My car is only on the third tank but it is already clear that mileage will be more closely related to MPH than any car I ever owned.

My DD is a 2004 Alero V6 that gets 30-31 on the highway regardless of speed. I got over 31 the last long trip with the cruise at 74-75 all the way.

At 60 and under on state highways with a couple stops, the 2009 Maxima MPG approaches 30 but on the interstate with the cruise at 73, it gets about 26.0 so far. The city/town mileage is excellent when driven with a light foot...about 20.0 from my limited experience. Overall average is 23.6 to date. Any others keeping an eye on the mileage and speed relationship?

 

I have been keeping an eye on my fuel/mileage and the last trip I did to San Antonio I got 32 mpg (believe it or not) and I was cruising mostly at about 75mph, a few times I opened it up just to see how the car would feel cruising at higher speeds.

IMO the CVT works best when you just simply leave it in "D", the other apps on the Tranny actually hurts the performance as well as the gas mileage.

 

My trip was at 34-35 degrees air temp. You were probably in the 80's there. That would account for a couple mpg and the gasoline blend is probably better than our "winter" blend here. How many miles do you have on yours? I was hoping for better mileage but it isn't a big thing as the car will only get 5-6k a year on it.

 

Well, I put a lot of mileage on my car (99% highway) and I'm almost at 7K already so I think my car is pretty broken in. Yes, it does getting pretty warm here in the winter months but hot as hell in the summer.

Eventually you'll break it in and see better mileage, when I first starting driving my car it was getting about 26 Hwy and about 19 in the city.

So you can tell that there was a great improvement.

 

I have been watching my gas mileage very closely and on my FIRST big road trip from Missouri to Ft Worth TX, which was about 8 1/2 hours one way I averaged 27 MPG cruising at 75 MPH with a trunk full of lugage Christmas gifts and my wife, on 91 octane. I mention the octane because I have not found a gas station in my small area that carries 93 octane but in TX where my sister lives almost every gas station has it!!!

So on my road trip back I had a fresh tank of 93 octane gas and suprisingly I was up to 29.5 MPG for the whole tank crusing at 75 MPG, with my wife and my sister in tote all the way back up to MO for the first half of the trip. When it was time to fill up again, the only option I had was 91 octane again and my milage went back down to 24.7 for about 10 miles and then back up to 26.5.

Through this small unplanned test I found that the higher octane averaged more highway gas mileage!!! I just wish there were some gas stations here in my area that had 93 octane.

 

I use 93 oct and I love the gas mileage I get...it's great compared to my other car with the big V8.

 

I don't use anything less than 93 in my Maximas ever.

 

I would not use anything les than 93 either if we had it here in the middle of nowhere Missouri........it just adds to the list of another reason of why I don't like it here at all.....the high yesterday was 21 and sunny...which means no GOLF for me :-( and the sun was out to patronize me too!!!!

 

Man I wish I saw those types of numbers... then again, I'm in the city, and the tollway I use is rather rolling... tollway drops under the streets and then rises back to be level with the surrounding area, then dips... =( I tend to drive about 70-85mph most of the time... 60 would be the slowest, but I do a good bit of street driving everyday.

So far, my average mileage has been been 19.1mpg across all tanks... I've had 11 fills so far, but almost none have been full tanks... largest was 16.72 gallons, with the average looking to be around 12-13gallons. Best tank was 20.2mpg, worst was 16.9. I have a 17 mile commute each way, but my car states average speed is around 30-31mph. =( Guess I have too much of a lead foot... I have yet to take a long drive in the car.

 

I do about 50/50 highway and city split and cruise at 60-70 mph (averaging about 33 mph each tank). My best tank was just under 24 mpg at around 2500 miles on the car (90% highway, lower cruising speed, babying throttle, no A/C, high tire pressure).

Since then I've driven it normally and it's tapered off steadily. My last couple tanks were about 19.5 mpg (ODO now reads 5000 miles). Average overall is about 21 mpg.

 

I have to agree with Mick7 in that my 09 is very sensitive to the speed/wind speed more than other cars I've owned in recent years. I've got 20K miles on mine so far (I drive about 1K per week) along the same routes and can see my mileage go down at least 3-5mpg when faced with a headwind...even at 55! I average 27MPG. Not many hills here in FL. Now I have NOT tried to check a long route using my foot instead of cruise control (I've noticed the cruise control maintains speed within very close tolerances) so I'll give it a go and see if it makes much difference.

 

Well I need to get my car checked, I get better miles on my Yukon. I average 16 mpg on my 09, well maybe it has to do with my heavy foot.

 

Do you live in a heavily populated and congested city? If so, if you drive a majority city, then expect this type of economy.

 

If you are driving your Yukon exactly the same way as your Maxima, there is no way the Yukon gets better mileage. No Way. I remember one car mag Yukon test where the city MPG was 12 MPG. So far, most long trips by posters here on the ORG have resulted in MPGs between 28 and 32. That is very solid for a 290 HP 3600 pound luxury vehicle, and shows that this car IS fuel-efficient.

BUT

We must remember that city driving involves stretches where the car isn't moving, and that means gas is being used, but no mileage is being accumulated. In really bad city traffic, a car that gets 18 to 20 MPG in NORMAL city traffic may only get 12 to 14.

I personally pay no attention to city MPG; just too many variables (especially driving style, gridlock, poorly-times traffic lights, etc) are involved.

 

My Max is now six months old. Consistent mpg is 22 city/28.5 highway. Charlotte "rush hour" traffic is heavy, but nothing like Atlanta, Houston, Miami, LA, etc.

 

I love the gas mi. on this car. I had the please of having a 2007 (RIP) Altima 2.5SL and a 2008 (Traded) to now having the 09 Maxima SV I get around 280 Miles on a full take until i have to fill up again still with about 50 miles left on the range indicator.

On my Altimas i was getting about 235-240... Weird right? But im not complaining at all.. I love the Max

 

I've got 7,250 miles - 24.4 MPG, 43.8 MPH/avg

 

I have been looking at the trip computer and then calculating manually. Anyone notice a discrepancy? The calculated average (manually) seems to be about 1 MPG less than what the computer says. I reset the trip and MPG right when I fill up and then reset at each tank so it is a direct comparison. Thoughts?

 

The onboard computer is measuring MPG indirectly, and comes close, considering its indirect method. But if you are carefully recording each tankful and miles travelled over an extended period of lots of tankfuls, that will give your true MPG.

For me, the best use of the onboard computer's 'instant' MPG as shown in the Vehicle Information Display (rectangle in bottom portion of speedometer display) is to let me see how different driving procedures affect mileage. Holding the RPMs down helps MPG greatly. Thanks to the power of this engine, low RPM takeoffs do not slow the acelleration very much (this engine has the power to acellerate this car without getting the RPMs over 2K).

I seem to be getting around 20 to 22 in moderate city driving, 22 to 24 in mixed city and suburban, 26 in mixed suburban and freeway, 28 in general freeway driving and 30 on extended trips on somewhat hilly interstates. Were I on a level, light-traffic interstate, I feel sure I could hit 32 MPG; that is approaching the highway MPG of some hybrids. I am very happy with that.

 

That is beyond weird! lol

 

I just can't wait to get back to San Antonio where I can find gas stations on almost every corner that offers 93 octane!!!! Only 3 more months to go in Missouri and then I'm OUT!!!!!!

 

I'm not sure if you're referring to 09 Maximas only, but my 2000 gle, gets 29-30 highway anywhere from 55-85mph. So I can't really say the speed has much effect on the MPGs for me. The only thing that is very noticeable is harder acceleration vs. slow/easy acceleration.

 

Damn it seems the CVT really is eeking some extra MPGs out of the VQ in the Max.

In my 6-speed Altima I get about 20-21 MPG in the city/suburb streets, and I am not really light on the gas, at all. Compare that to my I30 with a VQ30 and 227HP that was getting 19 MPG on the same route no matter what. If I feel like getting more efficiency in the Altima, I just coast like crazy. With mixed city/freeway I got around 23. On the highway, when I drive to San Antonio for drill, I usually only get 25 MPG, but I am doing about 80 MPH. And it is slightly uphill from Houston to San Antonio. And oddly the Computer actually gives a lower number then when I calculate it myself. On the way back from SA to H-town I get about 27 MPG at 85 MPH (Don't know why I always drive faster going home, but get better MPG.). The first time I drove it home from SA, (I bought it in SA, live in Houston) I only used a little over a 1/4 tank of gas on a 180+ mile trip and I was doing 80 MPH! The Comp was reading 29 mpg. Must have had a tailwind. Definately felt like I made the right decision at that point. LOL.

But when I was coming back to Houton from Louisiana, the computer was reading 32.2 MPG on a hilly 4 lane road with a strictly inforced 50-65 MPH Speed Limits. So I figure I was getting about 30 MPG, but I will never know, because once I got on I-10 I cranked it up to 80-85 MPH.

And I agree, it is possible to acclerate with the flow of traffic and keep it under 2500 RPMs, but I can never seem to do it. LOL. I would imagine it is really easy with CVT. I have to shift every 2 seconds in order to keep it that low.

 

Mine has 8800 miles on it now. Just did a round trip from Atlanta to New Orleans and back. Averaged 26.9 MPG at about 75MPH on 93 octane fuel driving in "D" on the highway and "Sport" around town.


I'm impressed with the fuel mileage for sure. The range is excellent. My bladder needs relief before the car needs more fuel.

 

Isn't the Altima gas tank smaller?

 

For the first 3501.2 miles, I have averaged 24.94 mpg. not bad for 4 weeks!
highway is all at 71-72 mph, lots of wind... not too bad, alittle worse than my 04 max, but this one is more fun to drive, and its hard to keep out of Ds mode on an open street!

 

the new maximas have surprisingly have a good gass millage for a 300 hp car ( my dad owns one)

 

Nope its 20 gals also.

 

I agree, great figures for such a powerful car.

TrueDelta conducts a real-world gas mileage survey that includes questions on driving style and driving conditions, so people can find the responses that fit the driving they do.

Just three responses for the 2009 Maxima so far, but 14 owners have already signed up to participate in our Car Reliability Survey, so hopefully more soon.

Real-world Nissan Maxima gas mileage

 

My 09 seems to be getting a tad over 28 mpg on the interstate, and about 24 combined city/hwy mileage. I only run Premium gas. And I have a pretty heavy foot. It does seem to be speed and also TERRAIN related quite a bit. I go up and down a mountain every day.

 

Terrain plays a huge role in MPG. Because of the incessant up/down/up/down of every interstate road in the northern and central part of Georgia, I never even consider using cruise control; it is very fuel inefficient keeping the exact same speed up and down hills. And steeper hills on side roads are worse. My 'instant' MPG guage is always pegged at the top (60 MPG?) going downhill, and around 10 MPH going uphill on these type roads.

 

the faster you go the harder the engine works resulting in????????????

 

The farthest i've gotten up to was almost 300 miles on a full take of gas with about 85 more miles left on the Range Indicator. This car gets a hell of a lot better gas milage than my 08' Alty 4 banger

 

I got about 435 out of my best tank.

 

Maybe, maybe not. AT some slow speed, the engine works hard to move the load. At some higher speed, the car's momentum and inertia actually act to improve the efficiency. There's all that torque curves, drag coefficients, yada, yada, yada to contend with too... Of which I'm too old to remember. LOL

 

No it doesnt

 

For me it does cause i was always pushing my 4 banger cause they thing would not go fast enough to get up to highway speeds so i usually floored it. I kinda drive the Max a little less harder cause it gets up there pretty quick.

 

wow its like we are talking about completely different cars...but i had the 07 altima for about a year and i thought the 4 cylinder engine was one of the most capable and peppiest 4 bangers ive ever driven. The cvt in that car was giving me about the same gas mileage as my civic at the time. just a little hard to believe ur getting better mpg in a car that has 2 more cylinders, bigger displacement and heavier weight

 

You also have to remember that technologies such as the CVT-C, VVEL, VVT-i, V-TEC etc. play a big role in the gas mileage of cars.

 

I got 319mi outta my last tank at fill-up time and still have about 50mi left on the range indicator