I average in an 04' 18.8 city. I just changed my air filter and it has been going up the last few days.

 

man my computer is telling me 11mpg average and i did the calcuation and procedure of resetting the trip meter and running the full tank out. It gave me 176 miles city to a tank and when devided by the size of the tank i'm getting 9 or so miles per gallon because i'm putting gas a lot during the week. My car has a Ingen CAI, I dont know if that has anything to do with the poor milage. Haven't gone on any long trips since i got the car so i dont know what it's at on the hywy. When i first got it it was saying 17.6 average on the display. I dont know if anyone has suggestions. I'm not trying to hijack this thread but any help i can get will be very appriciated. Thanks.

 

I'm getting about 360-380 miles per 16-17gls, about 22MPG of mix driving. I got a little over 500 miles/tank once on a trip, steady 80-90MPH and cool weather. I don't drive slow, but I don't race off the line either; not usually.

 

After installing the fujika and 3 inch cattback, I went from 420 miles on a full tank to 345. I'm going to blame this on the pedal to the metal accelerations that now come from listening to the car scream.

 

word... mostly city i get around 16 as well.

 

Gas mileage threads are always interesting. My wife just took delivery of her, and I repeat, her '07 SE (Dark Slate/Frost) and is expecting to get the mileage she got on her '95 SE. 24 mixed driving. Sounds as though she may. My question with all the calculations going on is: do you top off the tank with those extra squeezes each fill-up or do stop at the auto-off? I don't think it's a real factor over a three or four tankful calculation. By the way, I only get to drive it when it needs gas. That part hasn't changed from the '95.

 

I'm with you there in the same hood...I get 16-20 tops. I am shocked if I ever avg 20.

 

actually to add to my previous post, it's clearly evident that us NYers are avging considerably lower mpg compared to the rest of the country. I have to agree with xoomer that there are just way too many red traffic lights here it's just insane. I mean it feels like once you accelerate from one, you have to brake right away to slow down for the next light. For those who drive in Manhattan regularly, you know exactly what I'm referring to. The proximity of lights is just way too close.

So to yall peeps who are out in the midwest to the west coast, I believe cities with much more stop and go play a huge factor. My friends who lived in NYC and moved out to LA can agree with me on that. Then again, gas out there is a bit more pricier...

 

For my 1st 15k miles I used dino oil and was avg 25.5 MPG (same as my '02 Altima SE did for 36k miles). At 15k I switched to M1 SS w/105 (reset puter) and MPG dropped down to 23 MPG. Tried another puter reset 1/2 way thru and 23 was consistent. 1200 miles ago I did my 2nd M1 SS change w/filter and have driven around town, city traffic and 2 trips up to mountains w/ac and now averaging 27.7 MPG. I typically use the 89 octane and live in the Boston area.

 

I'm getting like 20-21mpg, 50/50 city/highway driving.

I have a heavy foot so that doesn't help. I've got high 20's when I've reset the computer when I'm going on a long highway trip...

Is anyone else having trouble with filling up sometimes, I'll have like a 1/4 tank and it will kick back like I'm topped off. It doesn't happen all the time, but it's weird... any thoughts out there?

 

My average in 50/50 driving is about 21-22 mpg. On the highway I get 26.5 @ 75mph.

 

I've had my 07' Max for about 7 months now.It has 7500 miles on it now. I've been told that the mpg will get better once it breaks in. I get 15-16 mpg in Philly suburbs. Highway 22-23 mpg but I do mostly city so I always avg 16 mpg $65.00 to fill the tank. If this continues for the next 6-12 months I will sell the car. I love the car, but the mpg is killing me.

 

My 2004 gets 23 to 25 around town and 30 mpg on the highway.

 

I just got back from a long drive (1725 miles one way) to the beach in SC (took Interstates through Kansas City, St Louis, Nashville, Knoxville, Ashville, and Columbia -- and then back roads to the coast). I usually drive at from 5 to 8 mph over the speed limit. I went through a few speed traps at this speed with no complaints from the troopers. So where did I get hit -- on a back road in Colorado on the trip home -- he was coming over a hill in the opposite direction. He stopped me for doing 72 in a 65 zone -- but only got a warning.

With a fairly well loaded car and trunk (in both directions with 2 adults), my mileage on the highway ranged from 28.4 MPG (average speed 72 mph) down to 27.1 MPG (average speed 70 mph). I suspect there was a slight head wind on the low mileage and a slight tail wind on the high mileage. Have not averaged the whole trip out, but a rough average (11 fill-ups) is about 27.5 MPG.

Around town here I get between 23 and 25 MPG with average speeds of between 21 and 25 mph.

You are seeing the effect of a shut-off valve at the gas station that is too sensitive for the bends in our gas tank filler pipe. The problem is with the station and not with your car.

 

On a 650 mile r/t ATL to Charleston, we got 25.3 MPG with the AC running and the cruise set for 3-4 miles over the limit. Can never seem to get what the winodw sticker says....but I'll take 25+ anyday.

 

25.3 isn't that good, considering CVT and todays Gas prices. MY 98 BMW 540iA was getting 24.5@75mph cruising.

I drove mine 04 6speed for 150miles with AC and 10mph over the limit and got 27.2, which I'm not too happy about, since it's not even close to the sticker, which is 29



P.S. I made it to 15 posts!!!

 

For steady-state high speed cruising, the CVT is of little or no value and likely a hindrance. As SilverMax04 likes to point out, the CVT generates a bunch of waste heat that is not offset by its other efficiencies in a pure cruise mode.

In typical "suburban" driving, however, the CVT can make a huge difference. In comparison to my '03 with essentailly the same motor but a 4AT, my '07 runs around 23mpg vs 20.5 on the '03. If I really pay attention and keep her under 1800rpm (easy to do with the CVT and still pull away from traffic), I can get a 25mpg "all city" tank average out of her.

On long highway trips, however, the '03 ran ~26mpg for me where the '07 only runs in the 24.5/25 range. All those ratios can't help in a steady cruise mode.

Since I'm doing 95% of my driving around town, I'm quite happy with this "improvement".

 

Correct. The manual trannie is the best for highway cruising as it generates the least abount of waste heat.

 

I have 2004 SL with the 5 speed automatic. I had the oil changed for the 63,750 interval. I also had the 3M fuel injectors cleaned for $140. I had the fuel injectors cleaned because at 80 mph, my mpg was 20. After the service, I get 25. On the highway at 65 mph, I get 30 MPG.

 

17 city, and around 23 for the highway..Car only has like 1200 miles, so it may take a while to get better mileage.

 

Good lord... u must NEVER get on it...

i get like 19/20

 

Since I'm in a small town.. On a regular i get around 25-27 mpg in the "city" and around 31.1 on highway.. i just got into new orleans today and it ready 31.0 so it doing pretty good with 60,000 miles on it... She really needs a bath though ANYONE?

 

Folks here 'wanting' the sticker MPG should be aware there are virtually no vehicles that attain the sticker MPG consistently. But the rules are changing, and window stickers on ALL '08 models will be calculated by an entirely new set of formulas, and will be consistently lower (and more realistic) than the current ones which were obtained by the meaningless formulas used since the 1970s.

Several here are comparing their 6th gen MPG with that of their Maximas (and other makes) from the 1990s. The Maximas I am familiar with from the 1990s did not weigh 3500 ('04 model) to 3600 ('07 model) pounds, nor did they have 265 HP (which the 6th gens have when measured with the rules under which HP was calculated until just a few years ago).

Please try to compare apples to apples.

 

I have a 05 max 6spd ! The best gas mileage I've gotten on one 20 gallon tank 459 miles that equals 22.95 miles per gallon and shifting at 2500-2800 rpm but speeds up to 70 mph . I always run 93 octane. My average mileage is 373 per tank 19 miles per gallon with quite a bit of getting down on it with speeds 70-80 mph mostly (occasionally 118 mph nice country roads)! I bought my Maxima because I wanted a sport car performance and still be able to carry a family and friends when needed! So I not going to be upset about the gas mileage. I have the best of both worlds and if I need better gas mileage I just slow down and get it!

 

If you want to increase ur mileage, keep your tires at around 40 psi, or a bit more if ur teeth can handle it. Some of the older folk on here apparently cant handle it, lol.

 

DeusEx - It goes a little deeper than us 'older folk not being able to handle' 40 or more PSI; its more a case of having done that sort of thing at times over the past 58 years and found our suspension and strut systems developed wear and problems sooner, and tires wore down to the belts in the middle in 15K miles while there was still 30K worth of rubber remaining on the edges.

Having lived and suffered during the awful depression of the 1930s, I guess us old fogies are just a little tighter with our money. I check my trees every day, and so far, none of them seems to be able to grow money. Maybe your trees are different.

And just to lend some validity to your statement, I will readily admit that, with roads (and bridges) in the condition they are these days, I don't enjoy a thousand mile road trip on 40 PSI nearly as much as I did way back when I was in my sixties. My bladder is not nearly in as good shape as the inner tubes all tires required when I was young.

 

As always, "light" got it correct in his post, above.

When they were new last year, I tried running my Michelin Pilot Sports at 35 psi (rather than the Nissan recommended 32 psi) cold. After a few months, I noticed I was getting more wear on the center treads (as light described in his post above) and quickly went back to 32 psi.

Like much in automobile technology, the tire pressure you use is a compromise between two extremes. I believe you should avoid the extremes and find a middle ground that works for you. For me, I will stick to 32 psi -- at least for these tires.

 

I have run my Sumitomos and Dunlops at 40 and show no signs of uneven wear. If anyone runs em at 32, make sure ur AAA membership is current.

 

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....&highlight=mpg
I get over 400 miles per tank.

 

I just picked up my 07 SE on 7/7 and holy crap was I surprised by the MPG! The first tank was 17.3 avg. That's with 75/25 hwy/city driving. Also, since it's new, I know not to get on it for at least 1k miles.

The last tank I got a little better, 19.7 avg but this isn't anything close to what I thought I'd be getting!

 

I get about 18~MPG..100% city...~34km/h.

Using 87 octane.

 

Don't get too concerned. It takes a while for the engine to break-in so things should get better after 5k miles or so. Also, do the math on a calculator and don't necessarily trust the computer until you validate it is accurate. I find mine to be fairly accurate but still double check it every once in a while. I'm 75/25% Highway/City and I average 22-24 MPG in my '04.

 

Yea, I always do the math on the cell at the pump. Hell, I just figured out I could reset the damn MPG computer!

 

Those are VERY good numbers for a brand new Max. Mine started in the 12-13 MPG range (for the first 4-5k miles or so), then gradually but steadily increased until I hit about 10k miles then started leveling off.

 

An interesting opportunity to "experiment" has become available to me this week. After having the Max serviced a few weeks ago, last week I received a call from the dealership offering a full tank of gas if I returned the Nissan service survey directly to the dealership before next week. Unfortunately, I had just filled the tank. Soooooo, I've been using the opportunity to have some fun.

I've already noted in this thread that I can coax 24-25MPG in my urban/suburban Charlotte commute (no highways at all, 50% stop & go urban, 50% suburban secondary roads (~1 mile between lights @ 45MPH). If I don't think much about it and drive "normally", its more like 22-23 MPG. Now, with a free tank of gas available if I burn off some fuel, I've been fairly aggressive with the car. Not illegally, just faster starts, higher rpms, more use of the auto-stick. Guess what.... mileage has tumbled to about 17.5MPG.

My point is... we all know that driving styles make a difference, but I'm not sure we think about how much of a difference it can make. Same car, same roads, same traffic... and I can go anywhere between 17.5 and 25 MPG just by relatively minor changes in driving style.

Interesting side note: My average commute time is virtually the same either way. Traffic and traffic lights tend to do that.

 

Just out of curiosity, I made an 80-mile trip the other day going 60 mph w/o running the AC. I got 35+ mpg. At that rate one tank of gas could get you over 600 miles(!).

 

It's been my opinion for some time that the most gasoline-efficient speed for our Max's is about 60 mph in top gear. But I suspect that to get 35 mph in your 6th Gen Max, you likely had a tail-wind. 30 to 32 mph is probably doable, but 35 just sounds too high -- and a tail wind is the most likely explanation (or you were predominately going down hill -- which isn't likely in Illinois).

 

I might have to agree with you. Each time I drive to Houston from San Antonio (about 200 miles) at 70mph...with the occasional romp...I'm at over 425 miles with a little less than a quarter tank left. You guys that are doubtful should experiment with using cruise control. I've noticed a nice increase in my efficiency by using cruise control even in the city.

 

UPDATE: I just ran through another tank. This time I drove like a freaking grandmother who has her 2 grandchildren in the back seat. I jumped on it twice throughout the week. Again the driving was about 75/25 hwy/city and on starts I made a conscious effort to not let the RPM's get above 2k.

I got 425 miles out of the tank and filled her up with 17.5 gallons of fuel. This gives me a hair over 24 mpg. This is an extreme difference from what I was getting but again I drove like an old lady to achieve it.

During this experiment I routinely tried different speeds on the highway to see what mpg's I could get. I found that 60 mph on cruise was the best and at that speed I was only getting 27.3 mpg. I'm baffled at how some of you are able to get 35 mpg on the highway!

 

I was getting 25 to 26 highway driving all the time then I noticed it go done to 22mpg then my service engine soon light came on about a month or 2 later pre cat clogged [came a part internally] in the front 1300$ repair i just got fixed yesterday. I have a little over 100,000miles on it. Im back to get 25mpg again today