Hmmm... I don't know, I haven't experienced any stability issues, but of course our experiences may be different. I find the car goes along smoothly at 80, and is relatively quiet now that I have the TRD springs in (and thus it's a little lower). I will try this driving slower thing, though, and see if that keeps my mileage up.

 

I totally know what you mean. I drive on the Turnpike in North Jersey and here we have six lanes -- two sets of three. In the cars only lanes, people really don't care much for slowing down. That said, I try to keep below 75. Took me three years to lose points from a ticket and I intend not to get another one again any time soon.

 

what about it doesn't feel safe
i have had no issues with that type of driving...

 

Neither do I, in the right car. But at 80mph I'm not confident that the xD will change direction or speed in an always predictible fashion. It is after all a car built at a low price, for economy, not prowess.

 

Well okay, but hang on here, we aren't talking about a '94 Chevy Cavalier though... the xD has some pep, it handles well (especially lowered, ba-ZOW!) and it feels smooth and muscley despite it being (relatively) dirt-cheap. Am I missing something?

 

One of the things I love about this forum is that everyone is always so civil.
And I mean that, but for me the xD has neither the suspension nor brakes I want when travelling at such sustained high speed. If you disagree, fine, I don't have a big ego. Hell, you may even be right. But neither am I a stranger to high-performance cars and traveling at extremely high rates of speed. I just want to live to a ripe old age..................

 

Ah, I really hope I didn't come off like a jerk-wad there, (I can't tell if you were being serious about civility, just as I'm now concerned you weren't sure about my tone either) :-)

And I will admit that I don't generally drive a whole lot faster than the speed I discussed above... I've never really had a car that was built for it, and as I'm getting farther and farther away from the teenage years, my desire to do things that are significantly stupid is receding.

 

I used to drive 80+ in my 350Z, but xD stays close to speed limit (which is 75 in a lot of places around here). I just don't see a point in speeding any more. And yes, there is a difference in how the Z felt at 90mph and how the xD feels at 90, even with wider tires, swaybar and lowered.

 

Captain, yes, I am serious about the civility here, and you didn't come off badly at all.

Zoltiz,
I was the original owner of a 1990 Nissan Z TT, serial number 0000354.....:-)

I was at one time a timer/scorer at Watkins Glen and have driven cars on that track at over 150 mph. Unfortunately, I sold my Z five years ago to a young guy that took it over a cliff. He survived (barely) but my Z didn't. About the only thing they salvaged was the transmission............:-(

 

150 mph... bwah... I once took my old '93 Camry to 100+... thought the ol' Cap'n was goin' to have to swab my poopdeck...


I'm glad the guy survived, sorry he killed your car.


150... man!...

 

So I finally filled up - 39.7 real MPG. Put about 200 miles on the current tank - 3 bars / 44.6MPG on the trip computer, So probably about 42 real MPG. Not bad.

 

I just drove from Massachusetts to Florida and back. As that I didn't really want to win any driving awards, I set the cruise at 8mph above the speed limit. I found that in the states with a 65mph speed limit I got between 34-36 mpg and in the states with a 70mph limit I got 32-33. So I lost about 2mpg going 5mph faster. It was also interesting that the wind was from the southwest on both trips and I got about 2mpg better mileage with the tail wind.

Comparing the mileage given by the car and the mileage I calculated by miles driven divided by gallons purchased, I found that the number given by the car's computer was between 2.3 and 2.6 mpg higher than what I calculated. There was no relationship between the difference and the speed I traveled.

A third point, I thought the car did great at 78mph on the highway. And I can attest to its stopping ability. I had a car lock up it's breaks in front of me and I stopped about 30 feet shorter than it did not including my reaction time, from 45 mph. The car behind me pulled up even with me in the breakdown lane....thank goodness they went into the breakdown land.

 

Nice writeup. If you go 65mph, you'll be closer to 40mpg, and if you go 60 - then above 40mpg. I keep a log of fill-ups and write down trip computer MPG - the difference so far is between .9 and 3.6 MPG, or an average of 2.1 MPG. Lifetime average after 2500 miles is 31MPG.

Speed is the biggest factor in highway MPG. Some cars are geared to get decent mileage on the highway, some are not. I got the same gas mileage at 90mph in my 350Z as I did in my girl's xA - about 27-28mpg. Lately I've been driving smarter and was pushing 45+MPG out of the xA, but going much closer to speed limit than 90. Now I can sell my Valentine 1 finally