Anyone with a 2007-2012 Nissan Sentra?

[EricF]

Does anyone here have a 2007-2012 (B16) Nissan Sentra? I don't see any listed in the garage area. I've got a 2008 Base 2.0 with CVT that I picked up about a month ago. I don't seem to be getting as good of gas mileage as I'd hoped for. The EPA has it rated at 25/33. I've put in 2 tanks of gas so far and I've got 24.4 mpg and 26.7 mpg, calculated manually. I'm wondering if there is something wrong with my car (or it's driver), or if the EPA numbers are overly optimistic to begin with.

[niky]

What driving environment do you frequent? The MR20 is a reasonably efficient engine in traffic.

[user removed]

Miles on your car?
Your commute?
Any CEL?

I managed 33 average in my 2008 Altima with the CVT and 2.4 4 cyl engine. I would think that in a Sentra under the same driving conditions I could average something like 36-38 MPG.

regards
Mech

[EricF]

My car as 70,000 miles on it. It does not have the CEL illuminated, nor any pre-codes. I guess the ultra-gauge can show codes before they turn on the CEL.

My commute is 14.8 miles each way. It consists of 1.7 miles on residential streets (30 mph), 5 miles of highway (60 mph), and 8.1 miles of arterial roads (40 and 45 mph).

The 5 mile stretch of highway is a big hill, all downhill going to work and uphill coming home. Elevation is sea level at the bottom and 494 feet at the top.

I commute to work at 4:30 am so there is no traffic to speak of. I usually get stopped at 1 traffic light for about 1 minute.

The commute home can be congested. The highway portion moves at the speed limit. The arterial segment is usually stop-and-go for 2.5 miles of the distance, and at or slightly below (5 mph or so) the speed limit for the remaining distance. I usually get stopped at 3 to 5 lights on the way home, each for about 1 minute.

I let my car warm up for about 2 minutes before leaving home and again when leaving work.

One thing that sucks about the Seattle area is that everything is hills. Aside from the big hill I take on the freeway, about 1/2 of the rest of the route is on some sort of gradual incline. None of them steep enough to coast down without loosing speed, though I don't put it in neutral.

I haven't yet had a chance to go on a long freeway drive to see what the numbers are in a steady state environment.

I also haven't yet figured out what the best amount of time to warm up the engine is. With other cars I've had in the past, I usually leave within 30 seconds of starting the engine. But with the CVT in this Nissan it runs at a higher RPM until the engine is warmed up.

[niky]

You don't have to idle that long. As long as you're using gas, you might as well be using it to do something more than just warming the engine.

Given you have that big a climb on your going-home commute, combined with traffic, I think you're actually getting decent mileage.