Nissan adding fuel efficiency gauge to all new models
Nissan plans on adding an instant fuel economy reader to every new Nissan and Infiniti it sells by 2010, and the meter is already available Stateside in the Altima and G35. The gauge is being added to show drivers how to drive with reduced fuel consumption in mind, and Nissan thinks owners can achieve 10% better fuel economy after using the gauge to adjust driving habits. As an owner of a Volvo S40 with the same feature, I can personally tell you it works. My fuel economy went from 24.5 MPG to 27 MPG within a couple weeks of discovering the feature, and all it took was more coasting before stop lights, and less heavy acceleration from a stop.
[Source: Autoblog Green]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Compy386 8:48AM (8/22/2007)
I don't know if that picture is of the real gauge or not but I hope the real one is digital. Personally I don't know why fuel gauges are still analog. I want to know how much fuel is left in my car and not guess based on the position of the needle.
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Skream 8:51AM (8/22/2007)
Absolutely. The only guage I think that's imperative to be an analog needle is the tach. Everything else just give me a digital numeric readout.
seoultrain 9:04AM (8/22/2007)
if every single analog gauge in a car was changed to digital, it would take forever to check all the information. The advantage of analog gauges is that they are faster to check, giving up some precision in the process. Maybe something like a color-coded digital gauge would make up for the slowness.
That said, i agree with other posters that analog mpg gauges are useless.
D. See 11:01AM (8/22/2007)
Yes, that is the real gauge. I just had a G35 loaner with it.
I like the concept, and agree that it can help increase economy thru better driving habits, but it can also be construed as another distraction in addition to cell phones, text-messaging (eeech!), eating, drinking, shaving, etc.....
Will it ever end?
D. See 10:57AM (8/22/2007)
Yes, that is a photo of the actual gauge. I just had a G35 loaner with it.
Don't get too distracted watching the thing, though...it may wind up costing you a totaled car rather than that extra gallon of gas!
Hank 8:38AM (8/22/2007)
I used to own a Cadillac with the same feature. I also paid closer attention because of it and saw improvement. If nothing else, it helps you identify where your particular car is most/least efficient.
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kevin 9:47AM (8/22/2007)
I had an 89 Fleetwood with the "fuel information center". I found that if I gave it 3/4 throttle from a stop light and backed off once I reached speed, I raised my average mileage into the mid-teens. I don't think I ever got it over 16 mpg in town, and try as I might I couldn't break 22 mpg on the interstate, but that was a far cry from the 13 mpg and 19 mpg the previous owner was getting.
Sandeep 8:36AM (8/22/2007)
While its probably true that these encourage better driving habits (ie less aggressive ones), I sometimes question the accuracy of these. For example, the one on my Toyota Sienna is spot-on about 99% of the time, but the Hyundai Tucson's always predicts a bit low of what I'm actually recording (usually a mpg or two).
A move in a good direction, though. If only we could get those useless instant-mpg analogs off of the German cars...
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Don 4:05PM (8/22/2007)
I've seen a few of these things in other cars, and they're so off the mark it's ridiculous.
Skream 8:50AM (8/22/2007)
I like the one in the Sienna better that shows you the instant MPG as a number rather than a digital guage like most other cars. The one in my Lexus goes from like 0 to 90mpg in a graph hardly more than an inch long. Not very useful. It's easier to quickly read a number and get your eyes back on the road, imho.
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KKop 8:59AM (8/22/2007)
They were common in Europe in the late eighties for a while: a little needle that would go from green through yellow to red. Simply measuring the vacuum at that time, IIRC. I know Toyota's used to have time, and other brands also probably. When the seventies oil scare feelings wore off, the meters disappeared again.
You don't need any meters anyway. Just tie a sponge to the top of your gas pedal: works like a charm to lessen the leadfoot driving habit.
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Mike 9:01AM (8/22/2007)
Pretty sure BMW has had a real time MPG gauge since like, the car was invented...
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josh 9:14AM (8/22/2007)
BMW's have had this since at least 1980 and probably earlier. It is a great feature. Now if BMW would quit using runflats and go back to a driver oriented car, I might replace my current e46 with another BMW.... otherwise I'll find something else. :-(
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fd 9:15AM (8/22/2007)
Excellent points.
Below are the indicators I would like permanently instead of the analog fuel gauge. I know they would make a real difference. Of course some people would just do the opposite to see how bad their mileage can get or they don't care flat out.
On my vehicle I always have to switch the overhead display between Compass & Temperature + Distance till empty + AVG fuel economy + instant economy :(
The problem really is you can only see one thing at a time. I really would like those all permanently visible, without switching.
So replace the analog tank gauge altogether, or add in or just below / besides it:
- # gallons in tank + some type of thermometer graph
- # distance till empty (estimate)
- # instant mpg
- # average mpg
I agree with the instant and avg economy being a thermometer graph ? That is useless. Keep it simple. Plain numbers. Easy to read & interpret. Done.
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Jim in Tampa 9:16AM (8/22/2007)
I have liked the idea of such a gauge since the early 80's when I drove a rented Cadillac Sedan deVille with this type of gauge. But I have to agree . . . a digital number would be better than a sliding scale bar!
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h8rain 9:24AM (8/22/2007)
That is one of the things I missed from my 350Z, it was not instant (updated like every 30 seconds). When my mother-in-law had a BMW 3 series, it had a analog mpg gauge that I thought was silly, because it was almost like a metronome in stop and go traffic :).
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Bill 9:26AM (8/22/2007)
Mazda3's from 06+ have this, even on lower models that don't advertise it, there is an easy software trick to bring it to life. It is digital/numeric "current consumption" and "avg MPG". I know that I've improved my mileage about 1 or 2mpg since I started paying attention to it. Every car should have it.
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JUSBEEZ 9:41AM (8/22/2007)
My mazda 3 updates my mpg instantly as well as gives my overall mpg. This gives me the ability to get up to speed, check to see if the mpg I am getting is high, then set my cruise control and coast until I need to brake or slow down. Great feature that should be in EVERY car
OblioA91 9:27AM (8/22/2007)
Drivers who 'coast' to the next stoplight annoy other drivers, especially when the stoplight is still green!
Just keep going the speed limit through the intersection and you probably won't have to stop anyway.
If you slow down by 'coasting' then you will more likely miss the green-time and have to stop at the red, idle for a few minutes, then accelerate again when its green again. What a waste of gas.
Do these Nissans compute how much gas Americans waste while sitting at red lights?
We really need lights timed better in this country.
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Logik 6:37PM (8/22/2007)
"Drivers who 'coast' to the next stoplight annoy other drivers, especially when the stoplight is still green!"
Where the hell is this happening? Never heard of it, or seen it. Petition your local government to enact some sort of law that would make it legal to "bitch slap" someone, for coasting to the next light. Then drive around with a glove tied to a stick to wake 'em silly drivers.
What I do see a lot of here, is drivers that slow down to like 3-5 mph before turning. There's this exit out of a shopping center where drivers slow down to like 2mph for turning off the street. I try to avoid that exit when possible, because I have to turn left, and I always have to wait at least 5 minutes in the afternoon/evening catch a traffic gap. Also, very many drivers don't signal when they're turning into parking lots, very annoying.