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Nissan Sentra Real World MPG

88 messages,  Last post on Apr 09, 2013 at 10:59 PM

You are in the Nissan Sentra Forum.

What is this discussion about? Nissan Sentra, Fuel Efficiency (MPG), Sedan

Messages Page 8 of 9

#70 of 88 Re: 2008 Nissan Sentra 2.0S real world MPG [leotsk] by backy

Sep 14, 2010 (5:31 pm)

Replying to: leotsk (Sep 14, 2010 11:31 am)
30 mpg with 80% highway at 65 mph seems very low for the 2.0. Do you have the CVT or stick?
 
I have found that high FE on the Sentra requires a very light foot. I notice when my wife drives our 2010 Sentra (which is not too often), FE drops greatly (she has a lead foot). For example, she'll struggle to get low 20s in town while I easily get over 30. I hate it when she takes out my car, because I'll be doing fine on a tank, between 34-35 mpg usually (it's at 36.2 on current tank), and she'll drive it a bit and it's down below 30! When I have intentionally used a heavier foot (or just feel like zipping around a bit), FE drops off. Based on my experience, I think upper 30s, even close to 40, is possible under the conditions in which you drive, if your highway miles don't involve much traffic, but you'll have to work for it and resist all temptations to unleash the 140 horses. If that is too much work... oh well, 34 mpg is the EPA highway rating for the car.

#71 of 88 2010 Sentra SR MPG Problem by callahjd

Feb 18, 2011 (7:01 pm)

#72 of 88 2010 Sentra SR MPG Problem by callahjd

Feb 18, 2011 (2:42 pm)

Hello Everyone, I'm new to the forums, but I was wondering if anyone could offer any insight to a problem I'm having. I purchased a 2010 Sentra SR a year ago and have had consistent mpg problems. From the get go, I experienced 28mpg with ~75% highway on 65 and 70 speed limit highways (i normally never go above 5 over and use cruise control as much as possible). Since the winter hit, I've seen a drop in my mpg to 25-26. However, I have a new job that requires me to travel an hour and 15 minutes one way... 98% highway... and I don't use the car for much else because the mpg has been so depressing (i also have a corolla that gets ~34mpg constantly, so I use it for errands and such, but my wife also uses it for work... she likes it better ~sigh~). The speed limit is 70 the whole way. I hit 75 and put on cruise control and hardly need to speed up. I use the same gas all the time (Shell), mostly from the same station. I finally got frustrated enough after a calculated mpg of 25.3 that I went to the dealership I made the purchase from. They ran a fuel alpha test which tests the fuel to oxygen ratio being used and said that it fell within normal parameters (....sure it did) and that there was nothing they could do. They did suggest trying a different gas, but I don't think that will offer a great difference, or maybe that's naive. Anyway, I honestly do not think this is normal and was wondering if anyone had any information I'm missing or could think of something I could do to improve the mpg. Thanks!

#73 of 88 Sentra 2010 Mileage Problem by dieskau

Feb 18, 2011 (7:01 pm)

I have the same problem. Mine is Sentra 2010 2.0S with 5400 miles.
My city MPG is 17.5 although the manual says around 32.
I went to dealership and they said I better wait until I get 9000 miles.

#74 of 88 Re: 2010 Sentra SR MPG Problem [callahjd] by backy

Feb 21, 2011 (11:55 am)

Replying to: callahjd (Feb 18, 2011 2:42 pm)
You have the 2.0L and CVT, yes? I have a 2010 2.0S, and on the highway with cruise, flat or gently rolling terrain, 70-75 mph I get in mid-30s in winter to upper 30s in ideal conditions. In the city, with some urban freeway driving, I was getting low 30s until winter hit, and it's been a bad one in Minnesota. So I do well now to get mid-to-upper 20s, depending on mix of city and urban freeway driving.
 
But if you are getting only 25 mpg at a steady 75 mph, no stops, not much headwind, properly inflated tires, that is low. Have you tried resetting the average mpg readout when you start a trip where you will maintain a steady speed and w/o much headwind? It would be interesting to see what the mpg is for such a trip. Also it would be interesting to know what your instantaneous mpg readout says when you are moving along at a steady 75 mph, with cruise on, on level ground. I'd be real surprised if it wasn't in the mid-30s mpg.

#75 of 88 Trip report by backy

Mar 08, 2011 (8:51 pm)

I just did a 550-mile roundtrip from the Twin Cities to Madison, over two days. The car was a 2011 2.0S with about 2500 miles on it--a rental. The funny thing was, it was EXACTLY like my Sentra, even the color, except mine's a 2010. Also the rental had a spoiler. To Madison I got 36.9 mpg--some snow showers, temp around 30 F, light wind. Doing in-town driving for a day brought that down to 36.2. But by the end of the trip, the average was 37.3 mpg--meaning I averaged over 38 mpg on the return. I was surprised by that because I was going into pretty strong (20-30 mph) headwinds most of the way. Temp was about 40 on the way back. Average speed for the entire trip was 60 mph, including in-town driving and a few stops. On the freeway I stayed around 68 mph (65 limit), and had the cruise on.
 
The numbers are consistent with my 2.0S under similar conditions... not surprising, as they are the same car.
 
P.S. Originally I was given a Yaris. I begged for something else (it didn't even have cruise) and got the Sentra. At least I knew what to expect with it.

#76 of 88 Poor FE on 2008 Sentra by rjmerryman

Nov 21, 2011 (7:39 am)

I bought a 2008 Sentra two years ago for my teenage son to drive. I recently drove with him from our house to State College, PA. I filled the tank before we left and had to fill up again after we had driven 250 miles. It took a little more than 10 gallons, so that means we only got about 25 MPG on the trip. We were pressed for time so I probably was going 75-80 the entire trip (99% highway), but I slowed to 70-75 on the way home and experienced roughly the same FE. Should there be that much of a decrease in FE between 65 MPH and the speed I was going? It seem like there's something else going on here, but I'm not sure what the problem could be. Any suggestions?

#77 of 88 Re: Poor FE on 2008 Sentra [rjmerryman] by backy

Nov 21, 2011 (10:32 am)

Replying to: rjmerryman (Nov 21, 2011 7:39 am)
Which engine does the car have, the 2.0 or bigger? CVT or stick? What were temperatures and wind conditions for both trips? Did you check tire pressures before leaving?
 
You'll take a big hit on mpg over 65 mph, in my experience with the 2.0. I can touch 40 mpg in mild weather if I keep it to no more than 65, but once I go over that it drops off a lot. Over 70, mid-30s is all I can do. I've never tried driving 75+ for an extended distance with the car (speed limits in my region aren't higher than 65-70) but I can imagine what that would do for FE.
 
Also are you sure you filled the tank the first time? I've seen a lot of problems on Sentras (I drive them a lot as rentals) re filling the tank. Even though I fill carefully, it's hard to completely fill the tank. In fact the folks at Hertz are aware of this problem, so when I explain that I just filled the tank and it still doesn't show Full they are sympathetic and don't charge me for a non-full tank. Thus it's possible you really didn't fill the tank the first time and didn't use 10 gallons of gas. However, you experienced the same mpg going home. That's when things like weather and winds can play a role.
 
What has been the mpg for the life of the car? Or doesn't your son track it?

#78 of 88 Re: Poor FE on 2008 Sentra [backy] by rjmerryman

Nov 23, 2011 (8:30 am)

Replying to: backy (Nov 21, 2011 10:32 am)
Car has the 2.0, standard not stick. And not CVT either. Temps for this trip were around 40 on the way there, maybe 50 on the way back. Neither direction was particularly windy. And I'm pretty certain that the tank was full each time. I think it's a 12 gallon tank, both fillups were with two bars on the display (I know that's not totally accurate) and both times it took 10 gallons to fill, so that's reasonable.
 
We got the car with about 65K miles on it and it's up to 73k now, so when I talk life of the car it's mostly it's "recent life". He hasn't been tracking until recently when he says it seems like he's always filling the tank. I told him of course that it's part of having a car and being responsible for paying for it, but it wasn't until this trip that I really saw how poor the mileage is. He does most of his driving in the city, but I expected much better than 25 mpg highway even at 75 mph. I think before I take it to the shop I'll drive it for a week (my commute is 99% highway) to see if I can milk 34+ mpg out of it driving a little more cautiously (ie - not like a teenager)

#79 of 88 Re: Poor FE on 2008 Sentra [rjmerryman] by backy

Nov 23, 2011 (9:42 am)

Replying to: rjmerryman (Nov 23, 2011 8:30 am)
This is a very odd 2008 Sentra. All 2008 Sentras had either a 6-speed stick or a CVT. So I'm not sure what your car has since you said it's not a stick and not a CVT. If it's not a stick shift, then it must be a CVT. Also the fuel capacity of the 2008 Sentra (also my 2010 Sentra) is 14.5 gallons. So when you have 2 bars left on the gas gauge, you are likely closer to having used 12 gallons than 10 gallons. At least that is true on my Sentra when there's 2 bars left.
 
Do you know what maintenance the car had before you bought it? In particular, do you know if it had the major servicing at 60k miles? If the car was not maintained well, that could drag down FE. So for example, have the plugs been replaced since the car was new? How are the filters especially the air filter? What was the tire pressure on your trip?
 
If I were you, I'd check all these things, including oil (when was the last oil change?) and then try driving it on your commute for awhile, not "driving like a teenager" as you said. The other thing to be aware of is, there's a little button on the side of the CVT shifter that turns off overdrive. Makes the engine rev a LOT higher than normal. A yellow light comes on in the instrument cluster when that happens. You might ask your son if he ever drives it with the O/D off... it would tend to improve acceleration, which a teenager would like, but would really hurt FE.

Messages Page 8 of 9

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