Gas Mileage?

[Lissylauan]

I bought my Versa about 3 months ago give or take. I wanted to test and see how many MPG I was getting. I filled up my car, set the mileage to zero and by the time I had to fill up I got only 163 miles out of that full tank. Now I know that's not normal. Pretty much 100% of my driving is city and this is my first car so I don't know what's goingo n.

[sooner4x4]

Need a little more info to determine the actual miles per gallon. You stated how many miles you drove, but did not mention how many gallons it took to fill up.

miles / gallons = mpg

Do the math on a few fillups before deciding if there is a problem.

[evil200000000]

change the filter a couple of times then you'll see more mileage.

[srellim234]

change the filter a couple of times then you'll see more mileage.

Fuel filter? Air filter? Oil filter?

[arco]

Probably not the oil filter. I've had 3 oil changes on mine (about 10,000 miles) and the mpg is still as lousy as it's always been.

[Jerky_san]

Hey I've had similiar issues.. I've found the more miles you get the better mpg you get.. Your mpg is the same as mine when it was brand new.. I had was getting around 21. My dad was like just drive the damn thing and quit babying it.. So now I just drive it and low and behold I got 25mpg my last fillup. I have 500 miles on my car now so after a little while will see if its still improving =)..

[KimberKenobi]

I babied my first Camel for the 1200 miles and saw anywhere from 20-27 mpg until I hit 5000 miles... it started to go up. there was a point where I hit 33, and then got 33 consistently for over 1000 miles (until I traded it).

I didn't baby this Camel through it's break-in period and I rarely hit 31 mpg. (I have significantly more miles on it and I've never even hit 32 mpg.)

I'm sure it's more than just, I broke in the first one to the letter and I didn't on the second one... but it really makes me wish I had babied it so that I would know for sure...

My lifetime mpg that is on my sig is taken with two sections of fill-ups missing so it is not accurate. I am missing a section from first owning the Camel and a the section which includes my Seattle trip... as soon as I find the envelope with those receipts, that number will be more accurate.

[Ever Victorious]

There's quite a BIT of info missing out of there. Not only is the figure of gallons missing (and yes, you need to test it over multiple tanks), but we also need to know some other important factors.

What transmission?Using A/C constantly?Do you idle it a lot (stop-and-go freeway traffic, sitting in the car idling to run the A/C while doing stuff in the car while parked, etc.?)

I saw almost a full 1 MPG drop off in my last tank because I was a moron and kept the engine idling when the Montlake bridge went up in front of me on Thursday. I have no idea what I was thinking, I knew that the bridge sometimes has a cycle time of 15 minutes (to accommodate large, slow barges) and for no good reason, I kept it running at idle that whole time.

Remember, when the engine's on and you're sitting still, you're getting exactly 0 MPG.

[NewToVersa]

To KimberKenobi I didn't baby this Camel through it's break-in period and I rarely hit 31 mpg what did you do...

[KimberKenobi]

drove just like I did after my first Camel's break-in period... (sorry for always referring to my V as a Camel... I realize it may annoy others...) so... I like to be first off the line at lights and I drive between 75-85 on the highway...

The break-in rules include stuff like, "not hitting higher than 4,000 rpms" and "no quick starts"

I broke both those rules numerous times.

My first Camel, I broke the car rules exactly 3 times. (I can be quite anal about things... my friends call me a paladin because I'm such a rule-monger... my job is breaking me of this habit.)

[vpnavy]

I kept my Sedan between 50 and 55 (had to jump up to 65 a few times) and drove it 98 miles (hwy). I pulled 42+ MPGs! However, it was pure torture to go that slow!

I just wanted to see what the best MPG I could get. I average 33+- with normal CTY/HWY.

[Lissylauan]

Well, I didn't really pay attention to the mileage at first because I know it's never great when you first buy a car but this past week I decided to pay attention. I got up to 163 miles on 9.8 gallons. I have the CVT transmission and I mostly drive in the city rarely with stop and go traffic. And I try not to use the A/C all the time just whenever it gets unbearably hot.

I just filled it up again yesterday and will test it out over multiple tanks to see what happens.

I went over 1800 miles today.

[phikapbob]

I've never broken 30mpg on any tankful, and I'm sitting around 7800 miles in 4 months time. It's a typical suburban daily commute of mostly surface streets and a stretch of highway. Total MPG for the life of the car is 28.

I'm hoping for a little improvement after having it in for service, but not counting on much.

[Eastval1]

As stated above, the information you've provided isn't enough to accurately determine MPG. However, you did say you're getting about 163 miles on 9.8 gallons. To correlate, I've been getting about 190-200 miles on a full tank with mostly city driving with a CVT. Just make sure you don't floor it from a dead-stop or decelerate to quickly and that should help a little.
Modified by Eastval1 at 12:32 PM 10/2/2007

[Rockhound]

As stated above, the information you've provided isn't enough to accurately determine MPG. However, you did say you're getting about 163 miles on a full tank. To correlate, I've been getting about 190-200 miles on a full tank with mostly city driving with a CVT. Just make sure you don't floor it from a dead-stop or decelerate to quickly and that should help a little.

Well, no, she said she got 163 miles on 9.8 gallons. A full tank is 13 gallons (13.2 to be exact). Her MPG is about 16.6, which is scary low.

Your 200 miles on a "full tank" is also pretty poor mileage for the CVT. Even if you only filled up 10 gallons, that'd be 20 MPG. A true full tank (13 gallons) would mean you're getting ~16 MPG.

With just over 4500 miles on our V we've been averaging around 28 MPG...so on a legitimate "full tank", we should be able to go almost 370 miles. I don't look at it as miles/tank, so I've never really noticed how many miles pass between each fill-up - although we also try to fill up on gas when we're down to a 1/4 tank in our cars. So I just do the math and keep a log of MPG. Our first fill-up in the V was good for somewhere around 24 MPG and it has been steadily increasing ever since. We drive it moderately with occasional spirited acceleration runs now and then.

If you're going to keep track of MPG, just do the division - or report on here your miles driven and fuel consumed. "Miles per tank" is far to vague for comparison purposes.

[Eastval1]

If you're going to keep track of MPG, just do the division - or report on here your miles driven and fuel consumed. "Miles per tank" is far to vague for comparison purposes.

I agree, and that's exactly the point I was making in my post. I'm aware of how to track mpg's accurately, I was using the "miles per tank" as comparison to the original post as that was the method employed there; I never stated it was a good method, I was merely offering a point of comparison.

[srellim234]

I keep two of those Dome auto booklets in the car, one for daily mileage and one for expenses/repairs. The daily mileage mainly lets me see a diary of how much the car is driven on any given day and if I wind up ever using it for business I can write the miles off on taxes. Writing the beginning mileage down in the driveway each morning is just habit after having a company car for quite a few years.

The one for expenses is the important one. It keeps a record of gas mileage so you can see if there's a downward trend that might indicate there's something going on with the car mechanically. Also, the recordkeeping of maintenance and repairs in it can be invaluable if you run into warranty arguments with your dealer later and they claim lack of maintenance on your part is responsible.

It also doesn't hurt to have those books when negotiating a trade-in or sale of the car. Those little things can be worth their weight in gold.

It only takes a couple of seconds to write these things down. The record books actually fit in the center armrest of the Versa SL if you don't want to fumble around in the glovebox for them.

[zenwick]

I filled up for the first time today, and got just under 35 mpg (330 miles on 9.5 gallons). I think the trick is - get a 6-speed! My commute is 90% highway, too.

Question - what do you all think of the break-in ideas on this site?http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htmI got my Versa with 40 miles on it already, so a bit late for me. Maybe the next one? What does the factory do in the first few miles, do they do any break-in at all, or just roll it onto a car carrier?

[justmerging]

I don't know why evrybody else gets such bad mileage, I consistantly get about 35-36 mpg and I drive 50% highway 50% city with a CVT.

[DAVPX]

In my experience, new cars tend to get bad mileage at first. after a few fill-ups, you'll start to see a big improvement. My v gets over 30mpg as of today and I have just over 3k on it.

[Rockhound]

In my experience, new cars tend to get bad mileage at first. after a few fill-ups, you'll start to see a big improvement. My v gets over 30mpg as of today and I have just over 3k on it.

Well, that's certainly true - but some of the owners in this thread are reporting fuel mileage as low as 16 MPG. Break-in or not, something is not right with that. I think our first tank got us somewhere around 25 in town, and it's been a steady climb since then. I can see low 20s during break in being possible, but not likely.

[srellim234]

Mine is exactly the opposite. The very first tankful got 30.0 mpg; It hasn't delivered better than 29.1 since. Averaging 27.1 since we bought the car in July.

I did notice that during September the real-world mpg reported by owners nationwide to fueleconomy.gov raised the average of the Versa with CVT from 27.9 to 28.1 mpg.

[clone]

"I did notice that during September the real-world mpg reported by owners nationwide to fueleconomy.gov raised the average of the Versa with CVT from 27.9 to 28.1 mpg."

One of those numbers is mine (IA- #22) and represents a little over 7,000 miles with an overall average of 30.9. Since June, it's averaged over 31 consistently with variations much lower and much higher due, probably, to my relative patience at each fill.

My quarrel with the .gov numbers is "how many miles do the reports represent?" I'm sure many of them are one tank only.

My mileage will drop during the Iowa winter but that's to be expected. In the meantime, the SL CVT Hb is comfortable, easy to park, etc. Even haul branches and other stuff that makes the neigbors wonder.

[srellim234]

clone- you're right about not knowing the miles. At least fueleconomy.gov gives you the latest reporting date for each car. It looks like only 9 of the 29 cars listed there are still having their mileage updated. You're not one of them, since according to them you bought your last tank of gas in July. FYI, I'm CA #26.

Unfortunately, I don't know of any of the sites that are really that accurate. The True Delta site tracks thing a lot more vaguely than the government site.

[nissantech06]

You guys aren't the only people I've heard about bad Versa mileage. We've had a few customers bring their cars in for the same issue. One of my teachers at Nissan school has said the same thing. There are MANY things to consider when computing mileage as stated above. Most people don't get their BEST mileage until the engine has over 10,000 miles.

[Rockhound]

There are MANY things to consider when computing mileage as stated above. Most people don't get their BEST mileage until the engine has over 10,000 miles.

I wouldn't doubt that in many cases gas mileage could continue to increase even beyond 10k miles. But I think the point is, getting well under 20 mpg (as stated in this thread by multiple owners) seems to point to a greater problem than typical "break-in" mileage. I highly doubt "break-in" mileage should be 12-14 mpg lower than "broken-in" mileage - I bet a 5 mpg increase during break-in is drastic in most cases. I think that's what is puzzling these particular owners.

[nissantech06]

I wouldn't doubt that in many cases gas mileage could continue to increase even beyond 10k miles. But I think the point is, getting well under 20 mpg (as stated in this thread by multiple owners) seems to point to a greater problem than typical "break-in" mileage. I highly doubt "break-in" mileage should be 12-14 mpg lower than "broken-in" mileage - I bet a 5 mpg increase during break-in is drastic in most cases. I think that's what is puzzling these particular owners.

I couldn't agree more, and that's why I've said, "We've had a few customers complain about the same problem" and "A teacher at Nissan school has mentioned the problem."

I don't know, yet, what the answer is. Tomorrow morning I will check Assist for TSB's related to the issue, if any exist.

[kc5f]

As one whose CVT is well broken-in, here's my mileage summary. In my case, between 5k and 10k miles was when the gas formulation changed for the winter and the weather got colder, dropping my mileage. It picked up again last spring with the change back, between 20k and 25k miles.

0-5k miles - 32.3 mpg5k-10k - 31.210k-15k - 30.815k-20k - 31.520k-25k - 32.725k-30k - 33.830k-35k - 33.935k-39k - 33.6

[wippy]

I recorded about 29.5 mpg on the first tankful out of the dealer's. Including that tank and in the 3000 miles to date I've averaged a bit over 32 mpg, but then I don't drive fast, cruise (coast) when I can and don't burst off the line.

(2007 V SL hatchback w/6-speed manual)

[justmerging]

I'm in the same boat as kc5f, i have just over 27k miles as of this week. perhaps the cvt really just needs a lot of miles until it "finds itself"