Mpg

[xarneco]

What made me decided to buy my 2014 Corolla LE ECO, was the 30 to 42 mpg, compares to Civic and Mazda 3, back seats space and cockpit design was the most. after driving in town and high way, with (light foot) I got the bad news, I can not do better than 28 mpg. I have a appointment tomorrow at my local dealer, any body get some ideas about it ?.

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

How many miles are on the car? Engines need accumulated mileage to break-in and deliver best power and fuel economy.

Are you using gasoline with ethanol in it? If so that will reduce fuel economy about 10%.

How are you calculating the fuel economy?

 

[Donabed Kopoian]

?

I get 28 mpg if I redline every red light. And as Scott said, engines need to break in before you start seeing economy improve.

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

I'd guess they are using the trip odometer to try and calculate fuel economy. Wont work.

 

[Donabed Kopoian]

Torque App uses GPS speed when displaying instant economy and average. Not sure how accurate it is but it seems close.

The trip meter and computer MPG display are only as accurate as the speedometer, and as tires wear it changes. I do it that way anyway because I'm not so much concerned with the number itself, but if that number itself drops suddenly (which could mean I have ignition or fuel problems, and it was how I determined my Focus had a vacuum leak somewhere).

 

[xarneco]

Corolla MPG

How I calculate MPG
1-fill at up tank " 12 gallon"
2-zero down speedometer
3-drive like 350 mls

4-350/12=29.16666....

5-My car made 29.1666 miles with 1 gallon of gasoline.

Is this way the right one?

 

[Donabed Kopoian]

Fill to first shut off, try to use the same pump at the same station, as different pumps have different shut-off points.

Are you doing a lot of city driving?

 

[VTAK8k]

Our Corolla seems to be getting 26-27 mpg from my calculations, the computer telling me I got 1-2 mpgs better. My wife probly still warms it up a lot in the mornings and does in town driving. Her old Focus in the same conditions was getting about 17.

My Civic took 10,000 miles to break in fully. Before it was broke in, it actually burned about a quart of oil between 3,000 mile oil changes. After the 10,000 miles, the economy improved and it quit burning oil.

 

[Donabed Kopoian]

I changed my oil at 350 miles. Probably should pull my dipstick and see where I'm at. Currently at 1600 miles.

 

[Donabed Kopoian]

I broke mine in for 1000. Toyota recommends around 700.

 

[Donabed Kopoian]

This was partway onto my cruise this morning. Cruise set at 70 m.p.h.

This was toward the end of it.

 

[VTAK8k]

I broke mine in for 1000. Toyota recommends around 700.

I think the book says 621 miles. The salesman told me only the transmission needs breaking in since the motor was done at the factory. Either way I'm sure after a few thousand miles we'll see mpg gains.

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

Engines are not broken-in at the factory. That's simply not true. The only way to break-in an engine is by driving it.

 

[Donabed Kopoian]

Engines are not broken-in at the factory. That's simply not true. The only way to break-in an engine is by driving it.

Exactly. Engines built at a factory are machined in a way that allow for a quicker break-in, but not broken in, not even close.

When I first drove my car off the lot I instantly got it on the freeway, put the car in 6th, floored it to 80, then let off the throttle down to 50, then throttle back to 80, then coast to 50. Did this for 20 minutes in 6th and another 20 minutes in 5th.

I avoid long trips, avoid cruise control (or constant speed), avoid taking the engine above 4,000 RPM, avoid speeds in excess of 80 m.p.h. for the first 1000 miles.

Also keep in mind that things like your clutch and brakes need to break in as well, so you don't want to beat up on the clutch or slam the brakes (UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY) or you can cause premature failure in them, as well as chattering.

I also change the oil around 250 - 500 miles to get rid of the crud from break-in, and it is also a good time to check the oil and look for signs of excessive engine wear (chances are very rare you get a bum motor but it can happen).

 

[Corolla Cop]

How I calculate MPG
1-fill at up tank " 12 gallon"
2-zero down speedometer
3-drive like 350 mls

4-350/12=29.16666....

5-My car made 29.1666 miles with 1 gallon of gasoline.

Is this way the right one?

I don't really understand your calculations.
Fill your tank!!Don't worry about the gallons at that point, it don't matter. Drive at least half a tank or even near empty.
Fill up and then divide your gallons into the miles driven. That's the only way.

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

How I calculate MPG
1-fill at up tank " 12 gallon"
2-zero down speedometer
3-drive like 350 mls

4-350/12=29.16666....

5-My car made 29.1666 miles with 1 gallon of gasoline.

Is this way the right one?

The only way to correctly and accurately calculate fuel economy is to fill the fuel tank all the way to the very brim, shake the car to get rid of any air pockets, (you will see the fuel level will then drop), fill again, shake again and fill again until the fuel tank really is full. Record the odometer reading and then drive the car for almost a whole tank to obtain a rough average and repeat the process above, again recording the odometer reading and also exactly how much fuel it took to refill the fuel tank. Calculate how many miles were traveled on that tank of fuel and and then divide that by exactly how many gallons it took to refill the tank and that is the miles per gallon.

Attempting to use any other method is not accurate and can have wild fluctuations in miles per gallon.

Miles per gallon can and will fluctuate from fill up to fill up with different driving conditions that can't be controlled, i.e. headwinds, tailwinds, stop and go driving and idling time. Keep in mind that when your car is sitting still and the engine is running, the engine is using fuel but the car is not moving and this means the vehicle is delivering exactly zero miles to the gallon. This totally obliterates accurate fuel economy averages.

 

[Corolla Cop]

Thanks for sharing Scott. That is pretty much how I fuel up. I am getting 385-390 miles on the first half tank and averaging 42 mpg. 42.7 is my best so far on my S Plus.

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

My pleasure Corolla Cop. I enjoy helping people with their cars and this is my chosen profession.

I'm a full time independent AMSOIL synthetic lubricants Dealer and for my own personal knowledge of fuel economy increases that AMSOIL synthetics provide so I can relate that to my customers, I record every single drop of fuel that my vehicle uses and I have noticed that as the fuel in the tank is consumed, it reduces the weight the engine has to haul around and the fuel economy can quite noticeably increase because of that. If I fill up at half a tank, the car has been hauling around the weight of a tank to half a tank of fuel and I was surprised to learn the fuel economy is reduced considerably because of the weight of the fuel. When I don't fill up until one quarter of a tank or a bit less, the fuel economy increases because of the engine hauling around less weight are very noticeable, in the range of 2-3 mpg more for my car. A gallon of fuel weighs about 6 pounds, so at 12 gallons that's 72 pounds of weight the engine of your car has to pull. At half a tank that's about 36 pounds less weight and even more as the gas is consumed. It surprised me very much to see how much of a difference weight can make in fuel economy, even that little amount. So in the never ending quest for better fuel economy and saving money, I try to keep the trunk and back seat empty of anything I don't need to be hauling around and keep my car on a diet.

 

[Corolla Cop]

I usually fill up at about a half tank. Maybe I will let it get closer to empty before filling up a couple times and see what kind of difference it makes.

I learned something else too about the display reading "cruising range". I have driven about 10 miles past "0" on the cruising range. But again, it all depends on how you drive.

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

Be careful and don't let the fuel tank get too low. I don't recommend driving until there's very little fuel left in the tank as that can cause the electric fuel pump inside the gas tank to burn out and they are in the range of $450-$650 + to replace. Ouch!

What causes this to happen is the fuel is actually used to cool the electric fuel pump it is immersed in, by helping to disperse heat. When that fuel gets very low, it exposes the electric fuel pump to the air and it heats up, which can cause it to fail. For this reason, I recommend refilling the gas tank at about one quarter of a tank in order to help the very expensive electric fuel pump to live a very long, low cost life.

Yes, onboard fuel economy computers are notoriously inaccurate, as you have seen with your own eyes. If and when the fuel tank is low, be very wary about trusting those onboard fuel economy computers or you could be left stranded alongside a road somewhere with your car out of gas.

 

[Donabed Kopoian]

The only way to correctly and accurately calculate fuel economy is to fill the fuel tank all the way to the very brim, shake the car to get rid of any air pockets, (you will see the fuel level will then drop), fill again, shake again and fill again until the fuel tank really is full. Record the odometer reading and then drive the car for almost a whole tank to obtain a rough average and repeat the process above, again recording the odometer reading and also exactly how much fuel it took to refill the fuel tank. Calculate how many miles were traveled on that tank of fuel and and then divide that by exactly how many gallons it took to refill the tank and that is the miles per gallon.

Attempting to use any other method is not accurate and can have wild fluctuations in miles per gallon.

Miles per gallon can and will fluctuate from fill up to fill up with different driving conditions that can't be controlled, i.e. headwinds, tailwinds, stop and go driving and idling time. Keep in mind that when your car is sitting still and the engine is running, the engine is using fuel but the car is not moving and this means the vehicle is delivering exactly zero miles to the gallon. This totally obliterates accurate fuel economy averages.

I just want to point out, that when you shake the car and fill it again, you are still stopping at the automatic shut-off. Do not fill past that, or you can damage the evaporative control systems and cause damage to the tank itself.

 

[Donabed Kopoian]

Be careful and don't let the fuel tank get too low. I don't recommend driving until there's very little fuel left in the tank as that can cause the electric fuel pump inside the gas tank to burn out and they are in the range of $450-$650 + to replace. Ouch!

What causes this to happen is the fuel is actually used to cool the electric fuel pump it is immersed in, by helping to disperse heat. When that fuel gets very low, it exposes the electric fuel pump to the air and it heats up, which can cause it to fail. For this reason, I recommend refilling the gas tank at about one quarter of a tank in order to help the very expensive electric fuel pump to live a very long, low cost life.

Yes, onboard fuel economy computers are notoriously inaccurate, as you have seen with your own eyes. If and when the fuel tank is low, be very wary about trusting those onboard fuel economy computers or you could be left stranded alongside a road somewhere with your car out of gas.

I don't go lower than the low fuel light, ever. For this reason ... and walking to get gas is the pits.

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

I just want to point out, that when you shake the car and fill it again, you are still stopping at the automatic shut-off. Do not fill past that, or you can damage the evaporative control systems and cause damage to the tank itself.

That is the only way to accurately calculate fuel economy and remove a variable from the equation.

In close to 40 years of driving, never had any problems.

 

[Danny_flynn]

Air trapped? In gas tank? Is that not what the vent is for?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

When you fill the fuel tank to the brim, shake the car and observe the fuel level drop.

 

[VTAK8k]

When you fill the fuel tank to the brim, shake the car and observe the fuel level drop.

You really do this every time you fill up? I would think there would be spillage which would make me worry about the paint below. I just use the same pump at the same station and fill until it auto shuts off, I get consistent results this way.

I have been thinking about the full tank dilemma someone mentioned though. I've been thinking lately that you waste a little gas by carrying all that extra fuel, I still fill it up every Friday though.

 

[Scott O'Kashan]

For correct and accurate fuel economy calculations, yes I do. Just takes care to do it right without spillage, which would also skew accurate fuel economy calculations.

 

[le+14]

I have a 2014 LE Plus, bought new May 2014. Impressed with room (especially reseat leg room) and qiuetness cruising at 60-65 MPH. Everything seems a lot nicer and more comfortable than previous mid-size Mercury Sable. Luggage specs smaller than Sable but actual seems about the same. Only comment is "MPG AVG" is about 5% to - 10% higher than the old Odometer Reading ÷ Gallons at fill up = MPG method. I do the fill up at the same pump with automatic cut off on fill up. I'm getting a consistent 30 MPG in town driving - Have gotten as high as 35 MPG. On three trips from Texas to California and Florida , 40 MPG on the Interstates , Have gotten as high as 45 MPG on several checks. I am also impressed with the sales and service departments at Toyota Of Irving (Texas). First Toyota....I'm sold !

 

[le+14]

Typo. Should have been "more rear seat legroom" . It's actually several inches more than the Sable !
I have been doing the service "by the book" and by appointment. Usually in and out in an hour or so - including cleaning inside and washing outside. They also did the Blue Tooth hook-up on the cell-phone on delivery.....Another nice thing to have.