Just got back from filling up my 6-speed Versa. 277 miles on the tank when I filled up, about 25% of those on the highway, and for the last week I've been doing my first real driving on snow covered roads for the last 75 miles or so. 8.9 gallons works out to 31.1 mpg. Must be breaking in a bit and 1700 miles on the odometer because that's higher than the 29.5 I got on a 200 mile highway stint the first weekend we had the car.
Okay, new stuff to post: As a note, I am filling up solely with Amoco gas at this point (available from BP)
I live in a small town, so driving for me usually consists of 25-35mph in town with short sprints through a 45-55mph area (where there are still places where you need to slow dramatically or stop) so I've divided my mileage between "town" driving which is 25-45mph with frequent stopping or slowing areas and "Interstate" which is exactly what it sounds like and is characterized by 65-75mph stretches with no stopping and infrequent slowing (work zones, etc.) (also, I am trying to keep myself at 65-70 on the highway and so an increase in mpg may be due to that, although with this next tank I'll be posting soon I did increase to 70-78 for various reasons).
325.3 miles 11.329 gal 28.7 m/g Town 64.4 Interstate 260.9 (This was a Louisville trip and most of the areas in Louisville can be considered interstate miles because where and the way I was going, they really were.)
203.3 miles 6.936 gal 29.3 m/g (filled when I did because I was heading to Louisville which sells RFG) Town 68.2 Interstate 135.1
I will be filling up again probably this weekend (because I have to go to Mt. Sterling Monday to interview for a job which is 4 pay grades higher than the one I have now and is in the same office, cross your fingers!!) and when I fill up it'll be probably an 11 gallon fill up and I am almost to 300 miles now... Just had an oil change as well (at 4200 miles, so I waited a little long...)
You guys can check my car's site if you're interested in the next mileage, I just wanted to let everyone know I had updated. Also, when I get farther into Phase 2 of my car's modifications the mileage tracker will probably be pushed another page back, so just keep that in mind! Thanks!
We did get the O2 sensor replaced, kind of urk'ed me that it took two different trips to the dealer, how silly of me to think they would have to order parts especially when I told them what was bad when I made the first appointment. (thats a story for a different time) anyway..... I see others have started to post MPG's
I'm interested in the Versa and have a couple of questions -
1. What are the rpm in 6th gear at 80mph? That seems to be the cruising speed on the San Francisco to LA I-5 run.
2. How quiet is the Versa at that hypothetical 80 mph? I've gotten a little tired of the noise levels in the small cars I've owned vs. the quiet in my wife's Impala. But one review mentioned the Versa is uncommonly quiet for a small car. Any comment?
3. Any issues with the factory tires? Road and Track was complaining about them in their recent test, but I think they'd complain about any car that didn't come stock with summer only, semi-racing tires.
I've only had to up in that 75- 80 range once so far, but it runs at about 3700-3750 at 80. I know it runs right on 2800 at 60 and about 1950 at 40, so that number makes sense. I'll add this observation about 6th gear. It feels like it could be geared higher or maybe could have a 7th speed compared to 5th gear in my Sentra and Altima,which are geared just a touch higher in top gear.
I don't know that I'd call it uncommonly quiet at that speed, but it's at least as quiet as my 2001 Altima on the highway. The ride is more solid and quiet than you might expect from looking at the car. We've done a couple of two to three hour non-stop trips and it hasn't driven us crazy at all
Haven't had any issues with the factory Continentals. We had a fair amount of snow last week and we had no issues getting around. Dry and wet performance has been fine as well. We'll see how they handle as they get more wear on them, but so far no complaints. I'll certainly be going over to Kellys when I do have to change tires as I've had very good results on my cars with them for the past 8 years or so.
Andto keep it on topic here, last fill up calculated out to 31.1 mpg again, and that was almost entirely driven on snowy, icy, and wet conditions.
The gas guage seems to be fairly accurate as well, as myestimates of how many gallons I'm goingto be putting in when I fill up are very close to spot on. Right now my guage is sitting right on the half tank mark and I have about 210 miles on the tank. So it's looking like I might break 32mpg this time!
Hi there all. I used to be on the Kia Rio5 discussion, but because of back problems and other physical issues, the constant bouncing around led me to trade it in for a Versa S. First of all, i love the car. The dealer I could do without because for what I ended up paying with my trade in, i could have gotten an SL with the upgraded features. BUT....that's my fault for being impatient so shame on me.
Now..as for MPG, I just turned 200 miles on it and I topped the tank off a couple days ago. My average, according to the last fillup was about 25mpg. This is Chicago city driving. Haven't taken it on the open highway(yet). This car is 1000x nicer riding than the Kia and much more comfortable to sit in. I'm counting on Nissan's rep for reliability to keep this car for a long time. Will post more down the line!!
I just bought an '07 SL, 6spd just about 3 weeks ago. Just went through the first tank. According to my calculations, I came out with 27.8 mpg. All city driving, flat terrain, zero highway miles, intermittent AC usage, relatively conservative driving (especially since you want to DRIVE a new car).
Calculations are as follows. Assuming that the dealer gave me a full tank; the car had 37 miles on it at purchase. I drove it until 315 miles with barely one tick left on the fuel guage (fuel light was on). Filled the tank with 11.3 gallons. So I came up with 315/11.3=27.8. Now I now that there are a number of variables not accounted for, so the numbers can be skewed one way or the other. But, regardless, somewhat decent for 1st tank mileage.
Now, I realize this is just the first tank and mileage may or may not improve due to "break-in". Which, by the way, I don't know that I beleive. However, after reading this board and seeing my 27.8 mpg, I am second guessing my decision to not be more patient with the Fit. I am trying to reserve judgement until I get some more miles on it.
As an aside...As anyone gotten their hands on the cargo area container that makes the cargo area flat (from the Tiida)?
If you have achieved 27.8 MPG in a true city mode, you are actually doing quite well in a Versa, or in any car. People have different definitions of "city driving," and you need to be careful. There is a big difference, for instance, between a stop-n-go downtown and neighborhood traffice and suburban traffic. My impression is that a lot of people report the suburban driving as city driving. If your "city" driving includes driving on four-lane roads that allow you to get up to 55 MPH, then you are not driving pure city. That's suburban.
Why am I saying this? If you indeed got 27.8 MPG doing pure city, your Versa is doing very well. But your "city" driving is actually more suburban, then that number is probably just okay.
I wouldn't judge by the first couple of tanks. I took my 6-speed on a roughly 400 mile round trip just after my first fillup. At least 95% of that was highway driving. Only got 29.5 mpg for the trip. Once I got to somewhere between 1000 and 1500 miles, my mileage improved. I'm getting just over 31 in mixed driving right now. Most of my trips are 8-10 mile runs into town, so I'm relatively impressed. Not quite up there with the 36-38mpg I was getting from my '96 Sentra (236,000 miles) on the same runs, but then again, the Versa has a larger engine, more HP, and weighs 300# more, so the numbers make sense.
I've seen that "cargo area leveler" online. I'm likely to make one for myself. Just one of those DIY types! :P
Dear Buyers Remorse, I totally agree that if you got nearly 28 mpg in stop and go driving, you should be jumping for joy and clicking your heels at the gas pump. You might just have gotten one of the Versa's that will actually get the EPA new revised estimates of 26 in town 33 highway.
Consumers Reports more beliveable numbers on the other hand, secretly buy all the vehicles they test and actually drive them on the streets, report their Versa tester at about 20 MPG in hard stop and go conditions. I have heard of as low as 12 mpg in the city..(the guy was delivering newspapers to apartment buildings in New York.)
So don't give up yet, your Versa might just keep getting better after a couple of thousand miles under its belt.
Mine has had some freakish mpg numbers both good and dismal. On a recent 5,000 mile cross coutry marathon trip, and keeping scrupulous notes on the gas usage, I have had some mpg numbers so high I dare not mention them. The great conditions were,(posted) speeds of 65 mph and good tail winds, (Flagstaff AZ to Lake Powell UT). On the other hand, in constant howling headwinds, (45 to 65 mph fully loaded, 75ish mph,through New Mexico and Arizona) not surpisingly, we were lucky to make it to the next gas station.
Thanks for the responses. I do realize that it is just the first tank. I am just trying to be as socially responsible as my car price point/functional needs will allow.
If you do make one of the cargo levelers yourself, take a picture. If you would take contract work....I'd be interested in purchasing one from you...
You said you were driving all city miles and even used the A/C sometimes. Why do you think you would get much better than 27.8 MPG in your first tank? What does the EPA estimates window sticker say about city mileage on your car?
I'm surprised you even got that high of mileage based on other owners reports here. You should be celebrating.
I have over 13k on my car. It will be a year in August for my automatic. It appears that I'm getting more mpg but I haven't been doing the math. Just getting higher numbers on the odometer - 337, 339, 341 - instead of the 330 or less I was getting.
When the Nissan engineers were posting they recommended keeping the RPM's below 2k whenever possible. For me, that is easiest done when I'm taking off from a stop. The car picks up speed/shifts quickly so it's not a slooooow pull off the light. Just a steady, light pressure and I'm up to 30 mph in less than 10 seconds. 30 being the posted speed limit here in town.
I'm sure that driving styles have a lagre impact on the numbers. As you note, the Versa does accelerate quickly and from a stop I'd say my shifting pattern typically goes 1st, 2nd, 6th. I know that sounds strange, but as long as I'm starting up on relatively level ground, I can do that without having the car lug at all. A slight uphill grade will get 3rd gear in the sequence, but I almost never use 4th gear, and 5th is almost exclusively used if I hit a grade that requires a downshift.
All of my Nissans since 1979 have been 5 speeds and I basically skipped 4th gear on all of them, so this is just my driving habit.
I always run the mileage numbers on every fill up. Sort of like taking the car's temperature, I use it as an indication of possible problems. A sudden drop in mileage gets my attention and I think about how I was driving recently and if that might have been the cause. If that's not it, then I'm "on alert" and will fill up next time after running between 1/4 and 1/2 tank to recheck the mileage. If it returns to normal I chalk the one tank of bad mileage up to either strange driving conditions (like if there was snow or lots of stop and go traffic) or to a fill up screw up where I didn't actually fill up the time before, so that the next time it took a bit more to fill up for about the same number of miles.
But if the bad mileage repeats, it's usually a sign of something having changed in the car. Last time it happened with my Altima, turned out that a fuel injector was starting to go. The mileage gave me an indication before it threw a code and turned on the check engine light.
Don't mean to rain on a parade, but typically dealers fill up the car at delivery, not while the car is sitting on the lot. This means that if you buy a car with 37 miles you can't include those 37 miles in your mileage as they filled up afterwords. Maybe I read the post wrong, but it sounded like the 37 miles was included for that tank.
Still, 24.6 mpg is pretty good for true all city driving.
My wife crossed the Versa off of our list pretty early (along with lots of other small cars like the Fit, Corolla, Civic, Mazda 3 etc), so I wound up with an Accord a few weeks ago. I was quite impressed with the rear seat comfort for the Versa's size. Wish we had more hatchback choices here.
Just to throw out a comparison, the Accord (4cyl 5M) is averaging over 31 mpg for the first 2000 miles (mostly highway, but city is brutal, 1-2 mile drives in cold weather).
I noticed the new Altima that CR tested was right at the EPA highway numbers in their 65 mph highway test. Most cars CR tests are above the highway numbers by 3-5 mpg (the Accord was 5 mpg above the CR highway). So the Versa is not alone.
I'm getting more then 345 miles to a tank lately, my last was 355 before getting gas, and it took 12.5 gallons to fill. So to be safe, 350 is mileage in which I'll stop and get gas when I'm in town..
The CVT is very easy to keep below 2K and get up to speed.
If I HAD to stretch it, I think I could safely push it to 400 miles on a tank, but I've been filling up right around 380 miles and taking on around 12 gallons. I have to fill up later today for a trip tomorrow, so I'll have some more details later! :shades:
Alright, perhaps I should give a little back-story. I am coming off a 2000 Kia Sephia, that I sold 16 months ago. I have been riding my bike to work and sharing my wife's car since. We are expecting our first child and so decided to buy a second vehicle. We deliberated long and hard over what car to purchase. We are also "socialist-liberal whackos", trying to put our money where our mouths are, but at the same time fulfilling our functional needs.
The cars we looked at were the Matrix (too expensive), Fit (dealer never has one) and the Versa. The Versa seemed the best compromise of space, features, fuel efficiency and economy. I am a pretty conservative driver. My lead foot days are long gone and I appreciate the variables that is the live physics experiment of driving. That and there is nothing to be gained by expending a finite resource just so you can get your jollies by going faster (another story, another time).
The EPA estimates for the car were 30 city/34 hwy. Considering my conservative driving style...I was really hoping to hit that 30 mark. I realize that it's only my first tank, but hearing all the fuel economy stories in this forum does not exactly spark my optimism nor reassure me that my purchase was the correct one. I was just hoping that in 2007, major japanese automakers could hit what they have advertised...my bad for being hopeful and naive. Only time will tell.
MotorWeek TV's Versa test mpg was disappointing. It was the lowest in a group of 5-6 sub-compacts including the new Toyota, Honda, Chevy Aveo, etc. I don't recall the figures but it was lower than the posted mpg.
For those not getting the MPG they had hoped for, can you tell us what your MPG was for your previous car. So if you were driving a Sentra previously and were averaging 35MPG, then I'd agree that getting less than 30MPG in your Versa isn't so good. But if you were getting in the upper 20sMPG with your Sentra and are getting the same with your Versa, then that would make more sense.
So has anyone here compared your MPG with your previous car?
Like I said, the mileage decrease from the Sentra to the Versa makes sense due to weight/horsepower considerations. Now my 2001 Altima with the 2.4 liter engine and 5 speed gets around 32mpg highway and is getting us 29-30 in mixed driving, so I might have expected a BIT more out of the Versa based on that comparison.
Higher gas prices must have slowed my wife down. The last tank was 30.27 MPG which is our best to date. The car is over 13,000 miles now and other than the tire pressure sensors CONSTANTLY going out we are happy. Not sure what our next move is on the sensors - the car has been in four times so far.
I came from a 2000 Kia Sephia. It was my first automobile purchase and, at the time, all I could afford. The last time I tested it it got around 22mpg in the city and maybe 27 on the Hwy.
The Versa is centuries ahead in all aspects. Now, if she can only get the mileage advertised.
It seems to me that the CVT is performing quite a bit better than the manual gas mileage wise. After about 5 tanks, I have lost hope of ever achieving 30 mpg or better in my 6-speed.
How many miles on your Versa so far? There was a definite improvement in mileage as I got used to the feel of the clutch and shifter (which was certainly different from my Sentra and Altima) and as the car got broken in. Last weekend we took a 275 mile trip with 4 of us in the car and a filled cargo area. Pretty much all highway miles, the traffic forced 75-80mph most of the way if you didn't want to get run over. When I filled up after, mileage came out to 32.7.
I'm no hypermiler, although I do try to be in 6th as often and as long as practical when driving.
You can still drive the 65 or 70 MPH maximum posted speed limit even if most others are driving 75 or 80 as long as you do not sit in the fast lane. They can always pass you if they want to go faster. Many people don't like being passed due to sociological/psychological reasons such as feeling like they are "losing a race" when they notice several cars passing them by. They may also be in a hurry and really wanted to go faster anyway and just use other people's speeding as an excuse/justification. "Officer, they 'forced me' to speed. How fast I drive isn't my responsibility, it's theirs."
I drove my brothers barn ...I mean Durango last summer to Indiana and back to Texas and I did not get 26mpg I barely got 16mpg........and It was I my sister and nephew and mom....and 3 pieces of luggage and going 70 mph....no way on the 26mpg unless your being towed.
Summer gas formulations must be hitting our area. Last fillup was 10 gallons (10.01 to be picky) and 328.9 miles for 32.85 mpg.
Reason I think we must be into summer gas is that the entire tank was local driving, it's been warmer, so the A/C was on for a lot of it, and I even got stuck in traffic at the Penn State spring football game where I covered about 1.5 miles in around 40 minutes :sick:
Finally got a chance to see what kind of mileage our '07 SL with the CVT tranny can get on the highway, with an 860 mile round-trip to central Calif last week. Figure about 90% freeway driving (averaging 70-75); no air conditioning used; used cruise a third of the time -- total of 26.86 gallons (of mighty expensive regular at $3.39/gal!), so we averaged 32.0mpg overall. Enjoy this car the more we drive it!
The topic here is supposed to be Versa mileage, so I've moved the posts that were discussing how quiet the Versa is (or isn't) to the new Nissan Versa Driving Experience discussion.
Some people here are disappointed & others pleased with their MPG. Most people either place the blame or success on their cars. Its time people take share in their bad or good MPG. Feather footing is more than pushing on the gas pedal easier. I've heard that some try feather footing, get tired of it, & return to the fast travels, fast accelerations, fast interactions with other vehicles & let their constant speeds become wayward. Your heart must be 100% into feather footing, NOT to be tired. The real way of feather footing is easy on the pedal, easy on the planet Earth, easy on your pocketbook, easy on yourself. Its a philosophical change...Zen of the pedal, so to say. Its love of travel, it is love of the planet Earth, it is love of people next to the road you travel, it is love to accomplish your ways with less fuel. It is more than philosophy, more than Zen...it is Love. :shades:
Comments
--Kmbr
As a note, I am filling up solely with Amoco gas at this point (available from BP)
I live in a small town, so driving for me usually consists of 25-35mph in town with short sprints through a 45-55mph area (where there are still places where you need to slow dramatically or stop) so I've divided my mileage between "town" driving which is 25-45mph with frequent stopping or slowing areas and "Interstate" which is exactly what it sounds like and is characterized by 65-75mph stretches with no stopping and infrequent slowing (work zones, etc.) (also, I am trying to keep myself at 65-70 on the highway and so an increase in mpg may be due to that, although with this next tank I'll be posting soon I did increase to 70-78 for various reasons).
325.3 miles 11.329 gal
28.7 m/g
Town 64.4 Interstate 260.9
(This was a Louisville trip and most of the areas in Louisville can be considered interstate miles because where and the way I was going, they really were.)
203.3 miles 6.936 gal
29.3 m/g (filled when I did because I was heading to Louisville which sells RFG)
Town 68.2 Interstate 135.1
I will be filling up again probably this weekend (because I have to go to Mt. Sterling Monday to interview for a job which is 4 pay grades higher than the one I have now and is in the same office, cross your fingers!!) and when I fill up it'll be probably an 11 gallon fill up and I am almost to 300 miles now... Just had an oil change as well (at 4200 miles, so I waited a little long...)
You guys can check my car's site if you're interested in the next mileage, I just wanted to let everyone know I had updated. Also, when I get farther into Phase 2 of my car's modifications the mileage tracker will probably be pushed another page back, so just keep that in mind! Thanks!
--Kmbr
1st tank 28.2mpg -- 80% town/20% highway
2nd tank 27.9mpg -- 80% town/20% highway
3rd tank 30.1mpg -- 90% town/10% highway
So far real pleased with mileage I'm getting, and love the car more with every mile driven!
Here is a run down my records ;
Date Trip Gal Tot miles on car MPG
12/19/2006 251.3 10.99 2590 22.87
12/30/2006 251.5 10.86 2841 23.16
1/9/2007 212 10.102 3053 20.99
1/11/2007 232.3 8.308 3285.3 27.96 95% HW
1/23/2007 236.4 11.281 3521.7 20.96
2/5/2007 188.9 10.635 3710.6 17.76
2/14/2007 153.8 8.763 3865 17.55
3/1/2007 209.3 11.311 4075 18.50
3/10/2007 113 6.369 4188 17.74
3/12/2007 322.5 11.24 4510 28.69 99% HW
At this point we had the OS sensor replaced and I don't have any data yet.....will keep ya posted
I'm interested in the Versa and have a couple of questions -
1. What are the rpm in 6th gear at 80mph? That seems to be the cruising speed on the San Francisco to LA I-5 run.
2. How quiet is the Versa at that hypothetical 80 mph? I've gotten a little tired of the noise levels in the small cars I've owned vs. the quiet in my wife's Impala. But one review mentioned the Versa is uncommonly quiet for a small car. Any comment?
3. Any issues with the factory tires? Road and Track was complaining about them in their recent test, but I think they'd complain about any car that didn't come stock with summer only, semi-racing tires.
I don't know that I'd call it uncommonly quiet at that speed, but it's at least as quiet as my 2001 Altima on the highway. The ride is more solid and quiet than you might expect from looking at the car. We've done a couple of two to three hour non-stop trips and it hasn't driven us crazy at all
Haven't had any issues with the factory Continentals. We had a fair amount of snow last week and we had no issues getting around. Dry and wet performance has been fine as well. We'll see how they handle as they get more wear on them, but so far no complaints. I'll certainly be going over to Kellys when I do have to change tires as I've had very good results on my cars with them for the past 8 years or so.
Andto keep it on topic here, last fill up calculated out to 31.1 mpg again, and that was almost entirely driven on snowy, icy, and wet conditions.
The gas guage seems to be fairly accurate as well, as myestimates of how many gallons I'm goingto be putting in when I fill up are very close to spot on. Right now my guage is sitting right on the half tank mark and I have about 210 miles on the tank. So it's looking like I might break 32mpg this time!
Now..as for MPG, I just turned 200 miles on it and I topped the tank off a couple days ago. My average, according to the last fillup was about 25mpg. This is Chicago city driving. Haven't taken it on the open highway(yet). This car is 1000x nicer riding than the Kia and much more comfortable to sit in. I'm counting on Nissan's rep for reliability to keep this car for a long time. Will post more down the line!!
Here's the link in case you guys need it
http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread/230872
Calculations are as follows. Assuming that the dealer gave me a full tank; the car had 37 miles on it at purchase. I drove it until 315 miles with barely one tick left on the fuel guage (fuel light was on). Filled the tank with 11.3 gallons. So I came up with 315/11.3=27.8. Now I now that there are a number of variables not accounted for, so the numbers can be skewed one way or the other. But, regardless, somewhat decent for 1st tank mileage.
Now, I realize this is just the first tank and mileage may or may not improve due to "break-in". Which, by the way, I don't know that I beleive. However, after reading this board and seeing my 27.8 mpg, I am second guessing my decision to not be more patient with the Fit. I am trying to reserve judgement until I get some more miles on it.
As an aside...As anyone gotten their hands on the cargo area container that makes the cargo area flat (from the Tiida)?
driving includes driving on four-lane roads that allow you to get up to 55 MPH, then you are not driving pure city. That's suburban.
Why am I saying this? If you indeed got 27.8 MPG doing pure city, your Versa is doing very well. But your "city" driving is actually more suburban, then that number is probably just okay.
I've seen that "cargo area leveler" online. I'm likely to make one for myself. Just one of those DIY types! :P
I totally agree that if you got nearly 28 mpg in stop and go driving, you should be jumping for joy and clicking your heels at the gas pump. You might just have gotten one of the Versa's that will actually get the EPA new revised estimates of 26 in town 33 highway.
Consumers Reports more beliveable numbers on the other hand, secretly buy all the vehicles they test and actually drive them on the streets, report their Versa tester at about 20 MPG in hard stop and go conditions.
I have heard of as low as 12 mpg in the city..(the guy was delivering newspapers to apartment buildings in New York.)
So don't give up yet, your Versa might just keep getting better after a couple of thousand miles under its belt.
Mine has had some freakish mpg numbers both good and dismal.
On a recent 5,000 mile cross coutry marathon trip, and keeping scrupulous notes on the gas usage, I have had some mpg numbers so high I dare not mention them.
The great conditions were,(posted) speeds of 65 mph and good tail winds, (Flagstaff AZ to Lake Powell UT).
On the other hand, in constant howling headwinds, (45 to 65 mph fully loaded, 75ish mph,through New Mexico and Arizona) not surpisingly, we were lucky to make it to the next gas station.
If you do make one of the cargo levelers yourself, take a picture. If you would take contract work....I'd be interested in purchasing one from you...
Tony
Why do you think you would get much better than 27.8 MPG in your first tank?
What does the EPA estimates window sticker say about city mileage on your car?
I'm surprised you even got that high of mileage based on other owners reports here. You should be celebrating.
for my automatic. It appears that I'm getting more mpg
but I haven't been doing the math. Just getting higher
numbers on the odometer - 337, 339, 341 - instead of
the 330 or less I was getting.
When the Nissan engineers were posting they recommended
keeping the RPM's below 2k whenever possible. For me,
that is easiest done when I'm taking off from a stop.
The car picks up speed/shifts quickly so it's not a
slooooow pull off the light. Just a steady, light pressure
and I'm up to 30 mph in less than 10 seconds. 30 being
the posted speed limit here in town.
Datgrl in MD
All of my Nissans since 1979 have been 5 speeds and I basically skipped 4th gear on all of them, so this is just my driving habit.
I always run the mileage numbers on every fill up. Sort of like taking the car's temperature, I use it as an indication of possible problems. A sudden drop in mileage gets my attention and I think about how I was driving recently and if that might have been the cause. If that's not it, then I'm "on alert" and will fill up next time after running between 1/4 and 1/2 tank to recheck the mileage. If it returns to normal I chalk the one tank of bad mileage up to either strange driving conditions (like if there was snow or lots of stop and go traffic) or to a fill up screw up where I didn't actually fill up the time before, so that the next time it took a bit more to fill up for about the same number of miles.
But if the bad mileage repeats, it's usually a sign of something having changed in the car. Last time it happened with my Altima, turned out that a fuel injector was starting to go. The mileage gave me an indication before it threw a code and turned on the check engine light.
Still, 24.6 mpg is pretty good for true all city driving.
My wife crossed the Versa off of our list pretty early (along with lots of other small cars like the Fit, Corolla, Civic, Mazda 3 etc), so I wound up with an Accord a few weeks ago. I was quite impressed with the rear seat comfort for the Versa's size. Wish we had more hatchback choices here.
Just to throw out a comparison, the Accord (4cyl 5M) is averaging over 31 mpg for the first 2000 miles (mostly highway, but city is brutal, 1-2 mile drives in cold weather).
I noticed the new Altima that CR tested was right at the EPA highway numbers in their 65 mph highway test. Most cars CR tests are above the highway numbers by 3-5 mpg (the Accord was 5 mpg above the CR highway). So the Versa is not alone.
BTW, I skip shifts quite often as well.
The CVT is very easy to keep below 2K and get up to speed.
The cars we looked at were the Matrix (too expensive), Fit (dealer never has one) and the Versa. The Versa seemed the best compromise of space, features, fuel efficiency and economy. I am a pretty conservative driver. My lead foot days are long gone and I appreciate the variables that is the live physics experiment of driving. That and there is nothing to be gained by expending a finite resource just so you can get your jollies by going faster (another story, another time).
The EPA estimates for the car were 30 city/34 hwy. Considering my conservative driving style...I was really hoping to hit that 30 mark. I realize that it's only my first tank, but hearing all the fuel economy stories in this forum does not exactly spark my optimism nor reassure me that my purchase was the correct one. I was just hoping that in 2007, major japanese automakers could hit what they have advertised...my bad for being hopeful and naive. Only time will tell.
As far as the rest of the car goes....love it!
So has anyone here compared your MPG with your previous car?
BTW my Versa is LIGHT years ahead of that car and get better mileage...
Tony
The Versa is centuries ahead in all aspects. Now, if she can only get the mileage advertised.
I'm no hypermiler, although I do try to be in 6th as often and as long as practical when driving.
Many people don't like being passed due to sociological/psychological reasons such as feeling like they are "losing a race" when they notice several cars passing them by. They may also be in a hurry and really wanted to go faster anyway and just use other people's speeding as an excuse/justification.
"Officer, they 'forced me' to speed. How fast I drive isn't my responsibility, it's theirs."
Reason I think we must be into summer gas is that the entire tank was local driving, it's been warmer, so the A/C was on for a lot of it, and I even got stuck in traffic at the Penn State spring football game where I covered about 1.5 miles in around 40 minutes :sick:
Filled up this morning and it worked out to 33.2mpg on this last tank.
Feather footing is more than pushing on the gas pedal easier. I've heard that some try feather footing, get tired of it, & return to the fast travels, fast accelerations, fast interactions with other vehicles & let their constant speeds become wayward. Your heart must be 100% into feather footing, NOT to be tired.
The real way of feather footing is easy on the pedal, easy on the planet Earth, easy on your pocketbook, easy on yourself. Its a philosophical change...Zen of the pedal, so to say. Its love of travel, it is love of the planet Earth, it is love of people next to the road you travel, it is love to accomplish your ways with less fuel. It is more than philosophy, more than Zen...it is Love.