OhOhMax

iTrader: (2)

The discrepancy you are getting is because the display is displaying the AVERAGE gas mileage sine the last time it was reset.

wyche89

oh ok.. i thought it displayed the average mpg of the current trip.. nice lighting in your sig by the way

02Maximan

iTrader: (7)

I know some will argue this one but higher octane fuel will give you worse mileage. The trade off is a better running engine with more power. Highest I can get out here is 91. I've noticed an increase in mileage before when I used lower grade.

beastiebob

You can reset this, how do you do this?

crazy97

iTrader: (1)

Push the trip button on your steering wheel and when it comes up on mpg push again and hold it till it clears...You can do this on almost each thing it keeps track of.

Rydicule

I've read a lot about Octane and fuel mileage, and I have never heard anyone indicate this. Actually, I would argue precisely the opposite, so I'm quite interested to hear this one.

Rydicule

I have never before in my car returned 32 mpg. I have yet to see anything above 26. How is my "AVERAGE gas mileage" showing up as 32?

If this was the sole reason for the discrepency, it would follow that those who spend more time on the highway than in the city would show an average greater than actual (if a tank was driven mostly in the city), and those who drove more in the city than on the highway would show a lower average than actual (for a tank driven mostly on highway). However, 99% of the maximas are showing an average greater than the actual. How do you explain this?

I realize what I just said may not be clear, so here is an example:


Two Cars:

Car 1 (drives mostly highway):
Tank 1 - 26.3 mpg
Tank 2 - 25.9 mpg
Tank 3 - 26.2 mpg
Tank 4 - 21.9 mpg (this tank had involved a lot of city driving)

Then for tank 4, the actual mileage is 21.9 where the trip computer would show the average... 25.075 or "25 mpg".

For your statement to be true, 99% of maxima owners would have to follow this driving pattern, and their gas mileage would only be off 1/4 or 1/5 of the time. Most seem to agree it is constantly wrong.

I would argue against the "The discrepency is because the display shows the average" theory. The thing is just wrong.

vball_max

iTrader: (5)

My types of driving vary quite a bit....when I do mostly highway (long trips) I can get the display to show 28-29 mpg. When I do mostly city driving, the display says normally between 22-24.

Calculating the actual (miles driven/gallons to fill), the result is usually about 3-4 mpg less than the display for the highway driving, and around 2 less for the city driving. So I think that the display error is a percentage of the mileage.

Yes, i am an engineer......being a dork is part of the job description.

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

No matter what it does, it’s still wrong.

wyche89

anybody have any thoughts on my theory about the bad gas at one particular gas station giving me poor MPG before i test it out?

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

Not really, but anything's possible.

Oilerftbll84

I think it matters how you drive. When i rev it high i get around 19mpg. but when i drive it normal which is around 3000 rpm then i get like 22mpg. Thats on the streets. Highway is up in the 20's.
I was wondering if the type of Gas i fiill up matters?

BMWHIGH1

I know its winter time, could it be possible that as soon as you start the car your heat is on, or your idling with the heat on. IF so this could be the reason for poor gas mileage. See if you turn on a cold engine and then try to turn on your heat, your engine has to consume more gas to get the engine warmer because thats were the heat is drawn from. Another issue itself is driving with the heat on, this also draws more gas because your pulling heat from the engine, which has to keep itself at a normal temp. As well as low tire pressure which was stated earlier, cloged air filter, and excessive weight. all these things play a factor in mpg.

wyche89

does heat use up gas? i thought that was just with air conditioning

BMWHIGH1

yes it does especially when you first start a cold engine and then you turn on the heat. The heat that comes in the car is drawn from the egine heat. so to heat up the engine faster the engine has to burn more fuel while trying to warm it self up as well as the inside. When your driving its the same. when its cold outside your cars engine tries to keep a certain temperature, but if your heat is always on its pulling that hot air from the engine. i'm not saying you should freeze yourself, but hey with gas prices man anything to save gas

Scottwax

iTrader: (8)

Not exactly. Using the heat right off the bat draws heat away from the engine, that is correct. But the engine doesn't try to heat itself up faster and burn more gas because of it. What happens is using the heat makes it take longer for the engine to heat up and reach closed loop status where it is most efficient.

If your winter driving consists of mostly short trips with long cool downs in between, your car is running in open loop much of the time and using more gas.

n3985

iTrader: (36)

What's the confusion here? I drive short trips around city too and I only get 14-15MPG. As soon as I get on the highway I get consistent 25-28MPG depending on speed. If you wanted 20+ MPG in the city go get a Civic.

pbn85

iTrader: (8)

+1!! I normally start my car and let it warm up for 2-3 min during the winter time and I see the tachometer needle gradually fall close to around the 1k region. However one time I put the heat on as soon as I started the car and the needle just wasnt budging until after I turned the heat off

I cant contribute much to this thread. I do however have to say that my MPG went up by 3 when Nissan installed my new engine...then again, maybe that was b/c I was driving extra carefully while trying to break the engine in properly

beastiebob

I don't have a problem with 14-15MPG in general, but when the manufacture claims that you should get 17+mpg city (according to the revised ratings) and you don't get anywhere near that I should raise a stink about it. If 14mpg is really the expected then great, I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything defective or not with our Max....

Scottwax

iTrader: (8)

14 mpg city is not normal. My worst tank (which was about 90% city driving) was 18.4 mpg-doing the actual math, not the trip display. My last tank was about 65% city, 35% freeway (including rush hour traffic) and I got 20.8 mpg. I get up to cruising speed quickly-not romping on it hard, but I don't take all day to accelerate.

n3985

iTrader: (36)

Drive only 2-3 mile trips at a time for a whole tank, and if you can still get 18MPG I will buy your engine.

Scottwax

iTrader: (8)

Well of course, if the engine never warms up between trips, mileage is going to suck. But just typical city driving on a warmed up engine shouldn't be too bad unless you romp on it all the time.

DasYears

i get almost 24mpg these days, not too bad considering i LOVE the redline. on the other hand, im 6spd and always try to cruise behing trucks and suv's if possible, mythbusters style

wyche89

my trips usually consist of 10 mins -30 mins with relatively normal driving (shifts below 4k with the occasional romp)... you think that would have an adverse affect on gas mileage?

Scottwax

iTrader: (8)

You ought to get about the same mileage I get. Frankly, I am suprised with 85 hp more I am only paying a 1-1.5 mpg penalty vs my old 626 V6. However, for a small V6, my 626 got crappy freeway mileage-about 27 mpg overall on long trips. RPMs are a lot higher at freeway speeds in the Mazda though.

lowincash

iTrader: (2)

lol i saw that episode on mythbuster

made in china

iTrader: (7)

When I went from the old 3.0 motor to my new 3.5, I have seen a average +1MPG improvement with the 3.5. In my car, I have definitely not seen worse gas mileage since the swap.

Well, one time I had suddenly bad gas mileage. The trip computer was showing me over 26MPG average for the first month after the 3.5 went in. Then suddenly, it plummeted to 16.9 MPG IN ONE DAY. Then back up to 22 MPG after a few days, then shot back down to 16.~MPG. I found one of my upstream O2 sensors was very lazy, sometimes dead. I replaced BOTH my upstream O2s and my car has averaged 24+ MPG to this day (2 months so far). And my A/F meter stays in stoich most of the time. When my O2 was bad, it was pegged in rich.

BTW, my trip computer shows 25.0 MPG, and my calculated MPG is about 24.5-24.8 on average. I rarely reset my MPG, and the longer it goes without a reset, the more "averaged" and less influenced by short term driving habit changes. I don't know why everyone's displayed MPG and actual MPG is so far off. Also, I drive mixed city/highway/traffic jams everyday, but my total trip time is usually 45 mins each way so my car is fully warmed.

wyche89

my display wavers between 19.7 and 20.0 now that i have a consistent daily drive.. this is with skipping gears often (1-3,3-6) and cruising whenever i get the chance.. i go full throttle maybe twice a day.. and BTW mileage has gone up since i switched gas stations.. the first tank gave me a mileage of 17.XX now i'm on my second tank of the new station, and by the way my gas needle is going, i should see over 18 mpg for my next fillup, which would be an improvement for me

nlmaxima

iTrader: (10)

How much drafting from a truck would you need to do in order to save enough to repair a sandblasted car from road debris especially if you live in the snow-belt? I personally like to get ahead of a truck ASAP.

aphiguy

Mine gives 20mpg highway, 16mpg city. Though I spend a lot of time idling and its below freezing most of the time.

By the way, I bought my 2001 Maxima SE for 10,650 from a dealer. It was 78350K, metallic dark grey color, has Sunroof, 8way pwr driver, 4way pwr passenger heated leather seats, 17 inch wheels, relatively new tires, traction control, bose stereo, automatic climate control, auto dimming rear view mirror, carpeted trunk lid.

I may not have had the best deal. But is it a good deal??

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

indeed

wyche89

sounds like a good deal to me.. i got my 2001 with 76k for 12,000 and it was a base model

Madsci

That's actually true, but only for cars that are designed for lower octane fuels. For example, a civic motor is built to run 87 octane. The oil industry has done a great job advertising snake oil in the form of higher octane fuels, detergents and additives to improve power for normal engines. Putting a higher octane fuel (like 94) in an engine that is designed for 87 will actually net you (very) slightly less power and fuel mileage. This is because the engine doesn't have the compression to burn that level of fuel completely in a controlled burn. In order to make maximum power with a motor you want the minimum amount of octane that the engine needs before it detonates.

This is why in my old hotrod if I run 93 octane I use one timing setting, and if I have 100 octane fuel I run more timing. Because the fuel has more resistance to detonation (and burning altogether for that matter) I can burn the fuel longer and hotter. The 3.5 liter VQ was designed with enough compression to take advantage of the octane in premium fuel as well, but it won't run any better times if you run 100 octane!

DasYears

just dont drive behind trucks that are dumping sand and its no different

NmexMAX

iTrader: (22)

Your car is lighter than ours so that makes perfect sense.

MaxBoost925

iTrader: (33)

I get <10mpg FTMFW!!!

atlridin

First, you got a pretty good deal. But, it is all on based on perspective though. Manual vs auto, Shape of body interior, etc. I overpaid 800.00 for my 00 GLE auto last year 14,500 becuase it had 60k, clean, heated seats warranty left over from carmax (private seller) and was in better shape then any others I found (plus I was strapped for time). I have put about 2k into mods. So, don't worry about the money, enjoy you Maxi.

As far as gas mileage I get between 18-21. When I put my SAR I have been getting 17-18.1mpg. So, it seems I have lost 3mpg. My commute is 44 miles with 30 city and 14 highway. I fly down the interstate to get to work on time, so happy, with anything over 18mpg. I have put 22k on it in 14 months and no engine problems (knock on wood). I bought my car for speed, 4 doors, creature comforts, and something different from the 4 Accords I had.

Enjoy spending all your extra $ on you car

my V^ accord used to get 21-24.

wyche89

ok, i filled up with the 3rd tank of new fuel today, and i calculated 18.6 MPG with mixed highway and city.. it's slowly going up.. i think that gas may have had something to do with my bad mileage.. we'll see as time goes on, if these results are consistent

wyche89

did a highway measurement the other day, and i got 25mpg going between 60-80mph... if i stayed at the speed limit, i would have gotten better mileage, but i guess i'm on point and close to where i should be

Scottwax

iTrader: (8)

I got 20.85 mpg this past tank, about 50% freeway, the rest city and rush hour stop and go.

Hopefully it will go up a bit more, just put in a new thermostat (old one was apparently stuck open) and now my car is fully warmed up in 2-3 miles instead of 10-15....or on really cold days it never seemed to fully warm up. Heater works a lot better too.