work and on trips with my wife. This car saw triple digits before I even signed the loan paperwork! So please don't think I'm a little old lady... I only drive like one sometimes! lol

 

Well I know i drive my car untill the light comes on everytime because I fill up everyone 2 1/2 trips to work. When I fill up I always put in appx 14.5 gallons. I get tops 350 miles before my light is on again. I really dont have that much traffic. Fredericksburg to Richmond is pretty light, in fact I cruise at 75-80 both ways. Again, I dont see from my observations (not yours) that you can get 500 in a tank. Maybe your air/fuel ratio is different for some reason that is giving you a slightly better mpg? (Not sure if thats possible but...) I monitor my gas closely as I spend about 300/mo in a gas bill. Again autos do get lower mpg because of gear ratios. When i am at 80 my revs are about 2800 rpm. I am a medium driver in terms of aggressiveness. Again these are my observations, and if you are getting more great for ya!!!

 

To get maximum mileage, cruise at 70 with cruise control on.

 

70 mph with cruise set nets me 30 or 31 MPG. At 80 MPH average with cruise, I get 28 mpg...

 

I have a lousy commute (30 mph speed limits, with some traffic and lots of stops / signals), and if I'm only commuting my car computer shows around 16 mpg - so in reality 14 mpg.

Note that this is with some dropping the foot, but by no means pounding it.

 

i get about 29-30 mpg on average. thats about 40% city and 60% highway. I usually dont turn my a/c on, i just keep it on econ all the time, and i try not to get the rpms too high (to about 3000) and i skip shift (1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th) which helps keep the rpms low when accelerating. Over a two week period, i kind of resisted the temptation to drive fast and i got 36 mpg average. On my car the trip computer is extremely accurate. Every time i calculate my mileage its almost exactly at what the computer calculated it as.

 

36 is great! I too skip gears and keep the RPMs very low. I don't know the long term effects on the synchros but it never seemed to affect the CRX in 200K miles. In fact, my engine was turning around 1100 RPMs today while in moderate traffic in 6th gear.

I've never done the mileage calculation in my car so I can't say if the computer is accurate or not, but I can say that I know its close, it has to be or I'd be on the side of the road with a red gas can!

My A/C stays off (or at least it has most of the time with the exception of GA and FL) most always unless I am defrosting the windshield.

But my temptation to drive fast is almost always thwarted with the recollection that the guys in with the flashing blue lights LOVE my commuting route. I see at least one patrolman or deputy per day with most days averaging one of each, almost always in different locations.

I actually pretty psyched to see how accurate my mileage computer really is now if yours is giving you a good number.

 

Sorry been at school alll day...i havnt been able to reply...

Whenever i fill up it says roughly dte 250....so i thought this was wrong..so i took the trip mileage and it came out to about 220 and the light JUSt came on...and it says roughly 20.4 mpg...

also, i dont drive like a bat out of hell...yes iit is a lot of stop and go driving,but not THAT much...and my filter is clean...that's the first thing i checked

Well not really stop and go persay...I go to UGA and it is a lot of driving around campus...so i guess lower speeds is a better way to put it

 

Stop and go / low speed in a lower gear will net you low gas mileage. And idling the engine for long periods of time or running the AC a lot will also make that number lower than average. Cars that aren't moving or moving slowly with engines that are = low gas mileage numbers.

A good test to ensure nothing is wrong with your car is to fill up, mark your mileage or reset the trip odo, take it out on the interstate for an hour and just drive around. Keep the AC off, keep the car in 6th, set your cruise at a comfortable speed that's within reason and don't play Speed Racer! lol Then stop by the same gas station and pump, facing the same way and fill up again. Then do a mileage calculation and let us know what you are getting. If its really low (like in the < 20 - 21 mark) then something is definately up. If you're in the 25+ range, I'd say its fine or could use a minor tune-up at worst.

In city or low speed driving is not a really good check on your average mileage unless that is all you're planning on doing anyway. If that's all your going to do, then you should probably be more concerned with brakes than with gas!

 

well to all of us not fortunate enough to have Higher octane gas (like anyone who lives in utah) we have to suffer with 91. With 91 octane in my tank, i got 390 miles out of my last tank that i filled, normal driving, and about 220 miles of driving from A to B. now this last tank i got 345 miles nomral city driving, and i have no idea how much gas it takes to fill th tank all the way up, it costs me about $35 a tank to fill all the way up, so i can;t complain to bad, its not the best, but with a 6 speed manual and 255 horse, would woould'nt complain

 

yeah i agree....i think you should do just this and see what your numbers are looking like after that, since you have a 6-spd, you should be getting about 30-33 cruising at 70-75 mph. Whenever i go on trips, i set the cruise to about 75 and get 33 going the whole way. But like barc said, if youre gettin in the low 20's, somethin's up...

 

Have you guys saw what the manufacturer states? Have you ever known them to underestimate something? They advertise for the auto 18 city and 26 Highway. For the manual its 19/27. You guys actually think your getting 33? Theres no way or at least not that average is going to get that under "Normal Driving Conditions." I want to see someome to the guys test above and tell me what they get, again, under "Normal Driving Conditions." Not switching from 1st to 3rd after 1500 RPM's.