Topic: Any suggestions? Our 2009 Nissan Versa SL fuel consumption is too high

[Honda Owner]

How much ethanol does BC put into regular gas?

In most fuels, none, but if you buy at Husky, it is 10%.

The kind of driving I do is a worst case scenario. I rarely do any highway driving, many short trips and I am not easy in the throttle. There are rather a lot of hills, too. I doubt anybody would do worse in fuel economy than I do.

[Rupert]

Hills don't count. Presumably you go down as much as you go up. Now if you make a point of filling up at the top...if you know that your destination is lower elevation than the start you might be able to play the situation to your advantage. It's tedious to manage though.

[Honda Owner]

Hills don't count.

They do. It takes more energy to go up than you recover going down, especially when there is braking going down said hill.

[Rupert]

Maybe it's a wash...less up + more down = same flat...in the braking department.

In the energy department...Potential energy gained going up is less than Potential energy lost going down by the difference of weight of extra gas times height difference.

[Honda Owner]

Maybe it's a wash

It is not. Drive from Vancouver to Hope. Measure fuel consumption. Drive from Hope to Kamloops and back again. Measure your fuel consumption both ways. Average them. Then drive from Hope to Vancouver. Compare consumption. You will find the average of the Hope to Vancouver trips will be less than the average of the Hope to Kamloops trips every time.

We have rather a lot of hills here and I have had rather a lot of irate Grand Cherokee customers who complained about heavy fuel use.

[Rupert]

Maybe the analysis is too simple.

[Switz]

I too have noticed that newer cars tend to get worse fuel economy than older ones.  I know a friend who had an old Cavalier (92-93) and she got 40mpg most of the time.  Her new Cobalt is bearly breaking 30mpg.

I purchased a '08 Mazda 5 last spring and have also been discouraged at the fuel economy I have been getting from it's 2.3L 5-spd manual powertrain.  I usually got 32-34mpg durning the summer and I cannot seem to get above 27-28mpg now in the winter.  It is rated at 40mpg on the highway!  I've talked to other Mazda5 owners who have agreed that their economy is lower than they expected.

I know why the economy drops during the winter... fuel, cold, idling etc.  I think that the overall economy of todays vehicles is droping because the computer is trying to have the cleanest emmisions out the tailpipe, which may not necessarily mean optimum fuel economy.  If you are getting poor economy in a small 4 cylinder vehicle, immagine how those with larger vehicles are doing.  From what I have read and experienced, Toyota seems to be able to achieve superior fuel economy compared to other brands.  What do they know that the other auto manufacturers don't?

Good thread.  Nice to know I'm not the only one noticing the increaced fuel consumption of todays vehicles.

[Honda Owner]

I too have noticed that newer cars tend to get worse fuel economy than older ones.

That is a correct observation. The cars are heavier and have more accessories. The the physics game, nothing is free.

I know a friend who had an old Cavalier (92-93) and she got 40mpg most of the time.  Her new Cobalt is bearly breaking 30mpg.

Compare the weight, horsepower and accessories of both vehicles and you will see why one uses less fuel than the other. A major factor is using the a/c to clear windows. When the car is on defrost, the a/c compressor runs.

I purchased a '08 Mazda 5 last spring and have also been discouraged at the fuel economy I have been getting from it's 2.3L 5-spd manual powertrain.  I usually got 32-34mpg durning the summer and I cannot seem to get above 27-28mpg now in the winter

For a vehicle of this size, your fuel consumption seems correct. I would suggest you look at the EPA ratings, they are reflect the real world more than ours do.

I think that the overall economy of todays vehicles is droping because the computer is trying to have the cleanest emmisions out the tailpipe

Emission control ironically makes the engine run more efficiently, keeping the mixture at exactly optimum. Engines are in fact much more efficient than they were even ten years ago. However, the average weight of a car has increased at least 250kg in the same time. For example, my beloved 1980 Rabbit Diesel weighed about 800kg. My 2008 Fit weighs 1140kg. That is a big difference.

[Rupert]

Toyota has CVVTwith i. It's the i that does it

The air conditioner does not run continuously using defrost...it only cycles part time.