80 mph-Still 33 mpg

[Bubs daddy]

Took the Versa on a 240 highway trip. Speed limit out here on the freeway is 75 mph but unless you're doing 80-85, 80% of traffic will pass you. Did 80 mph on the freeway most of the way. The rest of the 100 miles or so was combined highway/city.

358.9 miles, 10.961 gallons32.74 mpg

Extrapolating the figures even furthers gives my Versa a 400 mile range on the freeway. Heck if I did 65-70 mph average I would guess it would see closer to 35 mpg.

[7speed]

Good job! What kind of weather conditions did you have, and was it a level trip or were mountains involved?

[RicoOnTheRocks]

how? how many miles are on your versa now?

the best i've managed to get is about 31 mpg averaging about 70 mph. mine has about 3000 miles on the nose and I just got the first oil change, so I am hoping that this helps the mpg a bit.

[kc5f]

When I bought mine and the weather was warmer (September), I easily got 400 miles/tank even with running 70-77mph about 50% of the time, 50-60 25% and 35-45 the other 25%, and that's including a good bit of mountain driving. I don't klnow if it's all the winter fuel formulation or partly the temperature as well, but now I figure about 375 miles/tank. (18,000 miles total, now.)

I'd guess if we all had your flat roads and warm temperatures we'd see better mileage, too. I'm looking forward to warmer temperatures and summer fuel formulation to get my mileage back up to 32-33mpg. You couldn't pay me enough to move to Phoenix, though!

[Bubs daddy]

Weather was mid 70's, mostly level surface.

My Versa is approaching 3000 miles. Changed to Mobil 1 synthetic after 700 miles.

[Jemdawg]

I've yet to make the switch over to synthetic. I'm at about 8500 miles now, I've been putting it off for too long. I wonder how much of a difference my mods will make on my fuel economy, maybe I'll be able to get over 420 miles to the tank. I'd be surprised if I could get 500 miles, but that would make me pretty damn happy.

[7speed]

Why would synthetic oil make such a difference in fuel economy?

[BBISHOPPCM]

I believe the Versa gets the best milage at around 60 mph, and goes down after 60. Also, you want to wait until around 10,000 miles to switch to synthetic in order for the engine to break-in properly (this was recommended to me by several mechanics and car buffs)

[proxim2020]

Synthetic oils have less friction. This means your engine can move easier, thus the slight boast in mpg. Synthetics are also less susceptible to sludge development than petro oil. Sludge thickens the oil, which creates more friction, which keeps your mpg down.

[Bubs daddy]

Quote »Also, you want to wait until around 10,000 miles to switch to synthetic in order for the engine to break-in properly (this was recommended to me by several mechanics and car buffs) [/quote]This is really no longer necessary with modern engines. That may have been true 20 years ago but not today. Many, many cars come from the factory with synthetic fill. Even the owners manual does not specify or recommend this procedure, just the proper grade, spec and weight.

[proxim2020]

True. Modern engines are made with much closer tolerances than those made back in the day. Refer to the following posting.

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