26 mpg is "normal" ?!?

[SchrodingersCatSK]

I've been getting 8.9L/100km (26 MPG) since I bought this car at the end of February. I don't drive a maniac, I keep a close eye on the FE gauge and I do everything I can to keep it low (in L/100km, so "high" in MPG).

I've been driving a 1997 Toyota Tercel for the past 3 winters and I've never had such terrible fuel economy. So I called up the Toyota service centre, brought the car in for diagnosis, and they told me 8.9L/100km is "normal" for winter conditions.

I don't think so.

Instead of doing anything about it, they gave me a snarky 3-page "9 reasons why you get bad fuel economy in the winter" print-out. Language like "You're smart enough to keep your tire pressure up when the temperature drops, right?" had the tone of "Because we're pretty sure you're not." But yes, that was the first thing I checked when I noticed that my first tank barely lasted a week, whereas usually I'd fill the Tercel (same size tank) twice a month.

I looked at my fuel economy over the other 5 months of winter this year, when I was driving my 17 year old Tercel, and basically I've spent 50% more on fuel in the past 30 days with a 2012 Yaris than I did any other month this winter. Sure, fuel prices went up about 10%, but that doesn't add up.

I live in Saskatchewan, Canada. The temperatures this month have been -10 to -20C (14 to -4F). I understand that fuel economy is worse in the winter, but am I really supposed to believe that it's "normal" for a 2012 Yaris to get 50% worse mileage than a 1997 Tercel?? Especially when that Tercel was driving in the -35 to -20C (-31 to -4F) range??

The only other reason I can think of is that it's AT and the Tercel was MT, but still that doesn't account for a 50% increase in fuel consumption. Especially when I was doing my oil changes every 10,000 km if I was lucky. Oh, and the Tercel had winter tires whereas the Yaris has all-seasons.

Anyone else who lives in this kind of climate have some numbers they can share?

[CTScott]

The combination of 350 lbs of extra chassis weight, the automatic, and the more aggressive fuel control are likely the cause. With the longer and colder than usual winter that we've had here I definitely noticed an increase in consumption over normal for my Yaris.

[WeeYari]

Two of my gas log entries from January. Pretty much representative of what every fill up was like for me this winter.

http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/sho...9&postcount=14

[JustPassinThru]

Originally Posted by SchrodingersCatSK

I've been getting 8.9L/100km (26 MPG) since I bought this car at the end of February. I don't drive a maniac, I keep a close eye on the FE gauge and I do everything I can to keep it low (in L/100km, so "high" in MPG).

I've been driving a 1997 Toyota Tercel for the past 3 winters and I've never had such terrible fuel economy. So I called up the Toyota service centre, brought the car in for diagnosis, and they told me 8.9L/100km is "normal" for winter conditions.

I don't think so.

Instead of doing anything about it, they gave me a snarky 3-page "9 reasons why you get bad fuel economy in the winter" print-out. Language like "You're smart enough to keep your tire pressure up when the temperature drops, right?" had the tone of "Because we're pretty sure you're not." But yes, that was the first thing I checked when I noticed that my first tank barely lasted a week, whereas usually I'd fill the Tercel (same size tank) twice a month.

I looked at my fuel economy over the other 5 months of winter this year, when I was driving my 17 year old Tercel, and basically I've spent 50% more on fuel in the past 30 days with a 2012 Yaris than I did any other month this winter. Sure, fuel prices went up about 10%, but that doesn't add up.

I live in Saskatchewan, Canada. The temperatures this month have been -10 to -20C (14 to -4F). I understand that fuel economy is worse in the winter, but am I really supposed to believe that it's "normal" for a 2012 Yaris to get 50% worse mileage than a 1997 Tercel?? Especially when that Tercel was driving in the -35 to -20C (-31 to -4F) range??

The only other reason I can think of is that it's AT and the Tercel was MT, but still that doesn't account for a 50% increase in fuel consumption. Especially when I was doing my oil changes every 10,000 km if I was lucky. Oh, and the Tercel had winter tires whereas the Yaris has all-seasons.

Anyone else who lives in this kind of climate have some numbers they can share?

I don't think it's normal. And I'd been in Wisconsin's deep freeze...temperature 15 below and colder, F.

I was getting about 30 on my worst times.

It may be rotgut gas (ethanol lowers mileage; and the Yaris is not designed for 20-percent ethanol) or it may be something in the computer. I'd live with it for now; and when it warms up, yank the battery cable, leave it overnight or longer for the computers to reset. Then fire it up, record mileage; eliminate other factors like dragging brakes or low air in tires...and go back.

And document. And write Toyota if you don't get satisfaction.

[IllusionX]

I drive mostly city with lots of stop and go. 8+L/100km is about what i get most of the time.

[why?]

I've hit 26 mpg, but only with tons of idling. It is not normal. Has the oil been and other fluids, aka trans fluid been changed recently? That stuff can kill gas mileage. Just go through everything and you will find the problem.

[YHWilliam09]

I looked up a few fuel logs for the 2012 Yaris on fuelly.com for people located in Canada, and it looks like those numbers may be normal for your location this time of year.

http://www.fuelly.com/driver/cmetom/yaris-2 (Last 3 tanks: 25.27mpg)

http://www.fuelly.com/driver/motorcycleowner/yaris (Last 3 tanks: 28.83mpg)

http://www.fuelly.com/driver/annachetam/yaris (Oct. '12 and Jan. '13: 29.4mpg)

http://www.fuelly.com/driver/yang89/yaris (March '13 - June '13: 34.89mpg) <--Warmer months

[matti]

That sucks. I can only tell you what I've experienced. I've got a 2012 Yaris L (5spd. manual). I live in northern MN, and this winter has been very cold (not as cold as yours, of course).

In summer, I regularly get 38-40mpg, and get well above 40+mpg if I'm trying hard. In the heart of this winter (about January through February), I was getting about 28mpg. This was a lot of driving at air temps of -20F to -10F. Same routes, etc.

So, my experience is that my mileage was hit approximately 25%.

[DJYojimbo]

The cold temps which require the car to be warmed up and also for the automatic if the car is not warmed up enough, 3rd gear doesn't go into 4th gear which also attributes to more gas consumption.

[why?]

Originally Posted by DJYojimbo

The cold temps which require the car to be warmed up and also for the automatic if the car is not warmed up enough, 3rd gear doesn't go into 4th gear which also attributes to more gas consumption.

That is why they have heaters for both for cold climates. Easier and much cheaper to use electricity instead of gas to warm everything up.

[SchrodingersCatSK]

Originally Posted by why?

That is why they have heaters for both for cold climates. Easier and much cheaper to use electricity instead of gas to warm everything up.

For most people, yes. Problem is, we drive so infrequently that a block heater timer would be useless. I walk to school in the winter, hubby has a truck provided by his job for getting around, so we only use the car for errands. So to run the block heater 24/7 just for the 2-5 times per week that we make a quick trip to the store or an appointment, it would be a huge waste.

Hubby also has a theory that block heaters are unnecessary. The car gets "used to" them and then it won't start without them. We didn't use a block heater all winter on our '97 Tercel, and it only failed to start the one day it was about -50C overnight. Most of the cars that were plugged in didn't start either. *But* I can see your point that by not using one, you're either going to have to pre-heat the car longer or else suffer the poor mileage from a cold car, and either way will consume gas. So that could certainly be another factor here.

Is there somewhere I can get a "checklist" of simple maintenance procedures to improve mileage? We bought the car used, it was previously a rental (only found that out after, when I found Enterprise invoices in the pocket behind the passenger seat), so I'm sure it's never had anything but the bare essentials done in the last 2 years.

[Rigaud]

It's normal for an automatic if you don't warm it up and no block heaters don't warm up the tranny.

[why?]

Originally Posted by SchrodingersCatSK

For most people, yes. Problem is, we drive so infrequently that a block heater timer would be useless. I walk to school in the winter, hubby has a truck provided by his job for getting around, so we only use the car for errands. So to run the block heater 24/7 just for the 2-5 times per week that we make a quick trip to the store or an appointment, it would be a huge waste.

Hubby also has a theory that block heaters are unnecessary. The car gets "used to" them and then it won't start without them. We didn't use a block heater all winter on our '97 Tercel, and it only failed to start the one day it was about -50C overnight. Most of the cars that were plugged in didn't start either. *But* I can see your point that by not using one, you're either going to have to pre-heat the car longer or else suffer the poor mileage from a cold car, and either way will consume gas. So that could certainly be another factor here.

Is there somewhere I can get a "checklist" of simple maintenance procedures to improve mileage? We bought the car used, it was previously a rental (only found that out after, when I found Enterprise invoices in the pocket behind the passenger seat), so I'm sure it's never had anything but the bare essentials done in the last 2 years.

Yea, a timer is silly, but you can just plug it in 20 minutes before you need to take it.

As for simple maintenance stuff if you have an owners manual it should be in there, if not This website is also great.

Plus the maintenance section of this forum is a good tool as well.

Originally Posted by Rigaud

It's normal for an automatic if you don't warm it up and no block heaters don't warm up the tranny.

That is correct. Transmission heaters warm up transmissions.

[Rigaud]

My worse this winter was 8.8L/100km, -21c, cross wind, winter tires, Thule roof rack with skis and a pulk sled on the rack. This was a 2,000km trip, I averaged 105kph (65mph). Then one week later same distance and location but warmer weather (-3c) and nothing on the roof. 6.2L/100km. The best I have done so far with winter tires is 5.8L/100km. Mine is a 2 door hatch back manual trans.

[mirapatec]

We have winter down here, but you guys up north would call it a chilly day with a tiny bit of frost. That being said, I do not live in a metro area that requires "winter gas." I regularly obtain over 40 MPG average. However, this has been with pure gas/non-ethanol gas (E-0).

My local fuel station recently changed ownership, so I had to use the E-10 fuel from another station for a while. I certainly noticed the drop in fuel economy. It was still respectable in the high 30s. Now that I am using E-0 again, I expect my fuel economy to get back in the 40 MPG range again.

All that being said, I wish you guys could experience the better weather, as well as the fantastic fuel economy a Yaris can achieve down here.

[mirapatec]

Just updating... I would NOT expect 26 MPG to be normal under anything but the most harshest of circumstances. I recently achieved 44.4 MPG on a tank around town. Happiness!

[WeeYari]

Two and a half months since we heard from OP. I dare say he was simply experiencing the realities of a harsh Saskatchewan winter.

[trunkout]

I never see below 35 MPG. Year round. I DOES get cold in Kansas City! I would say a combo of good gas and tires should solve your problem.