Success or not? Only time will tell... (got a Versa Note 5spd to replace Ford F250)

[Daox]

Looks like you're doing pretty well with the Note bentring. Any mods planned for it?

Got your tires pumped up yet?

[bentring]

I'm quite enjoying the car because driving it doesn't feel like I'm in an underpowered gas saver, even if I am. I'm not really trying for high MPG numbers with the car yet. I've obviously been driving decently during the engine break in which I figured would get a MPG baseline set.

As for hypermiling, I've only been practicing driving without brakes and coupled with the habits from a decade of driving the slow diesel it replaced is giving me naturally good MPG numbers.

The tires are at max PSI, and I'll be leaving the car stock through the warranty then I might play with... err test some stuff. The only mods I've done yet was to remove the front license plate holder from the front bumper (damn the dealership for holes in the bumper) as well as all the rear badges, but those were for aesthetics rather than aerodynamics. The front plate did protrude about 3 inches so the removal might have given a (partial?) percent increase but I wouldn't expect it to be much.


I do plan on building a lightweight aerodynamic trailer to haul my scaffold & some tools for work in the future, which I hope will be similar to what BamZipPow has with a swivel wheel setup. I haven't done a ton of studying, planning, and figuring, but from what I have done, I feel confident that I will be able to follow the streamline template really closely, and the car+trailer combo will be no longer than the (extended cab longwheelbase) F250 was, with a much tighter turn radius.

[Miller88]

I like the Notes. I would buy one of the base models in an instant if they were decently reliable.

Seems like Nissan is having a lot of problems with the engines just going 'boom' on them.

Sucks, because it's the perfect car. Gets good gas mileage, is cheap, no power junk and manual transmission.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Miller88

Seems like Nissan is having a lot of problems with the engines just going 'boom' on them.

I'm kinda unaware of that. At least in my country, Nissan is not blamed for reliability issues so often.

[Miller88]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

I'm kinda unaware of that. At least in my country, Nissan is not blamed for reliability issues so often.

Really? In the US they have pretty bad quality. Though, most of that is their CVTs that can't reach 50,000 miles without blowing up and having to be replaced.

I think the only real issues with the Versa/Note is the CVT failing (not going to be an issue here) and the HR16DE engine occasionally blowing up.

I was reading up on these. Seems like adding power locks to the base model isn't that hard. Interesting!

I am kind of shopping for a different vehicle. One for which I can pay cash. Note/Mirage/Spark are top contenders right now ... Fiesta 1.0L is a 4th place - only because I don't trust timing belts / oil pump belts and I can't fit in one haha.

[MetroMPG]

2 or 3 members on our Nissan Micra forum have had engines replaced under warranty -- 2014 & 2015 model year.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by Miller88

In the US they have pretty bad quality. Though, most of that is their CVTs that can't reach 50,000 miles without blowing up and having to be replaced.

I think the only real issues with the Versa/Note is the CVT failing (not going to be an issue here) and the HR16DE engine occasionally blowing up.

I'm not aware of the failure rate of the CVT here in Brazil, but I don't see it getting blamed so often.

[MetroMPG]

Hey bentring: I'm driving the same car as you for the next 2 weeks:

Well, sort of.

Same drivetrain as yours anyway...

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ost-32097.html

[akeith8607]

I bought a 2014 model recently and I absolutely love it. I'm 6'2" and like you I can go from driver's seat to rear passenger without adjustment. Averaging mid to high 30s with the cvt trans and considering what I do I can't imagine that it wouldn't get even better daily driving. I'm going to be doing a couple of small aero mods soon so we will see how that goes. I look forward to hearing more about yours and any other notes that are on this site.

[bentring]

Cool, good to see another one on the site. Mainly using my phone for internet lately so I rarely log in anymore when I check here. Still getting around 40mpg and looking forward to seeing some areomods. I'm planning to leave mine stock until warranty ends Will do updates sometime in the future...