Originally Posted by blazed54

1) always use premium

2) on a car as new as yours the only fluid/filter i would change is the engine oil/filter. anything else will be a waste of money and not improve your mpg enough, if at all, in relation to the amount you'd spend replacing those fluids.

3) keep tires at 35psi and i've never heard of using nitrogen to fill the tires with.. don't see how this will benefit the car.

4) your car is still breaking in and mileage will continually get better over the next couple thousand miles.

5) find your actual gas mileage by using the methods mentioned above. and what does the meter in your car say is the avg mph and your avg mpg?
I find that usually the higher your avg mph, the higher your avg mpg will be. for my car, even at an avg 25mph, i get 20.3 mpg. 07 Z with 10k miles.

so if you're getting an avg 16-18 mpg and your avg mph isn't less than 25, then there's still room for improvement whether in your driving or the engine breaking in. if your avg mph is actually less than 25 then your mileage is actually appropriate.

6)finally, since you have an automatic, for everyday normal driving i would shift at like 3.5k to get up to speed. once you're at speed, just keep pressing up till you're in the highest gear allowed at that speed. if you're not going fast enough the auto won't allow you upshift so you can't ever damage your transmission in this manner.

try all these things but don't worry about having fun in your car. The 350Z and HR engine LOVES to be driven hard. As long as you're not redlining at every stoplight your gas mileage should be fine even with a little spirited driving everyday . gl

Originally Posted by Rockin_the_Z

If you're keeping rpm under 3k then you might as well coast down all the hills too. Just put it in neutral. That will help a little bit also. Not sure though since it's an AT. Worth a try I suppose...

Originally Posted by Kelson

I checked both air filters and there was a snack cake wrapper trapped in one of the intakes, blocking airflow. I'm sure that was having some effect. I'm also going to switch to 93 octane or at least start using an octane booster to help as well.

Thanks!
Kelson

Originally Posted by iknowitsfast

a SNACK CAKE wrapper?!?! hahahhahaha, ive never heard of that before. Oh and although it was subtle, you said FILTERS. god Im jealous that you newer Z guys get two intakes! also just use the 93, dont sweat the octane booster.

Originally Posted by davidv

I got some gasoline pills on eBay. Two pills to a tank of water. Works great.

Originally Posted by rythex

LOL @ switching to premium. Maybe you should stick with your civics.

Originally Posted by Kelson

Heh, no I didn't buy my Z for MPG. But from what I've seen on these forums, I'm getting pretty horrid MPG for the Z. I'm not comparing my MPG to what I got on other cars. Rather, just against what others get with their Zs. I want to take care of my Z and do what I can to make sure the low MPG isn't a symptom of something else.

A 10+ MPG difference is pretty significant, IMO.

Thanks!
Kelson

Originally Posted by j.arnaldo

Hate to spoil the fun for some of you guys, but octane rating has NOTHING to
do with MPG! If in doubt, contact the SAE. CR did extensive research on that,
&, nope, no relationship between the two. Only reason to use premium is to
avoid pinging, "dieseling", etc. Here's a "blasphemy" for you Zed AND premium
gas lovers: None of my vehicles get premium ("Z", P'finder, Accord); NONE of
them ping OR diesel (just a mild loss in performance). Sorry for the disap-
pointment!--the "Z" heretic.

Originally Posted by nkohler

So if it works for you its a fact? great logic.

Your motor will retard timing from low octane way before you audibly hear any pinging, once you hear your motor pinging damage is already being done. Maybe not catastrophic damage, but certainly not good.

Some people bought the Z as a sports car, so performance is a big thing on their mind and running an octane that does not make their motor pull timing is priority.

I can understand the desire to maximize your MPG. But I refuse to save a whole $2-3 per fill up to put crap fuel in my car and causing it to NOT run properly, and under the right conditions WILL do damage to your motor.

Originally Posted by nkohler

I can understand the desire to maximize your MPG. But I refuse to save a whole $2-3 per fill up to put crap fuel in my car and causing it to NOT run properly, and under the right conditions WILL do damage to your motor.

Originally Posted by Kelson

I agree completely.

My concern, however, is that I'm wasting considerably more than just a few bucks per fillup compared to fellow Z owners because of my lower-than-normal MPG, even with 93 octane fuel.

I most certainly did not purchase my Z with the notion that it would get fantastic MPG. However, if most others can manage to pull 24-30mpg out of their Zs and I'm only eeking out 16-19 or so, then something's not right.

I'm paying close attention to my driving habits, so I'll see if I can increase the numbers any just by driving more evenly and slowing down a bit. Also, once I get my first oil and filter change, I'll see if that has an impact. Finally, since i'm at only about 2,200 miles on this vehicle, it's still breaking in, so it may improve a bit on its own in a few thousand miles.

Thanks again, folks.
Kelson