Fuel Economy

[foober]

All I know is the higher gas prices go the more unhappy some folks with lesser gas milage will be. Its getting pretty interesting at the gas pumps now listening to people complaining. THey think its bad now. Wait a couple months to a year. Gonna be very interesting.

[stuffy]

@ search,

i think what we are seeing here is reports on fuel economy from engines that aren't yet broken in,
i'm getting better and better mileage and my engine is now at 5500km (3400 miles),
up until last month, my average mileage (since the car was new) was 35 mpg, my current tank (which is not yet empty) will be giving approx. 43 mpg. i have travelled almost 700 km on 37-9L, not too shabby.

[ricko]

(To Search) I think before we can make any reasonable assessment of gas mileage we need to break the cars in. Most of the posts have been about brand new cars. In my experience my Acura 1.7 EL Premium got significantly
(5-6mpg Imp.) better mileage than my friends RSX (not a Type S), and my Yaris RS seems to be doing even better on the first tank. I fully expect to be getting 40+ MPG Imp. when my car is broken in. Besides ..... if I had an RSX Type S, gas mileage would be of less concern than speeding tickets. Truly a fine car.

[Search]

Yeah I am really hoping that once we start to see broken in motors and non winterized fuels we can get a better idea of what the Yaris will really get mileage wise.

I am hoping it is a car that can get mid 30’s with high 30’s on highway trips. That in my opinion would make it a really great car. (though I am really liking the seating/cargo flexibility of the Honda Fit. Too bad some one beat it senseless with an ugly stick)

If my Civic had lasted long enough I would be test driving the heck out of the Yaris right about now and holding off long enough to try a Fit also.
Though I enjoy the RSX I am not comfortable with the fact that it is the second car I have ever owned in 25+ years of driving that got less than 30MPG. I feel so gluttonous (I guess I am really not cut out for SUV ownership then, when people brag about getting 13MPG on the highway)

Anyone want to buy a nice tasteful magnesium metallic 06 RSX –S?

[stuffy]

i hadn't considered the possible impact of winterized fuels on fuel economy, my last couple of tanks have probably not been winter fuel (don't know for sure because i didnt' pay attention) and i have been getting much better mileage with them.

[NickNickNick]

On my last highway trip of 1100 kms, I averaged about 710km/tank...which is down from about 800km/ tank. I do need an oil change however (6800km) and my PSI was down to 28 after the trip...these two things are the most crucial in great fuel economy...always check your tires before, during, and after long road trips!

[shtanna]

So I finally filled up. The last bar was flashing. I filled 38.8 Litres, with my trip reading at 521KM. If it only gets better from here, I'm very, very happy!

[ricko]

I got 6.7L/100km on my first tank. No highway driving, no big city driving ......... just bootin' around my small resort town, and out in the country.

[GabL]

Interesting article from Toronto Star:

Are premium fuels really worth the price?
Most cars designed to run on regular gas

It's best to use the type your manual advises
Apr. 15, 2006. 01:00 AM
PAUL STERN


When you put gas in your car, do you buy regular or premium?

Some motorists are quite particular about the blend of gas they buy, while others don't care as long as their vehicles start and go.

I am frequently asked my opinion about gas — especially as fuel prices rise.

In my experience, most car owners aren't too interested in knowing the difference between high-octane and low-octane gas.

Nor are they interested in knowing the structural properties of gas or the processes that are involved in converting crude oil into gas.

What motorists are most concerned about is price. I know customers who are obsessed with the price of gas and will drive across the city and line up, to save 10 cents per litre. Can you blame them?

Sometimes a major news story will prompt consumers to change their gas buying habits on a whim. For instance, after gas prices spiked last fall, many consumers who had been buying premium gas switched to regular or mid-grade.

Currently, there are four different grades of gas available in Ontario — 87 octane, 89 octane, 91 octane and 94 octane. For marketing purposes, different companies have different names for each of these blends. However, based on these octane levels, the products are comparable.

Proponents of premium gas will advise motorists to use a premium or mid-grade blend because they contain higher octane. They will argue that premium and mid-grade blends deliver more cleaning additives than lower, regular blends.

The truth is that all regular gasoline sold in Canada contains elements of "cleaning additives" to guard against engine build-up in the injectors and valves.

You may wonder why two identical cars — same manufacturer, same model year — occasionally deliver different responses using the same type of gas.

There are several possible explanations. Engine A might perform better because it has fewer kilometres than engine B, or because it has received better maintenance over its lifetime. High kilometres and poor vehicle maintenance could result in deposits forming in the engine, causing gas to burn less efficiently.

In this case, using premium gas with higher octane may eliminate any pinging in the engine, but there is no guarantee.

If you hear a pinging noise in your engine and it persists after changing blends or brands, then speak to your service adviser at your dealership. The wrong type of gas could, theoretically, cause your car's engine to underperform and it could even cause long-term damage to your engine.

Don't forget that today's engines are quite sophisticated and attention should be given to what is recommended by the manufacturers.

There are other factors that will have an effect on gas consumption, such as accelerating too fast, low tire pressure, outside temperature and wind levels, to mention a few.

According to Petro-Canada, "There is generally only a small difference in gas mileage, about 2 per cent, between premium and regular gasoline. This difference tends to favour premium gasoline."

Most passenger cars in Canada are designed to run on regular gas. The engines in these cars compress the gas-air mixture at a lower rate than the high-performance engines. Therefore, it is not necessary to fill your tank with premium when it's not recommended.

Do all oil companies refine gas in the same way? No. Oil companies extract oil from different sources, and the process involved in refining that oil differs from refinery to refinery.

That's why gas from one company may perform differently in your engine than gas from a competitor across the street. If you find that your vehicle performs better using one brand of gas over another, stick to it.

Let's analyze the price difference between blends and see how much consumers could save.

According to the Ontario Ministry of Energy website, the average prices of a litre of gas in Toronto during the first quarter of 2006 were: regular, 91 cents; mid-grade, 96.7 cents; and premium, $102.6. (It's often been a little higher lately.)

We'll use these average prices with the example of a 2006 Honda Accord mid-size sedan. The fuel tank capacity on this car is 64.7 litres. If you gassed up with regular once a week, you would pay $58.87 per fill-up; with premium gas, that same fill-up would cost you $65.99. The difference is $7.12.

A savings of $7.12 per fill-up, extended over an entire year, would save you $370. This is money that stays in your pocket and it could be used for any number of things. There would be no difference to your engine performance or to the wear and tear on your vehicle.

The best advice for drivers is to use the type of gas recommended in your owner's manual. Most people don't bother to read their manuals, but they should. If a certain blend of gas is recommended, then stick to that blend unless your service department advises you otherwise.

If you drive a sports car or luxury brand, that's a different story. Your owner's manual will probably advise you to use only premium gasoline. With luxury brand engines, switching from premium to regular could negatively affect your engine's performance and cause damage to your engine. It could also void part of your warranty.

The same conditions apply to drivers of leased luxury brands. If the leased vehicle requires premium gasoline, you are obligated to use premium only.

Here's a final piece of advice to keep in mind when buying fuel. If you drive a car with a diesel engine, then never put gasoline in the tank. Conversely, on regular engine cars, never put diesel oil in the tank. In fact, a diesel nozzle is usually too big to fit in a gasoline filler neck.

These points may seem obvious, but from time to time I hear about consumers putting the wrong kind of fuel in their vehicles and the outcome is never pleasant.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paul Stern, president of the Toronto Automobile Dealers Association, is a new-car dealer in Toronto. This column represents the views of TADA. Email: president @ tada.ca or visit http://www.tada.ca.

[Ziv]

Sweet article Gabl! Just a reminder, Our Yaris's manual said recommend 87 regular!

Latest number 80 city/ 15 hwy. 485 clicks / 36 Litre.

[why?]

Interesting article, but it didn't exactly cover anything new. Something the person prolly wrote in 5 minutes.

The big question to me is can the extra gas mileage you get with premium cover the extra cost of that fuel.

[GabL]

Originally Posted by why?

Interesting article, but it didn't exactly cover anything new. Something the person prolly wrote in 5 minutes.

The big question to me is can the extra gas mileage you get with premium cover the extra cost of that fuel.

Quote from the article: "According to Petro-Canada, "There is generally only a small difference in gas mileage, about 2 per cent, between premium and regular gasoline. This difference tends to favour premium gasoline.""

And the price difference of 87 and 91 for Sunoco is 11.6% (94.5 VS 105.5 per litre as I fuelled up last night). So you can do the math to see if 11.6% of extra cost giving you 2% more mileage is acceptable for you or not.

[GabL]

Originally Posted by Ziv

Sweet article Gabl! Just a reminder, Our Yaris's manual said recommend 87 regular!

Latest number 80 city/ 15 hwy. 485 clicks / 36 Litre.

How many bars left when you click 485? My gf got 495 clicks when the last bar starts to blink, dunno how many litre she filled in, will check the receipt later.

Just want to know roughly where am I at. I know the bars are not accurate indicators! haha

[Ziv]

Yeah, like I mentioned a thousand times, DO NOT TRUST THE FUEL GAGUE. Only use it as a reference. After 485 clicks, I still have 2 bar left, maybe roughly a bar and a half. I use a bar / 5 Litre as my guide.

[why?]

Originally Posted by GabL

Quote from the article: "According to Petro-Canada, "There is generally only a small difference in gas mileage, about 2 per cent, between premium and regular gasoline. This difference tends to favour premium gasoline.""

And the price difference of 87 and 91 for Sunoco is 11.6% (94.5 VS 105.5 per litre as I fuelled up last night). So you can do the math to see if 11.6% of extra cost giving you 2% more mileage is acceptable for you or not.

LOL, I missed that first part. At best, 2% better might equal 41 mpg instead of 40.

I need to change it all into numbers I can get.

Prices around here seem to start at about 2.72 per gallon. That means super will be 2.92 per gallon.
So you get 11 extra miles for $2.20.

2.20 is 80% of a gallon of regular gas which would get 40 mpg. So just by those numbers it would not be worth it.

[johnny]

My Diesel Yaris has 1500 km on it and I got 660km using 37,3 L of Diesel fuel with a regular driving style. This is nerly all city driving (80%C/20%H) in cold weather -3 to +5 Celsius.
According to Toyota the Yaris D4D should be able to get up 940 km to the tank. So I look forward to when my Yaris will be completely broken in and some warmer weather to see what kind of economy figures I will be getting.

[stuffy]

wow, that is incredible, now why won't they bring that engine to us?

[jay]

Back again with some more data

My observed fuel economy continues to improve. If I were to guess, I'd say the change to warmer spring temps have been a significant factor (nothing else has really changed).

I now have 7600km on the clock, and the results from last 4 tanks (going back to the 1st wk of March, all on 10% ethanol):

7.04L/100km - 70 hwy/30 city
6.73L/100km - 70 hwy/30 city
6.76L/100km - 55 hwy/45 city
6.36L/100km - 70 hwy/30 city (today's fill up)

To put this into context, my avg over the winter was ~7.1L/100km. I was especially surprised w/today's fill up number, since that's within a few % of the spec sheet numbers, when you bother to carry out the (admittedly estimated) calc. Anyhow, it'll be interesting to see if others have experienced a similar trend.