50 mpg or bust.

[ecoterror]

Bit of background, I'm a huge mpg freak, my past cars that I use to eco-mod have been an 81 rabbit, and more recently a 91 jetta. The Rabbit got high 40s, it was as much as the ineffecient thing could muster up, but the 91 Jetta was my prize. Through a huge number of exterior mods and lightening the car I got 57mpg average. Eventually I decided my old VW, with every hole and opening either welded, covered, or duct taped, looks a bit to hoopty for me to continue in it, even though ive never spent 300$ on a better car ever.
Enter my 2008 Yaris S 5mt in 8t0 blazing blue pearl!
This car is a hard one to do correctly, I had to balance building the car to my idea of a efficient car, while maintaining the "new" look. I am a master tech at a toyota dealership in ohio, and one September day a man had his car towed in for a bad clutch. He ended up trading it in, where it sat for 3 months, till one day I shipped my jetta off to a junkyard and bought the yaris for the sum total of 4k out the door.
Right off the bat, I threw it on my rack, installed a new waterpump, clutch, and two front wheel bearings, all common problems with the yaris we see in ohio. in addition I threw on 4 corner brake job, spark plugs, and a new air filter.
Then I could start on the interior, if you could call it that, the trash was up to the windows and the dog hair was an inch deep, gross. So I did what any eco modder does when confronted with an interior...
Throw that crap in the garbage. Every bit of trim and plastic behind the front seat was removed, and put into my attic. the difference was massive, the car responded better, mpg shot up 3mpg or so, and it handled incredible. Although now it was NOISY. Too much for my long road trips. So I took a box of the tacoma recall undercoating and did the entire rear of the car, which helped a ton and only added 2lbs of weight. It was still to loud for me, so i had to think outside the box. For instance, did anybody here know that part number PT580-35050-SB for a 07 tacoma will fit perfectly with NO trimming, In the rear of the hatch? I tucked it under the edge of the carpet and my car was honestly more silent than it was factory with only a 15lb sacrifice. Needless to say I was pleased.

Well thats part 1, let me know what you think, if you have any questions let me know! Ive had the car for a year so im going to have a couple post on the modifications to the car to get me where i am now.

[ecoterror]

My favorite hobby is road racing racing, Ive had two cars so far that I got very competitive with, an 04 srt4 with over 16k into it, including a home made front splitter, underbody tray, and rear diffuser, I am very good at making a areo package work, now i run a 91 GSX eclipse, which as of yet I havent built a kit for it, but it is in the works.
So then I opened the hood of the car for real this time. Installed a braille lightweight racing battery I had left over, 11lbs saving over the 35 series stock battery. i removed the air box and cut out the charcoal filter lid, and ran a custom cold air intake to the bottom of the box, that helped a bit, I got about 1mpg i would guess from the box modding and battery. This will soon be replaced with a trd intake I scored from a trade-in the other day, so Im looking forward to the gains I will have from that when installed on my next oil change. (I only mod the car at the begining of every oil change to eliminate variables.) Then the rear motor mount, which is pathetic from the factory needed work, so I broke out a polyurathane cutting board and a cutoff wheel, cut the board into two small pieces and drilled out most of the rubber, if you press the two pieces that you cut semi accurately... into the remaining mount you get a fairly solid mount, at almost no cost, and anything that cuts the slop out of the drivetrain will increase the mpg.
I had had the car for about 3 months at this point, so i hooked it up to my techstream and pulled the fuel trims, to my shock and elation my LT fuel trims had lowered to -15.6%, real number results that my little car was being as miserly as it could with the petrol. Although I was still only getting 38 mpg which to me is nowhere near what i should have it.
enter my first areo mod.
As we all probably know, the stock engine covers are hilariously bad, too small to even make a difference. So i went to my trusty imagination again to find a cheap fix. Then it fell into my lap, a customer had tore their underbody shield off of a 2010 sienna, part #58167-08010. this piece is in fact WAY bigger than the whole front end of a yaris. So I broke out the cutting wheel and went to town triming it to clear the tires, once it fit i used the OEM clips and screws to hold the front of it to the bumper, drilled some holes in the rear subframe and used 4 steel screws to hold it in place. it extends from the front bumper to past the subframe, basically perfect as an underbody plate.
The difference of the plate was nice, it made the road noise a bit quieter, made Key On Engine Off cruising run well over my previous records. Driving at 80 for long trips became a breeze.
which settled me right in at 41mpg while driving like a normal person, no actual eco driving, which is how i am most of the time.

once agian, let me know what you think, this car is fantastic for what it is and i love modding it.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by ecoterror

Then I could start on the interior, if you could call it that, the trash was up to the windows and the dog hair was an inch deep, gross.

. Any idea how much your dealership gave him on the trade in ?

Every bit of trim and plastic behind the front seat was removed, and put into my attic.

Did you wash each piece of plastic before putting it in your attic ?

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by ecoterror

which settled me right in at 41mpg while driving like a normal person, no actual eco driving

What does this mean? What speed on the freeway/interstate would this represent? I usually drive 55-60 in the slow lane on the freeway/interstate and a couple of MPH below the limit on surface streets. I got 42.08 MPG overall/combined on my last tank.

[Yaristeve]

Originally Posted by ecoterror

So I took a box of the tacoma recall undercoating and did the entire rear of the car,

Do you have a little more info on this undercoating stuff? I am getting a little tired of the noise and I don't want to changeout the Tanabe back to stock. I can't decide whether to try undercoating or that interior dynamat stuff or even truck bedliner. TIA

[Idahotom]

Personally I would find the addition of 15 lbs for noise reduction a big hit weight wise. I also stripped everything out behind the front seats, including that post/bracket that locates the spare, it's gone. That left bare metal so I just threw an old blanket back there to provide a little padding so whatever I'm hauling doesn't slid around. It helped with the noise a little, maybe, otherwise I think I have just gotten used to it. I agonized over the rear sway bar weight, but finally bit the bullet and installed one, no hub caps of course though maybe they clean the airflow up? Basically, if I could remove it, it came off.

The other day I was looking for the car's phone book, then I remembered when I realized I had gotten in the habit of using my smart phone to find #'s, I got rid of that big heavy paper phone book, probably 2 or 3 lbs, gone forever! I live 1,000' up a mountain so less weight is always better not only going up but going down. In my '08 HB driven more or less normally but just paying close attention to upcoming red lights, drifting through stop signs, driving about 63 on the freeway and using DEFCO a lot on the hills I always average in the mid 40's. Nothing to brag about compared to some of you guys but the occasional 45-46 mpg still happens and I still LOOK FORWARD to re-fueling! How many drivers can say that?! It's great fun to look around the station at suckers, oops meant other motorists, filling up their gas hogs with a pained look, like they're getting a colostomy or something, and I'm in and out of there and smiling.

Of the different types of bed liner's out there, I have found Herculiner to be the best, most user friendly, that may some help the noise, don't know for sure. I just finished my taxes, and was able to claim 3900 miles of self employed work driving with the Yaris. At around 56 cents a mile deduction, with the Yaris that works out pretty well. 43 miles for $3.25 out of pocket/direct operating cost means $24.08 deduction!

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by Idahotom

It's great fun to look around the station at suckers, oops meant other motorists, filling up their gas hogs with a pained look, like they're getting a colostomy or something, and I'm in and out of there and smiling.

It's amazing how long it takes to fill up the tanks in some of those suckers!

At around 56 cents a mile deduction, with the Yaris that works out pretty well. 43 miles for $3.25 out of pocket/direct operating cost means $24.08 deduction!

Smart man!

[malibuguy]

Your trying and only getting 41mpg? Thats what i get when im driving the snot out of mine. Whats your commute like?

[Gogogordy]

Originally Posted by Yaristeve

Do you have a little more info on this undercoating stuff? I am getting a little tired of the noise and I don't want to changeout the Tanabe back to stock. I can't decide whether to try undercoating or that interior dynamat stuff or even truck bedliner. TIA

Yes, please. More noise abatement info.

[Idahotom]

I don't know how the physics of it work, but after living on this mountainside for many years, my gut feeling is more fuel is consumed pulling the hill then is saved going down. Maybe it evens out but I get my highest mileage on a road trip and when I'm not pulling the hill every day. Though it sure is nice to DEFCO for a couple miles, or three, it sucks, literally, when I have to somewhat put my foot in it coming back up. Too slow and you get behind the torque curve, third gear at about 35 to 40 seems to be the best compromise, and that's less then 20 MPG according to the SC. Sorry for the thread drift!

[ecoterror]

sorry i dont have much time to get on here but ill answer as best i can.
nookandcrannycar: i took a powerwasher to this cheap plastic toxic mess, cleaned it up well enough to put into a bag and not fear black death:0

Yaristeve: unfortunatly its a VERY tight fisted item from toyota part #00289-T00KT-DS, but we keep all the extra from the jobs and just do our cars as we desire, its roughly a lighter form of bedliner, almost cardboard paper thin.

malibuguy: my milage is piss poor compared to some hypermilers, but i drive either 2 ways to work. 20 minutes through the center of the city(hence why I am crazy about weight loss) or 10 minutes highway. The issue is if i work at 8 and get off at 5 the highway then takes 30 minutes with traffic, so I end up taking the city much more.

Idahotom: I agree, I feel as if DEFCO downhill is just partially making up for the uphill stint of a trip.

Im kicking around some ideas for a rear diffuser or just going with cheap and easy "speed holes" in the rear bumper right now. I still need to do more research into the areo effect of the rear bumpers on these cars.

sorry about the lack of pictures, i cant seem to find a site to upload them to that does take a half hour of registering...

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by ecoterror

i took a powerwasher to this cheap plastic toxic mess, cleaned it up well enough to put into a bag and not fear black death:0

Thanks .

[JustPassinThru]

I don't think the Yaris can be an economy champ. No non-hybrid car today can.

The WEIGHT of all the safety junk, takes its toll. I had a Geo Metro; it got over 50 mpg; but the thing weighed 1500 pounds. And it isn't legal to sell such a car today.

Now...you've got a whole network of airbags; beams in the doors; reinforcements in the passenger cage. The weight of the Yaris is, IIRC, about 2600 pounds - almost as much as a Nova or Maverick used to weigh.

Now, if you want to rebuild the doors with an aluminum-tube frame over the factory skins...and strip out the airbags and all the miles and miles of wires...and drill holes all throughout the car...you might get it light enough that you can hit the 50 mark.

[soldout]

I dont understand how some of you are getting such low numbers. I consistently average in the mid to high 30s every tank. On the interstate not even trying on winter blend I hit 48.2 mpg. For what it is the yaris performs for being a non hybrid economy based car.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by JustPassinThru

I don't think the Yaris can be an economy champ. No non-hybrid car today can.

The WEIGHT of all the safety junk, takes its toll. I had a Geo Metro; it got over 50 mpg; but the thing weighed 1500 pounds. And it isn't legal to sell such a car today.

Now...you've got a whole network of airbags; beams in the doors; reinforcements in the passenger cage. The weight of the Yaris is, IIRC, about 2600 pounds - almost as much as a Nova or Maverick used to weigh.

Now, if you want to rebuild the doors with an aluminum-tube frame over the factory skins...and strip out the airbags and all the miles and miles of wires...and drill holes all throughout the car...you might get it light enough that you can hit the 50 mark.

My Yaris probably averages just over 40 combined. My 2001 Suzuki Swift -- new to 151k + miles (same as a Geo Metro) averaged just a few more. The Swift had a 1.3 engine, but had a .40 CD. My 2007 Yaris and the 2014 Yaris both (of course) have the 1.5 engine, but both have only a .29 CD. My 5-speed manual Swift had a curb weight of 1895 lbs. My 2007 5-speed manual 3-door Yaris has a curb weight of 2290 lbs and the 2014 of same = 2295 lbs. A 2nd gen 3-door member in PA, IIRC averages about 50. He's a member on a couple of hypermiling sites. IIRC, he blocks his grill and does a few other things.

[JustPassinThru]

Ah, the Swift had a four.

The Metro only had a four with an automatic. Otherwise it was the .9 liter three-pot.

I'm not gonna quibble your mileage stats; but I have had two Yarii now, one manual and the current, automatic. Best I've gotten was 38 with the manual; and that was running with what's supposed to be straight, no-booze gasoline.

I'm getting about 36 with the automatic. And, like I said...I never worked the figures carefully, but IIRC...I was getting close to fifty with the Metro, sometimes going over.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by JustPassinThru

Ah, the Swift had a four.

The Metro only had a four with an automatic. Otherwise it was the .9 liter three-pot.

I'm not gonna quibble your mileage stats; but I have had two Yarii now, one manual and the current, automatic. Best I've gotten was 38 with the manual; and that was running with what's supposed to be straight, no-booze gasoline.

I'm getting about 36 with the automatic. And, like I said...I never worked the figures carefully, but IIRC...I was getting close to fifty with the Metro, sometimes going over.

I did NOT drive like an old lady in my Swift. I sort of DO in my Yaris . Another difference might be Wisconsin Winter weather sapping MPG more than Houston Winter weather.

[JustPassinThru]

Originally Posted by nookandcrannycar

I did NOT drive like an old lady in my Swift. I sort of DO in my Yaris . Another difference might be Wisconsin Winter weather sapping MPG more than Houston Winter weather.

Nope.

New Yaris is parked for the winter. Except for the drive to Florida for Christmas, it has never seen salt.

This was in cool, warm and hot months.

Altitude here about 500 ft above sea level. That won't be it, either.