How Good Is Your Corolla On Gas?

OK.. I was waiting for enough data to add my $.02 to this:

DATE---------MILEAGE--MILES--GALLONS--MPG/TANK

07/18/2005--210--------0--------3.3120--------

08/02/2005--475--------265-----10.542-----25.138

08/18/2005--750--------275-----10.950-----25.114

09/03/2005--910--------160-----6.4500-----24.806

09/13/2005--1184-------274-----10.547-----25.979

09/24/2005--1476-------292-----10.399-----28.080

10/04/2005--1747-------271-----10.533-----25.729

10/17/2005--2010-------263-----10.410-----25.264

This is from the first fueling I did with 210 miles on the vehicle, the 3.312 gallons was to set a full baseline to start with. I use 87 octane exclusively and have filled up at different stations and have all noted in a spreadsheet for my possible arbitration with Toyota. The vehicle is a 2005 CE AT. I posted issues with this vehicle before:

See Thread Below:

https://www.corolland.com/forums/index.php?...topic=17944&hl=

The only addition to the thread above is that 2 of the 4 mounts were replaced and the vibration is 80% back. The ECM was never able to be reset by the Dealer or Toyota's regional field Techs. It was verified by Toyota that the reset process in the TSB noted in the thread above did not had a prerequiste of parts being replaced. Also the disconnection of the battery method to reset the ECM did not reset learned values.

I meet with a DSPM (District Service Parts Manager) next week to attempt one last time to resolve this before arbitration or to start the Lemon Law process.

My wife and I commute together and we travel a mix of 30%city/70%highway to work which is roughly 20 miles each way. The tire pressure is maintained at spec, we do not drive it like a race car and there is not 400 lbs of bricks in the trunk at all times.

What is pathetic is that we are cosidering commuting in our 2003 4Runner V6 again because it gets 19-21 MPG in the same driving condition with a lot more room and only at a cost of approximately 5MPG. Anyhow based on the previous posts in this thread I should be getting a *MINIMUM* of 32MPG combined.

More to come next week...

Anthony

BTW - It is not just the mileage that is the issue, the engine vibration is back almost fully now... Thanks for listening folks.

It sounds like a problem, indeed. Does its exhaust smell like its running rich?

Mine does and I only get 27city/31hwy. I also had the sulfur smell problem back in 2003. Since 2004, the gas has lower sulfur, so it's not an issue.

If I were you I would remove and clean MAF sensor with carb cleaner (careful, easy to damage). If that doesn't work, ask the dealer to hook it up to the scanner and see if sensors are working, and ask them the status of long term fuel trim. If it is negative, there is an excess of fuel delivered. Mine used to be -10%. Went down some after MAF cleaning.

QUOTE(Ti-Jean @ Sep 26 2005, 06:37 PM)

The numbers I have are 32/40 for a manual 05 et 32/41 for the 06.

So, indeed, I beat the US EPA's numbers at 42 for an all highway tank.

But I was below the Canada Natural Resources highway number that is 53 MPG Imp or 44.2 MPG US.

True that my tires at only 29 PSI front and 27 rear probably cost me in the neighborhood of 1 MPG.

"Let me ask you, you complain that you get 42MPG? You are crazy! I get only 32 max MPG on hwy. And your tire pressure is radiculously low. I ride on 40 PSI (doesn't help with MPG)."

I didn't exactly complain but the conditions were so perfect on that day that I just expected outstanding numbers. Also shows what I said earlier about Toyota Canada getting a ringer for the official mileage figures in '03 because their number (44.2 mpg) is unattainable. The US official figure (41 mpg) is more realistic.

And why are you running 40 psi in your tires if it doesn't help with mpg?

And suffer the hard ride and risk ruining your suspension and wearing your tires in the middle?

Now that outside temperatures are cooler, I had only 28 psi front and 26 back, so I put 4 more psi all around to 32 front and 30 back but that is in my garage with temperature currently sitting at 15C while outside temp is in the 5-10C range, so I'm actually having about 31 front/29 rear for now. And that is plenty enough if you ask me, for a 2550 lbs car riding on 195/65-15 tires.

I'm experimenting with MPG display on OBD2 software I just got for beta testing. Very interesting results.

My city MPG results so far:

1st mile 15MPG (cold start, 45F ambient)

2 miles 23MPG (cold start, 45F ambient)

3 miles 26MPG (cold start, 45F ambient)

10 miles 34MPG (cold start, 45F ambient)

6 miles 40MPG (warm start)

This confirms what I suspected. Clearly, the length of trip in city has a hudge impact on MPG. It is also refreshing how idling and waiting for a green light dips your average a couple of mpg. A single WOT start and race at a green light depressed average mpg from 26 to 23 mpg at one point!

If all US cars had these MPG displays, the nation would save tons of gas.

My 2000 Corolla LE gets about 32mpg.

WHOA.....thats a great little chart thingy. What hardware/software are you using because I have been considering something like that. I also go about 11 miles to school.......averageing around 26 MPG. about half the TIME is freeway, but the freeway is 3/4 of the driving.....f-ing city traffic getting to the freeway.....

Which one? The kit for 100? Or did you make it from parts?

That is a nice chart, pretty much what I found too, if you want to see the best milage you can get, get the car completely warmed up, then go fill it up, drive slow on a nice flat highway for a while, and then go back to the same pump to see how much gas you've used. Those first couple miles really suck the gas down.

My daily drive is 3 miles one way, and when I drive pretty much only that I usually see around 34MPG. I think once I got below 30MPG, but it was unusual circumstances.

The speed limit for part of it is 55, and 35 for the other half. I'll go 40 and shift into fifth, about 1500 RPM. Every little bit helps, for sure.

i just bought an 06 corolla and i get terrible gas miles, i'm only getting around 200-230 miles on a full tank.....i dont know why i mean its all city miles but it shouldn't be that bad

How fast are you driving? That is a little low, but you will get less gas milage on the winter fuel formula. Our last tank, we got 31MPG and it was all city driving and too many short trips. Our all time best was 43mpg on a trip tho.

It really depends on how you drive it.

are winter gas in stations already? until what month in the spring do they run to?

It probably depends on where you live, but some places have already had snow, and we had a little the other night. I think the winter fuel is at the pumps at least where we live cause it's been really cold.

I don't know when they change back to summer fuel.

I also don't know exacly why winter fuel burns faster. BP puts additives to help prevent the fuel from freezing. You get less fuel economy, but, you get a better winter formula.