Why lie????
The same reason why people lie about how fast their cars are...
All i am trying to say is that some people here think their cars are as good as hybrids when it comes to MPG....

 

Holy CRAPS, son! My buddy's loaded '97 GLE w/5-speed was pulling down consistent 32 MPGs if he drove at 70 ish, dropping to more like 28 if he did his usual cruise at 80 MPH. For you to get hammered that much by force inducting... Wow.

As soon as his SES came on with two EVAP things and two others I can't remember, the ECM kindly dialed back his efficiency so he now can't exceed 24 MPG, even driving the same as when he'd hit 32 with him an' 3 fatties in the car.

 

This. And no, I didn't use my trip computer...It gives me crazy high estimates all the time.

 

Dividing the gallons used into the total miles driven. Anyone who has actually done that knows that the trip computer is 3-4 mpg optimistic. That's why you have to do the math instead of relying on the trip computer to find out what your gas mileage actually is. I know I can take whatever the trip computer says and knock 3-4 mpg off it to know what I am actually getting. Is that more clear?

Not sure what I'd get at 60-65 on a long road trip, speed limits out here range from 70 to 80 and so I'm usually going 4-5 over-except where it is 80 because they enforce that pretty tightly.

 

Yup.
Sound like your rely on the trip computer and subtract 3 mpg, and drive too fast to get decent mileage.
Oh well.

 

What MPG did your vehicle get on the most recent tank of gas? 18.5

What percentage city/highway driving did you drive on your last tank of gas please?30/70

What is the year, make, & model of your vehicle?
02
Do you have the 3.0 or the 3.5 liter engine? 3.5

What type of gasoline did you use, if you know what octane you used, please specify, or if you do not know, please specify regular, mid grade, or super.
93
How many miles are on your vehicle?123k

Do you have an automatic or a manual transmission? auto

Is your vehicle modified for the purpose of improving performance or for the purpose of improving MPG? both, k&n intake

Does your vehicle have any mechanical problems, please briefly explain if so? bad breaks

Do you rely on exclusively on your trip computer for your MPG information? no i do it my fill up and do the math

Do you use the following method to calculate your MPG;? yes

1. Reset (one of) your trip odometers to zero at the same time you fill your tank completely full.
2. At the next fill-up, fill your tank completely full again and then divide the number of miles by the number of gallons.

Please rate your driving style; D
A. Extremely conservative
B. Conservative
C. Neither conservative nor aggressive,
D. Aggressive
E. Very aggressive.

 

What do you mean too fast? Speed limits out here are 70-80 and it isn't like I'm doing 10+ over the limit. Sure as hell am not going to be one of those irritating hypermilers who block traffic by driving 10 under, slow down up hills, coast down them and draft semi-trucks. I'm not complaining at all about the mileage I get. I'm actually impressed I can get pretty close to the EPA rating for my car with 190,000 miles on it, a trunk full of detailing stuff, a back seat full of luggage and a cooler and my son and I up front.

No, I don't rely on the trip computer, I actually divide the gallons into the miles but from experience I know the trip computer is 3-4 mpg too high so I can make an educated guess as to what my actual mpg is.

And seriously, if you want good mileage, a Maxima is not the car to get. Get a Sentra instead.

 

My last tank of gas I went ahead and did the real math (divided miles driven by gallons to fill the tank). It came out to 16 mpg! That seems pretty bad, although my driving during the week is 99% surface streets, stop and go, lights, etc... On the weekends I drive more on the highway and so I get a little bit of good mileage, but 16mpg seems pretty awful.

The car runs fine though so I don't know? Is it my lead foot?

 

It's a well known fact that the trip computers on the 5.5 gens are not accurate. They read between 3-5 mpg's higher than reality. Calculating the mpg's yourself would result in a more accurate and realistic calculation.

 

Yes, if you have a lead foot and do a lot of stop-and-go driving, you will get 16-18mpg pure city driving...or less

 

Agreed. Our cars aren't going to get good mileage in heavy stop and go traffic and winter gas and cold weather makes it worse. Only averaged 25 mpg (real mpg, not trip computer) on my trip to Kentucky and back for Thanksgiving. My moving average according to my nav was just over 70 mph so it wasn't like I was hauling ***** there and back.

 

Ummmm, isn't that exactly what I said in my post?

 

 

That's cool. Everything about this car is new to me, I never especially thought about getting a Maxima but needed a new car in a pinch and got a good deal on mine. I knew with a 6 cylinder it would use gas, but I thought I would get more like 20mpg city.

I love the power this car has (hence my 16mpg!) and I really enjoy the "cruiser" aspect of the car. On road trips is where this car really shines - smooth, powerful and full of bells and whistles. I enjoy my heated steering wheel very much on our cold winter mornings, it gets so hot that I can't even hold it sometimes.

My previous car was an '02 Explorer, so awful gas mileage is nothing new to me. Of course now I'm buying premium fuel...

 

I'm no expert but I have done a small test goin at different speeds on the highway and I think that fuel economy depends more on how you drive than how far and fast. It seems that your act rpm has more to do with your fuel economy that your avg speed. Apparently the lower your rpm is, the less fuel you consume, therefore to maintain optimum fuel economy one must maintain the lowest rpm possible for the desired speed. For maximum fuel economy you are going to want to keep the lowest rpm after final gear, that speed should be your mpg sweet spot; mine is about 52 mph @1900rmp where I averaged 27.4 mpg. If you keep your rpm close to or below 2k you should deft see an improvement in fuel economy, however I must point out driving that softly and slow isn't very fun.

 

I got 26.3 mpg between Odessa, TX and Benson, Arizona averaging 79 mph, and that is real, doing the math mpg. I was amazed I actually did better than the EPA rating at those speeds. Pretty much the same when I went back through there 6 months later.

On the way to Kentucky and back though, 25 was about it and at lower speeds.

 

Haha. Yes I guess it is. I thought I read the whole thread but I guess I somehow missed your post. Oh well I guess it was worth re-stating.