Not impressed with mpg!!!

[otterhere]

Uh, I was getting 38 with my 2000 Suzuki Swift and, although I've read reports of people getting as much as 40 mpg with their new Yarises, I've gotten 30 (mostly highway) and 27 (more in-town driving) with my two fill-ups to date... What's everyone's secret out there??? I am not thrilled.

'Course, still love driving my zippy little jelly bean; had just hoped for more.

:frown:

[KCALB SIRAY]

http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=46

[marcus]

im averaging 39-40 60/40 cty/hwy..and this is me not caring about mileage.. with hypermill maybe i can average 42.

[songa]

im getting 40mpg, maybe a lil more, and im honestly not even trying that hard. i tmite just take you a couple of new driving habits to learn, like DFCO and stuff, and you'll be improving. my first tank was 36mpg, but after learning about DFCO it went up to 40. DFCO is basically coasting (not pressing gas) in gear, not in neutral. fuel is cut off completely during DFCO so you waste no fuel at all. you must be running at over 1100rpms though. check out that FE forum above!

[SIPNGAS]

It's also winter...

winter-weight fuel hurts gas mileage...and I get better gas mileage now than I did in the first 5,000 miles..give it some time.

[rningonfumes]

"Zippy" does not belong in a complaint about fuel economy.

[otterhere]

Believe me, I'm the one drifting slowly up to red lights, whereas all around me are zooming ahead and braking to a stop; I know how to drive, and my "driving style" is unchanged from a few weeks ago when I was getting 38 with the Swift. grumble

[voodoo22]

in highway conditions where your trips are over 20 kms in the winter (I've heard it can take over that distance for the engine to reach optimal operating temp), there is no reason you shouldn't be getting over 40 MPG. Unless you're going over 70 mph.

If you were going 60-65 mph and less you'd get mid 40's, but from my experience, to get over 50 mpg consistently you have to go closer to 50mph and never peak over 60.

Shorter trips in the winter will kill your FE. There is plenty of info out there on which techniques to use under which situations. If you follow these how to's you'll improve.

I still get people saying that they don't believe the numbers which I stated are possible, but those people are just not disciplined enough to get great numbers. It's not rocket science, but it does take discipline to not speed or enjoy zippyness.

Of course there are multiple factors which affect everyone differently in their driving, but most of fault for poor fuel mileage is attributed directly to driving style.

[otterhere]

I admit I drive over 60, since the highway speed here is 70; you go 60, and you'll be run over the top -- esp. in a little jelly bean!!! But I was doing that in the Swift, too... I truly didn't realize one had to drive "with kid gloves," as it were, to achieve good mpg in the Yaris. I'll concede that it's probably doable, but that it's requires so much effort and "special care" is quite disappointing. Don't drive in winter, don't take short trips, "drift" a lot, go 20 miles under the legal speed limit... Okay; 40 mpg, here I come.

[cali yaris]

is it a/t or manual?

I get 31-33 with a custom turbo set up -- there has to be a reason you're getting 27.

[KCALB SIRAY]

Do you transport heavy items for work or just a bunch of junk in your car? Have a clean air filter? Tires at the right psi?

[TinyGiant]

if i keep it at 55 on the hwy and drift at lights and take my time getting to speed i can hit 39-40mpg easy enough.. when i drive 60 on the hwy and drive quick n town i'm closer to the low 30s

[otterhere]

I'm planning to leave the car at home and start taking the city bus to work (two mile trip each way), but that's NOT why I spent $13k on a new Yaris! Do the other subcompacts (Fit, Versa, etc.) do better??? I would think all workings would be fine, since it's NEW...

If I have to go 60 on the highway to save gas, I will, but pity I didn't have to in my nine-year-old "beater" I just sold for $1,200...

[tuckevalastin]

I've averaged 33 over my last 5000 miles

[KCALB SIRAY]

I'm planning to leave the car at home and start taking the city bus to work (two mile trip each way), but that's NOT why I spent $13k on a new Yaris! Do the other subcompacts (Fit, Versa, etc.) do better??? I would think all workings would be fine, since it's NEW...

If I have to go 60 on the highway to save gas, I will, but pity I didn't have to in my nine-year-old "beater" I just sold for $1,200...

Just because it is new, does not mean it is without problems. Have it checked out. Some things could be clogged, broken, bent etc. The smallest of things could be causing bigger unseen problems in the engine. It never hurts, that why you have the warranty. I think everyone has pretty much said what could be done plus the link I attached earlier. Good luck, let us know:thumbsup:

[otterhere]

I've averaged 33 over my last 5000 miles


That's not 40, is it? What's YOUR driving like???

[tuckevalastin]

I make 700 mile all highway trips once a month... these tanks average about 40 mpg. The rest of my driving is about 50/50 highway/city and these tanks average about 30 mpg. The other few tanks are random driving...

-I have an automatic
-I'm past the break in period
-I don't hypermile and I don't stand on the pedal at every light either, I'm completely the average driver
-the car is stock

[otterhere]

is it a/t or manual?

I get 31-33 with a custom turbo set up -- there has to be a reason you're getting 27.

Automatic. No "junk" inside.

[tuckevalastin]

junk?

[Mikeb Yaris]

I did an experiment intentionally NOT trying to get good mpg. Still got over 38. I'm always interested when I hear folks struggling around 30. Now that gas is cheaper again, maybe I'll do another experiment to see how hard I have to drive to get 30 mpg or worse.

[lita_g]

I drive close to 30 miles to work each day and about half of that is going 70mph trying to keep up with traffic, sometimes I have to turn off the cruise control if by some chance people decide to go slower, besides that it's city driving with a bunch of stops, I'm getting about 33-34mpg, I get a bit better mpg if I go to Orlando, which means spending at least 30-40 minutes on I-4 driving at about 70mph. I accelerate very slow when leaving a red light and also coast down towards red lights. I just changed the oil about 2 weeks ago and that boosted my mpg by 2 mpg.

I was getting 36 with the jetta tdi I used to have, but the yaris is so much better..... and new.

[tetzyamis]

Weird.
If your Swift can get 38 mpg, I would think Yaris can do similar.
I get 35 mpg from highway and city mixed about 50:50.

[YAR1S]

could be one of many of these things:

1. you weigh a lot, trust me the yaris can get shitty mileage if it has to be forced to drag a tubby person.
2. your carrying a lot of stuff in your yaris, take out that junk!
3. you jack rabbit... take it easy when you take off from a light
4. when the engine is cold, take it easy, it wont let you go into gears as easily and you could be loosing a lot of gas by forcing it to go fast in cold weather.
5. change your air filter... it helps.
6. make sure you have a good way to measure the mileage... I dont know how the others on here do it but I trip the meter when I fill up and as soon as it starts to blink thats the number I use. Once the blinker starts its consumed close to ten gallons... divide the total by ten.. pretty easy.
7. dont speed!!! take the slower route, it will be less stressful and cheeper!!


Those are the top SEVEN reasons that usually prevent (MY) yaris to loose fuel economy.

[YAR1S]

ps: I get 40mpg, with about 75% highway and 20% city and 5% being a kid and having fun LOL!

[otterhere]

I weigh 104... Nothing in car (haven't even put the drivers' manuals in the glove box yet)... Am measuring from fill-up (when the pump clicks shut) to the first few miles after the fuel gauge starts blinking (I hit the first gas station then) and divide by 10.

Oh, well! Will hope that time takes care of it (have just 148 miles on it so far); thx.

[KCALB SIRAY]

Warranty! Have it checked out

[YAR1S]

It took me a few tanks to realize that you have to make an effort to get good miles... plus I used to drive a V8 Grand Marquis so It was a differnt drive and I literally only got 250 miles on the first tank.

It will hopefully just require time like you said... but if not then maybe get it looked at :(

[LittleRed]

i just drove 900 miles from NY to wisconsin..in cold weather..averging 70-80 miles an hour and averaged 40 mpg...i use 91 octane..<higher retards the timing>

[tetzyamis]

divide by 10.


Divide by 10? Do you fill up 10 gallons?
When I fill up, I fill up before it blinks (when it has 2 out of so many in the gauge).
It's usually around 9 gallons.

Even if you're filling up only 9 gallons and still dividing by 10, it's still bad mpg.
More so, when your Swift could get 38 mpg...

[MadMax]

Your commute is two miles? No wonder, your Yaris probably doesn't even warm up in that short distance. Buy yourself a bicycle and you'll get excellent "mileage!" I used to bike 8.5 miles each way to work on a full-suspension mountain bike, almost all year round and this was in Belgium! I would do the same here, but it is 22 miles and San Antonio is not conducive to bicycle commuting. But if I were only two miles from work, hell I'd walk there!

[TinyGiant]

I weigh 104... Nothing in car (haven't even put the drivers' manuals in the glove box yet)... Am measuring from fill-up (when the pump clicks shut) to the first few miles after the fuel gauge starts blinking (I hit the first gas station then) and divide by 10.

Oh, well! Will hope that time takes care of it (have just 148 miles on it so far); thx.

you want to divide the mileage traveled since last fill up by the number of gallons that you put in the car


so if you travel 300 miles and you put in 10 gallons then you have 30mpg

if you approximate that you used 10 gallons you are getting a inaccurate number.. could be off by 3-5mpg.. which makes a big difference..

[Revsson]

could be one of many of these things:

1. you weigh a lot, trust me the yaris can get shitty mileage if it has to be forced to drag a tubby person.
2. your carrying a lot of stuff in your yaris, take out that junk!
3. you jack rabbit... take it easy when you take off from a light
4. when the engine is cold, take it easy, it wont let you go into gears as easily and you could be loosing a lot of gas by forcing it to go fast in cold weather.
5. change your air filter... it helps.
6. make sure you have a good way to measure the mileage... I dont know how the others on here do it but I trip the meter when I fill up and as soon as it starts to blink thats the number I use. Once the blinker starts its consumed close to ten gallons... divide the total by ten.. pretty easy.
7. dont speed!!! take the slower route, it will be less stressful and cheeper!!


Those are the top SEVEN reasons that usually prevent (MY) yaris to loose fuel economy.

Regarding #1, does having a pot belly qualifiy as being "tubby" ?? :eek: