Gas Mileage

[starfrenzy]

I'm not happy with gas mileage so far, either.

 

Bought a 2015 3500 V8 SL in August. We are at 3500 miles and only getting around 11 MPG.

 

(Mix of city/highway driving, not aggressive on the gas & breaks, no high roof)

 

I know there's no official mpg rating for these commercial vans but before buying, everything I could find said 13-19 MPG for the NV, so 10-11 is quite disappointing.

[Gman65]

Howdy Fellow NV drivers,

 

I just made the second crazy long drive in my NV. I guess the basics are in order.

2014 NV 3500 Passenger

Approx 17500 miles on odo at start of trip

Last row of seats out just cooler and sleeping bags and 4 bags of luggage.

 

The trip started 28 Jan 2016, and ended 10 Feb 2016.  I started in Bismarck, ND, and drove to San Diego, CA 1648 miles That leg avg mpg was 18.4 using torque, avg speed was 70 mph.

Next leg was San Diego, CA to Seattle, WA 1255 miles avg was 21.2 mpg avg speed was 66 mph using torque app.

Last leg was Seattle, WA to Bismarck, ND 1232 miles avg was 15.1 mpg, and avg speed was 77 mph.  I did use cruise control over 80% of the trip, except for snow in Colorado.  I do also use  the Dash app, and it show pretty much the same info as torque for free.

 

Walter aka Gman65

 

That 1st leg included stops at Mt Rushmore, and Crazy Horse Monuments, and Las Vegas.

2nd leg includes drive up to Paradise on Mt Rainier in Washington.

[ASD Dad]

Wow, you get some of the best MPG I have seen logged for the V8.  I average around 15-15.5 on the highway with the cruise set around 72mph.  I average 15 pretty much no matter what I do!  Best I ever got was around 17-18 driving 55mph with cruise or a really light foot.

[Gman65]

I was very suprised by that as well, since 75mph is the freeway speed here in north dakota.  I was use to seeing 14-16 mpg, and that is what I got on the last leg with 80 mph being the speed limit through montana.

[Wallyc]

I have a 2015 nv 2500 sv mileage is around 12-14 but this is a cargo model I run a plumbing co out of. To be honest it is a work vehicle and dependability is more important to me and mileage second that being said this van is no worse to me than the Chevy 2500 hd that I drove before or e250 before that. But maybe I'm different ,I'm use to getting no mileage .

[nv2500sl]

Second fill up, used the odometer for total miles in mixed driving and got 11.7 mpg.

 

My speedometer is showing faster speeds than actual so I would conclude that actual gas mileage in reality is less than 11.7.

[zenox]

I have a 2015 nv 2500 v8, high top. Ladder rack on the roof, maybe 400 pounds load inside. I usually get 12,13 mpg..I am not a slow driving guy, I stay around 70 on the highway and within 10,15 miles of the speed limit on local roads

[goingape]

Present Owners, what gas mileage are you getting?

13-14 mpg all day long from new to present (17,000 miles)

I have the 3500 V8, use synthetic oil.

Edited July 18, 2016 by goingape

[goingape]

My mpg indicator on trip computer has misterioisly gone missing...cycles from range straight to ave mph...anyone else have this issue. So far no dealership has figured it out.

I think they removed that feature so it would be harder to figure out how bad the mpg is

[radin2son]

Our 2012 has this overly optimistic feature. It consistently shows 1 mpg more than actual, so deleting it in 2013 wasn't a great loss. We mailnly use it for long trips to get a quick view of overall mpg.

 

Motor/Truck Trend averaged 14+ combined mpg for the V8 cargo van. It may have been for the low top, but they also used the high top for their 2016 truck of the year review.

[timavogel]

Hello - 

 

I am new to the forum.  I do not actually own an NV passenger yet, but we are strongly looking to get one for our expanding family. I have read through this thread and can see that the V8 looks like it will get about 14 or 15 mpg.  Does anyone have any information on the V6 model fuel economy?  I am guessing it will be around 18 simply based on the weight and size of the V6.  

 

Any info would be great!  Thank you!

[radin2son]

21+ mpg for a bare bones NV 1500. NVPs are heavy, almost same curb weight as camperized NVs so expect 17+ mpg for the V6. Also factor in the weight of all passengers and stuff you put inside and it is easy to add 1000#s.

 

Most posted mpg info is for V8s as you noted so maybe a new to the forum V6 NVP owner will chime in.

Edited July 25, 2016 by radin2son

[ASD Dad]

Just to update my old answer - since adding larger AT tires and a roof rack my mileage has dropped to about 13 mpg average.  Can dip to the 12's easily unless I am easy on it.  

 

Towing is always the same - 8-9 mpg pulling the camper in my sig line.

[DesertTed]

13.3 MPG with first tank. Combination city and highway. We varied the highway speeds up to 75 mph, as the break-in period is the 1200 miles which requires changing speeds. Once the break-in period is done, we'll not drive more than 60-65 mph. "Hurry" is not in our vocabulary. We run the a/c at full blast here in the central/south desert of Arizona. That will not change during any warm weather.

 

We've purchased the NV with full foreknowledge of the abysmal fuel mileage. The minimal number of miles we drive doesn't equate into huge fuel bills in the whole scheme of things. The only factor concerning us is the paucity of gas stations when we're in the middle of nowhere on our journeys.

 

I'll periodically post our mileage.

[BuyinganNVP]

I have a V6 and didn't actually calculate MPG, but it's not as bad as I would have thought. We fill it up once when taking it on an 8 hour/500+ mile trip, probably at around 350 miles loaded with a family of 9 and all our stuff. I don't drive it that much in the city to make calculating worth my while (put it this way, we have put 3K miles on it now, including 200+ from the dealer, 400 or so from lending to a friend, and 2000 from 2 of our 500 mile trips both ways, so around 400 miles in city traffic over 1 year; we bought it last August!)

[DesertTed]

Second fill-up 11.1 mpg with just about all in city stop and go traffic.

 

Third fill-up 14.1 mpg , all highway, averaging about 75 mph.

 

Looking forward to ending the break-in 1200 miles with varying speeds so we can resume our cruise controlled life at 63mph.

[Great White]

Have had my 3500 TallTop for about a year. Best I have gotten is 16.2. I have driven it 75-80 and watched the mileage go to Hell. I have found with mine the sweet spot is between 60 and 65. Towing, about the same speed with 11.5 mpg with a 7,000 lbs. trailer on flat ground. I have a K&N stock air filter and will be replacing the muffler with a Magnaflow 12580. I hope that may get me a little boost on mileage. It will sound better irregardless.

[DesertTed]

12.42mpg today. Last of the 1200 mile break-in period. This last tank was in town with major stop and go traffic, idling for an hour in the 95F heat, and then 3 hours at 75-80mph. We had a breeze coming down from Phoenix-I'm sure that didn't help the mileage either. Driving the high-top with quartering air does demand my concentration. And of course, we had the a/c blowing.

 

Considering both the conditions and how we drove, we aren't unhappy. It sure is nice to hit the gas and have the acceleration when I want it. Especially considering that our three last vehicles were 4 cylinder Honda Fit and Element, and an old Subaru Forester (we had smoke coming out from under the dash on its final trip up Mt.Lemmon). It'll be interesting this next fill-up when we drive a bit more conservatively.

[andy_george]

I agree, that's not horrible mileage at all. People often forget that the NVs are not light, not aerodynamically slippery, not loaded with new tech features to save drops of fuel, and not usually driven like a slow Sunday cruiser....

[DesertTed]

Last three fill-ups:

 

12mpg all city with a lot of idling to run the a/c (It sucks to be post-menopausal. I can't take the heat, even out of the kitchen! )

17mpg all highway at about 63mph

11mpg all city with idling in order to run a/c-up to an hour at a time

 

The city mileage is horrendous, but the important number for us is the highway mileage, as that's where we'll be driving the most miles. Perhaps we should have waited for the 2017 with the 7 speed transmission and new engine. But Hub pointed out that since Nissan has changed almost nothing since the introduction of the NV, that many of the initial kinks have been worked out. With the new transmission and engine, there's the possibility that new can come with a new set of problems. Like the CVT-who knows how reliable it'll be in the long term?

 

Besides, it'll take a lot of miles to make up the price difference between the new one and what we think was a good price that we paid for Blanca. We wouldn't recoup the difference for many moons unless gasoline prices go way up and stay there. If so, all we need to do is seize someone's oil and that'll fix that.

 

Some may say that 63mph is just waaayyyy too slow to drive on the highway. We're retired and do our best never to be in a hurry. All the better to see the scenery, too.

Edited October 10, 2016 by DesertTed

[DesertTed]

Just quick example of above:

 

We went on a voyage on the old US-80 a few years back. We set the cruise control at 25mph and it took 5 days to drive the 400 miles from Phoenix to San Diego.

[KMG]

Just quick example of above:

 

We went on a voyage on the old US-80 a few years back. We set the cruise control at 25mph and it took 5 days to drive the 400 miles from Phoenix to San Diego.

I remember that!  I was stuck behind you the whole way.

Edited October 11, 2016 by KMG

[DesertTed]

 

Oh no! It was you!

[DesertTed]

Last 3000 miles (roughly):

 

Six legs, from Tucson to Artesia, NM and back. Five of those trips entailed going over the Sacramento mountains and Cloudcroft, NM (8660'elevation). When in the mountainous areas, we drove the maximum speed limit. On the highways, we averaged 72-82 mph.

 

We almost always had less than favorable and significant winds, from head on to direct crosswinds. Maybe we drove only a couple hundred miles with a tailwind. The wind gods must have something against us.

 

With all of the above factors, we averaged between 14 1/2 and 15 1/2 mpg.

 

There a big difference in the mileage between Hub and me. He drives without any attempt of saving fuel. I don't hypermile, but drive conservatively as best I can.

 

In any case, driving Blanca with high winds can be tiring. I consider it"high winds" when I see flags flying rigidly unfurled. With those conditions, I need to use a firm, two handed grip on the wheel. No casual sipping of coffee when driving. Even the semi's have trouble staying in their own lanes. Yuck!

 

I'm not unhappy with the above numbers.

 

Oh, last note: Blanca is quite nimble on mountain roads, not only on these recent trips, but also in brief forays we've made onto mountainous roads here in Arizona. Kinda fun, actually.

[trdriver71]

How many miles do you have on your van now desertted? I found with my van after I put on 15000km I found the fuel mileage improved from new. That is what I considered broke in lol.