Last week, I drove to Birmingham. I got 17.4 MPGs at 78mph. On the return trip the next day, I got 15.4 MPGs at 75mph. I assumed it was do to bad gas. The next 2 tanks have also been lower than normal. Yes, idling hurts mileage, I know this. Even taking that into account, it's still lower than it normally is with the idling. Usually, I get 14mpgs idling all day, now I'm getting 11. Nothing's changed. Same pressure, same tires, same gas station, same temps, everything.
I run my stock 18 in tires on nitrogen at 35 psi cold and have consistently gotten 19.5 to 20.8 MPG @ 70 MPH (which is about 1800-2000 RPM on the tach) LA freeway driving on the computer for the last 7 years. I drive 56 miles (each way) every day and we have winter fuel here in SoCal. I drive with the mirrors out and the tailgate up. If I drive around town (speeds from idle to 50 mph) my mileage drops to about 15.
If your tire pressure system is going off at 33 cold you may want to use a digital tire pressure gauge to make sure you're really at 33 (I suspect you're not)
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JLG2002
2005 Frontier LE with every option on it I could buy.
I live north of you and even at 20 degrees in the morning my tire pressure light never comes on unless the pressure is low. The whole nitrogen fill thing is for race cars after all the air we breathe is 78% nitrogen. Because of the large amount of idling time, you need to ignore any mileage based oil change schedule.For comparison, I drove 352 interstate miles round trip to Memphis yesterday at 75 MPH per my GPS (not the speedo) with a 20 minute stop at a construction zone and got 19.04 MPG. Now I have a Bullydog GT with 2 degree of timing added/K&N drop in filter/over 29,000 miles on my '12. Hope you figure out your problem, since you might want the dealer to check it out.
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2012 SV 4X4 Auto.
CC Short Bed
Bullydog GT
Air Box Mod
K&N Drop in
TB Heater Bypass
Front Bilstein 5100 2" Lift/Stock Springs
Rear Calmini 1.5" Shackles/Bilstein 5125
You mpg's should get better as the miles pile on. During the beginning the mpg's should suffer due to engine break in. If you haven't already join - Fuelly | Share and Compare Your MPG It's the best way to track you gas mileage, I've been using it for years & I love it.
1. Check Tire Pressure.
2. Clean/Change your Air Filter (you mentioned you travel alot on "dirt roads")
3. Change your Oil (mines due @ 3750 miles dealership said so).
This should restore you mpg's
I currently have 1600 miles on my 2012 Frontier SV, V6, Auto. On my very first tank of gas I got 15.5 mpgs. That's 50% highway (using cruise control set @ 70mph) & 50% city driving. Under the same conditions on my last tank I got 17.7mpgs. It's getting better... It'll get better for you as well...
__________________ 2012 Nissan Frontier KC SV Auto 4x4, Side Step Rails, Bull Bar, Bed Extender, Mud Gaurds.
Maybe it's just me but this MPG debate on the Frontier has raged on for a very long time with multiple threads. I just readily accept that the freakin truck is not that great on MPG but I still enjoy the damn truck very much. It's amazing to me how much time and energy is spent to try and gain another half mile out of every gallon. Look, I'm not against trying to improve your gas mileage but lets face it, These trucks really do kinda suck when it comes to gas mileage. Now, On the bright side, If you look at the MPG's for a full size F-150 or Titan or Ram then thats when you realize that our smaller Frontiers are not as bad after all. I tried to keep a log of mileage and all that crap too but after several months I came up with the same results as Turbo98. The results being that it appears my mileage per tank fluctuates all the time between 17-21 mpg. If I can get 400 miles to a fill up then thats probably the best I will get. And a Happy Motoring to all.
From my numbers: 2010 CC A/T 4x4, no lift, stock tires, 20k miles.
*18.5 & 19.3 are my real stats*
If I drive normally without shooting for mpg's... I get average 18.5ish mpg and burned 18 gallons I went approx. 333 miles.
If I drive trying really really hard to not touch the gas and I cruise at preferable speeds and holding up people behind me upon taking off at a light... I average 19.3ish mpg and burned 18 gallons I went approx. 342 miles.
That's 9 miles, for my numbers at least (143 days, 24 fill-ups)
Let's look at it another way shall we?
If I save 9 miles per tank by driving more reserved and my average mpg is 19.3, I save .466 gallons per tank. If gas is $3.50/gal... I save $1.63 by driving conservatively for that week. I fill up, on average, every 6 days. That makes about 60 fill-ups a year.
By driving conservatively I would save approx. $97.80 a year following the trend I have going for the last 143 days.
For $100 bucks a year, I'll keep driving without worrying about it. It's more fun.
Some people are wealthy enough to buy a second vehicle with better gas milage as a DD because the Frontier gets such poor milage.
Wait...what? Since when does buying/insuring/maintaining a second vehicle make more fiscal sense than just putting gas in your Frontier?
Yeah people do it.
Sent from my T959 using AutoGuide.Com Free App
__________________ 2010 P4X CC: 2.5in/2in Lift (ADF&PRG), Xoskel Bumper Mouth Bracket w/ 4 Rigid Industries Duallys, Superchips Tuned 87 Performance w/WOT Removed, Kool Vue CAI, Rear Axle Vent Mod, Bakflip G2, Radiator bypass, LED conversion.
In Progress: SPC UCA's (in hand) super on the down-low LED light bar project, Cargo light delete, LED courtesy lights, IMS, exhaust, skids, 285's, LED reverse floods Axle Vent Mod & Radiator Bypass South Jersey
Last edited by JettyLife; 12-13-2012 at 10:00 PM.
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to JettyLife For This Useful Post:
Some people are wealthy enough to buy a second vehicle with better gas milage as a DD because the Frontier gets such poor milage.
Wait...what? Since when does buying/insuring/maintaining a second vehicle make more fiscal sense than just putting gas in your Frontier?
Yeah people do it.
Sent from my T959 using AutoGuide.Com Free App
I love the people who get sport bikes for "gas saving". I got my R1 to ride in the summer. When I use it for commuting I average around 40mpg.
Figure, 3,000 miles in the Frontier. Avg 19mpg. ~150 gallons, costs me ~$550 @ 3.50 a gallon.
Ride the bike for those 3,000 miles. Avg. 40mpg. ~75 gallons, costs me ~$260'ish @ 3.50 a gallon. Plus I need to drop nearly 3 bills for new tires, since they're rubbish from commuting. In the end. Cost me around $550 for those 3,000 miles.
Food for thought.
1. Buy synthetic oil from wally world. five quart jug + 1 additional quart. it takes 5-3/8 quarts for the change. Then have dealership change it for you using oem filter. usually around $20. Do this every 7,000 miles.
2. Keep running nitrogen in tires set at 37lbs cold, rotate when you get oil change. I average 16-18 mpg's in winter and 18-20 in the summer, mostly city driving. on trips I have found 70 mph to be the sweet spot anything above 70 mpg starts to drop.
3. When you get ready to replace your tires you can usually get a lifetime alignment and rotate and balance deal that will make doing this very cost affective.
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2009 Black Pro 4 X Crew Cab, Gentex mirror with homelink, temp.,compass and auto dim, Rockford T400-4 amp and 3sixty.2 processor, 765t garmin gps in oem housing, P265/75r/16 Bridgestone Revo 2's, TonnoPro Tri-Fold Tonneau Cover
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