embarrassingly bad mileage... REALLY

[otterhere]

I wouldn't be TOO embarrassed... As Mark Twain said ("Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated."), so -- methinks -- have the "great mileage" claims on the Yaris. Toyota advertises it at 29 city/34 highway, or maybe 36 (can't remember), and I imagine that's pretty close to the truth of the matter.

[bzinn 1]

I put my stockies back on for winter and get 2mpg more than I did with my 17s,which made me feel pretty good.

Heavier tires,stop and go traffic and cold winters take milage down.Also look at the vent setting,if it is in the defrost position your compressor will run to dry the air,using more fuel,and it will do it most notciable at stop lights.

After getting my car realigned last week I also have gained another mpg,and am back up to 35 mpg for highway travel.

when I drive all city travel,with defrost or AC on with the17s I average about 25mpg,i have a heavy foot at stop lights......

But coming from a gas guzzling hot rod to the yaris.......this thing is sipping gas......GTO ate up 15 gallons in 3 days,and that was only about 140 miles tops......much happier.

[otterhere]

Originally Posted by bzinn 1

IAlso look at the vent setting,if it is in the defrost position your compressor will run to dry the air,using more fuel,and it will do it most notciable at stop lights.

Ah-ha! I've been wondering about that. Because I have to defrost it most mornings (ice on windshield), I generally just leave the vent open (in the recirculate position). I wasn't sure what effect this might have on mileage?

[tetzyamis]

With the previous car ('03 Corolla), I changed original 15" to 17" and did not affect fuel economy at all. It was 32 mpg before 17" rims and 32 mpg after rims. 17" was much heavier than 15". I had a lot harder time carrying 17" from my condo to the parking lot.

My friend had '07 LB, 90% city driving, lots of short trips and idling, and still was getting 25+ mpg.

20 mpg seems to have something wrong to me.

[XYaris]

1. Its a manual (so no overdrive issue )
2. I do have to defrost a lot ( the yaris windows like to fog up and its winter )
3. I talked to a few local dealers. One cool one said he doesnt think anything is wrong. That if the car was throwing a code the check engine light would on. duh. So I would assume that if the lambda or other sensor was bad this would trigger a code. He also said that the engine not being broken in at all may make a difference as well. Im gonna drive it as is until the first oil change which is a new debate altogether.

Should I wait until 5k to change the oil for the first time? especially with these concerns?

I have recently pulled of almost 25 mpg so that makes me feel better.

Thanks yall for your advice and concern.

[brendenr89]

maybe, just maybe it's a bad fuel filter??

[SpaceShot]

1. Check your tires and set to 32psi or the average of 32 and max sidewall rating.
(mine were under inflated at dealer pickup, but not quite low enough to trip the TPS)
2. Change the oil (perhaps going to a lighter weight synthetic for the cold weather) and make certain not to overfill it. (between the lines on the dipstick, NOT over the top line)
3. Borrow a scanguage or get a passenger for a weekend to watch your shifting.

If you don't upshift quick enough, ride the clutch, or spend too much time in 3rd or 4th (even in the city) your Mpg will suffer. 20 or more years ago you often needed to get the revs high in lower gears to get an economy car moving well. You don't need to do that with a Yaris. Try it for a week or more and see what happens.

[TLyttle]

Mmmm, maybe. I NEVER make ANY 4-holer pull hard below 2,000rpm, including my Yaris, and I seldom rev over 3500, but I still get excellent mileage. The first thing I did was run up the tire pressure to sidewall max -2lbs, and resumed my usual driving style, ie don't slow down for corners, never floor it, read traffic so that I don't have to slow down any more than absolutely necessary. Works for me.

[Altitude]

Lead foot. Get yourself a scangauge and get the lead out. You'd be surprised how much you can let up on the gas and still maintain speed.

[voodoo22]

Originally Posted by TLyttle

The first thing I did was run up the tire pressure to sidewall max -2lbs, and resumed my usual driving style, ie don't slow down for corners, never floor it, read traffic so that I don't have to slow down any more than absolutely necessary. Works for me.

Words of wisdom

[firemachine69]

I'm currently doing about 50km (30 miles) to a bar right now.

[TLyttle]

I prefer 8 beats to the bar myself...

The accuracy of the fuel gauges was discussed awhile ago, and the consensus was, don't depend on them, use them as a rough guide only.

[minicorolla]

And I'm bitchin' about 36 MPG

[firemachine69]

Originally Posted by TLyttle

I prefer 8 beats to the bar myself...

The accuracy of the fuel gauges was discussed awhile ago, and the consensus was, don't depend on them, use them as a rough guide only.

I was in that boat for a while... And while accurate in the testament, mine seems to now evenly spread mileage between the first and sixth bar.


I'm now averaging 25-27mpg. ALOT better.

[jambo101]

My crappy mpg is due to the engine never getting to operating temperature during the winter,my Scangauge tells me that i need to drive at least 5-6 miles at highway speeds to attain temps in the 180's and most of my driving these days is all city driving for no more than 20 minutes at a time. I'll see how it improves on an upcoming trip to Florida.

[marcus]

well i hit my worst on 7 bars /36 liters.. i only did 450 kms...winter weather though but i think this is the worst ever for me.

[otterhere]

"The first thing I did was run up the tire pressure to sidewall max -2lbs, and resumed my usual driving style."

Okay, I give; what 2 pounds under sidewall recommendation? I'm far from my car now...

[TLyttle]

Depends on the tires, different makes have different limits...