Gadget

I have had a Maxima for just a couple of months shy of 10 years and 280,000 miles. It is a great car, fun to drive, fast, never have to add oil between my 15,000 mile oil changes, and still gets 30 MPG on the highway!!

Unfortunately, it has developed a problem with collecting deer in the grill. Last time it did over $5000 in damage, this time over $3000 and I was just informed by the insurance company it is a total loss. Sucks.

So, my lovely wife and I are looking for a replacement. A new Maxima was top of the list until she drove the Murano. She likes it very much and is not opposed to looking at other SUV type vehicles. So, I am thinking maybe a new 4Runner might be a possibility. She has agreeded to test drive a V6 and a V8, but is concerned about fuel economy. While that is important, safety is more important to me. I would much rather have her in a 4Runner then a car at this point.

So, I am looking for any real world reports on MPG on both the V6 and V8 versions from people that have been driving them for a while. Yes I used the search button, but it did not lead me to the info I was looking for.

Thanks for any feedback you all can provide.

Gadget

ahriman

before the meats i was getting around 17mph hwy - v8

BT17R

I had a V-8 for ~4K miles. With 38 psi all around (+6 factory), Mobil 1 5W30, 91 octane, sea level and ambients in the 40°F-80°F range, managed 13 city/18hwy with a leadfoot. Anyone else should get +2mpg on 87 octane. The '05 V-6 with the new 5M/T should do even better. Any way you look at it, though, it's tough to get economy out of a 4,400 lb. box.

r0cky

before the larger tires, i was getting a good 18 on my v8.

FirstToy

I think the trip computer is anywhere from 2-4mpg off from what everyone says so keep that in mind
I noticed on the trip that anything above 60mph and your mpg's go down exponentially. 55mph and you can do 26-28mpg's easy but do 75mph (and passing traffic/hilly conditions) and you're back down to 23-24mpg's.

avg from flagstaff to calif


avg from Phoenix to Sedona


edit: here is my mpg coming back thru the calif desert@ 70mph-flat road but friggin' hot!


In the city, I'm at 19-19.5mpg (trip comp) so I would have to say real mpg's are about 17-18/23-25

With the offroad rubber and roof rack, slap 2-4 mpgs off that right away! Although in the city it was still hovering around 16-17mpgs on the computer. I think the roof rack is a bigger hit than the tires to tell you the truth...

My teammate has a Murano and it's nice and sporty/roomy. Built cheap and kinda noisy inside but about everything is compared to the 4Runner.
I like the Murano, my g/f thinks it's ugly. That's still my fav. street suv tho--but if you're going purely street, I would get the Subaru Outback wagon.

Good Times

wow firsttoy, that's some pretty nice #'s!!! For the v8 for me, I was happy if I saw 17-18 mpg on the meter (which came out to 15-16 calculated).

I don't have a lead foot but I did have alot of city traffic to contend with.

FirstToy

Lance, I'm really happy because I'm coming out of a 170hp Xterra that got 15mpg no matter where I went- and the 4Runner is better in every single way!

I don't go under 18-19mpg in the city (trip computer not actual) unless I have the offroad rubber on.

Good Times

that's still cool and amazing since I'm pretty sure you encounter the same good ol LA traffic

FirstToy

Yeah, Pasadena is getting quite busy and the 210 is no longer the open road it once was...
Going into LA or Hollywood makes me want to shoot myself.

The Dutch Man

Here's some New England numbers for you. I have the V8, K&N replacement air filter and run 87 ocatane all the time. I figure my mileage out weekly by hand, not that junky computer that's always 2-4 MPG high. My truck will be 2 yrs. old in Jan. of 05. I currenty have 22K on the odometer. Oil changes religiously every 3K with good old dyno oil. This is what I get..

Winter: With warming the truck up some mornings (Winter blend of gas up here)
City: 14-16 MPG
Highway:16-17 MPG
Avg: 15 MPG

Summer: (Summer blend of gas)
City: 16-18 MPG
Highway: 18-19 MPG (note: this is usually cruising in the range of 75-85 MPH not the perfrect 60-65 MPG range)
Avg: 17-18 MPG (I've hit 19 MPG on straight highway cruises)

Overall, not very bad for a V8. This thing gets better MPG than my last GM product. It was V6 and the biggest piece of junk I ever owned.

Dutchman

4run4fun

15-17 mpg mixed driving

Was better before lift and tires

Would be better if I could lose some weight in my right foot!

tom4416

All my driving is heavily weighted towards rural roads, steady 55mph with the occasional passing and I get a calculated 21mpg on regular. By the way, if I reset the mileage computer at every fill, it isn't off by more than 1mpg and usually within .5 although always optimistically so. Oddly enough, a friend has the V8 and gets substantially worse mileage running the same roads but when we are traveling to a lake located about 200 miles away, he gets almost 3mpg more than I do on the highway towing our respective water vehicles and they are equivalent loads. The higher torque and 5 speed of the V8 shows itself under those conditions. I had looked at the Nissan before the 4Runner but found a forum somewhere where people were complaining about the fuel mileage being 13-14mpg and so that was one of the deciding factors in going with the Toyota.

Roadtripr

What is the Muranos milage? I must be better than the 4runner since its a lifted Altima/carbased. I think if you are concerned about mpg then staying in a regular car is going to be the ticket, unless you can get her interested in a hybrid SUV (Escape or Highlander)

Gadget

The window stickers on the Murano are listing it as 19-24 MPG where the Maxima is listed at 19-28.

I told her she must make a decision in the next two days or she will be walking to work Monday...

Gadget

Roadtripr

Just looking quickly at Edmunds review of the Murano: People like it alot, some though wished for better milage (16 mpg in the AWD version, 18/19 city in FWD). In short don't get the AWD (they always suck gas) and expect better milage than the 4runner but probably not more than 24mpg on the hwy (for the V6).

Sac State

SE V8: City-16 Highway-20

I've had 21.6 mpg where a steady 65 mph was driven. I seem to drop about 1 mpg during the cold winter. I also have a Borla and aFe intake.

My uncle just bought a Murano-really likes it. But then again, he drove a Nissan Quest (minivan) before they bought the M.

93 octane is what I run 93% of the time, the other 7% is 89 octane. 87 has never touched my gas tank, I don't have the sulfur smell, so maybe running the high grade kept the stink away?

Gringo

Gadget I am sure you already know this but the new 05 V8 is supposed to have numbers of 17/23--pretty incredible for a 270hp V8--this is what our V6's have(on paper)..... Also the Murano has some type of issue with the steering--I know consumers mentioned it but I think I read it elsewhere as well. Besides if you got a new V8 you could write it off---also the prototype for all your new fuel upgrades........

Biff

If your curious what a SC V8 gets avg 17 street, 15 highway

timber725

I'm getting 13-14 mpg. Before the meat: 15-17mpg. I drive half freeway and half local.

If you are worried about MPG, then you probably won't need a "real" SUV. Go with highlander or honda pilot or nissan murano. They get 20+ mpg, and drive like a car. In fact, the murano is based on the Maxima with everything from a maxima. Come to think of it, these are the relations:

Toyota Highlander = Toyota Camry
Honda Pilot = Honda Odyssey = Hond Accord
Nissan Murano = Nissan Maxima = Nissan (everything else)

Anyways, when I bought the 4runner fuel economy did not even concerned me. I knew I will eat it, but an SUV is what I want and need. It was a matter of which SUV?

timber725

One more thing. When I was car shopping, I stopped by to check out the Murano. The dealer was trying to give the car to me. Was willing to drop it waaaaaaaaayyyyyy below invoice. Offered to let me test drive it for a weekend. In short, you can probably get a steal for the Murano.

I do hear the the Murano has problems with its CVT transmission. Screwed the SUV go with maxima, G35, or 350z.