Hello from England (thats England, UK!)

[apple]

Hi all!

Stumbled across this forum whilst trying to find tips to get better mileage out of my 'little' car, i tend to do an awful lot of mileage so any saving is appreciated really!

currently, i think the most i've ever gotten out of a full tank which is 10 gallons is 360ish miles, so thats 36mpg, way off the quoted figures for my car.....and speaking about car:


2006 Nissan Note SVE
1.6L Petrol engine

quoted MPG's are:
Fuel consumption (urban) 33.2 mpg
Fuel consumption (extra urban) 50.4 mpg
Fuel consumption (combined) 42.2 mpg
0 - 62 mph 10.7 seconds
Top speed 114 mph

a nice little car, however, as you can tell, i'm not getting anywhere near the quoted MPG's let alone anything better!

my mileage per day consists of the following:
3miles of local inner city roads, 18 miles of motorway at 70mph, 3 miles of dual carriageway at 50mph, 2 miles of dual carriageway at 30mph

that is just for me to GET to university, double that for me to get back and the mileage racks up!

my understanding is that i should at least get close to the combined cycle if not extra urban, but i'd like some tips to get better mileage from the people who know whats going on!

I used to shift straight up to 5th gear as soon as i could, this i realised was not very good for mpg's until i started to shift slightly higher in the rev range between 1800-2500rpm's

can anyone suggest any further tips?

many thanks

[Angmaar]

Doing some vehicle mods and hypermiling will help increase your milage.
Welcome to ecomodder!

[Daox]

Welcome to the site apple.

The best advise you can probably get is to stay off the brakes as much as possible. At higher speed driving this means increasing the distance between you and the car ahead of you if you find yourself using the brakes much. Same with city driving, but with the added fun of trying to time lights so you're not just sitting there idling. If you see a red light ahead, pop it in neutral and coast up to it. Also, slowing down ahead of time to avoid having to stop is a good technique. Again, at higher speeds, if you can slow down a bit it will help.

I assume you have a manual transmission. My normal acceleration practice is to give it a good amount of throttle (about half, a scangauge helps here a lot though), and I shift when I get to 2000 rpm. When cruising at a steady speed you want to be in the highest gear possible. So, you don't sound too far off there.

I'd also recommend pumping your tires up a bit higher than stock pressures. Max sidewall listed on the tire is a good pressure normally.

[apple]

Many thanks for the insightful replies people

Well, I've decided on the following:

1) Fit a vacuum gauge and see what difference that makes to my MPG's

Daox, yup, it is 5 speeds of manual goodness!

i've been consciously applying less pressure to the throttle and it seems to get me to the same place with less throttle pressure!

the car's going in for a full service tomorrow, so some new spark plugs/oil/filters ought to help something i'm assuming

going to see how i go with a vacuum gauge and take it from there

many thanks

[Piwoslaw]

Welcome apple

My Dad-in-law has a Note, with the 1.5 DCi turbodiesel. My opinion is that its shape poses a problem for Kammbacking, but grille blocks, flat hubcaps, rear wheelskirts and a bellypan should be easy. And an engine kill switch when you are ready.

As Daox mentioned, lay off the brakes, use coasting and engine braking instead. My best is 8km of city driving without using my brakes.

Originally Posted by apple

the car's going in for a full service tomorrow, so some new spark plugs/oil/filters ought to help something i'm assuming

Great chance to switch to a thinner oil (5W30 instead of 10W40, for example). This will slightly reduce engine friction, and shouldn't be a problem since your engine temps won't be as high when you start hypermiling.

[apple]

hi

well, car was serviced by nissan so i haven't a clue what oil they used, assuming the recommended 10w40

when i do my own service in 6 months time I will use a thinner oil and see what difference it makes

i've managed to get my average MPG up to 47.2 according to the onboard computer, but the only problem is i'm a pretty aggressive driver and suffer from road rage, so a lot of it has been 'behaviour modification' in terms of learning to just relax a little! has made a huge difference to my fuel economy though!

also, do 'injector cleaners' or fuel additives actually work?

many thanks

[Daox]

From my experience, yes, but usually not noticeably. I think I threw some in my car with 135,000 miles on it and it made a noticeable difference at idle. The effect on fuel economy is anyone's guess.

[bgd73]

Originally Posted by apple

hi

well, car was serviced by nissan so i haven't a clue what oil they used, assuming the recommended 10w40

when i do my own service in 6 months time I will use a thinner oil and see what difference it makes

i've managed to get my average MPG up to 47.2 according to the onboard computer, but the only problem is i'm a pretty aggressive driver and suffer from road rage, so a lot of it has been 'behaviour modification' in terms of learning to just relax a little! has made a huge difference to my fuel economy though!

also, do 'injector cleaners' or fuel additives actually work?

many thanks

road raging ecomodder.
like a heavy metal band.

I visited england in the 90s, I see birmingham as the town... given it is a tiny place, I am sure i passed through..
I won't mention high rated tires or oversized wheels for your pursuit. the brake advice is really good.
does engine temps climb fast? there is also tips for heat rising faster than oem..

[Piwoslaw]

Road rage is bad not only for your fuel economy, but also for your health. And I don't mean that it increases your chances of getting into an accident (which it does), but it increases your blood pressure and causes stress. That 's bad in the mid-to-long term.

You're not going to make the world a better place by fighting fire with fire. Other drivers will not stop being aggresive if you are, it just a waste of gas and nerves.

If you chill out, take it slow and easy, put your aggression on hold, then suddenly you stop caring. Life just seems so much less complicated. It's really worth it