CHATROOM: MPG advice / complaints / tips

[Rogue One]

Well i reset my mpgs and driving like my grandmother i achieved 17mpgs driving thr streets and once i got on the highway it went up to 29.1... And once i got off the highway the one light and lil stretch down the service road and manuevering in the parking lot brought me down to 28.4. This was only a 9.7 mile trip.

So all in all I see the rogue is capable of high mpgs but quite frankly theres no way in hell i could drive like that on a regular basis. Hell, I did this once in my Camaro when i worked all the way in the bronx which was a 30 mile trip and achieved 22mpgs. I'm just a little disappointed that using my regular style of driving i only achieved 1.7 more mpgs in a straight 4 over a pushrod v8.

Granted my Camaro was stick but automatics are supposed to beat out manuals in mpgs these days anyway...

I know it's comparing an apple to a grapefruit, but let's see. Both vehicles weigh roughly the same. Engine: Camaro 6.2L 426hp V8; Rogue 2.5L 170hp 4 banger. In short, with more than twice the horsepower, well...I think you can see where this is going.

[Rogue One]

i wasnt complaining about the gas prices...i was complaining that the 4 cylinder rogue is getting me 1.5 mile more per gallon then my v8 camaro did. But about your gas prices....dam dude that blows, i guess when i am mad about the high gas prices in new york i can think about u guys in chicago and make myself feel a little better lol...

$9 a gallon for gas in NJ and NY
A station in South Plainfield, N.J. had signs listing regular gas for $8.99 a gallon and premium listed at $9.49 a gallon for cash and $9.59 for credit.

Read more: http://www.myfoxny.com/story/19520723/g ... z26HAs0j3G

[takeshi]

I disagree with that. 21-22 would be a miracle. I live in the city and 80% in the city and get 18.5 - 19mpg.

I'm typically getting about 18.8 with 100% city. Could be a bit more efficient with the right foot but impatience with the other drivers kicks in from time to time.

[2SSick]

Im guilty of that guy who rushes to a red light just to jam on the brakes lol...

and about the break in period...theres the long lived debate on whether to drive it normal or drive it like you stole it. Some people say drive it like you intend on driving all the time. With my camaro i went the easy break in route since i had planned on keeping the car forever and passing it down to my kid.(didnt work out as planned =(...) but the rogue being a lease and all im going to test the other method this time lol

Also, id be happy with 18-19 mpgs city coming from 13.

[jack1usa]

I have a 2009 Nissan Rogue AWD that is burning too much gas, I bought this CUV because it had good EPA numbers and the real world mileage didn't seem to be far off from them. Unfortunately mine is burning as much gas as my V8 truck, these are my numbers:

City: 12.9mpg (my truck actually returns 13.5mpg!)
Highway: 26mpg
Mixed: 14.5mpg (same as my truck!)

I've tried several differents ways to improved mileage already: I've babied it for a whole month (nothing changed), I've changed gas stations and gas grades (I'm using a Shell gas station now).....I've tried Nissan but they're useless, they just look at it and say there's nothing wrong with it...Any tips?

[Qashqai]

I am not an expert like some of the members in this forum, but as a regular car owner, my naive advice can be:

-Check the engine air filter and replace if necessary.
-Check the tire pressures.
-There are some sensors in the car that is critical for the fuel consumption, maybe one or more of them needs cleaning?
-Maybe you should use synthetic oil?
-Rogue has CVT, that means when you remove your foot from accelerator pedal, it will slow down as it is a manual transmission car. When you see a red light, while approaching just remove your foot from the pedal. It will slow down itself.
-While driving downhill, stop pushing the gas pedal. You can see instant mileage will become zero.
-Wax the car for a low drag coefficient

[jack1usa]

I am not an expert like some of the members in this forum, but as a regular car owner, my naive advice can be:

-Check the engine air filter and replace if necessary.
-Check the tire pressures.
-There are some sensors in the car that is critical for the fuel consumption, maybe one or more of them needs cleaning?
-Maybe you should use synthetic oil?
-Rogue has CVT, that means when you remove your foot from accelerator pedal, it will slow down as it is a manual transmission car. When you see a red light, while approaching just remove your foot from the pedal. It will slow down itself.
-While driving downhill, stop pushing the gas pedal. You can see instant mileage will become zero.
-Wax the car for a low drag coefficient

1) engine air filter is brand new!
2) I've replaced the tires in hope to get better gas mileage (they have nitrogen and I check the pressure every 3 weeks)
3) if there's something wrong with a sensor, shouldnt I have a light?
4) I totally understand how a CVT operates and I've adjusted for that. I've been using engine braking to see if I can get improvements out of mileage...
5) I live in the plains, no hills here...
6) hahahahaha!

[ImStricken06]

i would have the dealer check to make sure your rear differential clutch pack is not stuck in engaged mode. having the car stuck in AWD will absolutely rob you of MPG's (that should have been what that dealer checked first)
but i have to be honest with you, this car sucks on MPG's. i have tried everything, and yet my car still is not impressing me at all. its about the same as my 2002 maxima GLE 3.5L v6. i average out at about 18ish MPGs on a good week. the problem with this car is the gear ratio of the CVT, and the way the weak engine. the engine is week, so a gear ratio that sends the engine into 3,000rpm to be able to still have 'perk' wastes fuel. plus the gear ratio at highway speeds has the RPM needle no less than 2,000 at 65mph.
what the Rogue needs is more HP & TQ via either a turbo, finer tuning the engine PLUS a smarter programmed & build transmission to keep the RPM's low. its a shame that the new altima has a 2.5 engine just like we do, and it gets 182HP while we get 170

my old baby:

[darylzero]

Also, don't forget if you have anything in the truck.

I am most a city driver and average between 18-19mpg. On the highway I get about 26. Average between the two is 19.

[jack1usa]

Also, don't forget if you have anything in the truck.

I am most a city driver and average between 18-19mpg. On the highway I get about 26. Average between the two is 19.

the Rogue is empty all the time...it's only me and myself driving it to work!

[jack1usa]

i would have the dealer check to make sure your rear differential clutch pack is not stuck in engaged mode. having the car stuck in AWD will absolutely rob you of MPG's (that should have been what that dealer checked first)
but i have to be honest with you, this car sucks on MPG's. i have tried everything, and yet my car still is not impressing me at all. its about the same as my 2002 maxima GLE 3.5L v6. i average out at about 18ish MPGs on a good week. the problem with this car is the gear ratio of the CVT, and the way the weak engine. the engine is week, so a gear ratio that sends the engine into 3,000rpm to be able to still have 'perk' wastes fuel. plus the gear ratio at highway speeds has the RPM needle no less than 2,000 at 65mph.
what the Rogue needs is more HP & TQ via either a turbo, finer tuning the engine PLUS a smarter programmed & build transmission to keep the RPM's low. its a shame that the new altima has a 2.5 engine just like we do, and it gets 182HP while we get 170

my old baby:

It really strickes me that Nissan would do such a terrible CVT adjustment...Do they want to loose me as a customer forever?...because that's exactly what they are doing...I'm starting to regret my trade from my Toyota RAV4 to this...at least with the Toyota I was getting 18mpg city!....maybe I should just sell this thing and drive my Hemi everyday, it's more fuel efficient!!! hahahaha....

[ImStricken06]

i would have the dealer check to make sure your rear differential clutch pack is not stuck in engaged mode. having the car stuck in AWD will absolutely rob you of MPG's (that should have been what that dealer checked first)
but i have to be honest with you, this car sucks on MPG's. i have tried everything, and yet my car still is not impressing me at all. its about the same as my 2002 maxima GLE 3.5L v6. i average out at about 18ish MPGs on a good week. the problem with this car is the gear ratio of the CVT, and the way the weak engine. the engine is week, so a gear ratio that sends the engine into 3,000rpm to be able to still have 'perk' wastes fuel. plus the gear ratio at highway speeds has the RPM needle no less than 2,000 at 65mph.
what the Rogue needs is more HP & TQ via either a turbo, finer tuning the engine PLUS a smarter programmed & build transmission to keep the RPM's low. its a shame that the new altima has a 2.5 engine just like we do, and it gets 182HP while we get 170

my old baby:

It really strickes me that Nissan would do such a terrible CVT adjustment...Do they want to loose me as a customer forever?...because that's exactly what they are doing...I'm starting to regret my trade from my Toyota RAV4 to this...at least with the Toyota I was getting 18mpg city!....maybe I should just sell this thing and drive my Hemi everyday, it's more fuel efficient!!! hahahaha....

im telling you man, go back to the dealer- you could have something wrong. and dont forget the rogue has a small has tank that makes it appear that its using more fuel, because your at the pumps more often due to not carrying a lot to begin with.

[jack1usa]

im telling you man, go back to the dealer- you could have something wrong. and dont forget the rogue has a small has tank that makes it appear that its using more fuel, because your at the pumps more often due to not carrying a lot to begin with.

Yeah the dealers (4 of them in the past month) haven't found anything wrong with it, they ran several tests, checked the computers, etc!....are you kidding about the small tank?...I'm pretty sure I'm doing my calculation properly and they're just 0.2mpg from what the onboard computer is displaying! This CUV is burning gas right now faster than my Hemi truck does (city driving)

[kerrton]

Yeah I'd continue to press the issue with the dealer. I drive conservatively and get very close to the posted mpg numbers with my FWD 08 Rogue, I've been very happy with the fuel efficiency and also find the engine to have good low-end torque. When I drive my rpms rarely go above 2000, I believe the CVT has learned my driving style and it "upshifts" very early, getting me into that sweet efficiency spot in a hurry and also avoiding the high-rpm noise, all while keeping up nicely with the flow of traffic. There's always room for improvement but I've always been very happy with the power, torque, and responsiveness. I towed a small utility trailer loaded up to at least 1500 lbs a few times, and I could barely notice it was there - no high rpms required, there was enough torque to move that load without excessive CVT downshifting.

I agree that if you are lead-footed with this car, the rpms will be high, it'll be noisy and your efficiency will plummet in a hurry. It's all about driving style, I can't stress that enough, if you're easy on the throttle the car will pay you back with a more relaxed and quiet ride and much less fuel consumption. But in this case you could very well have an issue, the dealer may want to look at reprogramming the idle/air relearn process...

[ImStricken06]

Yeah I'd continue to press the issue with the dealer. I drive conservatively and get very close to the posted mpg numbers with my FWD 08 Rogue, I've been very happy with the fuel efficiency and also find the engine to have good low-end torque. When I drive my rpms rarely go above 2000, I believe the CVT has learned my driving style and it "upshifts" very early, getting me into that sweet efficiency spot in a hurry and also avoiding the high-rpm noise, all while keeping up nicely with the flow of traffic. There's always room for improvement but I've always been very happy with the power, torque, and responsiveness. I towed a small utility trailer loaded up to at least 1500 lbs a few times, and I could barely notice it was there - no high rpms required, there was enough torque to move that load without excessive CVT downshifting.

I agree that if you are lead-footed with this car, the rpms will be high, it'll be noisy and your efficiency will plummet in a hurry. It's all about driving style, I can't stress that enough, if you're easy on the throttle the car will pay you back with a more relaxed and quiet ride and much less fuel consumption. But in this case you could very well have an issue, the dealer may want to look at reprogramming the idle/air relearn process...

i agree with kerrton that driving style/technique is key with this car and most cars at achieving a good MPG. but in NJ where 65 mean 80, and if your not off the line at a light the moment its green - your getting honked at, i think NIssan needs to start developing cars and MPG stats for the realistic "i want it now" American market. everyone in NJ wants it now, wants to get there now, wants everything asap - so someone accelerating below 3,000rpm is pretty unheard of

[casperfun]

I feel if you went from driving a muscle car to a Cute CUV, your mileage will suck if the same way of driving is implemented of course.

Personally, I get 325-350 miles in the city in my non-aerodynamic Rogue using 10% ethanol which gives crappy mileage. I consider myself having a feather foot on the pedal.

When I enter my neighborhood, I usually don't press on the brake on a wide turn entrance with the sweet spot being around 23 mph. Of course I do this when nobody is behind me. Hence I am pretty specific with my driving style.

I use to downshift when exiting a ramp to save my brakes but I haven't lately. I don't like hearing my engine roar, I'm paranoid something might go wrong.

[ImStricken06]

I use to downshift when exiting a ramp to save my brakes but I haven't lately.

YOUR NEVER supposed to downshift and use the engine as the brakes. forget wasting fuel, your placing a ton of torque and stress on the clutch in a manual car, and the "clutch-pack" in automatic cars - which makes the drive wheels want to skip/hobble. the only time you are supposed to downshift, is passing which involves accelerating. in race-bikes downshifting involves "blipping the throttle" - while in race-cars its called "rev-matching". but since we are in such a slow/weak car - all the stress stays internal and never makes it to the wheels, which means you are essentially going to explode a component. try downshifting in a rear-wheel drive car, when it slippery. the clutch wins, but the tires loose and you go fishtailing. now try that when its dry, and you might not go sliding, but the force is going to be tossed back & forth between the tires which dont want to give up the grip, back to the clutch which doesnt want to give up the grip. this back & forth fight will keep going until the car either slows down or something gives up, or the clutch-pack simply over-heats and destroys itself.
its a lot cheaper to change your brake pads than a clutch or clutch-pack, or a transmission.

exceptions to the above stated rant: emergency situations (ie; coming into a turn/corner to hot - risking run off), and upgraded stage 2/3 clutches, your name is Keiichi Tsuchiya aka "drift king" lol

[jack1usa]

I feel if you went from driving a muscle car to a Cute CUV, your mileage will suck if the same way of driving is implemented of course.

Personally, I get 325-350 miles in the city in my non-aerodynamic Rogue using 10% ethanol which gives crappy mileage. I consider myself having a feather foot on the pedal.

When I enter my neighborhood, I usually don't press on the brake on a wide turn entrance with the sweet spot being around 23 mph. Of course I do this when nobody is behind me. Hence I am pretty specific with my driving style.

I use to downshift when exiting a ramp to save my brakes but I haven't lately. I don't like hearing my engine roar, I'm paranoid something might go wrong.

Thing is...I've been babying this CUV...this is simple, my Toyo RAV4 was able to return 18.5mpg in the same driving conditions and same driving style (which wasn't babying)...so I'm F wondering why this can't give me at least that! It is a shame that this cute CUV can't beat my Hemi truck in mpg!

[jack1usa]

I use to downshift when exiting a ramp to save my brakes but I haven't lately.

YOUR NEVER supposed to downshift and use the engine as the brakes. forget wasting fuel, your placing a ton of torque and stress on the clutch in a manual car, and the "clutch-pack" in automatic cars - which makes the drive wheels want to skip/hobble. the only time you are supposed to downshift, is passing which involves accelerating. in race-bikes downshifting involves "blipping the throttle" - while in race-cars its called "rev-matching". but since we are in such a slow/weak car - all the stress stays internal and never makes it to the wheels, which means you are essentially going to explode a component. try downshifting in a rear-wheel drive car, when it slippery. the clutch wins, but the tires loose and you go fishtailing. now try that when its dry, and you might not go sliding, but the force is going to be tossed back & forth between the tires which dont want to give up the grip, back to the clutch which doesnt want to give up the grip. this back & forth fight will keep going until the car either slows down or something gives up, or the clutch-pack simply over-heats and destroys itself.
its a lot cheaper to change your brake pads than a clutch or clutch-pack, or a transmission.

exceptions to the above stated rant: emergency situations (ie; coming into a turn/corner to hot - risking run off), and upgraded stage 2/3 clutches, your name is Keiichi Tsuchiya aka "drift king" lol

You're totally wrong...I've been having manual cars for years and engine braking is an accepted method to increase fuel efficiency...when your engine is braking you're basically using 0 gas...if the cluth was as crappy as you're describing my current manual summer only BMW would be dead a long time ago.

[ImStricken06]

You're totally wrong...I've been having manual cars for years and engine braking is an accepted method to increase fuel efficiency...when your engine is braking you're basically using 0 gas...if the cluth was as crappy as you're describing my current manual summer only BMW would be dead a long time ago.

let me guess this right, according to your methodology, downshifting which raises the RPM while slowing down is an accepted method to "increasing" fuel efficiency? that's like saying "driving in 1st gear at 4,000rpm doing 35mph is an accepted method to increase fuel efficiency"

and also according to your methodology that when your engine is braking, your basically using "0" gas. then how does your engine not shut off? what do you think increases the RPM? do you think that when you downshift, and the RPM shoots up, its consuming skittles at that point? the air to fuel ratio needs to stay the same in order for the engine not to bog down. YOU DONT HAVE A "JAKE-BRAKE" IN YOUR CAR, SO THERE IS NO WAY THAT "you're basically using 0 gas".

-try again buddy.

if you dont rev-match, or blip the throttle, your asking for a disaster. its so important Nissan miraculously decided to put that option in the 370z. hmm makes you wonder

[jack1usa]

Please inform yourself:

As soon as the accelerator is released and the throttle closes, engine braking comes into effect as long as the wheels remain connected via the transmission to the engine. (A clutch or a torque converter can disengage the wheels or absorb braking energy.) The braking force varies depending on the engine, but also what gear the vehicle is in (Generally, the lower the gear, the higher the braking effect as long as the wheels continue to maintain traction with the road surface).

Engine braking passively reduces wear on brakes and helps a driver maintain control of the vehicle. Active use of engine braking (shifting into a lower gear) is advantageous when it is necessary to control speed while driving down very steep and long slopes. It should be applied before regular disk or drum brakes have been used, leaving the brakes available to make emergency stops. The desired speed is maintained by using engine braking to counteract the gravitational acceleration.

Improper engine braking technique can cause the wheels to skid (also called shift-locking), especially on slippery surfaces such as ice or snow, as a result of too much deceleration. As in a skid caused by overbraking, the vehicle will not regain traction until the wheels are allowed to turn more quickly; the driver must reduce engine braking (shifting back up or disengaging the clutch on a manual transmission) to regain traction.

Engine braking is intrinsically available in non hybrid vehicles with gasoline-powered internal combustion engines, regardless of transmission type. With diesel engines however, there is no intrinsic engine braking effect so more care must be taken. Turbo-diesel engines, on the other hand, generally have a more noticeable engine braking effect due to the turbo stalling when the accelerator is released and increasing the back-pressure in the exhaust.

In almost all cases, it is active when the foot is lifted off the accelerator, the transmission is not in neutral, the clutch is engaged and a freewheel is not engaged. Using frequent engine braking while changing down gears may cause higher than normal wear on clutch plates if the driver uses the poor gear-changing technique of slipping the clutch to raise the engine's rpm to match the transmission speed, instead of rev-matching using the throttle. This is in contrast to "conventional" braking where the engine's rpm is already reduced prior to the downshift.

Engine braking is a generally accepted practice and can help save wear on friction brakes. It's even used in some motor sports to reduce the risk of the friction brakes overheating. Additionally, most modern engines don't use any fuel while engine braking which helps reduce fuel consumption.[citation needed] This is known as DFCO or Deceleration Fuel Cut-Off and is used with Burn and Coast.

Compression-release ("Jake") braking, a form of engine braking used almost exclusively on diesel engines, produces extreme amounts of noise pollution if there is no muffler on the intake manifold of the engine. Anecdotally, it sounds similar to a jackhammer, however the loudness is between 10 and 20 times the sound pressure level of a jackhammer. Numerous cities, municipalities, states, and provinces have banned the use of unmuffled compression brakes, which are typically only legal in roads away from populations. In Australia, traffic enforcement cameras are currently being tested that automatically photograph heavy vehicles that use compression braking.

[ImStricken06]

As soon as the accelerator is released and the throttle closes, engine braking comes into effect as long as the wheels remain connected via the transmission to the engine. (A clutch or a torque converter can disengage the wheels or absorb braking energy.)

take a look at that quote from your post, that you copied from Wiki "A clutch or a torque converter can disengage the wheels or absorb braking energy."
Now anwer me: who in their right mind, would "save brakes" and allow their automatic transmission clutchpack or torque converter to absorb the forces, $40 brake pads should, unless there is an emergency situation such as running off the road?? who would even allow a oem/stock manual clutch that unnecessary stress? i have NEVER met anyone who downshifts their car, simply to "save their brake pads" unless they are a rice-racer with a loud exhaust and loves making noise.

The braking force varies depending on the engine, but also what gear the vehicle is in (Generally, the lower the gear, the higher the braking effect as long as the wheels continue to maintain traction with the road surface).

yes, the lower the gear, the higher the braking effect. and the HIGHER the stress levels - and thats easily proven by how high in the RPM range the engine will shoots its RPMs.

Engine braking passively reduces wear on brakes and helps a driver maintain control of the vehicle.

"helps a driver maintain control" can be questionable. on wet roads or worse conditions, or in a high horsepower car like a mustang, g35, g37, or any other powerful rear wheel drive car, downshifting and allowing the engine & transmission to 'slow the car down' can result in an immediate donute/fishtail. it also begins to stress the tires, and could end up in wheel hop.

Active use of engine braking (shifting into a lower gear) is advantageous when it is necessary to control speed while driving down very steep and long slopes. It should be applied before regular disk or drum brakes have been used, leaving the brakes available to make emergency stops. The desired speed is maintained by using engine braking to counteract the gravitational acceleration.

i agree with this quote from the wiki article you copied. BUT simply down shifting, WITHOUT blipping the throttle or "rev-matching" is going to wear a manual clutch very quickly. it over heats it, glazes it. and in a wet clutch like an automatic car, its going to over-heat the fluid, causing it to burn, and bringing the transmission into the grave VERY quickly. heat is the fastest killer of transmissions, and thats directly due to the fluid not being able to be cooled fast enough. IS THIS A GOOD TECHNIQUE FOR EMERGENCY SITUATIONS? YES. BUT IS IT TO BE USED TO "SAVE $40-$75 BRAKE PADS? NO!" a safer move would be to prepare your decent down a hill already in the low gear, NOT SHOCKING YOUR DRIVE-TRAIN AND SHIFTING DOWN.

Improper engine braking technique can cause the wheels to skid (also called shift-locking), especially on slippery surfaces such as ice or snow, as a result of too much deceleration. As in a skid caused by overbraking, the vehicle will not regain traction until the wheels are allowed to turn more quickly; the driver must reduce engine braking (shifting back up or disengaging the clutch on a manual transmission) to regain traction.

BINGO!!!

Engine braking is intrinsically available in non hybrid vehicles with gasoline-powered internal combustion engines, regardless of transmission type.

this BS article that you copied from Wiki didnt go deep enough into the differences in manual and auto transmissions. manual cars have a DRY clutch that can take a lot more abuse, and a lot more heat. automatic cars have WET clutchpacks that rely on the fluid levels to be in good operating temps. the moment the fluid is over heated, due to the friction fibers rubbing against the steel plates = your going to destroy your transmission due to overheating.
(im not even gonna get into dual clutch, or dual clutch auto trannies)

In almost all cases, it is active when the foot is lifted off the accelerator, the transmission is not in neutral, the clutch is engaged and a freewheel is not engaged. Using frequent engine braking while changing down gears may cause higher than normal wear on clutch plates if the driver uses the poor gear-changing technique of slipping the clutch to raise the engine's rpm to match the transmission speed, instead of rev-matching using the throttle. This is in contrast to "conventional" braking where the engine's rpm is already reduced prior to the downshift.

i dont think i need to add anything to that excerpt from the Wiki article you copied from.

Engine braking is a generally accepted practice and can help save wear on friction brakes. It's even used in some motor sports to reduce the risk of the friction brakes overheating.

i agree 100% that engine braking, jake-braking, is an effective practice to use, instead of the brakes to help save brake pad life = BUT AT WHAT COST!? - MAYBE A NEW CLUTCH OR REBUILDING THE transmission!
blowing out a parachute out of the rear of the vehicle is also effective, but its not practical!

Additionally, most modern engines don't use any fuel while engine braking which helps reduce fuel consumption.[citation needed] This is known as DFCO or Deceleration Fuel Cut-Off and is used with Burn and Coast.

yes the momentum of the vehicle keeps the engine partially alive, and revving higher. the power stroke is reduced so no real damage is done to the engine during this specific high RPM's, BUT your engine is still installing fuel into the cylinders at or near idle. so the argument that your using ZERO fuel is totally false because if you reapply the throttle, there is no jerk/surge/or any hesitation as fuel would have to renter the engines cylinders.


(i removed the jake-brake and diesel info as it doesnt apply here. )

in conclusion, in MY opinion of 15years of tooling, 6+ years of racing bikes, etc - unless your car is a manual transmission with a clutch that can handle the torque, your tires are warm enough to grip to the surface well, and your in a competition where saving your brakes from over-heating is dire = ENGINE BRAKING IS ABSOLUTELY RETARDED!! AND IN AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSIONS ITS ABSOLUTE DEATH TO NEEDLESSLY "SAVE BRAKES" BY DOWNSHIFTING(without the ability to rev-match/blip the throttle).

[casperfun]

Just a note:

I read in the past that some members have commented that the engine breaking that occurs when you let off the gas ( because of the CVT) has resulted in some cases in which the brakes are almost like new even after a few years( compared to non-cvt vehicles). This was observed by some dealerships during maintenance work.

[ImStricken06]

Just a note:

I read in the past that some members have commented that the engine breaking that occurs when you let off the gas ( because of the CVT) has resulted in some cases in which the brakes are almost like new even after a few years( compared to non-cvt vehicles). This was observed by some dealerships during maintenance work.

yes, i agree the less you use your brakes= the longer they will last. BUT OBVIOUSLY SOMETHING IS TAKING THE WEAR RIGHT? that would you be your clutch/clutch-pack or torque converter sir.

you guys have to understand how a transmission clutch system works.

in a automatic car & motorcycle:
1. you have the input side(coming from the engine->torque converter), and the output side(coming from the transmission to the wheels).
2. you will have steel plates & fiber plates in a clutch basket. one is the engine(input side) and one is the transmission(output side).
3. if you make the fibers touch the steels, they will be squished and make one, turn the other by friction.

if your wheels are attached to the output side, and they are spinning at one specific rotation per minute - and the engine is attached to the input side, and its turning at a rotation per minute, meshing the two together is going to OVER-RUB the steel plates against the friction plates until the slow side catches up and both spin at the same rotation per minute.

that is where you have the wear and tear on your friction fiber plates!! they hot instantly, and that raises the fluid temps = DEATH!

[ImStricken06]

i just rebuilt a clutch pack, and its evident that due to the discoloration, heat played a very intricate roll in rending this clutch-pack useless. it was over-heated, from not rev-matching correctly, and it wouldn't hold the torque at high RPMS



these are MY fingers holding the steels from a transmission that didnt blip the throttle enough, and downshifted shocking the clutch-pack, thus creating enough heat to discolor the rings this much: (pardon the picture, i know my fingers look weird, but its because the rings belt my fingers in odd ways- my hands are normal lololol)


and these are the worn fiber/friction plates:



and here is a clutch pack of fibers & steels from a nissan GTR:

DO YOU NOTICE, HOW ONE RING HAS TEETH INSIDE, AND ONE HAS TEETH ON THE OUTSIDE? well one ring moves with the input shaft from the engine side, and one moves the transmission side to the wheels. if one is over-spinning the other, the friction raises the temps inside enough to either melt the clutch pack, or to over-heat the fluid, and destroying your transmission.

[Rogue One]

I think we're

Can we declare the pissing match over?

[ImStricken06]

I think we're Can we declare the pissing match over?

easy killer lol its not a pissing match, its an important topic that i want people to read and understand.
you can not imagine how many times i have heard people state they are "saving" their brake pads, without understanding they are wearing their transmission (more importantly the clutch/clutch-packs). especially automatic cars, since they can NOT rev-match.

i like to think of a clutch as two desk fans facing each other, without their safety grilles in place.
-1. Turn on only ONE fan to LOW setting, and start bringing the two fans closer together.
-2. As you bring them closer & closer, The fan thats has been 'OFF' starts to slowly spin & slowly accelerate in rotation.
-3. Now while still a few inches apart, the fan thats 'ON', it is spinning faster than the fan thats off, correct?
-4. Now move the fan thats 'ON', and touch the fan that is off. you will hear some noises- dictating that the fan thats 'ON' is sliding across the propeller of the fan thats off, and the fan thats off, is still catching up to the speed of the fan thats on.

DOWN SHIFTING WITHOUT REV-MATCHING:
while you have the two fans engaged and touching, take the fan thats 'ON' and turn it onto HIGH setting. your going to have the 'ON' fan now spinning faster, than fan that was always off. The "OFF" fan is catching up to the new rotation speed of the "ON" fan. your going to hear noise as one fan spins across the blades of the fan thats catching up. you might even loose a piece of one of the blades, due to the wear factor. you will certainly generate some heat from one fan spinning across the other.(think of rubbing your hands)

DOWN SHIFTING WITH REV-MATCHING:
now if you rev-matched the "OFF" fan, you would have disengaged the two fans, turn the OFF fan onto HIGH and then merged the two fans together. since they are spinning at the same HIGH speed setting upon contact, its minimal stress- they simply match up.

[Qashqai]

pissing match

I don't know if it was a pissing match or not, but ImStricken pissed further like a boss

[ImStricken06]

pissing match

I don't know if it was a pissing match or not, but ImStricken pissed further like a boss

its how we NICOnauts do lol

[takeshi]

City: 12.9mpg (my truck actually returns 13.5mpg!)
Highway: 26mpg
Mixed: 14.5mpg (same as my truck!)

City seems a bit low but highway doesn't sound that far off. I get 18 with mostly city and I'm leadfooted.

I've tried several differents ways to improved mileage already: I've babied it for a whole month (nothing changed)

It's impossible to tell if you're actually driving it more efficiently when you say you're babying it. I didn't get a proper feel for more efficient driving until my wife got a vehicle with an instant MPG display. The Rogue's trip computer has MPG but it's slightly delayed in its updating and I think it only displays average MPG since the last reset but it may help you if you want to pursue a more fuel efficient driving style. Instant MPG is a bit more useful IMO as you get immediate feedback and can develop the feel for it over time.