How to get the best possible fuel economy

[VersaDude]

I have a 2009 Nissan Versa 1.8l hatchback and wanted to know the best possible way to save gas, wheater it would be syntheitic oil or better oil and air filter, tire pressure which is better for a smoother ride.. Right know I havent done anything to the versa just couple regualar oil changes.Its at 13,700

[Promise Land]

what trans do you have? manual, CVT, and auto need a different driving strategy to get the best mileage.

Search for a few topics because we've discussed various ideas over the last couple years.

[NODES]

Versa and saving gas should not be used in the same sentence for the most part.

If its CVT keep it under 2000 rpm and you will get decent gas mileage, at least that's what my Scangauge tell me.

[08versailles]

Lots of little things can help a little bit,
but it still comes down to
The Pedal on the Right.

[NODES]

drive it like a grandma or grandpa and you will get the advertised fuel economy.

[marinemonkey]

I have a 6 spd i shift under 3000 rpm get around 24-27 city 27-31 hwy. I have less the 8000 miles on my car as well and i have seen several people say the more miles the better the mpg gets so i have read.

[led hed]

push it wherever you wanna go

[versanewb]

This sucks. A 1.8L engine and getting the mileage of an SUV. I will never buy another Nissan.

[08versailles]

This sucks. A 1.8L engine and getting the mileage of an SUV. I will never buy another Nissan.

How many miles?
How many gallons?
Fill er up the pretty much the same level every time?

My buddy gets about 14 to 16 mpg [imp] in his 'burban.
Hope you get better than that

[iluvmyVersa08]

This sucks. A 1.8L engine and getting the mileage of an SUV. I will never buy another Nissan.

How are you driving your car? The way you drive it has a huge impact on your mileage.

I've been getting about 30MPG lately. That is mostly highway now with A/C on. I don't always floor it from the get-go, but to get on the highway I will floor it. I also have the 1.8 CVT.

[AZhitman]

There are a TON of "hypermiler" tricks for the Versa.

Among the simplest are to over-inflate by 5psi, get ALL the excess weight out, tape up the seams on the front of the car, buy low rolling resistance tires, and above all, drive smoothly.

[MSCOFF]

I find that there's a really big difference between 60 and 70 mph for highway mileage. At 60 I get around 36. But then I get impatient.

[08versailles]

I find that there's a really big difference between 60 and 70 mph for highway mileage. At 60 I get around 36. But then I get impatient.

IT's true how much top speed helps mpg.
And you have yaris and echo!
They have 1.5L and about 400lbs lighter.
Will do better mpg in them, but Versa more room for everybody.
I shopped Yaris, and liked driver's roominess.
Had 89 Tercel, and would've kept it longer if it had AC and EFI.
GOt about 43mpig driving hard, 46 mpig easier.

I TOTALLY understand being impatient!
Even when im not late for work, i like to get er movin.
Glad for the cruise control, amuse myself with radio instead, try to be satisfied with good mpg and long range....

[kc5f]

More than half of my (110-mile round trip) commute is between 70 and 75 mph. I do agree that driving slower improves my mileage, but the biggest thing I see affecting mileage is using the air conditioning. I go to work before it gets hot, and by the time I come home it's usually cooled off to 90 or less so I don't use the A/C very often.

But two months ago we took a 1200+ mile trip and with my wife in the car we used the A/C almost 100% of the time. My mileage graph for the car shows a big drop for those tanks, and then returns to "normal". The drop was about 10%, from the usual 33-34 mpg to about 30 mpg, with almost 100% highway driving.

[led hed]

i am getting on average 41-43mpg, i'm not fibbing, 75% hwy driving, cruise control on about 98km/h. i haven't had my air-conditioning on these results.

i.e. i fill up the tank and after at around 550kms on the tank, i fill up again, or thereabouts and have used 37 litres gasoline.

[kc5f]

led hed - you may be using UK gallons in your calculation. Your example of 550km would be 341.7 miles, and 37 litres would be 9.8 gallons, giving 34.9 miles per gallon. That's good, but not over 40.

[led hed]

metric gallons i am using. 4.5litres for 1 gallon.

so 43mpg metric = 36mpg imperial.

BUT i don't use imperial because it's a metric world, EXCEPT for the good 'ol u.s. of a.

[08versailles]

led hed - you may be using UK gallons in your calculation. Your example of 550km would be 341.7 miles, and 37 litres would be 9.8 gallons, giving 34.9 miles per gallon. That's good, but not over 40.

Yup, Imperial gallons in Canada.
We've been officially Metric since 1977,
but i grew up in the 80s talking Miles per Imp Gallon.

I get my 40 mpg [see sig] without sacrificing the AC.

[kc5f]

i don't use imperial because it's a metric world, EXCEPT for the good 'ol u.s. of a.

Metric? Then why don't you report km per gallon or km per litre? (No animosity in my response, just curiosity.)

In any case, it would have been less confusing if you had your location shown as Canada. And also would have helped explain that you don't need A/C as much of those of us in the southern US!

[led hed]

k, location posted, i missed that in the beginning.

i'm kinda old school, i am use to mpg.

anyway, i get good mileage

[lablancjc]

I love this gas mileage. Had a 4.0 fronty that I babied and got 16 mpg on my best days. I can floor this car meaning getting on freeway faster then my fronty and get 30mpg no complaints this thing is freaking awesome!

[vermontversa]

Really good mileage!!! Hi. I am new owner. I got my Versa in September, 2010 and I really like it. It's a 2011 "Red Alert" hatchback with a six speed transmission and a spoiler. I have kept every fuel receipt and written the odometer reading on each. I recently created a spread sheet to track my fuel mileage. In purchasing the car I found many Versa drivers disappointed with their mileage, so I wanted to be methodical and diligent with tracking my mileage. I am pleased with my car's mileage. I get 31.8 mpg with summer tires and 31.6 with my winter tires (General Arctic Altimax). My regular commute is 11 miles on a twisty two lane Vermont state highway. I occasionally drive longer distances on the interstate. My best tank was 36.5 mpg on a long highway trip. My worst was an inexplicable 28 mpg. I hope this info is helpful!!!

[egore]

I've had my Versa since late December and now have 4718 miles on it. (65 mile round trip commute daily in ATL traffic) I set the cruise to 61 mph and have been getting 33 to 34 mpg average. I, too, have built a spreadsheet to chart mileage and made the MPG column a "conditional format" so that the higher the mpg, the greener the background box. Highest MPG has been 34.9. But, it's winter and I've only run the AC 2 or 3 times. I'm heading to Texas in 4 weeks, and I know I'll be going faster than 61, so I'll get to check out "highway speeds" MPG to compare to "commute speeds".

[marinemonkey]

has anyone got a throttle controller for the fuel millage? if so did you see an increase in mpg?

[vtyde]

I have a throttle controller but only installed it last weekend. I'm fairly certain I will get better mileage since it's forcing me to drive more grandmotherly. Especially with a manual transmission, starting from a stop is much more controlled and without the occasional throttle spike from bad judgment.

The best way to save gas is to always to use the lightest touch as possible on both the accelerator and the brake. It's good to remember that every time you use the brake, you're wasting the energy used to accelerate, so keep an eye on traffic far ahead and anticipate slowdowns.

I don't think the gas savings will pay for the controller but I'll keep you posted.

[homero89]

i managed to get 21.7 mpg, 1.8 hatchback, 6sp

[vtyde]

i managed to get 21.7 mpg, 1.8 hatchback, 6sp

You driving at the redline all the time? I'm consistently getting 33+ mpg in my 1.8 hatch 6sp.

[homero89]

something like that

[MajorVersa]

i got aTakeda SRI, DC CBE, NST Pulley and a throttle controller and filled up with 91. managed to get 300mi on 1/2 tank! kept it about 65 mph.

[marinemonkey]

majorversa: city or hwy? whats a nst pulley?