Fuel Efficiency and the Yaris

[RickSWEF]

Originally Posted by vincentg

Does it make much difference if i gas up at night than throughout the day? and i heard from a good friend of mine that if you gas up notice that there are 2 - 3 types of levels in the nozzle of the gas pump. you only put in in the first level. (or the slowest pump) as to get more gasoline :) is this true? :)

I don't think it matters much what time of day you fill up. However, a slower pump will allow more air to escape your tank when filling up. Trapped air will cause the fuel to come up the filler tube and trigger the automatic shutoff on the pump nozzle. Some people think the tank is full when the nozzle clicks off and just puts the nozzle away without topping off. A slower pump will allow more fuel to enter the tank before the nozzle clicks off, so you end up with a fuller tank. If you're one who tops the tank off, none of this really matters much.

My '08 Yaris gets 36mpg during the winter months and 40mpg in the summer. I think the colder temps have something to do with this, but I also found out that gas stations have a summer fuel mix and a cheaper winter fuel mix. The different mixtures and the temps combined probably cause the difference in mpg. Of course, I'm not a slow poke when on the highway, so I could get better mpg if I tried.