come on!! are you kidding me, is this right?? 195 miles on 12.224 gallons of gas?? Any ideas what i can do to improve this besides driving slower since i don't really have a lead foot as it is.

My car has 7k on it and is stock.

 

maybe its because of the "11 HARD miles"

 

 

Same problem here I have 2001 Maxima SE. And all I get is 250-270 a tank from Full all the way till the low fuel light turns on???? thats about 14 miles a gallon...my car has 33K miles...all city driving what does eveyone else get?????

 

You're using premium fuel, right? If I convert my figures to mpg, even in city driving in my 2k GXE auto gets about 21-22mpg. On the highway I get around 29mpg or so. Those figures I am getting are right on (a little better actually) the EPA estimates.

Your 2k3 should not be getting all that much worse mileage. But the usual culprits such as spark plugs and a dirty air filter aren't valid at that mileage in your car. I'll leave it to the experts as to the possibilities because I have no clue if you aren't flooring it every time.

 

i think something is wrong here... i get like 260-280miles on a full tank... taking it easy... not flooring it...

we use gas like we got a V8

 

Yes, i only use BP premium gas 93 octane. I did indeed take it easy on her to get a accurate measure.

 

I get the same number of miles to a tank (I fill up when light comes on, so there's still 2-3 gallons left, but still...)

I also do not heavy foot it at all (well, once in a while, but not regularly, and not enough to cause an effect on mileage). I don't know what the problem is...I've had such poor mileage since I got the car. This is 90% city driving by the way. The fuel economy sucks, but I didn't buy the car expecting anything great--I just hope there's nothing wrong with her.

 

I hear ya vito, i'm not just whinning here about bad mileage but just making sure everything is ok.

 

So I what you guys are saying that my 250-260 is normal???? And I don't floor it at every stop only every once in a while and I use Premium fuel only....

 

I've gone as low as 14 mpg, and the best in my usual driving(i.e. mostly city) is about 17. Admittedly I bought my car to have fun in it, so there's that acceleration penalty - but the 3.5 sure likes gas

Still, if we wanted mileage we could have bought Civics (or for that matter, 2.5 Altimas).

 

I don't know what crack you guys are smoking but I always get between 24-27 mpg and thats mixed highway and city. Even when I'm on the bottle I have never gotten below 22 for sure. And that's calculated not read off the trip computer.

 

Don't buy a Max, and then worry about gas! It's not a friggin Escalade! I get about 17 mpg, and that's 'cause I drive it with my foot jammed into it... which is the way it should be driven.

If you're worried about mileage, get a Prius and have a nice day!

 

Nobody said they wanted a fuel-efficient car...We're simply worried that lower than expected mileage means there is a problem with our car, period! What's not to understand here???

 

HMm. Dont know if there's a difference, but I have an '02 I35. My gas light just came on and I am at 300 even. That's all city driving too.

 

I get around 350miles and that is before the light comes on, but most of my driving is highway.. i would say 90/10 highway..

I think part of this is because the car is new and i haven't really cranked up the throttle..

 

My 2003 SE (automatic) just got 18 mpg driving with a lead foot this past week. I have 6000 miles on it. It usually gets 21-23mpg when I'm kind to it I don't use the trip computer, compute mpg myself.

 

13.2mpg city driving easy
10.7mpg driving like i stole it

 

Maybe the fuel economy changes based upon the ECM version? Have any of you gotten the "Drive By Wire" fix and if so, has your fuel efficiency changed?

 

How much of that is highway? You have a manual or auto?

On my 2K2 Max GXE (auto only), I usually get between around 17-23 mpg, usually more like 18 or 19 to 21. My best ever was 28 mpg.

Most of my driving consists of short city drives. I haven't had a chance to take many long highway trips yet.

I wouldn't consider myself a leadfoot at all. My worst ever was ~14 mpg when I went lapping at a track.

This is all calculated myself. The trip computer is always 2-4 mpg off.

 

Have you been using the defrost or air conditioning lately? I've noticed a significant difference in MPG if the air conditioning is engaged. I usually get about 4-6 MPG less when running the compressor.

 

I've been pretty happy with my milage. I'm getting 20-21 in mixed driving and I got 24.5 on a trip recently where I stayed north of 80 most of the time. I bet if I slowed to 70 and set the cruise I could hit 26. Oh, and I'm sitting at 12K miles and that was my calculating the milage. According to the computer, I'm getting 25-28 all the time. I think that computer is a little like Bagdad Bob.

 

I'd say that it's pretty normal... when I'm 50/50 City/Hwy I get around 18-19MPG... haven't done a full hwy run yet, but when its just city I get around 16mpg...

Needless to say it was a big shock for me coming from an Acura Integra (which seemed to get 50mpg sometimes Like someone else mentioned, our cars suck gas like they're V8s.

 

I used to b!tch that my Chevy Blazer, Jeep Grand Cherokee, even Honda Accord got bad gas mileage, but these were dogs when it came to power.

My philosophy has always been, I could careless if I was getting 3 mpg, but I at least wanted SOMETHING to show for it (ie POWER)

Now with the Maxima, i could care less bout the mileage because at least I know when I step on it, she'll move quickly..With the others it was like I'd floor it and only see the RPMS kick up and the engine get loud with the cars going ABSOLUTELY NO WHERE....

So bottomline...........I'm happy!

 

I usually get 300-350 on a tank with 50/50 city/highway driving. I don't ever actually calculate though. As long as i get about 300 to a tank i feel like i'm doin fine. 2k2 auto.

 

I easily get 300+ miles in town and stop/go traffic, so there's no telling what the problem is. The '03 GLE models aren't known for gas mileage, but mine does rather well (20-21 MPG city, up to 31.1 on the highway). Hell, my truck get 16.5 MPG city, and I drive it like I stole it (4.7L V8). I'd have to say there is something else wrong...

 

I just noticed something...It seems like the autos are getting better mileage than 6 sp, which seems contradictory to what most of us expect--manuals are more efficient than autos. It doesn't seem like the autos are less gas-happy too, so that's not the reason. Something's weird...

 

Might just be that manuals tend to bring out more aggressive driving habits. Just too much fun hitting the higher end of the rev band. People may hold a gear longer than an auto which should be calibrated/programmed for efficiency.

Just a thought...

 

Yeh, I thought so at first as well, but as I look over the posts, and remember previous posts about this issue, it seems like, on the average, people with manuals were driving the same way as autos.

Personally, I've gone on tanks where I didn't floor it or hold high rpms, and was pretty much granny shifting, and still pulled off only like 280 miles to the tank (when the light came on). It translated to something like 17-18 mpg.

JJS, what are you getting for mileage on your AE?

 

First off, let me say I have a 25 mile each way commute to work and literally only 5 stops along the whole trip. When I am around work and going to lunch or running errands, it is a series of very short trips (some less than a mile)....so I guess I do mixed driving.

On average I can get around 20-22 mpg, but on weekends or other times I don't do the short trips I can get around 25 and that is with 'fun shifting'.

 

Forgot to mention...This was driving during winter in Boston, so perhaps the gas quality wasn't as good at that time as it will be during summer. I'll see what happens when the weather becomes consistently warmer.

 

ditto... i also have I35 and i'm getting around 300 miles per fill up
with just normal driving in town and highway.... most i got was almost 500 miles all on highway .....

 

I've got a 2k GXE with a five speed. I travel about 10 miles to work but sometimes (like this morning) make stops on my way in. I always get at least 400 miles a tank. Last tank was at 430 miles...it held about 15.5gal of super 93. Also I have Federal emissions and 15" wheels.

Anybody doing any better than 28+ mpg in mixed driving?

Anybody have the same setup as mine?

Rude

 

I'm getting at least 300 miles on a tank, mostly city driving (93 octane.) I don't think I have ever gotten worse than 20 mpg (average low 20s depending on how hard I drive) even when I dog the hell outta her. I usually short shift when I am just cruising, try to keep the revs below 2500 or 3000, use 6th gear at 40+ speeds (most the city speed limits here are 40-45mph.)

And what is up with that on board computer? I would expect a more accurate calculation on fuel mileage on a $30k car (owners manual says it updates every 30 seconds.) I wonder if the odometer is as inaccurate.....

 

The only on board read out that's accurate is the outside temperature. The other read outs, although supposedly updated every 30 seconds, don't adjust fast enough, and always end up showing the wrong numbers.

 

I have been getting 260 from full to when the light comes one and my car is an AUTO 2001 SE...all highway I get 350+ before refueling..and this is from the 3.0 V6....I say something is wrong..

 

I've got a 2003 Jeep Grand Cherokee with a 4.7 liter HO V8 in it and I'm getting 16 mpg, on mid grade! This is all heavy city driving. 14 mpg in a Maxima is horrible. You're either a major lead foot or something has got to be wrong. What is the EPA rating on the Maxima's?

 

2002/3 6 speed Maxima:
21/city
28/hwy

Auto(I think):
20/city
27/hwy

 

Exactly the 3.5 just likes to drink even if your easy on it, my 03 Max and 350 both love to guzzle it down and we dont floor them all the time. We use to complain about it but its just how it is!

 

maybe we should do this systematically. i feel like there may be something wrong if so many people are getting such poor gas mileage. personally, i get about 160-180 miles on 3/4 tank, city driving. what is "city driving" to you? my driving conditions are the middle of boston, predominantly rush hour, and trips usually shorter than 20 minutes. usually, normal throttle applications, and i'll break 4K rpm maybe once a week or so.

throw some experiences out there, and maybe we can get to the bottom of this.