NissLover

What is everybody getting in MPG? I think mine is rather low at about 19.5 and sometimes dipping into the high 18's on my commute between home, work, and school. Could there be anything that I can fix to improve my MPG, I know theres about a million factors but I am willing to try something. Another thing that worries me is this is mostly with the A/C off being that is not hot yet here in Houston.

Gian13

iTrader: (1)

19.5 mpg for city driving sounds average. I believe I get less than that.
Try getting the K&N air filter (about $35 shipped from ebay). I've heard it increases your MPG a little. Worth the try IMO.

P.S. Good choice getting those wheels. They look hot

MetaOrbit

iTrader: (19)

Yeah, with city driving that doesn't sound too far off the mark.

i30ds

iTrader: (8)

18 city, 22 highway

I don't even wanna know what it is after installing boost.

Anyways, to improve your mpg replace:

spark plugs
fuel filter
air filter
O2 sensors

Good luck

NissLover

I am only using mid-grade right now, so I guess that will help out a little bit.
I am thinking about going down to regular with the prices we have now! Its not even summer yet and were knocking on $3/gallon. rediculous! I won't be surprised if it gets to almost $4/gallon. Its amazing to me how Gas Prices jump in travel seasons, that just seems odd.

Yeah, but next oil change I'll get the filters replaced. And I am sure its time for a tune up soon also.

Oh and thanks for the compliment Gian13. I think they fit the car really well design wise. I just wist they were 18's. But oh well.

MattB85

iTrader: (1)

I run 93 octane, and if I do average city driving I get around 20-21. If I'm doing a lot of highway driving I see as high as 29. However if I'm just doing short 1-2 mile trips the mileage drops to around 17mpg.

NissLover

Ok I guess I am alright them. Guess its the 89 octane. I did notice the first time I put gas in the car was with regular 83 octane. Talk about drinking gas! I was surprised at how noticebly less gas it drank once I went up to mid-grade.

mike9900

I got around 18-19 then did an oil change and put full synthetic in and changed my old dirty air filter to a fresh clean one now im sitting at an easy 22-24 for city. BTW I have just recently purchased the car so I don't know what oil was in it before but the jiffy lube sticker leads me to believe it was ****ty and I am not sure on the what octane gas they were using but for the last couple weeks I have had the car it has only gotten the best i use the highest octane around here which is 91

P.S. K&N filters scare me the oil can mess up the MAF leading to worse problems then just bad gas milage just my .02

NissLover

Well I just got back from San Antonio yesterday (From Houston) for my drill weekend and I got 24 mpg on the way there and on the way back I got 25.5. Going I had half a tank of mid-grade and I topped it off with premium. On the way back I filled up with premium, and put some fuel injector cleaner in the tank (Does that stuff really work?).

I think it did pretty good to say I was doing 80-85 sometimes 90 when people pissed me off driving slow in the passing lane!!, but thats for another day! Also that portion of I-10 is pretty hilly closer to SanAnton. The funny thing is I overall drove faster coming back and got better mileage.

Nomad

iTrader: (5)

You guys got easy foot I see. I can't get away from low 17s city/highway no matter how I drive. Though, my MPG greatly affected by number of start ups and distance I drive 4 miles to work, 6 to school.
BTW Once I managed to get 28 MPG pure highway going 80-85 on the average.

MrRogerStatus

iTrader: (4)

93 Octance. About 20 here. I try not to do alot of stop and go. And i only do woot on highways (which is not that often)

talkinghorse

iTrader: (121)

Premium fuel; AMSOIL synthetic motor oil, ATF and Ea air filter; stock; 28mpg consistently, primarily hwy with some stop and go.

n3985

iTrader: (36)

93 octane, 14MPG in the city due to 2-3 mile trips each time, 26-28MPG on highway.

MaximaExposure

iTrader: (1)

I thought it was just my I getting bad MPG, I guess not! I used to fill with premium grade, but I have switched to medium grade for almost a year now, never tried regular grade. I mostly do city driving, 2-5 mile trips, not using the A/C, avoiding heavy accelerations, trying to predict when a red light turns green so I don't have to come to a complete stop, avoid using the brakes as much as possible, and yet, I still only manage 18.5 MPG. I remember my '98 Max got 21 MPG in the city with the same driving style, and 30 MPG on the highway.

NissLover

Yeah I put Premium in for the last week, but the mileage still hasn't improved in the city. I think I just have a heavy foot, that I can't get rid of. I just can't help myself!

dr-rjp

iTrader: (4)

Move to a cooler climate.

I'm in N. Florida, and we've had near 90 degree weather all week. But, Houston will get a lot warmer, and as the temperature rises, MPG goes down.

The BEST way to get better MPG is to reduce the number of short trips you have to make. Short trips (<10 miles per trip) kill gas mileage, and especially in hot weather.

Combine these short trips into fewer trips by doing a little logistical planning in advance. Also, avoid city streets where there is a lot of stop-and-go driving -- even if you have to go a few miles out of your way just to be able to find an alternate, free-moving route, you'll see a savings.

Fewer stops also means less wear-and-tear on your car.

I tested this theory out last year by alternating my trip to and from work (a normal, ten-mile commute) between two parallel roads that were 1/4 mile apart (*grin*).

The street that was closer had a total of four potential stops (traffic lights), and the next street over had only one potential stop (traffic light). The differences were due to commercial and residential developments on the first street vs. the second street.

While there were many times I caught a green on the 2nd street and made no stops at all, such was not the case on the four traffic light street, where I was assured of hitting at least one red light every day.

I usually fill my tank every other Saturday, but for this test, I also topped it off on the following Sunday evening because of driving on the weekends.

For the first two weeks, I used the four-light street, and for the following two weeks, I used the one-light street. Both streets had 45MPH speed limits. Weather conditions were almost the same (cool and dry, w/ avg. temps between 72 and 75) as was time of day and daily traffic density (no unexpected slowdowns or traffic jams)

The results were as follows:

4 street lights. Commute distance = 101.2 miles. Fuel used = 5.88gal. MPG = 17.2

1 street light. Total commute distance = 106.1 miles. Fuel used = 5.80gal. MPG = 18.3

So, even though I traveled an additional five miles over four weeks, I saved gas.

Avoiding unnecessary stops includes those times when you were too close to the vehicle ahead of you, or not anticipating conditions where you might have to stop. On city streets that have timed lights, the best strategy is to anticipate stops at intersections and avoid them either by going a little slower or going a little faster (without "speeding" or "running red lights," of course).

Drivers here are gthe worst at what I call, "Lane Management." On three-lane highways, everybody bunches up in the middle or right lanes. The people bunched in the middle think that it is the "slow lane," and the ones bunched in the right lane are there to make a right turn that's like three miles away! Meanwhile, the left lane is virtually open.

Although law enforcement labels any person as being an "aggressive driver" if they make too many lane changes, at least they are not jamming up one lane.

My last thought on this: if your city's traffic light system is part of the problem (that is, you can't help but hit a red light on every corner), then place a call to your city's Traffic Engineering division and b*tch like crazy.

It worked for me. I got them to fix that problem on a major highway.

i30ds

iTrader: (8)

GTFO...

NissLover

Wow, thats a lot of work. I think I will just have to spend a few extra bucks a week.

Nomad

iTrader: (5)

after installing 02Sim (rear sensors were busted since i bought the car) my mileage went up to 20 mpg (approx 2mpg) improvement. No change in driving habits. I still have to check whether there is an improvement next time I fill up. If it will be proven I guess I am up to replace my front sensors as well.

P.S. I remember on my 97 max I used to get 17 mpg on a highway with busted knock and oxygen sensor.

seydaysago

I've never gotten anything over 18 mpg... seems like its not much but I figure I have a little bit too much of a lead foot. But ehhh.

andrei3333

fuel filter does not affect mileage

LT1PnyKlr

I only run unleaded plus in my car and average 21-22mpg assuming the tank size is 18 gallons or so. My car also has 105k miles on it, needs a tune up, and probably some Seafoam. lol

MaximaExposure

iTrader: (1)

By your reply, it sounds to me like you are using your tank size to calculate your MPG, this isn't the correct way to calculate the MPG unless you are running your car until it stalls due to no fuel. A more accurate way to calculate the MPG is to take the number of miles driven SINCE your LAST fill up, and divide that by the number of gallons it takes to fill up the tank on the following visit. You can do this 2 or 3 times if you want even greater accuracy. This should give you a higher MPG as opposed to using 18 gallons to calculate your MPG.

LT1PnyKlr

I use this method too. Each time I fill the car up I reset the gauge and keep track of it this way. The average is still around 22mpg or so.

i30ds

iTrader: (8)

uh yeah it does...

andrei3333

how so ?
there is a fuel pressure regulator (sensor) that is affected by the filter,

if the filter is new fuel passes easier thru the filtering media and the sensor regulates by dropping the pressure

if the filter is very dirty ( but still operable NOT fully clogged) then the pressure increases and the fuel pump works harder to push fuel thru the filter.

Gian13

iTrader: (1)

and now we gotta get ready for the highest increase in fuel cost in history

http://www.businessweek.com/autos/content/may2007/bw20070521_785924.htm?chan=autos_autos+index+page_ top+stories

C P Squared

iTrader: (1)

im getting 11-13 mpg around town.

I have recently replaces all sparkplugs, and airfilters. Is there anything else that could be apart of my mpg crisis

Gian13

iTrader: (1)

Whenever you ready to sell them LMK. I need a winter set up

NissLover

I don't know about selling these anytime soon, unless I get this job at my local Infiniti dealer and get first dibs on some M 19"s, but I do have my stock 16" luxury wheels if your interested. I was only going to sell three of them, but let me know.


Oh and I just returned from another drill weekend and on the way there I got 21 MPG, OUCH! And I had just got an oil change and changed the air filter. But on the way back it drank considerably less gas, but thats just going off the meter, it usually takes about a half a tank or more from San Antonio, but right now the needle is sitting an 1/8 or so above half, but I know the needle has a late reaction sometimes. I will find out once I fill her up.

But on the way there I did sit in about 45 mins of stop and go traffic. So that may account for the low 21 figure, and I used mid grade. But what hurt more is seeing the accident, it involved a white 03' Maxima that looked like it lost control and hit the guardrail on both ends of the car. I could have sworn I had seen it on here, it had some very nice rims on it, But
I haven't seen anyone mention it on the 5th gen boards.

i30ds

iTrader: (8)

Please don't try to educate me cause you have no idea what you are talking about. A fuel pressure regulator is not a sensor... its a spring loaded diaphram, and it is most certianly not affected by the fuel filter... it is controlled by a boost singal line from the intake manifold. Based on the amount of boost from the signal line, the diaphram opens and closes, controlling the amount of fuel returning to the tank. As boost increases, the fuel pressure regulator decreases the amount of fuel returning to the tank which backs up into the fuel rails which in turn increses fuel pressure. The fuel filter and its condition has nothing to do with fuel pressure regulation.

Nomad

iTrader: (5)

Have you tried inflating your tires?
Recently I've noticed that although I have well inflated tires IMO my front falkens seemed low. I checked the maximum tire pressure and it was 51psi while my tires had only 38psi @72 F. Thus, I decided to put some more pressure in them and inflated tires up to 45psi. It's is recommended to have 5psi gap in case temp changes. Since then, I have noticed about 10miles increase on 1/2 tank w/out any changes in my driving habits.

i30ds

iTrader: (8)

O2, KS, etc... read the thread.

C P Squared

iTrader: (1)

now that you mention it, my tires have been running pretty low recently since the colder weather came around. Will try soon















and to i30ds, i just got my o2 censor replaced with my ignition coils

andrei3333

Hoooly this is an old post.

alright wanna explain then how changing the fuel filter INcreases MPG ?

i30ds

iTrader: (8)

MAF,TPS, air leak on the intake manifold and gasket are some other items 'cause your mpg is really bad... you should be getting at least 17 city.

i30ds

iTrader: (8)

No I don't... but I am goning to, so you don't keep whoring up this thread and continue to spread misinformation.

Fuel filters can get glogged dude... Glogged fuel filters can cause hard starts and stalling, which causes excessive consumption... think about it, this is not rocket science here.

andrei3333

if u read my original post u would see that i already said this :

so u can see that i clearly said that replacing a filter that still works but is old does NOT affect MPG, u should have seen that because it was in response to ur post

PS: not many people wait until their filter gets clogged to the point of choking off the car's fuel supply to replace it. most people just change the filter and be done with it but this does not increase or decrease MPG

BTW... I am

i30ds

iTrader: (8)

you did not say that in your original post. what you said in that post was a bunch of garbage non-sense about fpr senors and increasing/ decreasing pressure levels based on the condition of the fuel filter, which is grossly incorrect. I saw it and responded to it.

you say that replacing an old fuel filter does not affect MPG... you are wrong and I gave a simple example of how changing it out does. its a fact, there is no way around it.

ps: most people do not change their fuel filter at all... they wait until a problem develops... along with most of the other items on their car.

seriously dude, don't talk about things you know nothing about.

i30ds

iTrader: (8)

The value of this thread has been diminished due to this bullsh!t.