My mileage sucks. I get about 22 mixed city/highway, 24 all highway going 79 w/ cruise.

My 5th gen was marginally better.


I was under the impression that an intake could actually help mileage - is that true?

I drive somewhat aggressively, but nothing too bad.

Anything in particular that could be causing this?

I never get over 400 miles to a tank

 

Well I got about 290 to a tank and that's going somewhat on the highway and city driving. I think straight highway would b better miles per gallon.

 

Just FYI to some people in here.... Cruise control does NOT help your fuel economy in most cases

 

Other than driving habits, why am I seeing such a wide range of fuel economy here?

 

In some cases it does, you just need to be aware of what your engine is doing.

If you drive mostly hwy in flat areas, CC works. On hilly areas, turn it off and feather your throttle manually. Especially on down grades. You can really up your mileage by coasting down hills. Going up hills, do your best to keep in top gear, even if this means that you are slowing down.

Try not to use the accel button on the cc. It tends to downshift frequently, where if you manually give more gas, then set your cc again this has proven to be much more efficient.

I use my cruise all the time, like Ron Popeil says, set it and forget it. 71mph always warrants me between 26-30mpg's based upon wind and weather conditions. This is also with regular fuel. I tried premium for 3 months and it only warranted 1mpg better.

The 09 actually has a current mpg meter on one of the screens so you can better judge how you are doing.

 

I didn't buy a Maxima for fuel economy.

 

 

trusting the car's computer readout for MPG =

If it were a stretch of road with no hills... cc is fine. But more often than not (depending upon location) there are elevation changes.

If there are elevation changes, don't use cc.

anyhow, I'm not the type of person to even care what mpg I get, just some people make me when talking about cc.

 

You're one of those people that is seen holding up traffic going up a hill.

I use CC all the time and I live in the Rockies.

 

no, I'm the person who picks up their speed coming down the hill and then maintains that speed up the next hill for maximum efficency

You use cc all of the time, but are you using it for fuel economy?

 

yeah, I was able tog et 25 mixed on my last tank, where I typically get 22. But I like WOT and 7100 RPM too much, so I don't really drive for fuel economy.

 

Same here. But on that trip up north, I wasnt in any hurry, so I wanted to see how good a gas mileage I could get. I could have done even better if I went a little slower, but I kept it around 75 mph with AC on. I see these little cars advertised getting 32, 33, or 34 mpg and i got 30.0 mph on a 420 mile trip in a modded V6. woohooo!!

 

My best evAr was 27, this is due to the sucky 4AT.

 

at u guys gettin 300...400 plus on ur tank avg. def goin to put out im a hating on u guys for that reason. im lucky to get 270 on my tank.

 

i think gas evaporate quicker at the last half due to the fact that theres more air in tank then when topped off. that might be why it seeems that gas is going quicker on the last half of tank.

 

its cause the baffles are in the bottom of the tank to stop fuel sloshing in turns and it takes up room, as well as the body of the sending unit taking up space

 

Hey wutsup i just hoped into a nissan maxima n i think it a great machin but i was wondering because of this gas crisis if it would be better to upgrade my intake or just pay for gas as is

 

I think its possible...just last weekend I drove to the border of New Jersey and Pennsylvania from Connecticut and burned only a quarter tank of gas and got well over 30 mpg...When I used to drive the 5th gen Maxima the same duration it burned twice as much

 

It seems that these cars get exceptional gas mileage if driven gently. The moment you tromp it to the floor, the gas mileage drops hugely. Not only are some mods not detrimental to gas mileage, it may even help. Lowering a car reduces airflow under the car, which reduces drag - same with addition of front spoiler. Wider tires reduce gas mileage, but pumping them up a few pounds on long trip increases gas mileage. I believe my rear mesh valance may have helped gas mileage since it allows air to flow through the rear bumper instead of being trapped behind it. A UDP plus any other weight savings helps gas mileage since the car doesnt have to work as hard. Regarding intakes, exhaust mods, not sure of the effect on gas mileage.

I have an advantage with a 6 speed manual in that I can coast down hills which offsets the gas used to climb the hill and I can do that better than a car with an automatic tranny.

 

Yeah, you don't have to cruise at speed limit, but you have to be gentle with the throttle to get good MPG.

 

I truely hate to say this but if any of you have ever driven a prius it really shows you how to drive at maximum MPG. Believe me I love to feel my baby go but with my K&N and that only I have been able to achieve 28+ in mixed driving. If fuel economy means the most to you a 3.5L maxi probably wasnt the best choice, but you can get reasonable gas milege if you arent constantly stomping on the pedal (which i love to do as much as the next guy).

 

I've noticed great improvement in gas mileage after installing my lightweight rims. It went from like 15 to 17 MPG city. Then I eased of the pedal a bit and got about 19. Even if I drive like a stole it it never goes back to what it was a year ago.

Get rid of heavy sucker rims.

 

I used to that in the city, then I started "enjoying views" on the side of the car and automatically went up to close to 400. You need to just let the car roll, you don't need to race to the red light ahead of you. Just let it ROLL.

I found my computer to be very acurate. I can just calculate what is left in the tank based on MPG it shows and when I get to the pump I am within 1/2 gallon. Last week I read about Toyota Prius owners and the techniques they employ, I hopped in the car and on the way home mixed city and highway I pulled over 27 MPG. You can do it too.

 

We all like WOT, especially when you want to hear the Fujita growl but all in all the car is capable of decent MPG if you just don't constantly mash the pedal which I am very GUILTY of

 

I thought my Maxima magically became a civic after a 2 hr trip to the beach (200 miles from PA - NJ ) until I read this thread. I got about 30-32mpg on highway driving at 50-60mph. I thought the ultra 93 gas kicked in but I guess it was drafting the crap outta my friends car in front of me. ( 2000 Maxima Se Auto, wish I had a manual :[ )

 

Someone please tell me how to get such good millage, I avg 18.9.. is there a way to make that go up?

 

Yes. Highway driving. Dont floor it. Keep ur tire pressure above 35 psi. Make sure ur windows are rolled up. Coast downhill.

 

 

Most cars get the best mpg at 50-60mph and you were right at that range. The mpg falls beyond that speed. I think the auto manufacturers specify hwy mpg at around 70mph where the Maxima gets about 25mpg.

That is one reason I prefer taking a state route (speed limit 45-60mph) rather than a hwy (speed limit 65-75mph) if that reduces the total distance travelled.

 

The problem with taking state routes is that it usually contains one or two lane ... ever sat in a single lane highway with an old lady driving at 40mph? Oh you will love it

 

I just did over 600 miles of interstate travel and I averaged over 26 MPG. There was some punching involved and lots of hills (adirondacs). If I coasted around 65-70 I would have easily obtained 30 MPG like I have in the past on other trips.

 

Just took the 2008 on a 500 mile highway trip through PA. Lots of mountains and about 10-15% off interstate driving. I really worked HARD at driving the car in the most economical of ways. (Yes I ran the A/C most of the time.)

AVG 27.7 MPG with the CVT . ..........trust me ......it was not easy.

 

That's weird becuase I did have the A/C running too and I didn't do anything special other then kept it fairly steady. I did stomp it on couple occasions and did do some heavy hills in the mountains. 26MPG wasn't hard to obtain. If I did all the possible tricks I am aware off I believe I doing 30MPG shouldn't be that hard. With over 21 gallons in the tank, it should be possible to get 600 Miles out of the tank. Problem is I don't have the time nor the patience to just waste a day and drive for no reason.

 

For a short time I commuted 2 hours to work and then home, usually went on off hours, and hauling *** up and down the NJ Turnpike doing on average 75-80 and at times 90+ I consistently got 24-26mpg, only real hard take off was out of 1 toll both but usually I was easy on the pedal cause I filled up everyday

My range at the highest went to 525, mostly all highway

 

My current goal after reading through this topic is to get to the 500 mile mark on a tank of gas. I think its achievable.. esp since 600 has already been done.

 

here are the most recent numbers I had on 3 fillups, from the last week:
Total Gallons: 47.132
Total Mileage:1,298.6
Avg MPG: 27.55
Avg Cost/Gal:3.969
Total Fuel Cost: $187.12

85% approx hwy, 71/mph w/ cruise control and a/c on.

 

Reb, your numbers are right on for the 07-08 CVT. I think a conventional A/T provides better mpg than the 07-08 CVT when driving above 65 mph due to higher RPMs in the CVT. I think Nissan fixed that in the 09 CVT.

My 07 Max has 9,500 miles on the odo. Here are some of my mpg's at different speeds. Each of these are averages over at least 5 different observations. Each observation is obtained from the computer by running the car on cruise for at least 20 miles.

MPG @ 50 mph = 31.0
MPG @ 55 mph (2000 rpm) = 29.5
MPG @ 60 mph (2100 rpm) = 28.3
MPG @ 65 mph (2250 rpm) = 27.0
MPG @ 70 mph (2375 rpm) = 26.0
MPG @ 75 mph (2445 rpm) = 24.8


Xoomer, How do you fit over 21 gals of gas in a 20 gal tank?

 

my 08 gets about 250 a tank

 

im right with you on that fathom idk how they get even 400+

 

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