2015 Micra SR automatic week long test drive: Darin's notes & impressions

[MetroMPG]

Above: that was the Micra's fuel economy display from the 1-way ~110 km trip from Ottawa after picking up the car. 4.8 L/100 km = 59 mpg (Imp.) = 49 mpg (US) ... I later calculated the display to be about 4.5% optimistic.

Actual (calculated) fuel economy from 2 fill-ups over 940.5 km (584 mi.) was:

• 5.4 L/100 km = 52.3 mpg (Imperial) = 43.6 mpg (US)

The display showed 5.2 on the first fill and 5.1 on the second, so it was a little optimistic.

Fill-up method: each time I filled with "3 clicks" by slowing the pump when I could hear fuel coming up the filler neck until the first click-off, then slowly adding fuel twice more until the pump clicked off each time.

Driving details / techniques:

Speed: The majority of my driving was fuel-friendly cruising on secondary highways at or very close to the speed limit (~80 km/h = ~50 mph), plus about 120 km of freeway (@ ~100 km/h / ~62 mph). Urban/suburban/ex-urban driving probably made up about 200 km.

Very few short trips: by "short" I mean less than a couple of km. Short trips from a cold start are where you'll see your worst fuel economy (aside from autobahn speed highway driving, that is ).

Little A/C use: It wasn't very hot this week, so I only turned the air conditioning on to try it out for a few minutes -- most of the time I had windows down in town and the right two cracked open a little bit when on the highway.

Eco-driving: I "eco-drove" nearly all the time, which means things like...

• never idling for more than a few seconds,
• moderate acceleration, aiming to get the torque converter to lock ASAP in 3rd & 4th gears,
• minimizing brake use (letting off the gas early to coast as much as practical toward slowdowns/stops/turns, depending on traffic),
• reading conditions ahead to keep from wasting momentum by rushing into avoidable slowdowns, eg. choosing the lane with the best "flow", timing traffic lights, etc.,
• sticking to the speed limit (or very close to it),
• turning off the engine at long stops (when safe),
• stuff like that

Micra's slightly optimistic fuel economy display

The on-board fuel economy display was optimistic by 4.5% compared to actual pump readings. Not horrible.

Close to Montreal numbers

At the Micra launch in Montreal using the same car and same driving techniques, the trip computer said 5.6 L/100 km (understandably worse, given the more "challenging" Montreal route & traffic). Or about 5.85 actual.