Had my '06 4X4 XTerra for 33 days now and to say the least I am very pleased with it.

I was somewhat curious initially with reports regarding the poor MPG others have experienced( 13, 14, 15 MPG).

That said, the last tankful I ran through was done with the intention of squeezing every MPG I could (aside from coasting down hills and placing the automatic transmission in neutral/coasting up to stop lights etc- these are things I'm simply never going to do in my own real world usage).

Bottom Line: 21.206 MPG ... and that's COMBINED city and freeway over 334 miles at aprroximately a 50/50 percentage.

Now, was it fun to perform this little test?

Well... yes and no.

No, because I LOVE this 4.0 liter engine. 0-60 MPH in 7.7 secs for a 6 cylinder SUV is a very respectable claim. Yes, because I had a feeling that the NewGen XTerra COULD attain at least REASONABLE mileage per gallon. And I consider 21.206 miles/gallon "reasonable".

Sure was a test of self-discipline keeping the tachometer under 2000 rpm though. Bumping tire inflation to 38 p.s.i. surely helped as well. Being located in Phoenix at an elevation of 1,284 ASL (above sea level) was a help as well.

I'm sure that switching to synthetic oil and and a somewhat more "free-breathing" exhaust will only continue to improve mileage.

Now that the "test" is over, I'll be more liberal with accelerator pedal push... but cheap bastard that I am, I'll still consult www.gasbuddy.com to locate less expensive 87 octane gasoline.

Remove any extra items from the vehicle. I am the only one in the truck so I took out the rear seat cushions, roadside emergency kit, cargo organizer and anything not necessary.

Then I removed the roof cargo box and the air dam. The air dam causes a vacuum and sucks dirt and crap under it.

All the above removed about 100 lbs of weight.

In addition to keeping the tire pressure at 35 PSI cold I routinely average 19.5

OK, are these guesstimates or actual figures calculated by dividing actual fuel used by miles traveled? Those "averages" sound pretty high for an Xterra, "classic" or next-gen, at least based on most mileage posts on XOC.

Xterra4me is serious about weight reduction. Found this pic of his truck...

Also, alot of people who were complaining about bad milage have been complaining during the winter and have lived in colder regions which probably has a winter blend gas.

A lot of people like to floor it, go 70-80 mph, etc...it brings the averages down.

If I drive stupid, I can get mid teen mpg #'s...if I drive smart, I get more like 20 mpg...and that's fully armored on 33's, etc.

lol BlueSky...haha

I'm also getting around 21 mpg. Luckily my drive to work is pretty much highway the entire time going between 50-60 mph with very few stoplights. I filled up yesterday and had 380 miles and the tank took 18 gallons to get filled up.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by TJ:
[QB]A lot of people like to floor it, go 70-80 mph, etc...it brings the averages down.

If I drive stupid, I can get mid teen mpg #'s...if I drive smart, I get more like 20 mpg...and that's fully armored on 33's, etc.[QUOTE]

My point exactly... and actually the point of my little "test".

Leadfoot driving = mid-teen mileage, or lower.

Conservative driving = 20 +/- MPG

The "test' is over now, so my mileage will be dropping.

If you are driving a $20K+ SUV you shouldnt be worried about gas mileage......

im getting 12.5 city to 13 highway and i have no complaints. the only thing that amazes me is that you can find a new thread about gas mileage on here about once a week, and there must be already like 20 threads on this. if people wanted a fuel efficient car, why not get a civic hybrid or similar?

How did you get in my garage??

I pay attention to the performance of any mechanical item. Why should I not make myself aware of both the upper and lower levels of performance as applied to my truck?

I find it interesting we all have the same engine -1 of 2 trans(AT or Mt) and still get a range of 12mpg - 23mpg. But then again, I work out my gas mileage every fillup on the above mentioned "gasbuddy" site. Your right - I didn't buy the Xterra for it's gas mileage - but I'd have to be a little dense to not care what the mileage is driving 100 miles every day.

I bought an X knowing that I wouldn't get the gas mileage of a hybrid or my wife's accord. I bought it because I wanted to pull my boat and I get off-road once in a while.

All the above being met, why shouldn't I drive and strive for the best mileage I can? Mileage is also a good sign of engine health. It is good to keep track of mileage.

I was very diappointed this weekend with the milage our 05 X returned on our road trip.

My wife and I went to visit my parents and it is interstate the entire way. We averaged around 75mph with cruise 95% of the time and the X only gave us 16.5 mpg...

The reason I care about my mileage is because I can only afford to own one vehicle, and for me that one vehicle needs to have the best combination of everything any vehicle can do, and I beleive the Xterra is the one for the job.

I'm sure many people here on this forum are like me in that their Xterra has to be an ALL purpose vehicle, and considering that requirement one cannot negate fuel mileage.

Regardless, mileage is a good idicator that something may be wrong with your vehicle, so it's importanat to check it regularly...

I think we can all agree (well, most of us, anyway) that we didn't buy an SUV for great mileage... but your post illustrates why it makes good sense to check MPG.

I'd try another interstate road trip but with the speed held to 60 mpg or so. If your mileage doesn't increase (and not insignificantly), I'd take your X in for a checkup. As mentioned in this thread, I was driving 50-50 freeway/surface streets, keeping engine speed low in an attempt to wring out every mile per gallon and I got the 21.2 mpg mentioned above.

16.5 MPG seems unusually low (unless you were packing a lot of weight)and might point to one (or more) of many possible problems.

A diagnostic sure wouldn't hurt. What kind of mileage/gallon are you getting in and around town?

Now you have me curious.

I normally get 18 or so with a 50/50 mix. I also always have a head wind on my way home from work, which probably doesn't cancel the tailwind on the way to work. I am light on the throttle and the best I have ever got was 19.8mpg mostly highway at 70.

quote:
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Originally posted by JBC:
I was very diappointed this weekend with the milage our 05 X returned on our road trip.

My wife and I went to visit my parents and it is interstate the entire way. We averaged around 75mph with cruise 95% of the time and the X only gave us 16.5 mpg...
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Averaging 75? That means you were doing more than 75. Also you said the "wife" word. No such thing as packing lightly.

From 60 to 70 your fuel economy will go down 25% and between 70 and 80 will go down 35%. Speed costs money. Again the aerodynamics of these X's are not condusive to high speed. It was designed as an all terrain vehicle. I hope you didn't buy it with fuel economy as your top priority.

im getting 12 mpg and i have no complaints. adding shrock sliders and 33s dropped my in town mileage from 15 to 12. when i warm up my car for 5-10 minutes before my 2 mile ride to work, it really drops down the old mpg on the trip computer. but it comes back up with some in town driving. i get about 15-16mpg on the interstate running 33s

awesome pic.. hahah

imagine that as your art piece in your living room.

or garage..

The Xterra is not exactly an "aerodynamic vehicle".

If you want/need to save money - cruise control it at 60 mph, slightly overinfate yer tires and switch to synthetic oil...and understand that going 80 mph is gonna shitcan your mileage... as will running about town above the 1900-2000 engine rpm range.

16.5 mpg in an empty X over 95% highway seeems to point to... at least... a potential problem somewhere.

The X was loaded down with baby and wife luggage. (Imagine that) I have never gotten over 16.5 miles per gallon ever. When I said average 75 I guess that I meant to say that the cruise was set on 75 and it was used the entire trip unless I needed to slow down for another driver. Then I would hit the resume button and return to my original speed.

It will be in for service next week and I will have the dealer look it over. What speed are the MPG numbers measured at from the factory?

I did not buy my X for gas mileage, but I do expect it to get what the window sticker says or close to it under normal driving conditions.

16.5 mpg at 75 mph isn't bad.

If you went 65, you'd jump that to about 19.8 mpg.

I will try that next trip.