How's Your Gas Mileage?

[longo]

In a New York Times atricle today, they found the 1959 Opel car that won a Shell Oil/Guinness World Book of Records 1973 fuel economy run.

It was sitting unremarked, and unremembered in a museum somewhere in Alabama..it got 376 mpg at a steady 30 mph.

Here is one of the reasons Car Companies today have little interest in the idea..... a guote on the article from a Tard, named Mike....

"Screw all you breeders. I have no kids to leave this planet to so I’m burning as much gas as possible!!

2004 F150 w/ 5.4L V8 - 14 mpg2008 350Z w/ 3.5L V5 - 18 mpg2007 KTM 525 EXC - who knows…2003 Yamaha grizzly quad - who cares…

Bad fuel economy = good fun!"


Modified by longo at 10:29 AM 5/30/2008

[srellim234]

My first car, a 1973 Opel Manta Rally purchased new from a Buick dealer, only got about 2 mpg less than the Versa we own today. I'll admit that the Versa has more amenities and puts out less smog than that Opel did, but I wish someone out there had taken the high gas mileage achieved by those concept cars and run with it instead of stifling it. A competitively priced commuter car over 100 mpg would probably be successful in a niche market here, even without much of anything in the way of creature comforts.

I just filled up my Versa after a true, 100% city driving, stop & go tank. 22.0 mpg. Worst gas mileage tank since we bought the car last July.

If we could afford to get out of this Versa we'd be out of it very quickly.

[longo]

Thanks for the follow up on the Worlds most fuel effient car in 1973, sorry tho it wasn't a space age, UFO shaped concept freak, it was this 1959, 376 mpg Opel Ugly Duckling.


Modified by longo at 10:24 AM 6/1/2008

[somdamon]

My first fill up registered at 27.94 MPG with mixed driving. Very disappointed when I consistantly average 30 MPG on my 2007 Altima. Somehow I felt the Versa would easily top the Altima in MPG.

I have been told that the mileage should increase as the car works its way through the break in period. We will see.....

[frankoV]

I find that most people that are posting their fuel economies are not specifying the US MPG or IMPERIAL MPG, which is the cause of confusion with all the conversions.

I think that by and large when MPG is posted it is US; when it is IMP it is identified as such by us Canadians.

But who am I and what do I know? [with apologies to EV]

[biggie]

My first fill up since I moved. Now just driving 20 miles round trip per day and speed zones of 55/45/35. Got 32.5 mpg.

[Red Devil]

Trip from Elizabethtown PA---> Rehoboth, DE(was a lil over 3/4 of a tank at start and filled up for return trip @ 1/4 left) : 36 mpg

Rehoboth, DE----> Elizabethtown, PA and rest of week: 37 mpg.

I think going back to normal to and from work driving( E-town to Middletown, PA) will bring me back to my 32-34 mpg range I've been getting.(all US mpg btw)

[Alphahawk]

Having read all of the post on this topic I will put in my two cents worth as a new Versa owner but one who racks up miles quickly. I have a 2008 SL CVT...plus I weigh 300 pounds. Quite a load. I have thought of buying a ScanGauge but am not sure it will tell me anything I don't already know and have read about on the forum here. Driving this car zippy in stop and go traffic is fun but it does suck the gas when driven like that. Driving stop and go with slow acceleration and keeping it under 2k rpm gets me around town at an average of 32 US MPG. I am quite happy with that. The car is fun to drive on a curvy road...at least to me after driving a truck for so long.....but getting into the curves with the gas one finds it will drink gas quickly...my observations. I usually drive a 206 mile round trip each day to fish and was using the cruise set at 56 MPH and would get 35 US MPG. Taking the drive without cruise....the road is very hilly....I can easily get 38 US MPG staying at 56...plus or minus a few MPH as I try not to open the throttle too much going up hills and thus do bleed a little speed off on long hills trying to keep a soft foot in the pedal. I take a trip to Memphis,TN leaving from Nashville,TN....on Interstate 40.....more often than I would like and have found not turning on the cruise until I am past the Tennessee river saves me a ton of fuel. After the river it is flat into Memphis and maybe even technically a small downhill incline...but for sure pretty much flat. Driving at 66 MPH gives me US 43 MPG...... round trip of 400 miles. I was not initially disappointed with my MPG when new but reading some posts on here have helped me change my driving habits. Such as not using cruise in hilly areas. What more a ScanGauge can do for me I don't know. It takes some getting used to pulling away from stop lights slowly but it has really helped me with MPG.

[equlizer]

you guys doing anything special to get these ridiculous mpg's? I just did my best tank at 565km's with about 70% city and 30% highway and thats driving like a grandpa

[Alphahawk]

If I did my conversion math correctly that is US 27MPG. I know a few people here in my town with a Versa and none of them have complained of bad MPG. Of course that all is highly subjective. All I am doing is driving conservatively. Today did my 1st oil change at 3700 miles and am using 10w30 Mobil 1 at the dealers recommendations. I know a lot of people do not like Mobil 1 but my concern was the 10w30 instead of the 5w30 as per the manual. When I asked him he told me the Nissan factory reps out of Smyrna Tn....which has a Nisan plant here have told him in our region they recommend 10w30 over the 5w30. I will keep a check on my MPG as nothing should change but one never knows. Will report back as the summer goes along.

[J. Reid]

you guys doing anything special to get these ridiculous mpg's? I just did my best tank at 565km's with about 70% city and 30% highway and thats driving like a grandpa

Nothing out of the ordinary for me, on my first tank since I picked it up at the dealership, its at 550km on the trip counter and the fuel gauge is still at 1/4. About 60% city, 40% highway for this tank, including a massive roughly 3km hill climb each morning that used to destroy my old neon's mileage.

[joven]

Just logged my first fill up since I bought my S 6spd last week. 34.5 mpg! I'm pretty happy with that. While I have followed the break in guidelines, I drive fairly aggressively too. I just signed up for Your MPH on http://www.fueleconomy.gov so I can track and share my mileage results over time.

[frankoV]

Nothing out of the ordinary for me, on my first tank since I picked it up at the dealership, its at 550km on the trip counter and the fuel gauge is still at 1/4. About 60% city, 40% highway for this tank, including a massive roughly 3km hill climb each morning that used to destroy my old neon's mileage.

Puts paid to the thought ymmv.

Probably time for me to stop being so anal about mileage. It's slowly improving to the point where I'm more or less tolerant of what I'm getting. Maybe resigned is more the word.

This week Ottawa to Toronto and back; mostly highway but a bit in town:

~1,000 km (~620 mi); 7.32 l/100 km = 38.6 imp MPG = 32.13 US MPG; A/C running most the way; 119 km/hr (74 mph) using cruise as much as possible; CVT.

Cost of gas: $97.00

[sc_versa_guy]

Have gotten up to 44 mpg - at 50-60 mph over a 120 mile highway trip. This is on a 07 Versa with 20K on it. It now has 41K on it.

[falconxlc]

First 3 months of the versa i was getting 28-29, then i eased off the throttle and avg acceleration is around 2500 rpm or lower. Then the MPG went above 30 to 32-35, 6 months into driving the MPG significantly lowered to 27...and realized that the car needed oil change. After I got the oil change the MPG is back up to 33 again.

Remember if you want high mpg1) Slow acceleration2) Oil change 3 months or 3000 miles3) On hills going down, i put the car in neutral and hover my foot over the break.

[VersaJosh]

Well, my last full tank of gas lasted me exactly 193 miles. What is going on?! I've eased up on the throttle, recently had an oil change, and tire pressure is perfect. I'm going to go to the dealer Thursday to find out what the hell is going on. What do you think it could be? Thanks!Josh

[longo]

Hey Josh,

If you used about 12 gal of your 13 gal tank and only went 193 miles, that figures out to 16 MPG!

You deserve the 2008 'Worst MPG Versa Of the Year AWard'

The award would be given to you by Exxon with their best wishes and the hope you keep the car for many years.

I hope your dealership finds something wrong with your Versa, because that 16 mpg really sucks!

(BTW I think the Worst MPG Versa of THe Year Award for 2007 would go to the guy in New York City who used his Versa to deliver flyers and got 11 mpg.)

[alonsorules8]

On Sunday I returned from a trip to Va beach. I drove 300 mile on the highway at 62.5 mph, and 100 miles in urban driving conditions equaling 400 mile trip on 10.8 gal. so the trip work out to be 36 MPG. That is with A/C use.

I'm looking forward to may long distant trip in my V this summer!

[jonrpatrick]

I've been averaging about 29.5 mpg in mostly city-type driving. on the highway I'll get between 32-34 mpg. Versa S with the manual transmission.

Unfortunately, I'm disappointed with this overall. I had a 2000 Focus with an automatic and consistently got basically the same mileage. And the Ford was a hoot to drive.

Further, I have 2 coworkers who have a Fit and a Civic, and both get substantially better gas mileage. Of course, I comfort myself that the Versa is larger and have more usable space in my Nissan. But the fact is it is a small car that gets only 'okay' gas mileage.

[srellim234]

Highway and steady is really the key. I have a choice between three stop signs going uphill or five stop signs going downhill to get out of my neighborhood. Traffic lights less than 250 yards either way after that.

The last couple of months our Versa really never saw the freeway and is just over a 26 mpg average on 100% driving like the above. The saving grace in that is only hitting the gas station every two or three weeks.

Summer months will be better on gas because it's 20 miles by freeway to get to my parents' swimming pool with the kids.

[J. Reid]

I'm now at 1150km, last tank (from the first time I filled it) worked out to 7.2L/100KM (the log on gasbuddy translates that to 39MPG). This time was probably 70% highway, so thats not too bad.

[repind39]

Just got the Versa (2007 S model with 17k miles) a week ago, topped it off max to see how many MPG I can get which will be known after the next fill up.... I know looking at the gas gauge needle isnt a way to predict gas mileage but I been looking and becoming a little worried.... I have a little over 1/4 tank left and I only have 230 miles driven from the full tank. I'm afraid to fill it up cuz I have a feeling I'll be greatly dissapointed with a 25MPG which it seems to be at from the eye estimation of the needle (which isn't a good indicator so I hope its way off).

[RobsPages]

Just got the Versa a week ago, topped it off max to see how many MPG I can get which will be known after the next fill up.... I know looking at the gas gauge needle isnt a way to predict gas mileage but I been looking and becoming a little worried.... I have a little over 1/4 tank left and I only have 230 miles driven from the full tank. I'm afraid to fill it up cuz I have a feeling I'll be greatly dissapointed with a 25MPG which seems judging from just the needle (which isn't a good indicator so I hope its way off).

That's about right for the low 30s. I've gone through 3.5 tanks now and haven't gotten below 30 yet. The gauge is a terrible indicator. I log current mileage and # of gallons at each fill-up and let MS Excel do the rest.

While this car is capable of MPG numbers in the upper 30's it's going to require changes in driving habits (and maybe even routes) for most people to get it.

[DejaWiz]

I have a little over 1/4 tank left and I only have 230 miles driven from the full tank. I'm afraid to fill it up cuz I have a feeling I'll be greatly dissapointed with a 25MPG which it seems to be at from the eye estimation of the needle (which isn't a good indicator so I hope its way off).

In the first few fill-ups, I was only averaging 19-22 MPG. Give it about 1000 miles and then judge, as I'm now averaging 26-28 MPG with about 80% city driving. Got 30 MPG average last month and that included a trip back from Kansas City as 70-80 MPH.

[s12dave]

I'd like to thank everybody who posted in this thread, as it has helped me to decide not to buy a Versa. My 05 Altima 2.5l regularly averages 26mpg of mixed driving, I've even gotten 36mpg before on a couple trips from Vegas to LA. Buying a Versa really wouldn't save me any money on gas at all.

[Treetopflyer]

well mine started off really crappy.like 21- 22 mpg. I just did my best yet. 705 km for 41 litres. That works out to 5.8 L/100 km or 48 mpg. UNBELIEVEABLE! I'll take that anytime. (BTW that was 90% highway @ 110kph.TTF

[mtndiamond]

I've got about 4 pages more of posts to go, so it will be interesting to see any other replies posted to this. I bought my '08 SL CVT in April and my HIGHEST tank was 25mpg with 100% highway driving. My normal drive is city, averaging around 40mph and with moderate stops/starts.

We took the V to our local dealership in mid-June, only to be talked to like idiots by one service tech, who wanted to blame it all on being in the "break-in period" blah blah. I told him that during the break-in period I could live with 24-25mpg city but NOT the 19-21mpg that we have been averaging. The service manager finally got involved and told us that without a dash light on, they couldn't check the car without us paying a diagnostic fee, but that some of their sales guys had reported less than stellar mileage. Nissan has not released anything "official" regarding the issue, but he suggested that we call 1800Nissan1 (consumer affairs) to report it. Once a true problem is established and a fix determined, doing this will supposedly get you on a list for a call-back and details on what to do to get it fixed.

We called and a few days later, got a follow-up call from a lady there, who proceeded to tell us that we would need to take the car in to deal with this problem. We informed her that we had already done that and the dealership suggested we call them. I asked if there was anything they could do, to which she replied that no, she couldn't do anything to see and repair my car over the phone. She said we would have to take it back to the dealer, pay a diagnostic fee, and if at some point they find a "real" problem with this, the fee would be refunded.

We have filed a complaint with the BBB because frankly, I don't think we should have to pay to have something fixed that we didn't break. We have an '06 Xterra and bought the Versa SOLELY to get improved mpg during these hard times. I'm getting in my V what I can get on the highway in the X which seems a little twisted to me. We picked up an additional car payment for the trade-off of fuel savings and are instead paying for weekly fill-ups and crappy mileage.

Sorry, that got a little winded, but I too am one of the very dissatisfied Versa owners. I love the car and options, but am frustrated beyond belief at the mileage we're getting, as well as the many questions we get about HOW we drive the car. I only wish we were ragging on it and that would explain the mpg. I'll definitely be interested to see if anyone has made any headway in getting this resolved - seems like it's only 1 out of every bunch of V's that has this issue.

[Treetopflyer]

Like I mentioned in a previous post, mine started off BAD! like you around 20-21 MPG. I took it into the shop and they gave me the same BS lines. I insisted they check it out and they did a full diagnostic on it. They said the "airflow sensor" was "a bit off- but just a wee bit" and it was replaced. The fuel economy did not change at all. But at around 4000 km's things looked a bit better (mind you the teperature was getting warmer too. Don't know if that had anything to do with it). Now I just broke a lifetime fuel economy record. about 6L/100 km or high 40's MPG. Wasn't always like that I can tell you! It took about 4000-5000 km before it ran like that.Good luck and don't take crap from the dealer. They assume we are all idiots.TTF

[longo]

We also have the Versa SL with the CVT. It got crappy MPG's from day one, and like most disgrusted owners also took it back for the dealer to check it out. They have some very creative ways of dealing with this issue..a couple I got were.."use MID grade gas" and, I had brought this poor MPG thing on myself, because using Mobile-1 engine oil before 15,000 kms won't let the engine 'break-in'.

I have installed a 'Scangauge' in my Versa to see if I can get a clue to the Versas thirsty gas habit, have tried different brands of gas, different grades of gas and different fuel additives, over-inflated the tire pressure, drive like an old Granny, we now have 25,000 kms on it and we have yet to get anywere near the posted mpgs... (I don't think the couple of good readings I got because of 45 to 60 mph tail winds count)

We road tested a new 09 Corolla 1.8 ltr, auto trans, last week with 250 Kms on the car, and the Toyota fuel info center on the dash was registering 5.2 to 6 ltrs per 100kms at highway speeds.

Anyway you do the math, that's over 40 mpg..right out of the box.


Modified by longo at 8:32 PM 7/22/2008

[srellim234]

I think this one is going to come back to bite Nissan in the rear in a few years. With skyrocketing fuel prices, former Nissan owners who tried to buy the Versa for fuel economy reasons aren't going to trust Nissan when it's time to buy another economy car. And, like we do here, we're more than willing to tell others.

I understand that some people ARE getting satisfactory mileage out of their Versas, but it's become apparent that there must be a subtle quality control issue leading to these fuel economy variances. Most of the people reporting poor mileage here are doing a lot to try to get decent mileage out of their Versas. I think that subtle inconsistensies in the cars, things not readily identifiable, are causing this. A perceived problem with quality control has brought down a lot of companies over the years.

Nissan, too, might be realizing this and simply be unable to identify it. Maybe one minor part is coming in with variations on tolerance that's throwing it off. I'd be interested to see if something in the fuel pump/fuel regulator issue might be causing poorer gas mileage, even if it's not bad enough to be triggering a code or cause the engine startup problems.