breakin mileage

[jmath]

Sorry if this is a repeat...I'm a new owner (02 se gold). I looked at other forums, and this seems to be the only mature one. (hope i don't insult anyone.

With only 600 miles, mileage is at about 13. Does it improve over time? I drive about 3/4 highway and have the stock se 16 inch tires.

thanks,

jmath

[SnoDog]

At 600 miles the motor is still very tight.
Your 13mpg per gallon is probably about the average for the age of the engine.

Over the next several thousand miles you may see an increase in mileage up to (or possibly over) the sticker on the glass when you purchased the truck - but do not count on much more than that.

How you drive, where you drive and the quality of fuel you use are all factors which determine the fuel economy of the truck.

I have around 24,000 on my truck. I have about a 5 minute commute through city stop light traffic. My average tank of gas every week and a half is about 13/14 mpg. (stop lights + 4,000lb 4x4's = bad mileage).

The good news is that on the highway I get 20/21 mpg.

SNG

[OffroadX]

hexgirl, it's an Xterra, not an X-terra

As for gas, you should get better power and mileage with good old 87 octane. It burns more readily and more completely than plus or premium with the compression ratio and timing of the engine. The engine cannot advance the timing to potentially take advantage of higher octane fuel.

If it isn't knocking, you're wasting your money putting anything more than regular in there. There's no "babying" it here.

Brent

[Schludwiller]

Speed kills your MPG on the highway. 70 seems to be a pretty good cruising speed for my truck. The faster I go over that the more my mileage suffers.

Also as others have noted the mileage seems to improve past the breakin period. Feel free to change your oil more frequently during the break in.

[Kerensky97]

Originally posted by Schludwiller
Speed kills your MPG on the highway.

The Xterra has turned me from driving 80 MPH to driving the speed limit.
Sure I have to hang out with the old and slow drivers but it keeps the pocketbook from getting too light.

[ChuckH]

I seem to get the best mileage right at about 55-60 MPH. At that speed and without hills, I can get up to 21-22 MPG. Once I hit 70+ it all goes to hell and I get about 16 MPG. On average, with my commute in Seattle traffic and such I'm seeing about 17 MPG, which isn't bad for "accelerate...slam on brakes...repeat!"

[XMan9]

now that my 2002 v6 is loosened up i can get 17 mpg city on a good week. i am pretty happy with that. i used to get 13-14...

[SarnX]

I am up to 1000 miles and my mileage per tank is this:

13.53
12.54
10.93
13.38
13.80

Now I am using 91 Octane in this vehicle (recommended) but I feel that with each tank I am getting a little better. That 10.93 number was a long drive in high head winds at high speed.

SarnX.

[mloeser]

Is there any Nissan Folks out there reading these threads? It would be very interesting to get some feedback on this gas mileage issue. I compared my 2002 Xterra XE V6 4x4 automatic to a friend's 4Runner V6 4x4 stick shift and the difference is 10 mpg on the highways: I'm getting a 15 mpg average (odometer reads 4500 mi), he's getting 24-25 mpg (odometer reads 20k mi). The 4Runner is for sure not a smaller truck!

According to the previous replies I understand that the best someone got out of the Xterra was 20/21 mpg on highways? That seems to be just acceptable. Wonder why some cars need to cause that much more pollution than others...

Just my $0.02 cents.
-Matthias

[Goliath the X]

May I make a suggestion to anyone with an Xterra that is unhappy with the fuel efficiency of the truck.



SELL IT or QUIT BITCHING ABOUT IT!!!!!!

[ChuckH]

Originally posted by mloeser
Is there any Nissan Folks out there reading these threads? It would be very interesting to get some feedback on this gas mileage issue. I compared my 2002 Xterra XE V6 4x4 automatic to a friend's 4Runner V6 4x4 stick shift and the difference is 10 mpg on the highways: I'm getting a 15 mpg average (odometer reads 4500 mi), he's getting 24-25 mpg (odometer reads 20k mi). The 4Runner is for sure not a smaller truck!

According to the previous replies I understand that the best someone got out of the Xterra was 20/21 mpg on highways? That seems to be just acceptable. Wonder why some cars need to cause that much more pollution than others...

Just my $0.02 cents.
-Matthias

I doubt your friend is really getting that much with the $Runner. Either his speedo/odo is off or his truck is a freak because I don't think that is normal.

With the automatic transmission, you should be getting better mileage than you do on the highway. But, it may just be a matter of adjusting your driving style a bit. You really have to keep the speed constant and below 65 MPH to get anything good. Still, 15 MPG would be within spec and normal if you have A/T's or M/T's. Remember too that the Xterra has less power than the 4Runner and is probably less aerodynamic, so it has to work much harder to maintain speed.

And I have to agree with Goliath. That window sticker at purchase time that said 14/19, or whatever it was should have made some folks think twice. When I bought mine I wasn't driving that much so it wasn't an issue. Come to think of it, it's not that much of an issue now that I'm driving a lot either!

[mloeser]

ChuckH,
there's nothing special about my driving style. All other cars I've driven so far exceeded the manufacturer's rating for the gas mileage but the Xterra.
Even when I'm extra careful with the gas pedal and try to avoid breaking or accelerating much, I don't see much improvement. But I understand that everyone got the same problems.
It's just sad that some cars build today perform the same than some cars build 20-30 years ago, i.e. the huge old GMC trucks also get around 14 mpg... Looks like Nissan really doesn't care much about the efficiency of their engines, unlike they do in Europe...
BTW; the numbers for the 4Runner given below are correct, I was sitting in the car with him at the time we figured out the mileage we got driving up from LA to SF. And he was driving around 80 mph most of the time...
-Matthias

[XMan9]

Originally posted by mloeser
Is there any Nissan Folks out there reading these threads? It would be very interesting to get some feedback on this gas mileage issue. I compared my 2002 Xterra XE V6 4x4 automatic to a friend's 4Runner V6 4x4 stick shift and the difference is 10 mpg on the highways: I'm getting a 15 mpg average (odometer reads 4500 mi), he's getting 24-25 mpg (odometer reads 20k mi). The 4Runner is for sure not a smaller truck!

According to the previous replies I understand that the best someone got out of the Xterra was 20/21 mpg on highways? That seems to be just acceptable. Wonder why some cars need to cause that much more pollution than others...

Just my $0.02 cents.
-Matthias

==============================================

you guys are forgeting something very important. the v-6 that comes with the xterra is only a 12 valve. the toyota is a 24 valve DOHC. this makes a very big difference not only with power but also MPG. nissan wanted to use an already tested and proven powerplant, and to keep the cost down. btw, does toyota have a supercharged v-6 in their SUV's? i don't think so. so for what you payed, you got a good deal...