34mpg without really trying

[moonlighter6]

Originally Posted by PhotoDu.de

I got a Yaris last Thursday. First fill up I got 30.56mpg in mixed driving, decent. 2nd fill up got 34.75mpg, which is good especially for more mixed driving and "testing the car out."
I still need to inflate the tires and I don't want to use the cruise control until after I break it in. I don't do things like accelerate when a red light is in front of me, but I also purposely varied my RPM when on highways/interstates to break in the car.
It seems like with even just a little bit of extra effort you can get some serious efficiency in this car. Nice.

Thanks for an HONEST mileage post. Most lie about TAXES and MILEAGE
In my 2008 Yaris 5-Speed which I drive aggressively 65 percent city, 35 percent hilly highway, I get a consistent 34-35 mpgs. I only use non-ethanol gas, any ethanol always reduces the mileage. I use the exact same pump to fill-up, and record the fuel amount/mileage when the pump turns off automatically! You will probably better mileage experiences after about 20K miles.

[mryaris]

Originally Posted by moonlighter6

Thanks for an HONEST mileage post. Most lie about TAXES and MILEAGE

So....everyone who gets better mileage than you is lying? I regularly get 40 MPG, if you're not then something is amiss. I only say this because you empasized the word honest.

In my 2008 Yaris 5-Speed which I drive aggressively 65 percent city, 35 percent hilly highway, I get a consistent 34-35 mpgs.

Ding! Ding! Ding! There you go. If you were to drive it less aggressively your mileage would improve. I should prefice this by saying that I think you can drive your car any way you see fit, but it is that very style of driving that is causing your mileage to be lower than most people here (myself included). I personally think the Yaris isn't a fun car to drive aggressively (at least in stock form).....I have a fun car to drive (one that I don't care what mileage I get out of it), so the Yaris can just be the commuter it was designed to be. Again, I don't care how anyone drives their Yaris, but the fuel economy is directly related to how a car is driven.

I only use non-ethanol gas, any ethanol always reduces the mileage. I use the exact same pump to fill-up, and record the fuel amount/mileage when the pump turns off automatically! You will probably better mileage experiences after about 20K miles.

I have been using E10 fuels (both MTBE & the current ethanol) for 23+ years and the mileage figures on all of my cars has been at or above what the window sticker says it should get (Colorado has been using oxygenated fuels for a long time now). E10 does not affect your mileage as much as people think it does.....I highly doubt that my mileage will dramatrically increase if I were to start using "pure" gas.

I believe E85 is roughly 25% less efficient than E10, so that would roughly translate to a ~3% loss of efficiency from "pure" gas to E10. At 40 MPG that would be ~1.2 MPG. To me the difference between 40 MPG & 41 MPG is negligible.....although some may beg to differ.

Just my .02.

[moonlighter6]

40 mpg consistently? My "consistent" mileage is 34-35 mpg on non-ethanol gas. SC is a hilly state, but on flat level roads without a strong head or cross wind, few stop lights, I could see you getting 40 mpg. Aggressive driving relates to getting up to speed quickly and keeping up with traffic, sorry but see few Yaris' in the horrid stop and go quickly Atlanta traffic.

I am a Department of Energy contract employee. E10 and E85 were first used by us and continues to be used by us. OUR critical vehicles, BOAT engines, small engines, and generators use non-ethanol exclusively. Ethanol absorbs water which is the main problem but can be a beneficial effect in very cold climates thusly reducing fuel freeze problems. Ethanol attacks many components of fuel systems (rubber and plastic), a reason vehicles must be built/approved to use E85. The primary reason for using Ethanol is to reduce our dependency on foreign oil, not increased engine durability and reliability. I presently own five personal vehicles, they run quieter with less problems using non-ethanol exclusively. A plethora of manufacturers have produced fuel additives to address the effects of ethanol in gas for viable reasons.

[BailOut]

Originally Posted by moonlighter6

The primary reason for using Ethanol is to reduce our dependency on foreign oil

I've never heard that before and it doesn't make much sense. EPA documents concerning the mandatory use of ethanol in some areas is for their "Clean Air Attainment Program". The U.S. uses an ocean of petrochemical fertilizers - made from the same foreign oil that ends up in your gas tank - every year to grow a sea of corn not for food but for fuel (!). When the corn is grown they use only the kernels and "milk" in the biofuels process, leaving behind all cobs, stalks and husks (which represent a much larger part of each corn stalk) as waste instead of usable biomass or compost.

How any of that is supposed to reduce our use of foreign oil in an effective, sane and logical way is beyond me.

[PhotoDu.de]

Originally Posted by BailOut

I've never heard that before and it doesn't make much sense. EPA documents concerning the mandatory use of ethanol in some areas is for their "Clean Air Attainment Program". The U.S. uses an ocean of petrochemical fertilizers - made from the same foreign oil that ends up in your gas tank - every year to grow a sea of corn not for food but for fuel (!). When the corn is grown they use only the kernels and "milk" in the biofuels process, leaving behind all cobs, stalks and husks (which represent a much larger part of each corn stalk) as waste instead of usable biomass or compost.

How any of that is supposed to reduce our use of foreign oil in an effective, sane and logical way is beyond me.

You are a wise man.

[KrazyDawg]

Originally Posted by BailOut

I've never heard that before and it doesn't make much sense. EPA documents concerning the mandatory use of ethanol in some areas is for their "Clean Air Attainment Program". The U.S. uses an ocean of petrochemical fertilizers - made from the same foreign oil that ends up in your gas tank - every year to grow a sea of corn not for food but for fuel (!). When the corn is grown they use only the kernels and "milk" in the biofuels process, leaving behind all cobs, stalks and husks (which represent a much larger part of each corn stalk) as waste instead of usable biomass or compost.

How any of that is supposed to reduce our use of foreign oil in an effective, sane and logical way is beyond me.

Most people on gasbuddy believe it's to reduce dependency on foreign oil and about keeping money here. There's a number of people that have purchased a flex fuel vehicle and asked for more E85 stations.

[PhotoDu.de]

Originally Posted by KrazyDawg

Most people on gasbuddy believe it's to reduce dependency on foreign oil and about keeping money here. There's a number of people that have purchased a flex fuel vehicle and asked for more E85 stations.

They do think that, because they are misinformed.

Producing ethanol from corn sometimes results in a net energy loss. Even under ideal variables, the net energy gain only goes up to 50% but is normally less then that.

However, sugarcane can produce 15 times the energy used to produce it. Sugarcane ethanol has been very lucrative for Brazil. Other biomass can also be more efficient than corn.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol...energy_balance
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniont...z1c03fuel.html
http://www.transportation.anl.gov/pdfs/AF/265.pdf

[STC]

Originally Posted by moonlighter6

Thanks for an HONEST mileage post. Most lie about TAXES and MILEAGE

I don't lie about this car's fuel mileage...

When I bought this car in December of 2009 my first tank I only got 27 MPG (look at my fuel tracking). I was so disappointed with FE. I came across Yaris Forums in early January and started lurking and reading to try to get some understanding to why I got this bad mileage, what others experienced, and what they had to say. I thought people were lying about breaking the 40's and 50's! I was wrong... it can be done. Nearly three months later I joined this forum because I was so excited from my FE improvement. I needed to share and help in what I learned!

It's all about the driver! I learned the driving techniques from a forum member's "BailOut" postings:

http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5979
http://www.yarisworld.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4248

Two great Stickies that are helpful information to increase your FE. You have to really apply these driving techniques and maintain them in order to break the 40's and even the 50's. It can be done!

Cheers!

[PhotoDu.de]

My MPG dropped just a little to 34.59. Moderately surprised since I inflated my tires but I also spent more time in rush hour traffic.