Ghozt

This is pretty damn impressive mileage for a 290 HP V6. First highway trip so I had no idea...



love it.

sg1214

Thats why I love this trans so much, I can cruise at 60 mph below 2k rpms. For a 290 Hp 3600lb car, this thing can get great gas mileage.

Dubl-A

Oh yea, I got the same coming back to albq from farminton when I bought ol' girl

mrodenberg0124

That's VERY speed specific though. In my area of the country 75mph is the norm for interstates. I can still get around 25mpg going 75-80 though.

Ghozt

Yeah I'm at 25 now with an avg speed of 45 but its great to see this is a road trip car.

jlguru

LOL ... I've noticed the higher the average MPH reported on the dash, the higher the reported MPG. Look at your picture. Average MPH is 67.4! That's movin' on down the road.

Leads me to conclude we all should be driving faster to get better MPG !?!

In my 2009 S, I recently averaged about 25 mpg on a road trip from northern Nevada to Tucson AZ and back with an average speed of about 65 mph over a total of about 2500 miles. I can't testify to the absolute accuracy of the numbers as I didn't actually calculate MPG. But the correlation is there. Only about 1/3 of the trip was Interstate cruising. The rest were state highways. It was a very enjoyable trip.

Seems to me the CVT equipped 7th gen Max is better described as a "Grand Touring Sedan" than a "4 door sports car" because it truly is, IMHO, a grand touring sedan.

Live long, and prosper
Jerry L. Gubka

mrodenberg0124

The best range seems to be 60-65mph. You'll notice a drop off in mpg once you hit 70+

BBmaxi

iTrader: (1)

u must've went straight into the highway after filling up.

Mick7

Absolutely on the money. I recently got 31.7 on a 100 mile trip at speeds under 60 mph average on state highways, even with some stops on bypasses. At 74 on interstates, it gets about 26. A very light foot and some coasting up to red lights helps a bunch. Wind direction is a big factor also with a loss of 2 or more mpg into any wind stronger than a breeze. I have seen owners report over 30 mpg at interstate speeds over 70mph but mine won't come close. However, a light foot and good anticipation of traffic will return 25-26 mpg at speeds averaging under 40 mph. Remarkable mileage from this CVT.

Ghozt

Yup, wanted to see how it did with just highway miles and not much traffic. I'm blown away because the max I normally see in my bumper-to-bumper daily traffic is 17-20 MPG. Sucks having an AVG speed of 18 MPH...but this definitely helps me see that it is solely due to my commute rather than my lead foot or car sucking.

lightonthehill

I spent some time when I first bought my '09 over two years ago checking my MPG using both the onboard computer and measuring the exact amount of gas taken on and the exact number of miles driven, and found the correlation between computer and actuality was very close.

I did this measuring over a three tank block each time, in order to offset the many variations involved. The difference was never more than 2%, and since the difference sometimes favored the computer, and at other times favored actual measurement, I attributed it to the inexactness of various gasoline pump nozzles cutting off at slightly different points, as well as the pavement next to gas pumps having a slightly different slope at different stations (that slope can affect the nozzle cutoff point, because our tanks are shaped sort of like a mattress).

Once these 7th gens get rolling at speed, they get very impressive fuel efficiency up to the point where our flattish grill area is having to push into the air at speeds over 70 MPH. But our flattish front grill area meets all European pedestrian safety requirements, and I love the shape.

This very good freeway MPG is especially useful for my wife and I, as we are retired, and love to take leisurely highway trips.

Like most others here, our MPG is around 18 to 22 in city driving, because this is a 3600 pound near-luxury sedan with 290 HP, which is a far cry from an econobox like a Versa or Yaris or Fit, etc. Also, despite our best intentions, it is sometimes difficult to avoid using that rich source of power beneath our hood.

Sometimes I think back to that Studebaker I drove in 1949, and the 12 MPG it got on the highway. Of course that was better than the 8 MPG city, 11 MPG highway I got with my big, heavy (4300 pound) 1966 Olds Delta 88 with its 25 gallon tank and monster engine which absolutely would not run on anything but premium gas, which I was buying at my local government exchange at 18 cents per gallon.

The passage of time changes things, and Maxima has kept up with those changes very nicely.

2010maxSV

I drove to Chicago 2 summers ago in my 2008 Max. No lie, all highway, no A/C, used the cruise control, I got 485 miles on a tank of gas.

That's phenomenal imo.

SteveB123

iTrader: (2)

Nope.
It means you need to stop less.

Ghozt

Oh forgot to mention, I had the AC on the whole way and did not use cruise control.

atlanta10

My best mileage was the next 150 miles after getting a speeding ticket

LtLeary

As a road warrior I can attest to your mileage...as long as you keep the cruise off. It will go down on long trips around 3 -5 MPG depending on the wind and terrain with it on. Me, I have to admit to driving more with my fingers than my right foot on the lightly travel roads to work and back. I'm hedonistic and like the comfort it affords!!

robtroxel

Thanks for the MPG reports! I'm getting 29.8 MPG in mostly open road cruising at about 67 Miles per hour with cruise control engaged. This was for 312 miles in mostly flat roads heading south with a strong wind from the west. My 2010 SV Premium/Tech has only 2900 miles on it so I hope it gets better as the car goes further.

Dubl-A

I get 460-470 in mine in general

lightonthehill

Cruise control can work rather well on flat land with light traffic, and my wife and I both use it in those circumstances, especially on longer trips.

But cruise control WILL absolutely KILL fuel efficiency in areas with rolling hills. That is because it (A) does not pick up a little extra speed when approaching a hill, (B) will insist on maintaining the exact same speed all the way up and across the hill, even downshifting (or increasing revs) to do so, and (C) will actually use engine compression to brake the car when going downhill, rather than allow momentum to build speed for the next hill.

I found the onboard computer to be fairly close to reality in measuring MPG, and in using that onboard computer's system, I find that, in consistently rolling country, cruise control can easily cost me 5 or 6 MPG. At the $4 price per gallon I am paying for midgrade, that costs me over $15 in gas per tankful to use cruise control in hilly or mountainous terrain. I consider that to be a significant penalty.

Stormzusmc

iTrader: (17)

neat i get the same thing in my 02 maxima with headers, 3" exhaust and other bolt ons...cvt still sucks and 100% the reason why i wont get a 7th gen =/

Stinkypete

Just drove north on Hwy 5 from LA to the Bay Area, averaged around 70 mph on the freeway and about 26-28 mpg depending on when you looked. It'll be interesting to see the difference on the way back tomorrow when we've got the wind at our backs! I'm hoping to push into the 30 mpgs for the first time!

lightonthehill

I loved my 5th gen, but did not get as good mileage in my 5th gen as I do with my 7th gen, which is a heavier, roomier and more powerful car. The CVT helps me get better fuel mileage. Also, because it has no shift points, the CVT is both more efficient and gets better accelleration than a shifting tranny.

But there are those raised with manuals and automatics who neither understand the advantages of, or care to drive the CVT. Until one takes the time to relearn one's driving habits, the CVT seems more like a 1952 powerglide than a real tranny. And believe me, coming from a 1948 manual Studebaker, I was no fan of the 1952 power glide tranny.

But time passes and things change, and I reluctantly change with the times, else I become even more of a recluse from the bygone ages than I already am. And I must admit that opening my mind to the possibilities of the CVT has resulted in my sort of liking the thing.

Ghozt

Update: so now with the CAI installed I wanted to do some mileage tests on the highway again to see what (if any) differences I'd see in mileage. All I can say is the CAI is AMAZING. Next up : dusting off my dash...

BBmaxi

iTrader: (1)

I don't know how u guys are getting those figures, my reading is dead set at 21.6 mpg..however I never reset the reading after I refuel.

are u guys resetting before heading onto the freeway ? if that's the case then yeah it's going to read with a higher number.

Ghozt

yeah its a reset before getting on the highway, you can tell by my average MPH. I'm not worried about getting an average using city miles, this thread is only about highway miles. and yeah seeing 5-7 MPG improvement just from an intake/exhaust is amazing in my opinion.

IFuXwiTuZ

not true you have a guaranteed 300 with the cold air CAI = a secret that the newbs dont know about =x
if i made you the BOP u would get 2mpg more =D

GM_Traitor3.5VQ

Would like to see the highway mileage cruising at a steady 70-75 mph. Those are amazing figures Dan, but who in this area actually does 65?

Also, once all my previous cars hit 70mph, the friction of the air causes way more drag than at 65. Saw a 2-3mpg drop just going 5 mph more.

Either way, ridiculous bump in mpg's man.

Ghozt

Yeah it's not often we get to stay 65 cruising but I got a nice run down the highway so kept it steady. When I saw 37 I couldn't believe my eyes...same average MPH as my first post but a huge bump. Can't really say if it's just the CAI, the exhaust, Y pipe, the ECU CVT TSB reprogram (which should have lowered mileage) or all 4 but when I did the first test I just had a short ram intake, original ECU programming, and stock exhaust.

I'll definitely be doing more testing if I get some stretches of highway to cruise, and see how going 65 vs 75 changes things. Seriously though, how am I getting mileage that's above what Nissan says this gets? And why don't they put these parts on it stock if it has that much of an effect? Dummies...

vr4z06gt

How much of this is drafting behind other vehicles, what are your traffic patterns like, and what sort of elevation changes do you experience? I would believe 30mpg no problem if you just drove normal on flat roads without drafting anything...but beyond that seems kind of hard to get close to corolla/civic/fiesta MPG. I am not trolling or thread crapping I am just very curious. I do currently about 100-120miles per day and wouldn't mind saving some money on $4/gallon gas.

I live in Central/Eastern Massachusetts region, the traffic sucks, plenty of hills, and people don't understand what the left and right lane is for, welcome to new england i suppose, but all I can seem to muster is about 25.5. Granted this includes hooning around once in a while....

rwt

Impressive gas mileage on the new Maximas. It has to be as good or better then the 4th generation which had 100 horses less =)

Boxer112

My car has about 3500 miles on it and i expect the mileage to get better too. I get about 450 miles per tank now driving back and forth to work and I draft trucks on the NJ turnpike as much as possible. my average speed is 65-70mph

STARR

iTrader: (1)

Doing an average of 80, I can get 24-25mpg, that is with a decent amount of weight in the car

QT1 5MT AE

iTrader: (6)

how accurate are these MPG gauges? I doubt this car can pull 37mpg, an intake doesnt give you a 7mpg increase

best to divide miles driven by gallons used.

STARR

iTrader: (1)

depends on the driving conditions, but the 7th Gen is pretty accurate, I however calculate by hand, just to see and compare

Boxer112

I just reset the trip meter everytime i full up and BAM. miles driven divided by tank.

Ghozt

intake, exhaust, y pipe, and ECU retune not just an intake. and yeah this thing averages 35-37 MPG now on the highway according to the computer. ive done my own calculations on the side before and found the computer to be accurate within 1-2 MPG compared to my math so close enough for me.

trust me i couldnt believe it at first, i have like 15 pics spanning a 30 minute period showing it stays in that range i only posted 2 up

vr4z06gt

Did you use the bully dog triple dog tuner?

Ghozt

nah this is with stock tune and the CVT TSB's applied. was thinking of trying out a bully dog but didnt seem like anyone else on here thought they were worth it

vr4z06gt

Yeah, I haven't found much positive news from a power front. I don't know if they have a setting to increase the fuel efficiency though...maybe. Do you, or anyone else here, happen to know if you need to keep them hooked up all the time or periodically? I was thinking of getting one on ebay, tuning, then re-selling. I realize you would need it to change to and from stock settings for trips to the dealer, but I would imagine bully dog thought of this when they made it. I can't imagine they would want a 'rental' market out there competing with them selling a new unit.

mrodenberg0124

From my understanding the Bullydog unit knows if it's been used and will not work on another car until the original one is returned back to factory programming.