Is this about average for how I drive?

[carrotCup]

I filled my Yaris up with 7.985 gallons and drove it to work Friday, then to L.A. and back on Saturday. That put me at 291.4 mi when I filled the tank up again this morning.

Friday was all city driving (only like 20 mi of it), and Saturday was all highway. There were points where traffic caused everything to go really slow, but I'd estimate I went about 75 mph on average on the way up. On the way back, I was sleepy and it was fluctuating constantly between 80~100+ mph. I wasn't really paying attention to the speed.

Now, with all this terrible stop-and-go traffic and obscene speeding and complete disregard for mileage, when I input the info into Fuelly, I somehow managed to pull out 36.5 mpg! So now I'm wondering if that's about normal for how reckless I drive or not.
My '08 hatchback should be getting 35 mi/gallon on the highway, according to FuelEconomy.gov. But wouldn't that be based off of people actually following the speed limit and not being stuck in traffic? I'm in complete awe at how I can drive like a maniac and have my speed constantly fluctuating and still, somehow, get about average gas mileage. I assumed I was getting quite a bit less than that.

So, from everyone else's experience, is it completely normal to drive like an unconcerned jerk and still get fabulous results out of your Yaris? Or is Fuelly just miscalculating my mpg?

[Altitude]

Actual mileage varies widely. No you can't drive with little concern and expect great mileage. Some people claim that they do but many more drive normally and get approx. the same mileage as stated for the car.

I drive normally and avg 32 - 34 with mixed driving short trips and lots of hills.

[carrotCup]

Actual mileage varies widely. No you can't drive with little concern and expect great mileage. Some people claim that they do but many more drive normally and get approx. the same mileage as stated for the car.

I drive normally and avg 32 - 34 with mixed driving short trips and lots of hills.

See, now that does sound normal and correct. That's why I was flabbergasted when I pulled such high numbers! I knew I was getting poor mileage, but I just wanted to go to bed, I didn't care about the extra $$.

On a weekly basis I do about half and half of city/highway driving. So I would say I drive 150~200 mi a week. I have to fill up once a week, for about $28~32. The price of gas here is like $3.70~3.85. I never really bothered with how many gallons I put in...

I'm going to start keeping better track of my mi/gallon (I always forget to calculate it) and see what this new tank I have comes out to be. Then I suppose I'll decide what the factor was on that L.A. trip. Thanks for the comparison though. <3

[randeez]

i seem to be getting 37-39 mpg, my weekly commute is very flat, i can usually cruise as fast as about 80-85 without much interuption, and a few lights to get to the highway. about 100miles round trip daily, 80miles on the interstate/20 miles city. i've slowed down to 70-75 and haven't noticed much change in mpg. i should be able to get 400/tank pretty easy but that last bar flashes for about 50 miles before i get nervous and fill up lol, and then it'll only take a tick over 10 gallons

[carrotCup]

i seem to be getting 37-39 mpg, my weekly commute is very flat, i can usually cruise as fast as about 80-85 without much interuption, and a few lights to get to the highway. about 100miles round trip daily, 80miles on the interstate/20 miles city. i've slowed down to 70-75 and haven't noticed much change in mpg. i should be able to get 400/tank pretty easy but that last bar flashes for about 50 miles before i get nervous and fill up lol, and then it'll only take a tick over 10 gallons

Oh wow, does it really last you that long once the gas starts flickering!? Once I went to Riverside to have LowJack put on, and we just went over to L.A. afterwards. I think it was roughly 380~400 mi for the whole trip. By the time we got back to San Diego, it was blinking. I was just gunna fill it up the next morning, but got scared and turned around and went to a gas station. I don't remember the gallons, but it was like $36 to fill it up, which is the most I've ever paid.

That's good mpg to get going so fast (flat terrain helps too, I'm sure)! Especially since there are those who say that you have to be so conscious about what you're doing to get good numbers...

Maybe the Yaris just has more potential than the people at FuelEconomy.gov thinks! Thanks, guys.
Today when I took Barnaby out, I kept it at 80 or below. I'm gunna see what that does to the mileage.

[UTVitz]

I average 42MPG if I keep in around 65MPH on this ethanol blend fuel we're forced to pump into our cars. I used to average 45 before ethanol-boo hoo.

I just did an 1100 miles trip Salt Lake to Reno and averaged 40 at 75MPH. Oh yeah, 5speed manuel here which usually does better than the auto in these cars

[why?]

The amount of gas in the car when the gauge starts blinking is not constant. It can and does vary widely, the inner bladder of the fuel can of the Yaris is made of rubber, so it can and does contract and expand depending on how warm or cold it is. It is best to get gas as soon as the gauge starts blinking or when it gets down to two bars.

And if you really were slowing down and going faster, you could have been activating a cutout the Yaris has that stops the flow of gas to the engine if the drivers foot is off the gas and the rpm's are above 1500.

Also, speeding up and coasting down is a technique used to get better gas mileage.

[nemelek]

It wont be lone before my milage drops by 2 mpg when the winter fuel blend is being pumped. I get around 40 mpg now. Mostly city driving.

[ArmyYaris]

I drive like a complete assclown and get somewhere in the 33-34 MPG range with intake and full exhaust

[carrotCup]

I drive like a complete assclown and get somewhere in the 33-34 MPG range with intake and full exhaust

Oh wow!

I've only had my Yaris like 5~6 months...and I'm already loving how versitile it is. It's just so forgiving, huh? Even to those of us who push it.