chevy cobalt 37 mpg

[yaris-me]

Originally Posted by thebarber

gearing

Yup!

[TLyttle]

Could be, but there is more to it than that. The myth that lower rpm is the key to good mileage has been around for a long time, but throttle management is more important. Goosing it to hold speed on a hill, participating in the ol' Stoplight GP, slowing for corners, stuff like that hurts FE, as we all know.

I had a car (Morris Minor) that spun along at 4 grand at 60mph, and I still got 50-60mpg Imp. It was 400lbs lighter than the Yaris, shorter, narrower, and lower, and there lies the difference. Minis (not the BMW lump) got great mileage, no matter how hard you thrashed them, and were way more fun to drive. Again, look at the dimensions to see why. Would I trade either of these vehicles for the Yaris? If it was strictly my decision, I sure would...

[SeaYa]

Originally Posted by Woody_Woodchuck

Before I decided on a Yaris I wondered about the real life mpg’s folks were getting versus the EPA estimates. In my internet investigations the Yaris’ real life mpg’s beat all the other smaller economy class vehicles. And it beat the EPA estimates more than the other new vehicles like the Aveo, Smart and Cobalt.

Was it that folks who bought them tried harder to get better mileage or was it just more capable of better mileage?

Cobalt may have 37 hwy, but it also has as low as 25 city. Since real life MPG's will be a blend of both city and hwy it makes sense that (with identical drivers doing 50/50 city/hwy) the Yaris with 29/36 (for 09) would average slightly better than 33 the Cobalt with 25/37.

[tetzyamis]

Originally Posted by vector9mm

The new cobalt xfe is rated at 25 city and 37 hiway. My question is how does a car with probably 200 pounds extra and putting out 155 HP beat my yaris on the hiway? I love my yaris but for the small car it is and the HP output, I don't see how it only is rated at 36. I know some of you say you're getting 45 mpg but that only means that someones cobalt is getting 46. I just think that Toyota didn't want the Yaris taking sales from the more expensive prius.

I agree.
How is Yaris rated at 36 mpg highway and that Cobalt is rated 37 mpg highway.

I've never thought of it, but I'm actually about to think same as you do:

Originally Posted by vector9mm

I just think that Toyota didn't want the Yaris taking sales from the more expensive prius.

[bkrownd]

I was surprised to get 35 MPG in a rented cobalt recently, but my corolla gets nearly 44 MPG doing the same trip.

[mutatio]

Originally Posted by roxy1

i dont know how much higher gearing would really help mpg in a corolla or yaris. at 60 mph, the rpm's are reasonable. at 60 mph, my yaris was at 42+ mpg easily and 40+ in my corolla at that speed is pretty easy also. when you get up to 70+ mph, you are increasing wind resistance exponentially, and that will kill your mileage regardless of rpm's.

i also believe in the real world, some cars really do better at beating epa estimates than others. take that 5 speed auto in the civic. now, take a look at real world numbers here:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/calcu...umn=1&id=23502

most of the entries are a majority of highway driving for that 5 speed auto, and ONE single driver out of 88 drivers achieved 40+mpg and the average of 31.3 is nothing special. that same car in a 5 speed manual (which revs higher than a corolla or yaris in high gear) actually averaged 1 mpg higher than the 5 speed auto. thats real life.

now, take a look at the yaris. it seems the epa estimates are much more easily achieved, with the auto averaging 34.8 mpg and the higher revving manual transmission averaging 38.9 mpg.

Um, the same car traveling at 75mph with 3,000 rpm will get less mpg than when it's going 75mph at 2,500rpm. Wind resistance being the same, less RPMs = less work by the engine. If you've got a manual, feel free to test out 75mph in 4th versus 5th. ;-)

FWIW, the Civic is beating the older EPA estimates. We have yet to get less than 32mpg in combined driving with highway speeds at ~72mph. We live in Miami so the highway miles can quickly turn into city driving in the rush hour to and from work. If my wife will trade for a week maybe I'll see what I can get in the 60mph range. I'd say Hondas and Toyotas have tended to be more true to their EPA estimates than other brands in my experience. My old Saturn L200 was supposed to get 32/24 and I was lucky to get 22, usually around 20 on average. Driving habits are king. If I drive with no clue as to gas consumption in the Yaris I can easily dip below 30. With half a brain at work to keep in mind the gas, I'm easily at 32+, and that's with numerous starts/stops due to my job during the day. Yes, I'd very likely be above the old EPA estimates if I had a simple drive to and from a static location.

[roxy1]

[QUOTE=mutatio;263473]Um, the same car traveling at 75mph with 3,000 rpm will get less mpg than when it's going 75mph at 2,500rpm. Wind resistance being the same, less RPMs = less work by the engine. If you've got a manual, feel free to test out 75mph in 4th versus 5th. ;-)

FWIW, the Civic is beating the older EPA estimates. QUOTE]


3k rpm isnt that high for an eco car at 75 mph. im not sure at 2500 rpm's it would get significantly better mileage to make up for the doggedness it would have at lower speeds in fifth gear. i would like my corolla to rev about 200 rpms lower at hwy speed (i said the same thing w/ my yaris), but not because i think the mpg would be very much higher. id just like a more sedated sounding engine for longer stretches of highway.

YOUR civic may beat epa estimates, but there are plenty of civic drivers on fueleconomy.gov driving mostly highway miles who are not achieving the highway estimates(and i am certain people who post there are conscientious of their driving styles). the automatic civic revs pretty low at highway speeds, so if it were about rpms only, drivers should be easily beating epa estimates.


i do agree that some makes seem to achieve/beat/come close to epa estimates more easily than others.