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Infiniti M35/M45 Real World MPG
Iam getting 18-19 in town and 24 plus on the road, When the car is closed up and air is on noise level is very minimal.I use mid-range gas and have a m35x.Iam Very Very happy with the car.I have had zero problems and the Nav is great.I would have liked the real time traffic but iam not going to trade to get it.
Stan
Stan
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Audi A6 (V6): 21mpg and 25mpg
2006 GS300 sedan AWD V6: 20mpg and 23mpg
Infiniti M35x: 18mpg and 22mpg
Caluclating actual mpg, from miles driven and gallons pumped to fill 'er up again, yielded 18mpg.
Driving was about 40% highway stop-and-go, 40% highway at 50 to 70 mph, and 20% city.
On the few occasions that I have driven it on the highway for an extended period (> 1 hr), I have averaged 23 MPG at ~ 70 MPH. This was as of a few weeks ago. If I had the willpower to keep my speed in the 60-65 MPH range I believe it might even improve to 24 or more MPG.
This vehicle has been the most trouble-free of any that I have owned.
I looked at the Audi A6 - it came in second on my list as well. I do not have any regrets or remorse in picking the M. I didn't like the MMI interface, its CD accessibility or its reliability record, but that doesn't mean there weren't things about the Audi that I miss (e.g., electronic emergency brake)...
As far as adapting my driving habits - yes, I had to think about it for a few weeks, especially since the M's throttle was a lot more responsive than on my previous car. Initially it was almost a personal challenge to see if I could voluntarily do it. After that, it more or less became a habit and I felt a sense of accomplishment that I could actually sustain it. That doesn't mean that I don't stomp the pedal every so often just to remember what its like!
$400/yr difference in gas on a $40k+ car would cause buyer's remorse?
I drive an M45 Sport, have averaged a little over 17mpg through 10,000 miles, and wouldn't even dream of having an A6 for the $300 max it will cost me.
Why so down on the A6?
I really didn't mean to sound harsh regarding the A6. It's a wonderful car and one that would make anybody shopping in this segment, other than zealot BMW owners, very happy.
My only concern with the A6, which is a concern to me with all German makes right now, is reliability. I'm 2 for 2 with lousy BMW products and have been suffering through the worst automobile ordeal imaginable with a 2003 MB SL500. While Audi has made tremendous strides in improvement as it relates to reliability, mid to long term reliability still suffers when compared to Infiniti/Lexus.
Reliability is not my only consideration when choosing cars but it has moved up the list with my recent experiences.
While I agree that Infiniti's entire lineup would be better served by cars that were more fuel-efficient I merely wanted to point out that the financial side of the equation is often overstated.
BTW, I hope someday we will all be so blessed to appreciate the driving dynamics that only BMW can provide.
I will be getting my 2007 M35x in late July and I won't be caring one bit about gas mileage... and we pay a lot more for gas in Canada than you do in USA (just finished spending almost 5 years of my life living in USA).
keep a lid on using the wonderful VQ series
engines from Nissan/Infiniti for what they're
really made for. I know it's hard for me.
I have a 2002 Maxima SE and I love to punch
it and I love the little growl-note of the
exhaust. It's like turning away from that
sweet tempting dessert! My lease will be
ending soon, so I'm keeping the M35 in my
radar, among some others.
What I find interesting is this mileage is somewhat better than the G35X I had before. It was averaging 15-16 in town and never better than 22 on the highway. Considering that the M is heavier with the same power train I was surprised.
That said, I could see a 6 speed tranny with a much longer final drive. The RPM's should definitely be able to be under 2000 for 65-70 miles per hour, and the 6th gear would not compromise performance.
I must say I do love the car in any case...
Calculating it myself at fill-up yielded 18.8
Combined (mostly non-commute time on this fill-up) highway and city.
I didn't say it was easy, just that it became a personal challenge, since the easier thing to do is punch it whenever the urge hits!
Drove the M to the Poconos on Sun and at 65-70 MPH continuous driving, averaged 25.6 MPG according to the computer readout. Now, if I was willing to stay in the right lane, keep my speed at 60 and be passed all the time, I'm willing to bet I could get 27 MPG - but who cares!
I've already proved to myself that it could be done - now I'll fall back to my 17-18 mpg and just enjoy driving my M! After all, it's only costing me ~$25/month! :shades:
BTW, An informal measure that I like to use in assessing a vehicle's real world efficiency is that the car's fuel tank should enable it to go 400 miles on a tank of gas. Anything less and I find my self stopping too frequently for fill-ups. The M appears to fall just below this benchmark. That's about the only real complaint I have!
Prior to this car I had a BMW 540 which I drove much harder (without regard to mileage) and consistently 19-20 mgp in the same suburban driving.
There are many things I like about the car, but the fact that Nissan can't build an engine that both performs and gets reasonable mileage should be an embarassment to them.
How many miles do you have on your M? My MPG efficiency has been consistently going up - I have a little over 8K miles on mine at this point. When I first picked the car up - local driving was ~16mpg. I am also keeping my tire pressures on the high side - 36 PSI when cold. Another thing I try to do whenever traffic permits is to use cruise control (non-adaptive).
Here's another data point. My spouse drives a '98 BMW 328I w auto trans w 68K miles. In combined local/highway driving (60%/40%)she has been averaging ~22 MPG with no attention to fuel efficient driving technique. When I drive it, I can usually improve that MPG number by ~4-5 mpg over a few tankfuls of fuel.
...DC...Philadelphia...DC...Savannah...home. Mileage per gallon was 20.9. I may have gotten more had I stayed on the interstates, but I wandered a bit. :shades:
I will be getting my 2007 M35x in late July and I won't be caring one bit about gas mileage... and we pay a lot more for gas in Canada than you do in USA (just finished spending almost 5 years of my life living in USA).
Although this is a gas mileage forum, for me the disappointment with the M35 series' mpg is not paying for the gas. It's that we can get cars with 350 HP at this gas mileage. In other words, I'd expect an engine/transmission in a $50K car that gives me well over 300 HP in return for 17 mpg. It's not a $$$ issue. It's a bothering-to-engineer the car up to contemporary engineering standards (e.g. what Audi is doing with their V6 and, in the fall, their V8, with FSI; or BMW did with its new engines) by giving a lot og HP per mpg -- not dropping a 1995 V6 (although a great one) into a 2006 car.
By the way, I didn't see any other M's on the highway. I did see several FX's and got plenty of gawkers at the rest stop!
Just filled up with 89 octane and immediately seemed to get a jump in mpg to the 22-23 highway and 19 overall range. I'll report in after this tank is used and then next time I'll experiment with 91.
My gas gauge isn't very accurate but I know I go between 300 and 350 miles between fill-ups.
Among the worst figures for a 275 HP V-6.
Every single auto mag article comes in at 17 in mixed use. High percentage of people on this site say the same. Or read Edmunds consumer-reviews pros-and-cons for this car -- major "con" is poor mpg. It's not an illusion.
I don't want driving my car to be an olympic consciousness raising event in order to approach 20 mpg with a V-6 engine in mostly straight 60-65 mph driving.
Nonetheless, I have been so bothered by the mileage that (in addition to using premium) I don't rush around like an adolescent with his first car or even a person enthusiastic about driving. Smooth has become a religion. The car ain't converting, however.
"Test M35 averaged 16.4 mpg in city/highway driving, test M35x averaged 17.4 with more highway use. Test M45s averaged 16.0 in city/highway driving, 18.8-19.1 mpg in mostly highway use."
Since I buy my cars new, I am comparing my first 3K miles with my M35 to similar experiences with other cars. I do expect the mpg to improve over time ... but ... I think much evidence has accumulated (in CR's evaluation, in reports from consumers on Edmunds, on this board, in many reviews, etc) to strongly suggest that V-6 engine/transmission gets poor mileage for a V-6. It has been widely recognized that the 5 gears and the gearing setup (designed to make this 275 HP engine, with torque of 270 @ 4800 rpm) accelerate faster than competition in auto reviews) produce unusually poor mpg. The car is so loveable in other ways and MSRP'd so much lower than competition that, I believe, people who are smitten by it have a tendency to simply not believe that it has any negative characteristics.
I think the M45 requires premium.
The M45 REQUIRES premium. They also state that if you MUST put in regular because premium is not available, to not fill the tank, only put in enough to get safely to where you can get premium, then fill it up so you boost the octane as much as you can. They also say to not drive aggressivly while you have the regular in there.
Yes, I've been aware of that from before I bought the car. It was one factor predisposing me to choose the M35. However, like, James, I found that my mpg went down to 16 on regular, even though I've been so preoccupied with the mpg of this car that I have driven it with an obsessionally light foot, so much so that it begins to take the pleasure, for me, out of driving it. I have enjoyed, with other cars, driving a tank-full with total focus on higher-mpg driving, but I don't like being preoccupied with "Will this car ever get 20 mpg?" For example, over the weekend we drove early Saturday morning on a traffic-free route, all highway, for an overnight event, and back early Sunday in similar conditions. Steady 65 mph -- yet only got 19 mpg, for total 65 mph cruising, no city at all.
I keep a tire inflator in the trunk. I monitor the tire pressure every day on screen. I keep the cold pressure between 34 and 36. Do you think I should keep the cold tire pressure higher?
Here's a recent post from another Edmunds forum on real world sedan mileage ...
"I am looking for any suggestions--I have a two year old G35x and have finally had it with the horrible milage I am getting. I do primarily suburban short hops of one to three miles with a small amount of highway driving when I can. I do not drive aggressively. I am getting around 13-15 MPG."
I find a consistent pattern of talk/complaint about Infiniti V6 mpg across the internet. For example, quickly check the consumer ratings link at the top of this forum page.
That's likely ... the hills, I mean. You understand, I wasn't saying I've ever gotten below 16 mpg. That quote was from another post. But, you sound OK with a V-6 using 16-17 mpg than I am. It's subjective, individual variance at that point. I'd not complain about a V8 using 17 mpg, even in combined city/highway, but I'm sure the next generation V6 from Nissan will address this.
Anyway, the mpg issue is probably getting some negative emotional overflow from my not liking the M35 as much as I thought I would -- aesthetically, mostly, but some of its driving characteristics as well ... not anything that would lead me to tell someone who likes the car "Don't; you'll regret it" but that has led me to explore pathways (I think I've found one I can live with) out of my lease and into another car, I hope, soon. I don't like feeling this way about my car, especially when, objectively, it's a good car.