Q: looking for some insight on my FE

[xed]

Hi all; long time no see.

I've had my 3dr 5spd Yaris for a little over a year now (14 months, 11.5k miles) and I've kept track of every fill up with gassavers.org. Here's the quick history...

- got the car in Oct07 and it took a few weeks to feel comfortable with the manual transmission.

- as soon as I was comfortable with the transmission I really made a point of driving with a feather foot

- I'm mindful of the rhythm of the lights and I try to time it so that I can slow down and still make the light instead of racing up to the light in order to just sit there until it turns green.

- I wasn't able to break 40mpg but I got very close. I started turning off the car at stoplights, etc. My rule of thumb is "if it's going to take more than 7 seconds then turn the car off."

- I've always downshifted instead of breaking to a stop. I learned about DFCO and figured that was pretty much what I was doing anyways.

- I replaced the air filter with one of the K&M filters that you oil and never replace.

- I have NOT switched to full synthetic oil. I've just had the dealer doing the oil changes and tire rotations every 5k. I keep the tires just under the max (I think max is 42psi so I have them at 40psi)

That's what I've been doing for pretty much the last year. I've been able to get and stay right around 40mpg http://www.gassavers.org/garage/viewgaslog/923 but I have not been able to get to 45mpg.

My commute is 18 miles (one way) and the area where I live is basically flat (coastal NC). I'm pretty good about keeping my speed between 50-55mph. This is a commuter car so I'm the only one that's ever in the car. I've pulled my spare and left it and the jack in the garage months ago. I'm avg weight/height so I'm not carrying around an extra couple of hundred pounds of my own spare tire around the waist.

I think I may be at the point where I need more feedback (i.e. scangauge) since I honestly don't know what else I can do differently. I keep thinking that I "should" be able to get 45mpg with good driving technique but I'm at a loss. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

thanks in advance

[Loren]

I'll try to help you with some of the things I've learned from having a Scangauge.

With a peak speed of 50-55, 45 mpg should be possible, but it relies primarily on just a few things:
1) VERY gentle acceleration. The kind of acceleration that's going to make any traffic behind you upset at your slowness. Shifting about every 10 mph is a good guide, but almost idling up to those shift points.
2) Pulse & Glide: Anticipation of traffic patterns (not just lights, but what other drivers are doing that might slow you down) and the terrain and using them as opportunities to "glide", but being mindful to "pulse" back up to speed VERY gently. On a short trip like yours, every time you can glide for 3 seconds, you're increasing your MPG by at least .1 mpg. Just lift for a few seconds, you'll lose 5 mph or so... and gently gain that back and do it again at the next opportunity. Do that once every mile on your 18 mile trip and you've gained 2 mpg easily!
3) DFCO: Use it profusely. Look even further down the road than you already do, and get off the gas even sooner and coast longer. It all adds up.
4) Avoid the urge to adjust your speed (other than slowing down as required) to match other traffic. No punching the throttle to pass anyone, no needlessly accelerating to keep up with the car ahead, just "drive your own game".

The absolute hardest thing about trying to get that kind of mileage is dealing with traffic. If you're lucky enough to be on a road with no traffic, 48-50 mpg should be achievable. I've found that it has more to do with YOU and how you drive than it has to do with the little details of your car. I've seen 48 mpg with my car with wide, sticky tires (I autocross when I'm not hypermiling!) and the air conditioner on. It just takes dedication and a light foot. A very light foot.

[b_hickman11]

Hi all; long time no see.

I've had my 3dr 5spd Yaris for a little over a year now (14 months, 11.5k miles) and I've kept track of every fill up with gassavers.org. Here's the quick history...

- got the car in Oct07 and it took a few weeks to feel comfortable with the manual transmission.

- as soon as I was comfortable with the transmission I really made a point of driving with a feather foot

- I'm mindful of the rhythm of the lights and I try to time it so that I can slow down and still make the light instead of racing up to the light in order to just sit there until it turns green.

- I wasn't able to break 40mpg but I got very close. I started turning off the car at stoplights, etc. My rule of thumb is "if it's going to take more than 7 seconds then turn the car off."

- I've always downshifted instead of breaking to a stop. I learned about DFCO and figured that was pretty much what I was doing anyways.

- I replaced the air filter with one of the K&M filters that you oil and never replace.

- I have NOT switched to full synthetic oil. I've just had the dealer doing the oil changes and tire rotations every 5k. I keep the tires just under the max (I think max is 42psi so I have them at 40psi)

That's what I've been doing for pretty much the last year. I've been able to get and stay right around 40mpg http://www.gassavers.org/garage/viewgaslog/923 but I have not been able to get to 45mpg.

My commute is 18 miles (one way) and the area where I live is basically flat (coastal NC). I'm pretty good about keeping my speed between 50-55mph. This is a commuter car so I'm the only one that's ever in the car. I've pulled my spare and left it and the jack in the garage months ago. I'm avg weight/height so I'm not carrying around an extra couple of hundred pounds of my own spare tire around the waist.

I think I may be at the point where I need more feedback (i.e. scangauge) since I honestly don't know what else I can do differently. I keep thinking that I "should" be able to get 45mpg with good driving technique but I'm at a loss. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

thanks in advance

All that work and you only get 40 mpg? I drive 70 mph, with AC on, and tires at 32 psi and I get 44 mpg in both of my AT Yaris Sedans!

[b_hickman11]

Do you really have to post this statement over and over again? If it's true, that's great for you, but your experience doesn't apply at all to this persons efforts and is in no way helpful.:thumbdown:


Well maybe he should try and he could get the same results.....:w00t:

[xed]

Well maybe he should try and he could get the same results.....:w00t:

Exactly "what" should I try? If I " I drive 70 mph, with AC on, and tires at 32 psi and I get 44 mpg" I'll eat my hat.

[b_hickman11]

Well first start at the 32 since it's whats recommended....

[stuffy]

i'm not a lead foot by any stretch, but i also am a bit dumbfounded by yaris owners who routinely get above 40mpg.

i've recently been working at a job which is a 120 km round trip daily and i have been so light on the gas- extremely gradual accelerations and never driving over 80 km/h and i was seriously dissapointed by only achieving 40mpg. i'm not going to bother being so super light on the gas anymore because it's hardly made a difference, but it's definitely pissed off a lot of people behind me (i could actually see a woman mouthing the words "go-o-o-o-o-o!!!" in my rearview mirror, lol!). it's clearly not worth the amount of work i put into it.

i figure if it were the summer it might be at most 5-10% better (due to summer tires, gas, etc.) but still was a serious dissapointment.

[stuffy]

yeah, i suppose that's true, although i've had some tanks where the weather was fairly good for the entire tank and it didn't seem to improve the fe very much.

also, i've not been doing much city driving- about 10 k out of the 120 would be city driving.

[BailOut]

Hello xed,

It sounds like you are off to a great start and have learned some highly disciplined driving skills. :smile: One thing you did not mention is your tire pressures. If you are still running around at 32 PSI it easily explains your current MPG cap as it creates more rolling resistance, not only making your glide distance shorter but also making acceleration require that much more energy.

[xed]

Hello xed,
One thing you did not mention is your tire pressures.

I have the stock 14" tires and I've been running them at the max which is 44psi. I double checked the other day and they were just under 35psi so I bet that the dealer redid the tire pressure when I went in for my 10k service so I guess I've been running around 32psi for the last 1.5k miles. I've got them all back to 44psi now so I'll see how my next couple of tanks go.

I wish I had a friend locally that had a scangauge that I could borrow for a week or two just so that I could see the real numbers as I'm driving. I just get the feeling that if I bought one that I would use it for a month and then not need it anymore.

[stuffy]

That's strange, you should be able to get much better mileage than, because about 2km of my 52km each way is city and the rest is highway. I virtually never brake, because I'm going 80-90 and even on my last tank I got 48.5 mpg during the bad weather and a lot more city driving than usual to the heart of Toronto.

I'm not doing anything special, if you're not going over 80, doing that little city driving and not stopping on the other portion of your commute, you should be able to easily get over 40 and closer to 50mpg.

yeah, i've been "driving without brakes" for the past few tanks, tire pressure was checked at each fill-up, shifting at 1500 rpm,
not sure what else i could do to improve those numbers.

considering the small benefits i've noticed versus the amount of pain and agony i've seemed to cause to other drivers on my trips, i think i'll go back to my normal driving- nothing aggressive, just taking it easy without working too hard.

[otterhere]

I've never gotten above 36, and that's working at it... Since that's what Toyota advertises, so I'd say that's the norm. Not sure how all these poster routinely get 40 mpg and above without even trying... If it sounds too good to be true, then.....

[Woody_Woodchuck]

I would not be getting the MPG numbers I have w/out the Scan Gauge 2. It helps me every day to find that sweet spot within the sweet spot. Meaning I can cruise along at 55 to 60 mph and see 45 as my impg reading (instantaneous miles per gallon). By letting up slightly on the gas pedal I can raise that to 55 mpg, a little more and it reads 60+ mpg and I can maintain a constant speed. Sure it is a $160.00 crutch and I probably could be doing this well without it, it just would take longer. I can also see the results and compare each trip’s numbers at certain spots to see how I am doing. For me worth every penny. Before it I was getting 38 to 41mpg tank averages, now my average is 44.5 mpg with two 45+ mpg tanks.

I know I could do better if I slowed down but I maintain the speed limit on 2-lane roads and go no more than 10 mph under the limit on the main 6-lane highways, due to traffic. Most commutes I maintain 60 to 65 mph (the posted speed limit) due to heavy traffic. Even then I am the slow vehicle but I am going the speed limit. I have gotten some fantastic mpg segments, with no traffic, maintaining between 40 and 45 mph seems to be the magic spot.

To those that are getting 40+ mpg driving like a race car, great. What did you do or maybe you just have a lucky vehicle. I’m thinking it is more that they don’t verify each tank they only kind of check now and again using very rounded numbers. For my numbers I’m working hard at it and keep a log of each fill-up.

A note on engine break in, or the theory of it anyway. This last tank I pulled 46.91 mpg (for 315 miles), WAY above anything I have done before. No idea why but last week my commute numbers were all 2 to 3 mpg higher doing nothing different. Maybe at 6,800 miles I got the first boost? This week we will see if it was a fluke or if I finally am starting to hypermile correctly. My two goals? Double a co-worker’s 24 mpg for his PT cruiser and to beat Voodoo22’s 50 mpg tank streak! :burnrubber:

[kenora]

Voodoo22.... is that US or Imperial mpg?

[roadrunner]

xed,

Look at changing your route to and from work.

Get a Scanguage, it really has helped me.

[otterhere]

I think these people who claim to get astronomical gas mileage are victims of the practical joke Click and Clack once described... A 'friend' kept adding gas to his gas tank when he wasn't looking!

[BailOut]

I think these people who claim to get astronomical gas mileage are victims of the practical joke Click and Clack once described... A 'friend' kept adding gas to his gas tank when he wasn't looking!

I must have a rich and idle friend that I'm not aware of since they would have had to been doing it every tank for two years. That's a lot of free gas. :rolleyes:

[360cubes]

WHOA! Guess what I just came across while searching for things for my truck:

Plugs into the ODB port and give you real-time fuel economy! Now you can keep an eye on your throttle position and view real-time mileage instead of waiting until you need fuel to get your results. Not sure the exact accuracy, but I would imagine it would be close to the real mark.
http://www.autometer.com/img_news/body/98.jpg

http://www.autometer.com/media_newsarticle.aspx?yr=2008&mo=11&pg=1&aid=97