CHATROOM: MPG advice / complaints / tips

Nissan Rogue forum - Includes Nissan Qashqai and Nissan Dualis as well.
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Rogue One
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followingnfront wrote:I hate all of you!

For the past however long I can remember, my screen has been reading between 15mpg and 18mpg... Meaning real mpg is probably 2 or so less than what its reading... I have to drive conservatively to get the screen to read 20, and even then, its probably 18mpg REAL mpg...

I should've bought an Xterra.. At least those are supposed to get what I'm getting
And we love you too! :blush:

FYI, I had an early AM appt. in Wilmington this morning (2hr drive north), and long story short I was pressed for time and threw caution to the wind, which resulted in 25.39 mpg. On the return trip, I was far more conservative, and at one point my mpg guesstimater said I was getting 35.5 mpg! :biggrin:


followingnfront
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Considering half of your commute had a posted speed limit of 55, and the other half is 65, is it safe to say in LSD you were going between 60-65 and through kent and new castle it was more like 70-72?

Thats way better mileage than i can get at those speeds... Granted mine is AWD but still.....

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Rogue One
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followingnfront wrote:Considering half of your commute had a posted speed limit of 55, and the other half is 65, is it safe to say in LSD you were going between 60-65 and through kent and new castle it was more like 70-72?

Thats way better mileage than i can get at those speeds... Granted mine is AWD but still.....
Mmm, yes there was a 7 and a 5, plus... an 8. ;)
We've each got twelves, and while mine is FWD and yours is AWD, the difference in mpg's between them is really out of whack. Just shooting from the hip, but is there a chance there's something wrong with your ECU?

followingnfront
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The ECU? In what way? I'm not sure.....

I do know that most of my highway driving is done between 70mph and 90mph.... And the rest of my driving is on NYC streets.... But even with ALL city, I wouldn't expect my mileage to be 4-9mpg UNDER the EPA estimated city mileage....

For contrast, my girlfriend's dad has a 2012 SV AWD and his screen regularly shows 22mpg.... He sits in less traffic than me and goes slower on the highway too...

I am heading down to DE within the next 2 weeks so on my way down and while I'm down there, I'll compare and contrast my mileage and note it on here as well...


When I get down there, we should meet up for a quick mini Rogue photoshoot lol....

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Rogue One
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Back in the day, we just had plugs, rotor, just simple mechanical stuff. Nowadays everything is computer controlled, using a programmed chip to control many aspects of the engine's operation, such as spark timing and fuel injection. You probably know this...
The ECU "learns" about your engine as you drive the car. The "learning" is actually a process that the ECU uses to track the tolerance changes of the sensors and actuators on the engine. Two examples of these values are the position of the idle-air bypass valve (automatic choke) at idle with the A/C on, and the trim gain on the injectors. The ECU stores these "learned" values in battery backed-up RAM so that it doesn't have to start from scratch the next time you turn your engine over.

"Resetting the ECU" is the process of clearing all the long term memory from the ECU's memory. These variables trim idle speed, fuel, spark, and more. The ECU will also store trouble codes for diagnostic capability. By resetting the ECU, the trim values will be set to some neutral default value and all of the trouble codes will be cleared.

The ECU is always tracking the engine's sensors and actuators. Resetting the ECU does not cause the ECU to learn engine changes any faster. The ECU is always tracking the gradual changes in the engine sensors and actuators. The ECU never gets satisfied with a setting, and is always updating the trim values. It will discover whatever change you made to your engine and make the appropriate changes. In fact, unplugging the ECU will most likely increase the learning curve of the new part.

On a DSM, there are only two reasons why you would want to reset your ECU. One is to clear a CHECK ENGINE light or error code after fixing the problem that caused the error. The other is to reset the spark advance trim value. The advance trim controls how much the timing is retarded from what the factory engineers considered optimum. This particular trim value is the only one the ECU "resets" to a non-neutral MAX value. If you are driving on low grade gas, the pinging picked up by the knock sensor causes this trim value to be lowered, and your timing to be retarded. If you go to the track and put good gas in the tank, you might not want to wait for the ECU to learn about the new gas and advance the timing. So resetting the ECU in this case makes sense. However, in the process, you will lose your idle and fuel trims (probably not too important for drag racing, though).

The engine may run rough or idle poorly right after ECU reset. The ECU now has default numbers in its trim memory - it has to adjust them to match the tune of your engine and its sensors and actuators. It might take a day or two of driving in traffic before the engine will settle down again. Now you know why the ECU remembers these values in the first place!

followingnfront
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I'm not sure I want to go too deep into examining the ECU... The car doesn't run rough and doesn't give me any indication that something can be off with timing or anything like that. If it is something that disconnecting the battery can do, maybe I'll try it just for the hell of it, but I doubt it will change anything.

followingnfront
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Image

It might be difficult to see but that is showing 18.9mpg

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Rogue One
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Thanks, shows up just fine. Dude, that sucks. Looking at the videos you've posted in the past, I think we can rule out a few things. There are two lights on the grill, but I'm sure the effect on the overall aerodynamics is minimal at best (heck, I've added window vents, and they're in need of a redo, but they don't seem to interfere). The extra lights mounted elsewhere add a small amount of weight, but again probably negligible. Any extra equipment (junk in the trunk)? Unless you're toting an anvil around, I think we can rule that factor out as well (I'm allegedly 30 lbs. overweight :blush: and still get better mileage).

How about driving habits? Jackrabbit starts can use 10 per cent more fuel than smooth accelerating. I think you mentioned that's not your driving style, so we can discount that. And I'm certain your tires are properly inflated, so that's out too. BTW, do you spend any amount of time with the engine just idling? When you first fire her up, do you let it warm up for one, three, or five minutes? Food for thought, say you let your car warm up for three minutes before going to work, then another three minutes when your ready to leave. For a five day work week, that's a full half hour of idle time. Multiply that by four weeks, and your now at two hours of running your engine, but not going anywhere.

The only other significant variable is the fuel your using. But I'm still inclined to think there's something else amiss.

followingnfront
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Actually now that you mention it i probably do have some 50 lbs in the cargo area at any given time (probably more), and I am guilty of rapid starts sometimes because in NYC thats how you keep up with traffic... Also, I dont spend more that 1 minute letting the car warm up before I drive (usually more like 30 secs) but I do sit in rush hour traffic everyday and there my engine does a lot of idling

kilogram
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Currently waiting on a reply from Uprev on whether the CZ31A ROM in my Rogue's ECU is compatible with the CZ39A ROM they have patched. If it is, I'm going to try to tune mine for better mileage before a trip to Florida. I bought the cable for the Z, but I won't need to tune the Z right away so I may as well try playing with the Rogue.

sizzlefreak50
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I just took my first road trip with the new Rogue. I drove 600 miles averaging 27mpg. I get the same mpg on my 25 mile trip to and from work. The computer is acurate compared against manual calculations.

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ricbrk
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2013 Rogue AWD, this is the first new car I've ever owned that the mpg gets worse after it's broke in. Was getting consistent 25.4 mpg when new. Now at 6,000 miles 19 or 20 mpg. Same driving habits. I've been told twice now it's the CVT, because when you pass a car or go up a grade, this car revs real high now. Level driving and at idle it's smooth. Since we live in the mountains, we're always going up and down hills so the engine is always revving high, hence the decrease in mpg. New, this car did not do this, it was quiet going up hills, you pushed on the gas, and it went, engine didn't rev high like now. I guess there's not much they can do.

fasttrack1015
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2SSick wrote:Ooooooook.... Ive had the rogue for 2 weeks and im averaging 14.6 mpg but the car didnt call for a visit to the gas station for a whole week of driving (225 miles). A few days longer then my camaro would go. I was excited about this until tonight when i filled it up and it cost me 70 bucks! My camaro averaged 13mpg and by no means was i light on the throttle but when i filled it, it cost 60 bucks give or take to fill it but i was putting in 93 octane. So putting in regular and spending 70 bucks to fill the rogue is making me feel like WTF am i saving downgrading from an v8 to a straight 4?
14.6 is too less. Something should be wrong. I get >25mpg highway and ~20mpg city.
Last edited by fasttrack1015 on Mon Feb 17, 2014 5:08 am, edited 1 time in total.

fasttrack1015
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is there any way to increase fuel tank capacity for 2008 rogue? my daily two way commute is about 100 miles and have to hit gas station every three to four days

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CapeCodChips
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Question: I have a 2014 AWD.
Is it acceptable to put the transmission in neutral and coast down a hill?

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Ferrisfan
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2014 FWD with about 1500 miles on it.

Each tank seems to be a little better, which I assume is the ECU adjusting to my driving habits. I'm getting 23-24 mpg in 80% city driving (average speed is usually 26 mph for the tank).

Now the actual question: does having the engine braking setting "on" hurt my mileage? I'm not clear on whether it comes on only when I apply the brake, or if it also slows down my coasting (which could hurt my mileage). Anyone know when this activates?

tsumeone
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Ferrisfan wrote:2014 FWD with about 1500 miles on it.

Each tank seems to be a little better, which I assume is the ECU adjusting to my driving habits. I'm getting 23-24 mpg in 80% city driving (average speed is usually 26 mph for the tank).

Now the actual question: does having the engine braking setting "on" hurt my mileage? I'm not clear on whether it comes on only when I apply the brake, or if it also slows down my coasting (which could hurt my mileage). Anyone know when this activates?
That feature only comes on when you apply the brakes so it doesn't hurt having it on. The car also has a "feature" which you can't turn off where if you are coasting down a hill and you start going faster than the speed you were last going when touching the gas, it will apply a light amount of engine braking. I personally don't like this and would like to be in control of when it is and isn't coasting or engine braking, but this is what I have observed.

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JB'sTitanXD
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tsumeone wrote:That feature only comes on when you apply the brakes so it doesn't hurt having it on. The car also has a "feature" which you can't turn off where if you are coasting down a hill and you start going faster than the speed you were last going when touching the gas, it will apply a light amount of engine braking. I personally don't like this and would like to be in control of when it is and isn't coasting or engine braking, but this is what I have observed.

You can turn off the engine braking in the drive assistant menu. I have turned mine off.

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Ferrisfan
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tsumeone wrote:
Ferrisfan wrote:2014 FWD with about 1500 miles on it.

Each tank seems to be a little better, which I assume is the ECU adjusting to my driving habits. I'm getting 23-24 mpg in 80% city driving (average speed is usually 26 mph for the tank).

Now the actual question: does having the engine braking setting "on" hurt my mileage? I'm not clear on whether it comes on only when I apply the brake, or if it also slows down my coasting (which could hurt my mileage). Anyone know when this activates?
That feature only comes on when you apply the brakes so it doesn't hurt having it on. The car also has a "feature" which you can't turn off where if you are coasting down a hill and you start going faster than the speed you were last going when touching the gas, it will apply a light amount of engine braking. I personally don't like this and would like to be in control of when it is and isn't coasting or engine braking, but this is what I have observed.
I haven't been in a hilly region yet, but My Chrysler used to do this if I had the cruise control set. Am I reading this correctly that the Nissan does it even if the cruise isn't set?

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JB'sTitanXD
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yea the 14s have a engine braking feature on all the time unless you turn it off

therealroland
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Couple of posts before, someone talked about the ECU learning / adjusting. Does it really do this? Where does it store that info, and what would reset it, if it does?

I'm sure it has been mentioned before: don't forget the fuel you're pumping into the car. Some contain 'up to' 10% of ethanol, others don't. The more ethanol, the fewer mpg you will get, is what I understand.

The 2014 Rogue's mileage seems to be wind-dependent as well. Mine doesn't like the head-on winds :-/

Still, on a road trip, fully laden with camping equipment, managed to eke out a 28.5mpg and a 27.9mpg on the way back. Mostly highway (70mph avg), some back roads, little to no city driving. One of the better tanks, which kinda goes against 'travel light' advice :-(

therealroland
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Also, my wife drives a short 20mins from home to a train station. Our previous car, a 2012 Altima, would get an avg of 22.5 mpg; the 2014 on then same trip gets a consistent 24.5 on the trip computer. So at least we got that small win :-)

BTW, I always calculate the mpg based on trip-odo / gallons of fuel. Seems to be always below what the car calculates.

majorjohn
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2014 Rogue, just bought 1 month ago, city 21~23, highway around 32, best 34.2

I don't know why some of you get so low on MPG, maybe I drive very gentle, the rpm is usually under 2k for me, but sometimes 2.5K ~3k when I was driving through the mountain highway.

But my problem is I drove it for highway trip, didn't even break-in the engine.

JC14Rogue
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We're at 1700 miles, and a solid 26.5 combined... which is probably 75% short in-city trips. Recent 300 mile road trip at 70-75 was right at 29, which is a number we can live with. I suspect they're still basing the estimates on 55MPH.

hsunnar
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I am from Ontario, Canada. Bought 2014 Nissan Rogue SV,AWD three weeks ago. My Rogue has now over 1200 km's on it. I had been driving Chrysler 300, 6 cylinder earlier, so definitely miss the pick up, but was hoping for a better fuel economy. I have been averaging 7.5 km's/liter or a little over 13 liters per 100 km's (mixed driving). I called the service department,the technician advised that it is normal to get 7-8 km's/liter for the first 2000 km's. I am not sure if I could ever come close to EPG rating by Nissan.

I also have the AWD logo (Green color) on the dash board turned on all the time. Wondering if that is normal, or is it that the Rogue is running in AWD mode.

I would appreciate your comments/advice.

therealroland
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2014 rogue - just had my first oil change, at around 4800 miles. Immediately hit the road.... And got on a 200mile trip an indicated 37.8 mpg! Part highway, part hilly back roads. At the pump, it turned out to be a 30.3mpg and the next tank was even better, a 31.5mpg calculated.

I managed to do a 396 miles before the 'gas low' indicator blinked on. And the best one was still a quarter tank left when pulling into a gas station.

Why these big jumps in mileage? Driving style has not changed, temps / weather the same, route the same as previous record trips. Gas the same sludge from the same gas stations along the route.

Edit: dealer used 5w30, not synthetic

majorjohn
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Car: 2014 Nissan Rogue SV AWD

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hsunnar wrote:I am from Ontario, Canada. Bought 2014 Nissan Rogue SV,AWD three weeks ago. My Rogue has now over 1200 km's on it. I had been driving Chrysler 300, 6 cylinder earlier, so definitely miss the pick up, but was hoping for a better fuel economy. I have been averaging 7.5 km's/liter or a little over 13 liters per 100 km's (mixed driving). I called the service department,the technician advised that it is normal to get 7-8 km's/liter for the first 2000 km's. I am not sure if I could ever come close to EPG rating by Nissan.

I also have the AWD logo (Green color) on the dash board turned on all the time. Wondering if that is normal, or is it that the Rogue is running in AWD mode.

I would appreciate your comments/advice.

A green light means OK, it means your AWD is active, don't worry about it.

cyberdeity
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I picked up my 2014 SV AWD late in June. This replaces a 2007 Versa with 143k miles (passed down to my Daughter). I was apprehensive about buying the new Rogue after reading forum posts about poor mileage, but I'm happy to report that I've had absolutely no difficulty attaining the rated MPG. My fuelly numbers are a tad low due to having a full tank at purchase, as well as break-in - I have been seeing better MPG as the miles increased on the car. Anyhow, I decided to see what I could max out at during my morning commute. I live in a western suburb of Cleveland, OH. My commute is 28 miles, 3 of which are "city" driving from my house to the onramp. I drafted behind a semi on both trips in, yesterday he kept it right at 60, today the driver kept it at 65. Today's truck wasn't as "boxy" as yesterday, so I probably wasn't getting as much drafting benefit from him. Normally I am the 75mph guy in the fast lane moving right along with that traffic, so this was a painful test to do.

Terrain here is very flat. I use BP 87 octane gas, I assume it has the 10% ethanol summer blend. Temperature outside both mornings was in the 60s, so no climate control used. Since my Rogue is AWD, the highway rating is 32 mpg. Traffic was light and flowed well since it's early morning. Car has about 2600 miles on it, so ought to be through the break-in period by now. Does that cover all the variables people typically ask?

First is my commute in yesterday morning:
Image

Second is the before & after of my commute in this morning:
Image
Image

I achieved 38.3 yesterday and 37.6 today. Yea!! :mike

thecmancan
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Is the car supposed to suck up more fuel during break in?

I'm following the guideline of putting the car in different rev ranges during long drives. So mostly 1k-2k but occasionally I'll accelerate to put it around 3.5k close to 4.

Anyway, the MPG so far is disappointing. I drive about 80% city and a lot of it in traffic. Hopefully that's the only reason why. I did get about 27mpg once on a fairly easy drive on the highway.

Salivating at the over 30 MPG that's been posted here. I don't know if that's possible in the NYC, Queens and Long Island.

therealroland
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The more you can use cruise control, the better. I'm not doing as much city driving as you do - but after the first oil change the mpg did jump, without me changing driving habits. At least, so far so good.


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