Here's something to think about . . . I love my new X and I didn't buy it for mileage, however, my 94 F350 powerstroke crew cab 4x4 gets 20.5 mpg on trips and if you want to talk about a heavy brick that thing is it. Probably almost a ton heavier than my X, performance mods, big tires, more power, faster, etc. but gets equivalent or better mileage. There must be a way to get there with gas . . . is it emissions?

I'm not sure what I'm getting, but I can compare it to the Volvo XC70 I used to drive. The Volvo, which has an 18g tank, would go for about two weeks before having to fill up again (with standard work driving). In comparison I have to fill up this X about every week on the dot with the same driving schedule. The Volvo got about 18mpg in city driving....so I'm not impressed so far with the X's mpg.

4x4 S Auto: 17 MPG in mixed/suburban driving. Staying off the skinny pedal.

Hey guys, first message ever!

Just bought 2005 Off-Road 4x4 6-Speed Manual with Rockford Fosgate 6CD MP3 Changer. I have 1150 miles on it now after a trip to St. Louis and back and a couple weeks of driving. I am averaging abotu 17-18 MPG with a lot of both city and highway use.

I work at a Nissan dealership in Bloomington, IL (EXTREME NISSAN) and if anyone in the area needs a new 05, drop me an email at jameslkerr2@gmail.com and I will help ya out.

Enjoy!

You're comparing mileage on a PowerStroke to an Xterra? Talk about apples and oranges. I used to have a 2000 Dodge w/Cummins engine, and was getting 21 mpg on average. Your efficiency with a diesel (and especially with modifications) is going to be a far cry from a V6 X. My sister has a 2004 VW with a diesel engine, and she gets almost 40mpg on average!! Again, my vote for a Diesel Patrol to be sold in the US. Hell...maybe I'll have to go down under and get one myself

What are Drivers of the 4x4 S model getting on the highway? They should be getting better, because of the higher axle ratio(lower #) then the SE or Offroad.

Also, gas mileage typically is worse for the first 20000 kms, or 12000 miles on any new motor, the factory tunes them for this for break in. At least on other make trucks, Ford, etc.

Exactly! That's what I've been trying to say on this thread as well. It's pretty silly to make snap judgements on gas mileage until you've put 5000+ miles on your X. Every new vehicle I've had has always improved fairly dramateically after putting some miles on it.

Just purchased mine and I would expect an average of 17MPG mainly highway and I seem to be getting between 17 and 18 so I'm happy. Although I'll wait till I have 5,000miles or more on it before I know what it truly gets.

the OR has a numerically higher AXLE final drive ratio (different axle from the S/SE completely) but this is compensated for by lager tires which impact (lower) final drive ratio "where the rubber meets the road".. Haven't done the math to see if it is mathematically the same as the S/SE. The OR has a tiny bit more frontal area and higher rolling resistance thanks to the larger off road tires which can make a bit of a difference. The SE and OR are also heavier than the S by a little.
The S/SE use the SAME axles, I'm almost certain with the same ratios, Auto and Stick. the site people are using for the ratios has a few typos on it.

Acknowledging the need for a longer breakin period (I'm only up to 1200 miles), but my first "whole tank" mileage numbers were very encouraging-23.7 mpg mixed highway-city (OK, more highway than city). Similar driving with my '00 X would have given around 16. My question is this: how does the trip computer measure mpg? I can be on the highway showing, say 15.6 mpg, where it'll stay unless I reset the computer. Then it'll show numbers over 20 mpg for the rest of the trip. At one point over the weekend on the interstate it showed over 30 mpg! The actual mileage leads me to believe the higher computer numbers aren't wrong, but I can't figure out how the computer is averaging things. Any experts know?

I believe the way it calculates would be the distance traveled with how much gas it has used. I'm going to test with this first tank of gas and see how accurate it is. Right now it says I'm getting about 19MPG mainly highway.

Oh and this takes into account when you stop as 0MPG but if it calculates like my Jeep did when you are coasting down hill the max is 99MPG which usually makes the number lower.

I thought these triputers used the Mileage and the MAF sensor data to approximate MPG.

I just did 21.5 mpg today mostly at 68 mph on cruise. A 3 hour drive with about a douzane of downshift with long hills and only a few passing gave me this. No traffic around here.

if i had to give one method credibility over another, i would say the trip computer on the SE is more accurate than any other method. The variables related to calculating based on how many miles you traveled/the gal of gas you pump till it clicks off, is inaccurate or at best, a gernal estimate that really cant be compared to all others posted mpg ratings.

The trip computer is just like any sampling logic...the more you drive, the more data points are figured into the displayed MPG, so if you reset it on the highway, of course its going to display a higher mpg because you are on the highway. Over time, that number will stabilize to a more accurate mpg number.

Damn, I'm only getting 15.5 mpg. Will a dealer even bother looking at anything if I brought it in?

I may be misunderstanding you but if I write my gallons down every time I fill up over 3 months it's going to be pretty damned accurate.

Right, i think over 3 months period you will get a good picture of your mpg over 3 months, but each tank calculated on the miles driven/how ever much the pump clicks off at...i dont find that terribly accurate. Its probably close...i dont have hard proof of this aside from 6 years of cars that had mpg calculators that were known to be quite accurate vs. what I calculated by the "regular" method. They werent off by much, but at times it would be more than 2 mpg.

I am a new Xterra owner (two months). During the winter, I got about 15.8 MPG (per on-board trip computer).

Since we switched to summer gasoline up North here, I am now getting about 18 MPG under the same conditions (mixed highway & town driving).

Last week I did pure highway driving (empty vehicle, rolling terrain, A/C, headlights off, 70 MPH with cruise control over 300 miles) and got 22.1 MPG!

I'm sorry. I have a 2006, not a 2005.

Damn, was that roundtrip, not one way with a tailwind? I have to get out for a 300 mile trip with the cruise control set at 65 cuz I ain't getting nowhere near that.

On my last two fill ups I got 18mpg and 20mpg, respectively.

On the former fill-up, all city driving.

On the latter, a mix of city and highway, but mostly city driving. Which would explain the 2mpg improvement.

I'm driving a 2005 X with 6-speed manual. It probably helps that I don't tend to drive like I'm competing in the Daytona 500 like most of the idiots here in California.

Using synthetic oil (Mobil 1) in my engine also seems to help.

my experience is that synthetic motor oil really does help milage.......

Just noticed this in the manual.
If you leave your temp control set to defrost or defrost+leg then the A/C comes on (without the A/C button lit) and stays on even if you move it to another position later.
Is that true?

If it is true, how much would A/C being on contribute to fuel inneficiency?

Yes, it is true.

How much does it have an effect on mileage? I have no idea. I don't keep track that often.

IT does, but where it makes the most difference is in cold weather startup. Full synthetics are a godsent during below breezing morning startups.