Got a new car today...A Nissan Versa...

Our old car only got 15 mpg highway...but this new one got between 39-44 all the way home tonight! Oh the places I'll go. So much less stress when you can't visually see the gas gauge getting lower while you drive...Hooray!

Here is what I don't get...our old car gets the same gas mileage as a hummer, and less than a good many other v8 engines, but ours is only a 6 cylinder..I don't see how that works. I mean my first car was a '92 Cadillac with a 4.9L V8 and it got 23 mpg highway...so how does a 2002 model 6 cylinder SUV use more gas than that? Why do I get worse gas mileage than a V8 Ford Explorer...I never really noticed our gas mileage because when I was working I was working literally 4 minutes from my house...but I am not even working now, but one of my friends lost their car, so I drive her back and forth to work, which her work is only 13 miles from my house, but it takes like $12 a day to make the trip 4 times...Gas guzzler...Now I am supposed to get 400 miles to a tank. I can't wait to just drive and drive...before it was like well we have to go here this day and here this day, so we won't have enough gas to get to the store til payday rolls around again...But not anymore! Woo Hoo! Just want to share my tiny excitement with somebody.

niiiiice

I know the story, drive a Jeep and its a 6 cyl... 15-18 mpg tops. Looking for something that gets those mpgs, the versa pretty roomy?

WaxxyNuggets said:

I know the story, drive a Jeep and its a 6 cyl... 15-18 mpg tops. Looking for something that gets those mpgs, the versa pretty roomy?

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Actually it is very spacious...our back seat is farther away from the front seat in the versa then they were in the Mitsubishi Montero. It is really large inside..surprisingly so...We looked at the Chevy Sonic because we were car shopping based on gas mileage, so every car we looked at was small, but the versa is by far and wide the largest compact car I have every been in. It is easily as large as any small to midsized sedan. and the trunk has the same sq. ft. as our refrigerator. 15 Cu. Ft. So that is awesome too...and the gas mileage is just so good. I have never owned less than a 6 cylinder personally, and most of my cars have been 8 cylinders. But none of them for worse gas mileage than the 3.5 we were driving...And I have had cadillacs and Land rovers...A freaking Land Rover can tow 2 tons, and gets the same gas mileage as my midsized 6 cylinder. Which sux. I love big cars, but when I see a hummer, I am always like damn I want one, but I know we can't afford the gas, but then I found out that this whole time I could have been driving a Hummer, and not spent any extra money, except the initial cost of the vehicle, of course. It just makes me so mad I want to set the old car on fire just to watch it burned like it has been burning our gas money for the last few years! I mean it is crazy! I just don't get it...I don't have the power of a V8, but I use more gas than one...I don't know what Mitsu was thinking when they made the Montero, but they certainly weren't trying to save people any fuel.

Oh, anyway about the sonic...My husband is 6'5" so he has to have the front seat all the way back when he drives, and in the Chevy Sonic that only left 3 inches between the back of the driver's seat to the edge of the back seat...We have 3 kids, that aren't going to want to be squished in that manner...lol. And when you drive your freaking elbows hit the door panels...no room at all...None...
And the nissan versa doesn't shift in a normal manner. That will take some getting used to but it seems alright...It just sort of adjusts, but it doesn't shift like a normal car shifts, and it is one of the few cars that the automatic gets better gas mileage than the manual tranny. Anyway I am super happy with it.

missnu, i know a lot of newer cars that have say 8 cylinders have an electronic gizmo that will cut off power to a few of those cylinders while they are not needed, ie, under full throttle, going up hills, etc..
this is how a lot of newer big v8s are managing better mpg than smaller engined cars..

cannabineer said:

I thought you said you got a car ... cn

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What do you mean? I got a car...that is what I am saying. I am just then complaining about our old car...because while searching for new cars based on gas mileage I got curious about our gas mileage, and like I said I noticed from driving my friend 50 miles everyday, that our gas mileage was definitely less than what I needed it to be..when you can go all week to work with the gas light on you don't really appreciate the cost of gas, and your MPGs...I am not a go getter, or jet setter, so I rarely leave the house, so it wasn't a big deal, but now that I am taxi to the broke I have to have something that won't put me in the poorhouse trying to help a friend that already lives there.

Sorry for that last post (deleted); I'd misread something. It sounds like you got the CVT (continuously variable transmission ... essentially size-changing pulleys in the tranny) model.
What was your old vehicle that got such awful mileage? cn

racerboy71 said:

missnu, i know a lot of newer cars that have say 8 cylinders have an electronic gizmo that will cut off power to a few of those cylinders while they are not needed, ie, under full throttle, going up hills, etc..
this is how a lot of newer big v8s are managing better mpg than smaller engined cars..

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My hubby said the same thing...but the Land Rover I owned was a 1996 8 cylinder with a 2 ton towing capacity, and it got 17 MPG hwy...and the Ford explorer I compared is the same year as our car...the Caddy I mentioned, was a 92...so all these cars are the same year or older than my present car...and yet my 2002 3.5L V6 gets worse gas mileage then my 1992 4.9L V8...and it gets the same gas mileage as a Ford 5.0 of the same year. I mean that is crazy.

cannabineer said:

Sorry for that last post (deleted); I'd misread something. It sounds like you got the CVT (continuously variable transmission ... essentially size-changing pulleys in the tranny) model.
What was your old vehicle that got such awful mileage? cn

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A 3.5L V6 2002 Mitsubishi Montero. It isn't big or hulking. And it has power, but not the any amount that would even come close to some of the larger V8s I've owned...that got better mileage...

I can't get over it. I mean we get Hummer MPGs in a smaller SUV...WHAT?!

I know that newer cars get much better Gas mileage than their earlier counterparts, but what happened to Mitsubishi? I mean what the Hell man?

But the Montero has been good to me...I have accidentally driven it into swamps and all manner of places, and it never minds at all...It will go anywhere on anything...and it does have a lot of get up for the size it is..but it just isn't worth it to me to use 4 gallons of gas to go 50 miles....when now I can go 50 miles on 1.5 gallons. Woo Hoo! I am going to be making bullshit trips everywhere!

I knew what our car looked like and the size it was and what gas mileage we got, and just assumed that Hummers might get 4 miles to the gallon of gas...but nope it turns out that even though they are 3x the size of my car we have to spend the same amount in gas. It just isn't fair. We should have checked into this long ago, but I didn't really see a problem til I started driving around more...I knew on long trips we had to stop alot, but I have gotten used to that...I tend to just run over things as opposed to going around them, so big cars are more comforting to me. Hopefully I won't end up totaled by a raccoon, but if I do then we will know some people are just not meant to have small vehicles.

missnu said:

I know that newer cars get much better Gas mileage than their earlier counterparts, but what happened to Mitsubishi? I mean what the Hell man?

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I don't think Mits was unique in that regard. Mid-sized sport-utes and pickups with V6es are typically geared "short", to maximize acceleration and power at the expense of fuel economy. Interestingly, the swept volume per mile between the big V6es and the smallish (4-to-5-liter ) V8s is very similar. The V8s do it by turning more slowly.

My last really nice car was a six-cylinder Bim with a 3.2-liter engine and a 5-speed manual. I read a review of that car vs. a 5.7-liter Corvette. (The Vette was faster in the classical contests. The Bim turned a quicker lap however!) In top gear at 60mph, the cars turned 2800 and 13x0 rpm respectively ... the 'Vette despite the huge 8 swept less engine volume per mile in top gear! That's why 'Vettes got high twenties on the highway while my little German bullet got 22, 23 max with me being very very gentle with the Loud pedal.

Now I have a Mazda pickup, 5-speed manual, four cylinders. I routinely get 28 to 31 mpg in "country" driving) not much city, but no open expressway travel either) and actually got 34 mpg out of a tank recently. that was with me going 55 to 60 on an expressway, drafting the big trucks. (Not stupid close ... 50 to 100 feet)
cn

missnu said:

I knew what our car looked like and the size it was and what gas mileage we got, and just assumed that Hummers might get 4 miles to the gallon of gas...but nope it turns out that even though they are 3x the size of my car we have to spend the same amount in gas. It just isn't fair. We should have checked into this long ago, but I didn't really see a problem til I started driving around more...I knew on long trips we had to stop alot, but I have gotten used to that...I tend to just run over things as opposed to going around them, so big cars are more comforting to me. Hopefully I won't end up totaled by a raccoon, but if I do then we will know some people are just not meant to have small vehicles.

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The difference is threefold, should you encounter a raccoon:

Being closer to the road, you'll see it sooner.
You have good brakes, compared to the former wheeled brick.
You have the option of evasive turns which end with you still shiny side up.
cn

cannabineer said:

The difference is threefold, should you encounter a raccoon:

Being closer to the road, you'll see it sooner.
You have good brakes, compared to the former wheeled brick.
You have the option of evasive turns which end with you still shiny side up.
cn

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Perfectly wooded to make me feel better...I want to always land shiny side up...
So I will be able to dodge cats and dogs that run in the road now...Hmmm..before I just braced for impact and then kept on going...ya know..because trying to veer and what not just ends you upside down, I mean you saved the rabbit, but totaled your car...
Very interesting. it is true that I probably will see it sooner and be able to stop faster, and perhaps even just swerve without tipping over now...Hooray!

And if it's white and not one of those godawful silvery Asphalt Camo colors ... it can see you, too! cn

Anyway congratulations on your new car. I'm happy for you.

pics or it didnt happpen