I only have 1,500 miles and drive 70 miles on the highway each day, with about 30% bumper-bumper traffic. I have averaged 23.5 so far. Never below 20. My average cruising at 80 MPH has been 30 MPG!!

When do you shift? I noticed that I was shifting at higher revs when I first got the car. I came from a S2000 though. Once I saw the optimal shifting points for maximum gas mileage, I changed my shifting points. I think they are 8-16-24-28-34 or something like that... Felt wierd at first, but I am used to it now and get great mileage. Can you imagine, 6th gear and 34 MPH?? BTW, I think those numbers are a little to low, but it is what Nissan recommends.

 

with the new intake and exhaust from Baltimore to Pittsburgh I got 29.2 mpg (I was crusing at a steady 75 mph)

 

You guys definitely should not complain. I average 12 mpg on my 04Z doing 80% NYC driving and I do have a notoriously heavy foot.. But for a sportscar the Z is pretty good on mileage. In my previous cars I averaged 14mpg in my 2000 TRD Solara, 13mpg in my 03Z, and <12mpg in my 04AcuraTL. That being said, I do averaged about 26mpg on the highway in my current Z.

Sometimes just for kicks I reset the mpg gauge everytime I drive in Manhattan in rush hour traffic and get numbers as low as 7mpg. I guess that's the price you pay for driving a Z in NYC.

Anyone else in NYC this bad?

 

I drove 600m mile total round trip to Vegas a week ago - averaged 25+ for the trip - and I had fun! Drove 80 lots of the trip and up to 90 or 100 on vrey brief spurts. This was a 2 lane highway the largest share of the way. Around town I get around 20 or plus all the time - . Just turned over 4000 the past week.

 

The best Ive gotten by the meter is 27.1 running about 65-70 mph and that was when I was still under 3000 total miles

 

It is impossible for laboratory tests to simulate all driving conditions and driver behavior. The tests, which are the same for all vehicles, are designed to simulate city and highway driving conditions. However, these tests cannot simulate the conditions under which each vehicle is driven or each person's driving style.

* Some drivers have a 5 mile commute each day in heavy traffic, while others commute over 50 miles each way on a mix of freeway and surface roads. No test can satisfy everyone, and by using the same test parameters for 19 years the consumer can compare the mileage of both new and used cars. Misunderstood by many less sophisticated drivers, the EPA tests are meant to be used as as guidelines, not as guarantees.

* Running electric accessories such as your air conditioner can decrease fuel economy. Tests by the EPA have shown a fuel economy reduction of roughly 5 to 25 percent for operating the air conditioner on "Max" compared to not using the air conditioner.

* Cold weather and frequent short trips can reduce fuel economy. Your engine doesn't operate efficiently until it is warmed up. In colder weather, it takes longer for your engine to warm, and on short trips, your vehicle operates a smaller percentage of time at the desired temperature.

* Small variations in the way vehicles are manufactured and assembled can cause MPG variations among vehicles of the same make and model. Usually, differences are small, but a few drivers will see a marked deviation from the EPA estimates.

 

The highway MPG comes from the EPA testing the car at 55MPH which if you remeber back in the 70's they decided to be the most gas efficent speed.

 

Still better than a monster SUV...