I only have about 500 miles on my car but so far getting 22.5 mpg. Was hoping for more. About 3/4 highway, the rest back roads. Drive about 70-75 on highway and have not been hard on it.

 

I have 1250 miles, and just started watching my average after a fill up. I drive short trips to work, 10 mile round trip. And occasionally trips into town. I only get gas about every 2 weeks, and my average is 22.8.

 

I still find speed and wind direction to be huge factors. Last weekend a 250 mile round trip with highway driving and driving through a city of 100k population and two other towns of about 40k each gave 31.2 mpg at an average speed of 44.9 mph.

The previous weekend an interstate trip at 69.2 ave mph gave 26.8 into the wind and 29.2 coming back. My actual mileage computed manually checks out the same as the computer mpg. 1-2 tenths better the times I compared.

 

I'd love to include wind direction on TrueDelta's Gas Mileage Survey, but doubt many people would have that information.

 

Not bad 26.8 mpg and averaging almost 70 MPH into the wind...

 

Wow! I just got back from Mobile, AL, a 410 mile trip in my 09 Max. I filled up with Shell Premium which is now "Nitrogen Enriched". And if memory serves me correctly, the gas contained no Ethanol. I got over 500 miles on that tank!!! A new record for me. I find the Ethanol really lowers the mileage, so it's worth a few cents more to locate gas without it. I wonder what the Nitrogen Enrichment does??? Yay Shell!!!

 

For somewhat careful drivers who appreciate the ability of the CVT to hold RPMs down at highway speed, the MPGs on long freeway trips in this '09 will sometimes be rather impressive (over 30 MPG). Shell was my favorite gas from 1949 until they closed their stations around where I live about ten years ago. Now they have returned to this area, and I use Shell, Chevron or BP. I cut up all my other gas credit cards decades ago. I carried credit cards for 14 different gas brands at one time in the 1960s; I'm not sure there are even 14 gas brands left these days.

 

I got 28 miles on a gallon on my Max, it only has a little over 500 miles on speedo so far.

 

Do you think it might be possible to get a pole/chart of some sort where people say what kind of mileage they are getting?

 

This could be possible, but you have to be aware everyone drives differently, and everyone is driving in different conditions. More significantly, most folks do not know how to properly measure MPG. There have been many posters here who calculate their MPG based on one tankful. There are 46 reasons why that cannot be done accurately, and I have wasted a ton of server space to list them here about once every five years.

The '09 Maxima has a strong engine (290 HP), and is a fairly heavy car (3600 lbs). Because of those two factors, city MPG will not be impressive (takes a fair amount of gas for a fairly strong engine to move a fairly heavy car from stop over and over). Depending on the traffic situation, I would expect city MPG to normally vary from around 17 MPG to 21 MPG.

But the CVT in this car helps. Unless you step firmly on the pedal, this CVT tries to keep the RPMs as low as possible, and that definitely helps, especially once the car is rolling. It is greatly because of this CVT that the car can exceed 30 MPG on extended trips on flat, lightly-traveled freeways.

For suburban driving, I am getting round 23 to 25 MPG. For busy highways or freeways, I am getting around 26 to 27 MPG. For mostly open, somewhat hilly highways or freeways, I seem to get around 28 to 29 MPG. Open flat freeways (few of those near me) seem to get me 30 or 31 MPG, but I have seen two posters here who got 32 MPG on an extended open freeway trip.

As further info, it seems many posters here get somewhat the same MPG as I am getting.

 

As mentioned earlier in this thread, I conduct this sort of survey, and do include driving style and driving conditions. Results for the Maxima so far here:

Real-world Nissan Maxima gas mileage

Non-members see five responses. Total of 14 so far. Looking at all 14, the average is 24.8 MPG, driving with a light foot about 4% city, 25% suburbs, 71% highway. It would be nice to have responses with a greater variety of driving styles and conditions.

 

Thanks for doing that, I actually already saw that and was just wondering if doing a poll here could get a few more opinions on this.

 

Doing one here should get more responses, since there's no further commitment. The problem is that forum polls don't let you gather data on multiple variables unless someone wants to pull data from posts.

 

One other variable I have noticed...Cruise Control. If I drive with my foot (and pay attention) I am one of those Light mentions that get the 30+ MPG on the road...If, however, I drive the same route with Cruise on, I get the 27-28MPG.

 

Cruise is very inefficient with hills. But you're in central Florida, so this is a bit puzzling.

 

With the ENDLESS gently rolling hills in the area where I live, cruise control just doesn't work at all. Wastes fuel trying to maintain an exact speed all the way up the hills, then wastes more gas by not letting the car gain speed on the downhills.

Like you, I am a little surprised that cruise doesn't do almost as well as driving without cruise in central Florida.

But then I remember how I am FOREVER making minute adjustments with the gas pedal in order to maintain gaps/positioning/etc, drifting to stops from some distance away, picking up speed more slowly if I see there will be another stop or traffic situation ahead, easing back when I am in a position where I want to pick up speed right before reaching a passing zone, in order that I will arrive right behind the car I wish to pass as we enter the passing zone, and am already at passing speed without increasing the RPMs. Of course a few real 'biggies' are allowing the speed to sink on even the gentlest climbs, taking full advantage of even slight downgrades to gain speed, and altering speed in order to arrive at traffic lights when they are green.

Cruise control is a wonderful thing on a perfectly flat road with no traffic and no traffic lights, but humans have a slight advantage in other situations.

 

LMAO Well they aren't like the hills I grew up with in Missouri, but they do have some rolling terrain and wind. Watching the "instantaneous mileage" indicator shows the relative "throttle working" on cruise and it seems very busy while on cruise (compared to a steady throttle with my foot.

 

FYI, here are my numbers. I have less than 1000 miles on the car and have filled up only three times and my driving is local. However I live in central Arkansas and there is not a level road anywhere. Even the Wal-Mart parking lot is slanted. For the first fill up I only got 15.69 MPG and I contribute it to the fact that the dealer probably did not fill it completely, or used regular gas or a combination of the two. The next two fill ups have averaged 24.48 MPG. I don't think this is too bad considering the terrain where I live, the engine is not broken in and I have not started using synthetic oil. So far the mileage is only 2.5 MPG less than my '04 2.5S Altima averaged. Probably by this time next year the mileage will compatible with the Altima.

 

24+ sounds great to me.

My wife's from Hardy, AR. Going to be there next week to visit the in-laws. Lots of hills.

 

Keep her out of the shops so you can have more money for car stuff.

 

I think the shops are for tourists.

I didn't speak very precisely, though. She's from NEAR Hardy. In-laws' house is off the paved road, up in the hills...

 

I think I know the road - Turn left at the 'NIGHT CRAWLERS SANDWICHES (no separation) sign, go three miles down the gravel road, then turn left on a dirt road named 'Hootin Holler', go two more miles, then turn right on a mud rut marked with a hand-written sign that says 'Jethro Plunkett's - likker', then go just past the third moonshine still on the right and park between the corn crib and the pig stye. Then walk the last mile up the steep trail, being careful to step over each rattlesnake. As you get near the cabin, yell out 'Hey Jethro; it's me. Don't shoot.' Then stand there and wait for Jethro to come out and invite you closer. I always wait until the barrel of his gun is no longer pointed at me.

 

You must be thinking of somewhere else. Hardy is in a dry county. (Yes, they do still exist.)

 

Yep, I'm from just north of there between Gainesville and West Plains MO! You will have a blast in your Maxi driving those roads!..Hmmm..maybe I need to take a trip back to the old homestead!!!!

 

<OT>My father-in-law used to teach at West Plains, very close.

Unfortunately will be in rented minivan, and at the end of a 700-mile drive with three kids won't be enjoying much of anything...</OT>

 

Had my 09 a couple of months now and it just turned 1100 miles. No highway trips (yet) but I've hit 21 MPG average the whole time. Anxious to see what she'll get on my trip to Chicago next weekend!

 

I've had mine for about 2 weeks and have 1200 miles on it so far. My average speed (according to the computer) is 29.1 MPH, and the MPG is wavering between 23.0 and 23.2.

My driving is a mix of in-town, and crowded highway so I don't often get to cruise w/o braking. But this week I was able to do some open highway driving, and the MPG was really good - in the 29-30 MPG range.

 

Hey guys, 1st post here.

Loving the 09 MAX. My MPG is a constant 22.7. I drive about 60 miles round trip to work and back and maybe another 15 or so afterward. Typical speed is 70-75 mph. 90% highway. I was hoping to get at least 25 out of it.. but maybe it needs more breaking in?? I average right around 415 miles per tank. and fill up with 18gallons of gas each time.. Using '93 Ive got right around 5000 miles todate

As for the miles to empty light, let me tell you that its close. Maybe about 30 miles after the ------ comes on. And the tank is a true 20gallons. hehehe... Thank goodness I was close to work where someone brought me 5gallons of gas :P And this is the first time Ive done that...

I had an 03 Altima SE 5speed that got close to 29/30 with the same driving habits that I drive the MAX. And when the ---- light came on, I could drive most of the day on it and still fill up with 18/19 gallons. typical miles were close to 500.

Over all, Im still happy with the MPG (anything over 20 is good in my book) but wish it was a little better.

 

Ahhh, the good old days, when we had to push the Chevy the last hundred feet to the levy, because we couldn't afford as much gas as we needed. And that was no real problem, because we could call a friend, or grab an empty gas can from the trunk and start walking. Worked just the same as running out of gas with our lawn mower.

But running out of gas in this '09 Maxima can be serious business. Nissan warns us every way they can that we are NEVER to run this tank dry. You may have damaged your catalytic converter, and it may no longer pass emission inspection. You could also damage your fuel pump, which is in the gas tank, and which depends on having a few gallons of gas covering it in order to keep it from overheating. Running out of gas is not good for the fuel system under the hood in this car, either.

As to fuel efficiency, there are far too many variations to enable much in the way of MPG comparisons between the different drivers here, but sometime when you are on a long freeway trip, try to measure your gas mileage. Folks here who have done that are generally getting between 28 and 32 MPG when doing all (or virtually all) freeway driving.

This is a fairly heavy car (3600 lbs) with a fairly powerful engine (290 HP), and starting and stopping and slowing and speeding up with that combination takes quite a bit of energy. All things considered, I am very happy with the MPG I have been getting in most driving conditions.

I still remember my '66 Olds Delta 88, which had a 25 gallon tank, required premium fuel (would NOT run on regular gas), weighed over 4,000 lbs, and got 8 MPG around town and 11 MPG in interstate driving. I locked the brakes (no ABS back then) on that thing from 80 MPH going down a long hill in a freeway emergency, and all four almost-new tires received a flat spot all the way down to the steel belts from that one panic stop. Times have really changed, and for the better.

 

When it started to sputter, I pulled of and turned the car off. Then I tried to turn it back on, just in case it was something diff, but it kept trying to turn over. Then I turned it off after about 3 seconds. I hope Im not the first to have a new car not pass inspection and have to have some major work done cause I thought I could go a few more miles. But maybe I can have it done on warranty..... Could they know that I ran out of gas?

My buddy had an Viper ACR and took me for ride back in the day, he had it for only 1 week when we took out and stomped it to 120 something in a few seconds and then slammed on the breaks and when he let off, a thump thump, thump, thump.... the ACR did not have ABS in them that year. Oh he was up set.

 

I would sau i do mixed driving, but all i have been getting is 21-22mpg. I check the mpg every time i fill up then i reset the mileage. i dont see how some of you get 25-30 doing 70mpg.

 

I'm not sure if they can tell you ran out of gas (but they might), but then the catalytic converter might be considered a 'wear' item like tires, brake pads, windshield wipers, etc, which have a rather limited warranty. I don't really know.

Since these sensitive catalytic converters were added to vehicles a few decades ago, I have been very careful to never let the tank get low. I would not be surprised if a new catalytic converter installed at the dealer cost somewhere around $500.

 

More like $1K

 

Nobody here is getting anywhere near 30 MPG in mixed driving. That can only be obtained in the '09 Maxima on open road driving. Many here are getting below 20 MPH in mostly city driving, and most here are getting between 20 and 26 in mixed driving. Those getting in the upper part of that 20 to 26 window are not doing a high percentage of true 'city' driving.

The reason this car gets good mileage at 70 MPH on open roads is because, once the car is moving at 70, only a very small percentage of the power of this 290 HP engine is required to keep the car moving at that speed. This CVT knows that, hence lets the RPMs drift way down to where the car is just sipping gas.

But driving where there are starts and stops or speeding up and slowing down in a 3600 pound vehicle with 290 HP will suck some gas.

 

Now that you mention it, I think I remember seeing where someone here had a quote last fall of around $950. Thanks for the info, 09Maxima_Sam.

 

Al Gore BEWARE..... The high costs of Cats usually lead me to going with straight pipes. I know I know, this isn't the most environmentally safe way to approach the issue but for me when I fried my Cats on my 300zx on a trip the cost for me to put in straight pipes was $200 installed. The only thing I can think of possibly going wrong with that idea on my Max is the O2 sensors. Does anybody know if they are before or after the cats?

 

Wow! Things must really be loose and easy in Canada. Eliminating the Catalytic converter is against federal law in the U.S. A car that had that part removed would be rejected before even beginning its emissions inspection, which is now required in order to obtain a license plate for a car in most metropolitan areas, as well as large regions around them.

 

now with this being said, ill be more willing to fill up more often and not let it get anywhere to this point. Im still under the 5000 miles in two months, so if if does go wrong, then i hope its goes soon. but hopefully it wont be a problem. this could be a costly learning experience

 

Went on my first road trip last weekend, back and forth between Madison, WI and St. Paul, MN, cruising at 74 MPH most of the way. Roughly 500 miles of interstate driving, the Maxima calculated 27.9 MPG, slightly above the 27.6 that I got figuring it out. The car only had 2000 miles on the onset of the trip. Not too shabby.

 

Not shabby at all for a car this size and engine this strong. Hope you completed the trip before those 18 tornadoes struck. Thanks for the MPG info.