How Good Is Your Corolla On Gas?

Could - though I've never got my Corolla lower than 28MPG in just plain city driving. Make sure you check the usual items - make sure the plugs are in good shape, plug wires and coil packs are good, make sure tire pressures are even and correct (I usually run tire pressues around 40-44PSI vs the factory 30-32PSI - usually gives you another 10%-20% better fuel economy), good oil and air filter, clean PCV valve and make sure throttle body is clean, depending on mileage - O2 sensor(s) could be going on you - need to backprobe sensor to figure out if its working correctly.

Bikeman982

What about a slipping transmission - won't that increase fuel consumption?

I recently did the 90K maintenance (w/ spark plug change) on my 2002 Toyota Corolla and I still get 24 mpg (city driving, mostly). I don't understand - before I had my oil changed, I was getting 28-30 mpg, and after I average around 24-25. Anyone have any ideas?

Are you driving with the windows open on the highway? Is your aircondition on full-blast? Is your radio on? Are your tires not to full pressure? Are you driving almost exclusively in the city? Are you going gun-ho at the sight of green? Roll up all these factors into one and you can easily turn your Corolla into an El Dorado.

So what's my driving like? First off, green light in my dictionary means wide open throttle. It's not that I intend to race down the state highway zipping back and forth passed cars through the lanes, but its just so tempting in my little Corolla. I'm sure if I drove some oversized car like a Crown Vic I wouldn't be doing it, but when your in a small, nimble car, its just so much easier and fun. The only think I need is a little more horsepower or a major weight reduction. So far I've dropped about 100 lbs on my car. Next we get to my iPod, which not only uses the radio and speakers, but also connects to the cigarette lighter to get power. Oh did I mention my iPod got water on it and ever since the battery doesn't hold a charge? That means it has to constantly drain power. I would say my tires are well inflated, but whenever its more than 40 degrees outside, that means both front windows are wide open on my car. If not, that means the fan is blowing. I almost never use the AC unless its above 80 degrees outside. Anyways, in all with these bad driving habits, I still average about 28-29 mpg. My corolla is rated at 28/36.

Bikeman982

Do you get better gas mileage with the radio off??

Do you get better gas mileage with the radio off??

I've heard that it does, but the amount of fuel saved is so small, I'm not even sure if it could be measured. The radio takes power and the power comes from the alternator. Any more drag on the alternator is going to result in less fuel economy and power.

I have never turned off the radio to save gas myself. I'm not going to give up my tunes in attempt to get maybe .24MPG better. If even that much.

Bikeman982

Do you get better gas mileage with the radio off??
I've heard that it does, but the amount of fuel saved is so small, I'm not even sure if it could be measured. The radio takes power and the power comes from the alternator. Any more drag on the alternator is going to result in less fuel economy and power.
I have never turned off the radio to save gas myself. I'm not going to give up my tunes in attempt to get maybe .24MPG better. If even that much.

I always thought the alternator puts out the same amount of power, but the voltage regulator limits the amount to the battery.

It should not take any more gas to send a little more power from the regulator to the battery, because the radio is on.

Do you get better gas mileage with the radio off??
I've heard that it does, but the amount of fuel saved is so small, I'm not even sure if it could be measured. The radio takes power and the power comes from the alternator. Any more drag on the alternator is going to result in less fuel economy and power.
I have never turned off the radio to save gas myself. I'm not going to give up my tunes in attempt to get maybe .24MPG better. If even that much.
I always thought the alternator puts out the same amount of power, but the voltage regulator limits the amount to the battery.

It should not take any more gas to send a little more power from the regulator to the battery, because the radio is on.

The voltage regulator is to regulate the voltage to recharge the battery. The alt does make more, but power isn't free. When you turn on the lights or use any electrical device on your car, it takes more power to turn the alt.

If you knew how to get power from nothing, well, you would be wasting your time on this forum.

Bikeman982

Do you get better gas mileage with the radio off??
I've heard that it does, but the amount of fuel saved is so small, I'm not even sure if it could be measured. The radio takes power and the power comes from the alternator. Any more drag on the alternator is going to result in less fuel economy and power.
I have never turned off the radio to save gas myself. I'm not going to give up my tunes in attempt to get maybe .24MPG better. If even that much.
I always thought the alternator puts out the same amount of power, but the voltage regulator limits the amount to the battery.

It should not take any more gas to send a little more power from the regulator to the battery, because the radio is on.
The voltage regulator is to regulate the voltage to recharge the battery. The alt does make more, but power isn't free. When you turn on the lights or use any electrical device on your car, it takes more power to turn the alt.
If you knew how to get power from nothing, well, you would be wasting your time on this forum.

If the regulator limits the power coming from the alternator, and the alternator puts out more power than the minimum need to operate everything on the car, it would not take any additional gas to keep it running the same amount. If there was a problem due to additional accessories, higher output alternators are also available.

When you turn on the lights, it drains more from the battery, but the regulator just increases a corresponding amount of power coming from the alternator, without making the alternator do any additional work. That isn't power from nothing, it still burns the same gas.

Filled up on: 19 January 2007.Tank lasted me: 47 days from the start date [12/03/06] to the end date [01/19/07], but not including the end date.

Used: 10.346 gallons.
Traveled: 318.6 miles.
Achieved: 30.8 miles per gallon.
|21 June 2004 to 19 January 2007|
2 years, 6 months, 29 days excluding the end date of tracking fuel economy yields these results:
Total fuel used: 431.027 gallons.
Traveled: 13,525.7 miles.
Averaged: 31.4 miles per gallon.
Spent: $1,073.55.
Cost per mile $0.0793 [in fuel only].
Average time between fill-ups: 21 days.
Average fuel price: $2.48 [for 93 Octane].
Average miles per day: 14.3.

default_smile

Bikeman982

Filled up on: 19 January 2007.Tank lasted me: 47 days from the start date [12/03/06] to the end date [01/19/07], but not including the end date.
Used: 10.346 gallons.
Traveled: 318.6 miles.
Achieved: 30.8 miles per gallon.
|21 June 2004 to 19 January 2007|
2 years, 6 months, 29 days excluding the end date of tracking fuel economy yields these results:
Total fuel used: 431.027 gallons.
Traveled: 13,525.7 miles.
Averaged: 31.4 miles per gallon.
Spent: $1,073.55.
Cost per mile $0.0793 [in fuel only].
Average time between fill-ups: 21 days.
Average fuel price: $2.48 [for 93 Octane].
Average miles per day: 14.3.

An astounding dedication to maintaining fuel records.

Do you get better gas mileage with the radio off??
I've heard that it does, but the amount of fuel saved is so small, I'm not even sure if it could be measured. The radio takes power and the power comes from the alternator. Any more drag on the alternator is going to result in less fuel economy and power.
I have never turned off the radio to save gas myself. I'm not going to give up my tunes in attempt to get maybe .24MPG better. If even that much.
I always thought the alternator puts out the same amount of power, but the voltage regulator limits the amount to the battery.

It should not take any more gas to send a little more power from the regulator to the battery, because the radio is on.
The voltage regulator is to regulate the voltage to recharge the battery. The alt does make more, but power isn't free. When you turn on the lights or use any electrical device on your car, it takes more power to turn the alt.
If you knew how to get power from nothing, well, you would be wasting your time on this forum.
If the regulator limits the power coming from the alternator, and the alternator puts out more power than the minimum need to operate everything on the car, it would not take any additional gas to keep it running the same amount. If there was a problem due to additional accessories, higher output alternators are also available.

When you turn on the lights, it drains more from the battery, but the regulator just increases a corresponding amount of power coming from the alternator, without making the alternator do any additional work. That isn't power from nothing, it still burns the same gas.

The regulator is only to regulate how much power goes back to the battery to recharge it. It too much power was sent to the battery, it wouldn't last very long.

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mradiomileage.html

Here is one link that might throw a little light on the subject. One reason I believe that the alt takes more energy to spin when a electrical load is on is because my mustang has under drive pulleys and when I have the lights on, the car runs a little hotter. It's because the alt drags more and the water pump is turned even slower. When the fan kicks on to cool the car down, well, my lights dim and I'm down to about 12 volts total power until I get the car moving again. I didn't do that setup, but I don't over heat, so I probably won't spend the money to change it.

Anything that runs off the battery requires power and its going to tap that power from the engine one way or another. Whether its a radio, iPod, cell phone, cigarette lighter, headlights, speakers, or your cabin lights everything electrical in your car needs power from something. I read in an article that was criticizing daytime running headlights that on average, by having DRH, you consume 2 extra gallons each year. At an average of 14k miles each year at Corolla's 35 MPG, you consume about 400 gallons each year. 2 out of 400 is a portion to be note-worthy. They actually made a pretty good argument against DRH. 2 gallons over 200 million cars is 400 million extra gallons of gas burned each year!

mines terrible in the winter! i let it idle to warm up some before i leave, resulting in a wonderful 18mpg on my last go around. however thats ALL stop and go suburban traffic + long warmups. i think i need to change my thermo state, i dont think its closing fully.

mines terrible in the winter! i let it idle to warm up some before i leave, resulting in a wonderful 18mpg on my last go around. however thats ALL stop and go suburban traffic + long warmups. i think i need to change my thermo state, i dont think its closing fully.

You must have something wrong with your car. 18MPG is getting in to city V8 fuel economy. I've never gotten less then 3xMPG in a Toyota or a Honda. City or HWY.

mines terrible in the winter! i let it idle to warm up some before i leave, resulting in a wonderful 18mpg on my last go around. however thats ALL stop and go suburban traffic + long warmups. i think i need to change my thermo state, i dont think its closing fully.
You must have something wrong with your car. 18MPG is getting in to city V8 fuel economy. I've never gotten less then 3xMPG in a Toyota or a Honda. City or HWY.

does yours idle 15 minutes each time you go out for a drive? thats whats doing it default_smile

Bikeman982

Do you get better gas mileage with the radio off??
I've heard that it does, but the amount of fuel saved is so small, I'm not even sure if it could be measured. The radio takes power and the power comes from the alternator. Any more drag on the alternator is going to result in less fuel economy and power.
I have never turned off the radio to save gas myself. I'm not going to give up my tunes in attempt to get maybe .24MPG better. If even that much.
I always thought the alternator puts out the same amount of power, but the voltage regulator limits the amount to the battery.

It should not take any more gas to send a little more power from the regulator to the battery, because the radio is on.
The voltage regulator is to regulate the voltage to recharge the battery. The alt does make more, but power isn't free. When you turn on the lights or use any electrical device on your car, it takes more power to turn the alt.
If you knew how to get power from nothing, well, you would be wasting your time on this forum.
If the regulator limits the power coming from the alternator, and the alternator puts out more power than the minimum need to operate everything on the car, it would not take any additional gas to keep it running the same amount. If there was a problem due to additional accessories, higher output alternators are also available.

When you turn on the lights, it drains more from the battery, but the regulator just increases a corresponding amount of power coming from the alternator, without making the alternator do any additional work. That isn't power from nothing, it still burns the same gas.
The regulator is only to regulate how much power goes back to the battery to recharge it. It too much power was sent to the battery, it wouldn't last very long.
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mradiomileage.html
Here is one link that might throw a little light on the subject. One reason I believe that the alt takes more energy to spin when a electrical load is on is because my mustang has under drive pulleys and when I have the lights on, the car runs a little hotter. It's because the alt drags more and the water pump is turned even slower. When the fan kicks on to cool the car down, well, my lights dim and I'm down to about 12 volts total power until I get the car moving again. I didn't do that setup, but I don't over heat, so I probably won't spend the money to change it.

Interesting article - it states; "the amount of energy consumed by the radio is so miniscule that it makes absolutely no difference whatsoever. Remember, you can run a radio for months on a little pocket battery! So it's really not even worth thinking about."

Not worth worrying about.

mines terrible in the winter! i let it idle to warm up some before i leave, resulting in a wonderful 18mpg on my last go around. however thats ALL stop and go suburban traffic + long warmups. i think i need to change my thermo state, i dont think its closing fully.

Now that can't be right. Even when I drive a wide open throttle, I don't usually drop below 25 mpg. Idling for 15 minutes can't possibly halve your fuel economy. On most city commutes people idle half the time, but it doesn't mean their fuel economy dips that low, especially on small I4 engines. Maybe you have a bad 02 sensor. That can mess up your fuel economy alot.

Do you get better gas mileage with the radio off??
I've heard that it does, but the amount of fuel saved is so small, I'm not even sure if it could be measured. The radio takes power and the power comes from the alternator. Any more drag on the alternator is going to result in less fuel economy and power.
I have never turned off the radio to save gas myself. I'm not going to give up my tunes in attempt to get maybe .24MPG better. If even that much.
I always thought the alternator puts out the same amount of power, but the voltage regulator limits the amount to the battery.

It should not take any more gas to send a little more power from the regulator to the battery, because the radio is on.
The voltage regulator is to regulate the voltage to recharge the battery. The alt does make more, but power isn't free. When you turn on the lights or use any electrical device on your car, it takes more power to turn the alt.
If you knew how to get power from nothing, well, you would be wasting your time on this forum.
If the regulator limits the power coming from the alternator, and the alternator puts out more power than the minimum need to operate everything on the car, it would not take any additional gas to keep it running the same amount. If there was a problem due to additional accessories, higher output alternators are also available.

When you turn on the lights, it drains more from the battery, but the regulator just increases a corresponding amount of power coming from the alternator, without making the alternator do any additional work. That isn't power from nothing, it still burns the same gas.
The regulator is only to regulate how much power goes back to the battery to recharge it. It too much power was sent to the battery, it wouldn't last very long.
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mradiomileage.html
Here is one link that might throw a little light on the subject. One reason I believe that the alt takes more energy to spin when a electrical load is on is because my mustang has under drive pulleys and when I have the lights on, the car runs a little hotter. It's because the alt drags more and the water pump is turned even slower. When the fan kicks on to cool the car down, well, my lights dim and I'm down to about 12 volts total power until I get the car moving again. I didn't do that setup, but I don't over heat, so I probably won't spend the money to change it.
Interesting article - it states; "the amount of energy consumed by the radio is so miniscule that it makes absolutely no difference whatsoever. Remember, you can run a radio for months on a little pocket battery! So it's really not even worth thinking about."

Not worth worrying about.

Well, the car stereo is going to use a little more power then a pocket radio. It probably uses about the same amount of power as a boom box that could probably run off of batteries for a few hours. The stereo probably puts out maybe 10-15 realistic watts. If I was running on fumes and I needed to make it to the next station, I might turn everything off to try and save gas, but the stock radio is not a fuel economy killer. I know I got 43MPG on a road trip and the radio was on the whole time. If anyone has the upgraded JBL stereo option or a after market stereo that uses more power, then it might make enough of a difference to measure at the pump.

mines terrible in the winter! i let it idle to warm up some before i leave, resulting in a wonderful 18mpg on my last go around. however thats ALL stop and go suburban traffic + long warmups. i think i need to change my thermo state, i dont think its closing fully.
Now that can't be right. Even when I drive a wide open throttle, I don't usually drop below 25 mpg. Idling for 15 minutes can't possibly halve your fuel economy. On most city commutes people idle half the time, but it doesn't mean their fuel economy dips that low, especially on small I4 engines. Maybe you have a bad 02 sensor. That can mess up your fuel economy alot.

nope, its running stoich in closed loop, its that it takes 15 minutes or so get to closed loop, and before then its running around 10-12:1.

I've seen worse mileage on other 4 cylinder cars - Corolla included. Buddy got his around 16-18MPG in the wintertime - O2 sensor checked out OK, but his injectors were starting to go. Ended up replaceing both injectors and O2 sensors, full tune-up (plugs, wires, cap/rotor, etc.) - power improved but the mileage only went up a hair. Summertime - he got in the upper 20s and mid 30s with mixed driving - go figure.

mines terrible in the winter! i let it idle to warm up some before i leave, resulting in a wonderful 18mpg on my last go around. however thats ALL stop and go suburban traffic + long warmups. i think i need to change my thermo state, i dont think its closing fully.
Now that can't be right. Even when I drive a wide open throttle, I don't usually drop below 25 mpg. Idling for 15 minutes can't possibly halve your fuel economy. On most city commutes people idle half the time, but it doesn't mean their fuel economy dips that low, especially on small I4 engines. Maybe you have a bad 02 sensor. That can mess up your fuel economy alot.

nope, its running stoich in closed loop, its that it takes 15 minutes or so get to closed loop, and before then its running around 10-12:1.

Your thermostat is probably stuck open a little. Try replacing that. I don't think you can test to see if it is working right, but it is a really cheap part.

i know its stuck open a little, i only noticed it in the last week or so when its been sooooooo cold. when it warms up to around freezing i'll replace it, its too cold to do it now!

On average my 2002 Corolla S Auto gets 26 mpg street, and my latest trip from Ohio to SC got about 38 mpg. I have only had this car for a couple months with about 165k on it.

So not to bad overall.

Covering up the front grille for winter (+40 to -40F) helps for quicker warmups and to achieve and maintain normal operating temperature, as does using a block heater. You are getting 0 miles per gallon while idling to warm up... My A/F mixture is cycling at a normal 14.7~15.1:1 right away upon cold starts, as shown by my wideband O2 sensor monitor.

I get about 30 miles per US gallon average in the worst wintery and snowy conditions, mostly city driving and even with all my intake/exhaust mods, etc. I can adjust for the ECU's overcompensating for colder denser ambient air with my Camcon, thus preventing a richer than ideal mixture at WOT during winter. Synthetic oil helps as well.

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