ttbeam

I know everyone's tired of this topic but it took me three weeks for my little test and I wanted to post my findings.

For each week I calculated the old fashion way. Most of my driving is pretty rural and can drive 45-65 mph for long stretches at a time. There is some stop and go but never bumper-to-bumper highway stuff.

For the first week I drove normal (lead foot) and got 19.9
The second week I drove like Granny and got 22.9
The third week I drove strictly w/manual shift and got 21.4
Yesterday, I took a 250 mile day trip driving mostly 75 mph and got 25.5

I think I'll drive whichever way my mood suits me!!!!

dla

I didn't know the Max operated in Granny mode! Or is that a feature that I didn't get?

michaelcoletti

I would have the car checked. I live in the SF bay area, and the traffic here sucks. Bumper to Bumper a lot of the time. Commute is 35 miles each way, and it take about 50 minutes. I have checked the "old fashion way" vs. the on screen display, and find that they are very close. I average 22 miles per gallon with the every day commute driving, and on long freeway only driving at 80+ MPH, I am getting around 26 MPH

SilverMax_04

I find the computer in the Max gives pretty good mpg readings (I also do the calculation). Also, it's difficult to fill up you fuel tank to exactly the same level every time. You can easily get 1/2 to 1 gallon difference on each fill-up. So, I believe the computer reading more than I believe a mpg reading from a single fill-up.

I've driven more than 250 miles (at 70 to 78 MPH) and gotten 29+ mpg. At other times I've gotten (on the same stretch of road) 26+ mpg. I attribute the difference to wind speed and direction, but otherwise can not explain the differences. {I have 30K miles in 2 years on my 04.}

Bottom line: Enjoy driving your Maxima. I know that theory says I should get the best mileage on my Max (with 6-speed) by driving on the freeway at 55 MPH in 6th gear. But I tend to drive on the freeway at 70 to 80 MPH.

ttbeam

What you're getting isn't that far off from what I'm getting. I can live with it. It's much better than my old Xterra.

ceehan

iTrader: (1)

I've reset the mpg reading back to zero on my screen and when it says that I'm getting 16.3 mpg. I have yet to hit over 20, highest is probably 18. I live in nyc so the traffic gets a little bad and I dont do a lot of highway driving. Should I call Nissan or is it normal? I see these posts of people getting over 20 and I get jealous. Maybe its the way I'm driving? I usually go over 3000 rpm and I dont leave the car on idle for a long time either. WTF DO I DO?

ceehan

iTrader: (1)

whoops, i meant i usually DONT go over 3000 rpm.

joffy

Hey ceehan. I'm in nyc too. In the bumper to bumper traffic we have i've gotten some bad numbers but I leave for work at 3am and at that time i've gotten up to 28mpg. It's mostly that if the car doesn't get into that closed loop cycle of the engine it just doesn't get good mileage. That 22mpg city must have been obtained in a city with no people, lol. The 28 mpg highway is obtainable. Next time you have a clear highway zero the indicator out and check it as soon as you get off the pkwy. You'll see how much better it does on the hwy than the streets.

Roshan

I have cai, and exhaust, and my mpg is 11 on the road.. and 19 on highway.. is it me... or is my car guzzlein gas... i checked with normal driving, and i checked with the pedal floored, i still get the same... is the computer not checking the mpg properly?

ceehan

iTrader: (1)

i guess before we had the car, we all probably thought this was a great feature to have. All its done is make everyone paranoid.

clayman88

iTrader: (1)

Dude, theres gotta be something wrong. I cant imagine any reason why you should be getting 11 mpg. Most V8 1/2 ton pickups get better mpg than that.

clayman88

iTrader: (1)

ceehan, how many miles do you have on your car? I've heard that there is a "break-in" period on most new cars in which they dont get very good mileage. I cant really confirm how true that is though.

Okiewan

My 3/4 ton 02' F250 4X4 does better than that, lol. Better have it checked. Of course the dealer will probably blame the intake. But hey, all that HP you gained should be worth it.

In Dallas traffic (I35) 22 mpg's.
Highway at 75, 26 or so.

ceehan

iTrader: (1)

my car just broke 5,000 miles. What gets me is that I heard that the "break-in" period is the first 2,000 miles but I'm still getting the same mileage. It's not like I drive around a lot because I had the car for like 5 months. Just don't understand. BTW, what kind of maintenance should be done around 5,000 miles? I only did an oil change so far. I hate going to dealers because I hate being overcharged.

04BlackMaxx

I drive pretty mildly, and geyt a consistant 24MPG in city/highway driving, and I usually reset after a fill up, this is where it always ends up. Im happy with 24.

MastMax

I have 6k on mine.... I drive mostly to & from work - 15 miles @ 55-65mph highway and then 3 miles 35-45mph through traffic lights. According to computer - 23.9 which is real close to my manual calcs.. (I'm not a leadfoot, but not a granny either, well, maybe a leadfoot sometimes!!!)
Also, do you guys believe the distance till empty is right? I hate to try it, but it always seems like there is a gallon or two more worths of mileage in the tank than the DTE shows. Maybe I'm not filling tank completely up??? Anyone run it down till the DTE shows 0 miles???

SilverMax_04

I also have a Dodge 3/4 ton pickup with a V-10 engine. I get about 11 mpg, but only when my slide-in camper is in the back. Without the camper I get about 12 mpg in town and about 16-18 mpg on the highway. If I drive at 75 MPH with the camper on the back, the mileage falls to about 9 mpg. So I normally "cruise" at 65 MPH with the camper, simply to save gasoline.

There is something wrong with your Max. First, I would do the manual mileage calculation to be certain the problem is not in the on-board computer.

For those who've forgotten: it is miles per gallon. (Be certain that you fill the tank on both ends of this calcualtion.) Divide the mileage from your last full gas tank by the gallons you've bought over that time. Say you've driven 500 miles and bought gas twice totaling 20 gallons - that gives you an average of 25 mpg for those miles.

-AoW-JP

NYC all day driver here too. As posted before this is no gas friendly car. It eats as much gas as an 80s V8 in the city. I don't mind it tho because gas is free for me.

joffy

HeyAow, why is your gas free? Since you're in ny fill mine up too, lol.

ceehan

iTrader: (1)

ive never reset it after a fillup. I'm gonna try it and see what happens.

B52G

A buddy has a Gen 5 and says he is happy to get 21 or 22 mpg out of it. I just picked up a new SE on Sat. and yesterday took her down I81 with cruise set at 70. The comp. read 28.9, at first I thought there was a mistake. I reset it and a couple of miles later I checked again and it read 29.1. If the mpg function is accurate this car is a dream come true.

NEPatriot

I drive from seacoast of NH to north of Boston on Rt 95 averaging 80 to 90 and I get 25 to 26 mpg. I always use 91 to 93 oct. maybe this helps w/ the mileage. The 3.5 is the best engine 6 cylinder I have ever own. Great car

brewboy13

Speaking of granny. I met a lady at the gas station the day before I bought mine and asked her what kind of mpg she got. She told me that she got 27mpg all in the city and she only used 87octane Shell gas all of the time. Now that I own one I find that about impossible to believe I am lucky to get 21.5 in the city on 93. She was about 60yrs. old so it's hard to say she was lying. I was amazed at her comment but I do not use 87.

brewboy13

There is a four gallon reserve. You will show empty on the computer with 4 gallons left.

MaximumMike

I get about the same. I'm usually about 24.7 to 25.1 MPG.

ceehan

iTrader: (1)

i filled up and i reset the mpg thing. low and behold, i broke 20 mpg, all the way up to 23.6 and then i hit traffic and it shot back down to 20. But i'm just glad that I broke 20.

ckaught78

I have had my Maxima for abour 3 weeks, filled up 3 times, getting 25-26mpg and I am only using 87. This morning I had my computer stating 52mpg. I reset it while cruising at 45mph in 5th.

MaxJ04

iTrader: (4)

i have no idea but last sunday i was crusing with 4 ppl in the car ( 04 max SE ) in the highway about 65 mph and i reseted the mpg meter and for some reason half hr into the drive i was averaging about 31mpg... is that normal? i thought 04 maxima only had 20/27 so is this normal .. b/c i think is a good thing ...but then when i got back to local streets i was averaging like 19mpg .. thas a different story cuz local streets sucks....

ckaught78

Advertised fual estimates are average, give or take 5mpg on both cith and hwy. There is no reason why you couldn't get 30+ cruising at 65 on a freeway for a long period of time.

JayMAX22

Does lowering your car give you better gas mileage? A guy I work with gave me that bit of knowledge. He's one of those guys that know all of the weird things and has trouble walking and chewing gum at the same time. Has anyone else heard of this?