Hey guys, curious I know our 02-03 maximas don't say the right mpg but it's been 25 miles since I filled up the tank full and did all city Los Angeles traffic driving. It's reading right now 12.7 mpg at an average of 8 mph.... Is it ok to read this off or is something wrong?

Also just to add to this the car i bought which has been 3 weeks now has been pretty much sitting in the garage a long time. The lady who owned it before only drove 300 miles in 1 year and been like that for a few years I guess.... Don't know if it helps any but thinking a Fuel induction clean from Nissan would help...

Thanks guys, this got me worried right now.

 

To get a accurate mpg:

1. Fill up tank

2. Reset trip odometer

3. Fill back up when you need gas

4. Note the amount of gallons you put in, and divide that by the amount of miles driven on the trip odometer.

 

Mine seems pretty accurate when i do the calculations, i average 24-25 with a 02 6 speed.

If you beat the **** out of it for a tank and average 12, then the next tank you average 24 it takes it a while to get back up to 24, a few tanks probably.

 

+1. This will give you an exact and accurate number on your MPG, not the guesswork of the car's computer. The MPG calculator doesn't even work on my car so I have to do it this way.

 

Doesn't sound that off to me. What do you think, idling uses no gas? It doesn't mean anything's wrong with your car. Get some highway miles on that tank and see what your results are before drawing any conclusions. 25 miles is too small of a sigma to determine anything, regardless of the conditions.

 

Sounds about right, I beat on mine hard all day in the city and I get around 14-15, take it on the highway and cruise I'll get around 25-26

 

That seems realistic.

When I first installed my headers, after two days, I started worrying because I was getting 18-18.5 MPG.

Then I realized I was doing mostly around town driving, and a little highway here and there. I let the gauge sit, forgot about it for a while, checked back the other day, and I'm currently doing about 22.3MPG combined 75%-ish city, 25%-ish highway.

 

Just use the old fashion way:
1. Go to the gas station.
2. Fill up until the pump stops itself
3. Reset the trip and drive 80 to 100miles
4. Go back to the same gas station and use the same gas pump until the trigger stops and then do the math!

 

If the car has really been driven 300miles per year for a few years then you will probably want to do a full tune-up prior getting the best MPG out of the Max.

 

So far did an oil change is all I did, was planning to do a fuel induction service but not sure yet. I will clean the MAF tomorrow, that might help it.

 

My experience with the onboard fuel computer is that is about 10% too optimistic.
If it says I average 30mpg, when I fill up it is actually 27 mpg.

My 2003 Altima was the same way...

 

Yea same with my 05 Altima but I've noticed it's usually optimistically higher but mines is lower is why it worried me.

 

I think you'd get a better picture over four tanks, rather than four gallons.

 

Still it will more accurate than looking at the "computer readings"