Real World Gas Mileage

[versabundus]

I didn't check the first few tanks. After break-in, at 1200 miles, I changed the oil. I put in Mobil 1 5W30 and a pure one filter I filled it up and got 391 miles to 11.1 gals. = 35.25 mpg. I ain't complaining. That's all kinds of driving. City, highway at 65-80 conserative and aggressive. I have an S 6m

[datgrl]

Hi all,

I filled up today and got the best milage ever since I signed the papers in July: 37.85 bringing my average up to 32. That's 11 fill ups since I gotthe car.

I have consistently tried to drive below 70 mph. I also am coasting every chance I get, completely taking my foot off the gas. I guess it'shypermiling for the Versa. I also used mid-grade fuel the last 2 fill ups.

Again, I am driving about 45 miles highway and 15 city per day. So,I'm a littler happier with the mileage. It's not the Scion by any means(see my previous post) but it's a much nicer car to drive than the Scion and I feel safer in the Versa.

datgrl in Baltimore

[motoguy128]

taboo,

TO rule out some other simple problems, you might want to remove your spark plugs and see what color they are. If one cylinder is running rich, it might be darker in color. This could indicate a problem with a fuel injector.

Your thought about a problem with a brake is possible, but I think you'd have squealing brakes by now from the pads being glazed over and a spongy pedal form boiling the brake fluid in hte caliper.

I do agree, that your mileage numbers are unusually low. I hope Nissan solves your problem. Document, document, document! IF this goes to arbitration, you need as much stuff in writing as possible. Fuel reciepts with dates, correspondances.

Best of luck!

[OKVersa]

Well, not so good this time. We got 25.8 with the last fill up. It was our least "baby it" trip. It was about 40 percent city and 60 percent highway, driving hard and fast in both. We punched it to 80 several times passing cars. (We were late for grandson's football game in another city!)

We beat people off the line at lights and drove around town with lots of stop and go.

[siggie]

This may be an overgeneralization, but it appears that those who are getting higher mileage have the 6-speed manual transmission, while those who are getting the lower mileage have the CVT. I have the CVT and I have noticed the same slowing down when I lift off the throttle that others have observed. This is not normal for an automatic transmission. I've also noticed that while braking, just before coming to a complete stop, the transmission feels like it disconnects and I have to adjust the amount of force I'm applying to the brake. I think the CVT is causing the reduced mileage. There appears to be something wrong with its programming that is causing it to downshift when you lift off the throttle instead of maintaining the gear ratio it had prior to the throttle being released. I hope Nissan can change the programming so that the CVT performs better in this situation.

[philmcneal]

This may be an overgeneralization, but it appears that those who are getting higher mileage have the 6-speed manual transmission, while those who are getting the lower mileage have the CVT. I have the CVT and I have noticed the same slowing down when I lift off the throttle that others have observed. This is not normal for an automatic transmission. I've also noticed that while braking, just before coming to a complete stop, the transmission feels like it disconnects and I have to adjust the amount of force I'm applying to the brake. I think the CVT is causing the reduced mileage. There appears to be something wrong with its programming that is causing it to downshift when you lift off the throttle instead of maintaining the gear ratio it had prior to the throttle being released. I hope Nissan can change the programming so that the CVT performs better in this situation.

damnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn that's good info! if I get a versa i'm staying away from the CVT for sure! defintately not worth the extra price... plus I bet the 6spd keeps the meat of the powerband just fine without the friction losses of the CVT!

sure it has a higher ratio but "I feel" that the 6spd still has the better engine to wheels efficency despite its shorter gearing. And the driving styles of manual tranmission drivers vs automatic drivers (I find the manual drivers on this site are much more conservative and are careful with their throttle despite it should be the other way around since manuals are about speed!

feel free to prove me wrong, 6spd still the gas sava! but i'm sure the CVT is the smoother, quieter ride no doubt.

[Ever Victorious]

I'm actually in the middle of tracking that with my fuel survey, I'll be able to use larger sample sizes to compare economy between the transmissions.

Shameless plug: If you haven't signed up for the survey yet, DO SO! if you've mailed me to sign up, and haven't received a response, reply in my fuel survey thread (it means my spam blocker rejected you, and I have to mail you first in order to hear from you).

I need more S auto's specifically, but the more people with ANY transmission that sign up, the more accurate the results will be.

[ducknormus]

After about 980 miles of driving, I average about 26.5 mpg......driving conservatively and mainly highway.....I have CVT! this is real bad! for this mileage, I would have been better off buying a civic or a camry or even a ford fusion that I liked!

I guess I cant drive any mroe conservatively. also dont use my ac that much! Is this car a dump???? I dont want to tihkn about what will happen after my brak-in period when i start to drive not so conservatively!

SUCKS!

[datgrl]

Is this an mpg survey for the Versa? Do you have a link or an email? I'd be happy to participate but I don't have the info.

Datgrl in Baltimore

[siggie]

I found this article about the Murano: http://www.cars.com/carsapp/tr....tmpl. Under the Going and Stopping section it discusses how the Murano's CVT works and feels. Since it is supposedly the same type of CVT as the Versa's you would expect the Versa's CVT to behave in the same way. Unfortunately, the Versa's CVT feels more like the Murano's CVT in Sport mode, or else a CVT with a dry clutch that is also discussed. I have sent email to the author of the article to see if he can evaluate the Versa's CVT and tell us what might be going on.

[versawildman]

this is a mpg survey on the versa & if yours is as bad as a lot of the owners posting then you need to complain to nissanusa customer service-the more complaints,the faster they will fix the problem, whatever it is, the pcm or the tcm programing.

[datgrl]

this is a mpg survey on the versa & if yours is as bad as a lot of the owners posting then you need to complain to nissanusa customer service-the more complaints,the faster they will fix the problem, whatever it is, the pcm or the tcm programing.

I agree, the more info the faster the response. What is the URL for the sruvey!?

datgrl in Baltimore

[deanhoover]

I'm very dissapointed about my MPG's. I have the SL with CVT. Since the first 2 fillups I've never gone over 3k rpm to try to get better. Here are my results.

Date Mileage Trip Miles Gallons MPG9/23/2006 36 36 NEW NEW9/24/2006 130 130 5.40 24.079/26/2006 363 232.3 10.00 23.239/29/2006 596 233.4 8.44 27.6410/5/2006 888 291.6 11.13 26.2110/11/2006 1200 312.5 11.89 26.2810/17/2006 1491 291 11.35 25.64

NOT GOOD! Any suggestions?

[Caddy65]

I have about 2500 miles on my Versa S 4 AT and I have been averaging 30 mpg. 75% of my driving is highway and 25% city. I was expecting better, but maybe it will get better when the engine is broke in.

[versawildman]

I have the sl with cvt. I now have about 3900 miles on the car and the mpg is starting to improve. when I first got it,the mpg was in the 24-26 range, last tank fillup it was in the 30-32 mpg range. still not as good as we were lead to believe when we bought it, but who knows,maybe by the time we trade it in on something else it might be getting 40 mpg.(in about 4 years).

[siggie]

As the weather gets cooler are you running the A/C less? Could that account for the mileage difference?

[Ever Victorious]

That's actually one of the things my fuel economy survey is tracking.

Speaking of...shameless plug... anyone not yet signed up for it that wants to sign up and help us all out? I could use more cars overall in the survey, ESPECIALLY S autos...

[datgrl]

I've asked twice before:

What is the URL or how does one 'sign up' to be on the survey?

datgrl in Baltimore

[Ever Victorious]

My apologies.

Click my name to the side of this post, and go to my profile. There will be a link to email me there. Email me, and I will send you the sheet.

[sngwrtr]

OK, had the Versa a little over a month, with 7 fill ups. I have an SL with CVT and ABS. Have a 40 mile one way commute to work. Drive 85% highway 15% city; HOWEVER, about 7-10 miles of my highway commute is in gridlock that can take anywhere from 15 to 45 minutes to get through. #1 - 300.6 miles 9.5 gals 31.7 mpg#2 - 269.2 miles 7.8 gals 34.5 mpg#3 - 328.5 miles 10.3 gals 31.9 mpg#4 - 335.2 miles 11.0 gals 30.5 mpg#5 - 310.6 miles 9.3 gals 33.4 mpg#6 - 351.3 miles 11.2 gals 31.4 mpg#7 - 328.1 miles 10.4 gals 31.5 mpg

average - 31.99 mpg.

I'm happy with that, particularly because of the gridlock, which some days is the equivalent of sitting there idling for 10-20 minutes. I followed the manual instructions for the first 1200 miles. Usually drive around 70 mph on the highway, some cruise control, A/C fan on "1" almost 100% of the time.

[Ever Victorious]

would you be interested in tracking your next 5 fill-ups on our survey sheet, for inclusion in the master survey?

If so, email me.

[OKVersa]

Last fill-up, around 1300 miles...we got 29.5. It was about 40/60 city/hwy.

[campersand]

I heard on NPR today about a recent study showing that one of the causes of Americans getting bad gas mileage is the fact that we're so much fatter than we used to be.

http://marketplace.publicradio....html

[XterraVersa]

I heard on NPR today about a recent study showing that one of the causes of Americans getting bad gas mileage is the fact that we're so much fatter than we used to be.

http://marketplace.publicradio....html

I call on that report, unless all of the extra 30 lbs is in the right foot.

I take anything on NPR with a grain of salt. They have a hidden political agenda in their broadcasting choices. The report probably is coming from the same source that says we should add a sin tax to fast food.

If this report is true, I should be the lightest versa driver on this board at 260, I get on average 37 mpg.

[Ever Victorious]

I'm only 195 pounds, but get only 30-31 mpg. I have the 6MT, like XterraVersa. However, I ALSO carry my wife during the commute... so that DOES affect my economy.

30 pounds won't make much of a difference for fuel economy. Don't believe me? Remove your spare tire and jack and drive around for a week.

Just make sure your TPMS works.

[jacksan1]

Given all things equal, of course a person who weighs more gets a worse mileage than another person who weighs less than the first person. That's not political - it's a law of physics. A load is a load, and the car's engine doesn't have an opinion. It just burns fuel to propel the vehicle, and if there is extra weight, more fuel gets burned to move it.

But since we don't usually drive under the equal conditions, it is very difficult to isolate the body weight of a driver as the contributing factor to a poor mileage. And even if we could isolate it, it may not have a material impact (e.g. 30 mpg vs. 29.98 mpg) if the body weight differential is not large.

[campersand]

I take anything on NPR with a grain of salt. They have a hidden political agenda in their broadcasting choices. The report probably is coming from the same source that says we should add a sin tax to fast food.

Oh please, let's not get into a political discussion. Especially one about how NPR is liberally skewed and Fox is "fair & balanced". Not saying I put a lot of stock in the study, but what's political about saying Americans are fat? It's the truth!

[Ever Victorious]

I was hoping that people would just let that comment slide, but politics is a big no-no in this forum.

This is the first and only warning: keep the politics discussion out of this thread.

[proxim2020]

Here's the link for the report if anyone's interested in reading it. Apparently, if you drop 100 lbs, you can save about $40 a year. That's about $.76 a week. If you needed to drop the weight anyway, why not save some money while you're at it...lol. The goal shouldn't be losing weight to try to save money, but get yourself into proper weight range for your own health. Others want to see you around for a long time to come.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/200...ption

[XterraVersa]

I was hoping that people would just let that comment slide, but politics is a big no-no in this forum.

This is the first and only warning: keep the politics discussion out of this thread.

Sorry

On my Xterra I have added over 500lbs of dead weight by replacing light plastic with heavy steal and carrying all the needed tools & recovery gear for 4x4ing and the MPG has actually gone up. When I got my garage, about half that weight was removed & no increase in mpg. But this is on a truck that has more than enough power and is an aero brick.

On a smaller car, extra weight may lower mpg. If you have to down shift to keep your speed constant with more weight, yes your mpg goes down. If you don't have to down shift, your mpg should stay the same. It could also slightly improve since you have more momentum to keep you at the same speed.