Fuel Efficiency and the Yaris

[why?]

Honestly, you aren't driving far enough to get really great gas mileage. And I lived in Poinciana for a few years, florida drivers are not that bad. They can go around you just as well as any other driver.

But the a/c hurts gas mileage, your speed will kill gas mileage, some run much more tire pressure.

I average a little above 39 mpg, as calculated on fuelly.



Some tips? Use the gas pedal like it is a nuclear bomb that will destroy the world. Look ahead and plan to cruise to a stop so you never have to hit the brakes.

If you have to use a/c, and down in Orlando I can't blame you, turn it off and on so it won't suck up as much gas. If you are on interior air re circulation you can go a few minutes with the a/c off. Also buy and apply the darkest tint you possibly can, legally.

I go as slow as I possibly can. I usually do not exceed 50. On highways I go at maximum 5 miles below the speed limit. I try to stay near 50 if at all possible.

I generally do not drive long trips, but commuting 50+ miles 1 way makes getting great gas mileage really easy, my best tank of gas was 47 mpg when I had to drive over an hour each way every day for two weeks.

Originally Posted by Shroomster

How are people getting 38mpg?
are you guys looking at instant mpg, looking at your scan gauge, or are you calculating your per tank mpg?
Somehow skewing the numbers?

38 psi in the tires
a/c on most of the time
I drive on average 25 miles one way to work
70-80mph
I only see 32-33 mpg per tank
Average 326 miles on 10 gallons
I fill the tank completely every time




This is summary of every fill up (partial and full) since owning my '14


Sent from my metallic purple honami

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by why?

I lived in Poinciana for a few years, florida drivers are not that bad. They can go around you just as well as any other driver.

I haven't lived in Florida, as Shroomster does and you did, but I've probably spent more time there over the last 8 years than in any state but Texas and California, and I've been all over the state. In my experience, your statement above is definitely true re Shroomster's area (the Orlando area). Re my experiences, if Shroomster lived generally anywhere south of an imaginary line drawn between Bradenton and Fort Pierce, I could see what he's saying in his last post being the case (especially on I-75 between Bradenton and the western edge of Alligator Alley)....but the craziness could have finally migrated up his way.

I agree with all of your suggestions (in other parts of your post) re improving MPG.

[why?]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

I haven't lived in Florida, as Shroomster does and you did, but I've probably spent more time there over the last 8 years than in any state but Texas and California, and I've been all over the state. In my experience, your statement above is definitely true re Shroomster's area (the Orlando area). Re my experiences, if Shroomster lived generally anywhere south of an imaginary line drawn between Bradenton and Fort Pierce, I could see what he's saying in his last post being the case (especially on I-75 between Bradenton and the western edge of Alligator Alley)....but the craziness could have finally migrated up his way.

I agree with all of your suggestions (in other parts of your post) re improving MPG.

I like aggressively going slow, meaning if they get right on my ass I just slow down more. I learned to drive in Boston traffic. Talk about horrible jerks. The angrier they got the slower I went.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by why?

I learned to drive in Boston traffic. Talk about horrible jerks.

I feel for you. Last year (IIRC), I was describing driving in South Florida on a thread here. I wrote something about drivers in Boston being self involved, but that it is a different kind of self involvement than that displayed by drivers in South Florida. That amused another member (MA redident, IIRC) who is familiar with driving in both places (don't remember who it was....pretty sure it wasn't you) enough to subsequently post a reply to the thread.

[YHWilliam09]

Originally Posted by Shroomster

How are people getting 38mpg?
are you guys looking at instant mpg, looking at your scan gauge, or are you calculating your per tank mpg?
Somehow skewing the numbers?

38 psi in the tires
a/c on most of the time
I drive on average 25 miles one way to work
70-80mph
I only see 32-33 mpg per tank
Average 326 miles on 10 gallons
I fill the tank completely every time

I work a pizza delivery job in suburbia and average right around 40 mpg. There are many small things that add up to help like tire psi, using a ScanGauge, etc., but the biggest factor in increasing your gas mileage is your driving style.

If you want to get up near 40 mpg, you'll need to learn and use many hypermiling techniques and start using a gauge that shows your instant mpg. Some of the techniques can be a burden if you don't want to deal with other drivers getting mad at you, but there are many you can use that won't affect anybody else on the road more than what's normal. Read these two articles, and they should help you quite a bit:

100+ Hypermiling Tips

Beating the EPA - The Why’s and How to Hypermile

[Shroomster]

I don't see how I could get another 4-5 mpg... Im not going to be able to decrease speed (Florida drivers are bad) and I'm pretty sure temp and humidity are factors, and even if I turn ac off, it will be negligible at highway speeds....

Sent from my metallic purple honami

[Rigaud]

My best I posted in "Fuelly" is 38mpg and my worse 30mpg. Cold damp weather this spring and on winter tires. I only posted twice for two fill ups. Got my summer wheels on and doing short 5 miles return trips around town plus some 35 miles trips on the highway but nothing under 65mph on highway. My very best this winter was 40mpg on a road trip, temps 20f hardly any wind. Next road trip I'll see how much better I'll do especially once I install a cruise control on it.

[marauder]

In my area with my driving conditions I'm seeing good numbers, but still early in my miles tracked and learning my vehicle. I will be picking up lighter wheels and tires and lowering a bit which I hope will get me close to 50mpg average. I never run a/c, typically just driver window down getting a left arm suntan.

I am only using DFCO and keeping speeds around 60 when possible, otherwise if I'm going faster I try to stay 5-6 car lengths behind the car ahead to reduce some of the drag.

Considering rigging up an active grille block shutter system when I have time to study how the new cars are doing it, maybe harvest the parts off a wrecked car or something so I can do it on the cheap.

Will be picking up a scangauge soon for some live data.

[Shroomster]

So you all are getting 400+ miles per tank? Crazy......

Sent from my metallic purple honami

[Rigaud]

Originally Posted by Shroomster

So you all are getting 400+ miles per tank? Crazy......

Sent from my metallic purple honami

360-395 miles per tank this winter on snow tires and cold. I'm about to find out what I do on summer wheels. I just drive, not going nuts trying to suck every possible mile out of a tank. If I compare with my Suburban or Audi A6, it's awesome. ;P

[roxy1]

as bad as this winter was, with much colder than average temps and 122 inches of snow, my average for december 1 through april 1 was 40.9 mpg's. now that summer gas is here (along with warmer weather), I expect to be closer to 44 mpg's.

5 speed manual. mostly suburban/light suburban/rural driving with speeds usually ranging from 40-60 mph, with about 10-15% true city driving.

I do not hyper mile. I do drive reasonably and avoid blasting away from every stop.

[marauder]

Originally Posted by Shroomster

So you all are getting 400+ miles per tank? Crazy......

Sent from my metallic purple honami

I never run past 2 bars and I'm getting almost 400 miles before fillup, if I ran to empty that would be almost 500 miles out of the tank based on my average.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by Shroomster

So you all are getting 400+ miles per tank? Crazy......

Sent from my metallic purple honami

527.9 miles on my last tank (filled up yesterday). I'm the oddball, as I fill each tank until I can barely see the gas in the neck...0.023 gallons from maximum capacity. I know that because I once ran out of gas as I was pulling into a gas station and it took 12.777 gallons to fill to that point. I know that is 0.023 gallons from maximum because CTScott performed a test to figure out the maximum capacity (don't remember how long ago that thread was posted), and the maximum is 12.8 gallons. My last 6 tanks:

527.9 miles ----- 11.784 gallons ----- 44.747114 MPG
517.2 miles ----- 12.164 gallons ----- 42.518908 MPG
504.9 miles ----- 11.994 gallons ----- 42.096048 MPG
517.7 miles ----- 12.347 gallons ----- 41.929213 MPG
490.3 miles ----- 11.550 gallons ----- 42.450216 MPG
483.3 miles ----- 11.506 gallons ----- 42.004171 MPG

[trunkout]

I've gotten 45 miles to the gallon. Hypermiling and driving 55. What's the big deal? It's even a sedan. It's technique, plain and simple.

Imagine there is an egg on your excellerator and you have no brakes.

[Amdkt7]

I was getting 50 mpg for most tanks last summer. I don't have the patience for it now, I get home 10 minutes faster and still get 43 mpg per tank.

The big trick for me is to put in the clutch and coast as much as possible, try to time traffic lights. Driving over 70 kills the mileage. Short trips really suck gas as the engine is not warmed up. I understand the engine runs rich until the catalytic converter gets hot enough to work.

Also, do not dally when getting up to speed. All time wasted in the lower gears really suck fuel badly. Get into top gear as soon as possible, then go with a light foot.

I drive a stick, and that makes a lot of difference. When coasting (even with the engine on) the gas mileage soars. It you are stopping use engine breaking as that causes the fuel to shut off completely.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by Amdkt7

The big trick for me is to put in the clutch and coast as much as possible

- Harder to do here (and impossible to do as effectively) re the pancake flat nature of most of the terrain ('The Heights' neighborhood in Houston got it's name re the elevation being 23 feet (yes 23 feet) higher than Downtown Houston, LOL).

Get into top gear as soon as possible, then go with a light foot.

I do this as well.

coasting (even with the engine on) the gas mileage soars.

I used to turn the engine off at a few red lights, but I stopped doing that as my revious battery got toward the end of its life.

[WeeYari]

Oil - I'm not entering into yet another debate on the subject
Plugs - there is absolutely nothing to be gained by swapping to anything new or different
Filter - K&N is great provided you have the discipline to clean and oil it properly. The OE filter is however, a fine filter.

[caruso125]

Originally Posted by WeeYari

Oil - I'm not entering into yet another debate on the subject
Plugs - there is absolutely nothing to be gained by swapping to anything new or different
Filter - K&N is great provided you have the discipline to clean and oil it properly. The OE filter is however, a fine filter.

Well I guess if I try them out and see improvements I won't share if it bothers you.