I have had my 2009 Nissan Altima about a year. I am averaging about 31 MPG. I expected to get about 40. I do a about 50% highway and 50% around town. Anybody have any suggestions for getting better mileage?

 

Slow down. Number one way to save on gas.
Inflate your tires to sidewall pressure.
Consider a grill block and/or electronic block heater for winter months.

 

1) Slow down both your overall speed as well as your initial acceleration to get better mileage

2) Learn to manipulate the throttle pedal so that if you need to accelerate quickly initially, to get back into EV mode as soon as safe to do so an then moderate your pressure to maintain EV mode for longer distances

3) Tire pressures to sidewall pressure - experiment to see what works for you though as different tires respond differently and high pressure will at a point, diminish traction to a noticeable level... safety first.

4) Learn to coast into braking so as to minimize throttle use when safe to do so.

5) Do a search on other Hypermiler tips on the site as some are useful

I started out around 31mpg but as I learn to dirve the car to take advantage of the EV mode, I have improved mileage by over 10%, whcih means the opposit may be true if I revert to my old drving style. Mind you I still throttle hard up hills and occassionally on highways and such too so ia m by no means ever gonna be a hypermiler. But mid 30's average is pretty ****ed good for this size/weight of a car.

 

Why? Even on the current (model year 2008+) EPA test, it got a 34 mpg combined rating.

Besides the above tips, http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1510 might help.

 

City? Depends on the speed your going too. I can get my Greeline to stay around 50mpg at 40mph, that does not mean I want to drive 40mph everywhere! My 2005 Altima said 24.8 avage most of its life. For some reason it was at 27 before I traded it in but it was still using the same amount of gas so I question that. Especially since the 24.8 was pretty consistant over about 85000-90000 miles.