350z, worse mpg than 3.5SE Murano and 3.5SE Maxima

[ManDogFish]

Hi,
I was wondering if any of you happen to have a good guess or happen to know why the 350z 6mt takes more fuel than a nissan murano AWD, a 3.5 maxima and a 3.5 Altima even with the manual trans...

manual transmissions are supposed to save gas in the first place...

The exhaust system does give the vq35de a bit more power, so a bit of fuel probably gets taken there
and the rpm does sit higher on highway driving with the 6 speed 350z... but then its still worse in the city than a maxima and the same as an AWD murano...

now the murano is like 2 tons... with worse aerodynamics, an auto gearbox and AWD!! which should take way more fuel...
I know driving style has a big influence on mpg... but then, checkout the mpg ratings for muranos and maximas...
Muranos in good condition beat their rated mpg (first hand experience), im sure maximas can do the same...

so, compring to the murano and maxima, we do have a much lighter car, with better aerodynamic drag, a manual transmission (lower rotating interia), lighter rotating components (drive shaft and stuff)
where does our fuel go??

When I drive staying under 1800-2000rpm, only then do I beat the mpg of the 2004 AWD SE murano... otherwise, if a noob were driving my 350z and a murano 3.5SE, they would save gas driving the murano

its a pisoff knowning you have a lighter car which should be more efficient... but its not...

so yea, where does our fuel go??

[ManDogFish]

btw my claims are based on the onboard mpg computer... and the same octane when compared... compared both on 87 octane and 91 octane with the same results...

[MuranoDriver]

Try resetting the ECU by leaving the battery unplugged for a little while. Have you ever done that after any mods?

I got a solid 25mpg average with my 04 6MT 350z. Driving my Murano under 2k rpm has got me to 25.3mpg as my best.

There might be an issue somewhere with your Z.

[ManDogFish]

due to the CVT, the murano 3.5 sits at a much lower rpm on the highway...it would stay in a lower range even in city compared to a close ratio 6speed 350z....

I can do better mpg than the murano but with my normal driving, the murano and 350z seem very very similar in mpg...while the maxima does better highway as the rpm sits lower...

I do not have any mods and I did a battery reset...

an AWD R32 GTS-4 takes a lot more fuel than an R32 GTS-t....with the same engine...
you will find hondas doing 40-50mpg but will not find a subaru or a similar AWD car doing that...

a g35 takes more fuel than a 350z as it weighs more...

but... a 350z weighs less than a maxima and less than a murano, it does not have AWD and better aerodynamics...
shouldnt the mpg difference be far more??

a crx does a lot more mpg than a civic hatchback with the same engines...D15Z1... just cuz it weighs less....

[MuranoDriver]

I think the 6MT is just as efficient as the CVT on the average. You should get slightly higher than the Murano but not much since the Z has 40-50 more HP.

Nissan says the Murano should get 20/25 and the Z should get 20/26, both with an average of 22.

[ManDogFish]

350z...20mpg combined...
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/19378.shtml

murano AWD...20 mpg combined
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/noframes/20342.shtml

the 2013 altima 3.5 does 30mpg highway...somehow...with 270hp....

a maxima 3.5... has 265hp... 04 350z has 287... about 22hp difference...
murano weighs 1750kg, and has a lot of resistance against acceleration and high rolling resistance due to AWD
the 350z in at 1450kg

[MuranoDriver]

I do not have AWD so I get atleast 1-2 better.

[ManDogFish]

if you go to:
http://ontariogasprices.com/tripcalculator.aspx

and compare the fuel cost for trip, comparing between the murano, 350z, maxima, altima...all in 3.5...
you will see that the 350z costs the most fuel...

wheres my fuel going yo

[BusyBadger]

wheres my fuel going yo

This should help you.

Welcome to NICO.

[ManDogFish]

[jerryd1987]

holy s*** you have so many horrible posts im glad you dont post on the other forums. have you ever held the stock z flywheel? its dual mass damn thing is heavy, we also have a much much beefier trans then either car, guarantee if you dyno all three cars and compare them to there manufacturer engine ratings the 6 speed z will have a similar loss % due to the trans and heavy a** flywheel. on top of that you are running a higher rpm where do you think the fuel is going. i swear i feel like my 3 year old son knows more about cars, the "haters gona hate" poster you posted just makes me think even more your 8 years old and cant even drive yet. also no matter how much you may deny it behavioral health science has proven that subconsciously when a person drives a sports car they are more aggressive then say a family car, dont deny it your doing it even if you dont realize it.

now figure in how your running a fuel your car shouldnt be and your going to get even worse mpg

btw who the hell says yo? i havnt heard that since middle school in the 90's

[ManDogFish]

haha... calm down buddy...
I am a full time working Manufacturing Engineer. I am not 8 years old.. I am just not mentally soo old and anal like you...

I started attempting to learn to drive when I was 11 and had learnt to drive by the time I was 13.5...I was riding motorcycles when I was 13...
Point is, I am aware of my driving...
I am aware of how my driving may change according to the car

SO... UR SAYING... that a 350z transmission (due to flywheel) HAS MORE ROTATIONAL INTERTIA THAN A MURANO AWD CVT AUTO trans THAT SUPPORTS AWD?!?
it does not...

buddy, lets just agree that we do not know the answers to my questions yet...

sure...try using whatever u can to prove me wrong than to answer the question that I am looking the answer to...

I drive 180km a day... and I drive slower and gentler on the 350z than other cars...I am aware of the RPM at my cruising speeds...

trying to make me look bad doesnt make you look good...

[ManDogFish]

whats wrong with saying "yo"??
if its ok to say it in North America's second largest auto parts producer manufacturing plant (one of) then its ok to say it on an online car forum...

why u say bad word yo...?? u said the s word... which is s***

Im sure even ur 3 years old kid knows not to use that word

[BusyBadger]

Keep up the discussion but cut out personal attacks.

And anyone buying "high octane" and then getting some pinging action (on multiple occasions no less!) should find a new gas station.

[RicerX]

The final drive ratios of the Altima, Maxima, and Murano are gear toward allowing more highway range. Cruising speeds. The final drive of the Z is geared more toward acceleration. This constitutes the higher revving at speed, etc, which translates into less fuel mileage. On the other hand, stay in top gear on the highway around 50mph in an Altima/Max/Murano, line it up next to a Z in top gear and floor it and the Z will dramatically out-accelerate the others due to the gearing setup.

The VQ35 you find in these cars is basically a detuned version of the engine from the Z. The ECU mapping for the Z is calibrated to milk the engine for as much performance as possible. This is typically at the cost of fuel. In the case of the Murano vs. the Z, the Murano has a CVT, which doesn't make it a fair fight. Nissan's CVT is lighter and far more efficient than a conventional automatic transmission. As much as I love manual transmissions, them being more efficient than automated transmissions is becoming a thing of the past.

The 2013 Altima 3.5 has a completely different CVT than Nissan has ever used for any previous model. It has been completely reworked and has a final drive ratio of 7.0. This let Autoblog go 100mph at 3000 RPMs (cruising speed - read, cruise throttle input) in their 2.5s test model. Referencing this build of the VQ is not at all relevant because it is a dramatic evolution of the VQ/CVT platform Nissan began with the Murano nearly 10 years ago.