09 corolla sport . LOW MILEAGE

[psyduck]

I own a 09 corolla sport and i have about 33000 miles on it. recently i have noticed that my driving range is around 280 miles on a full tank. the only maintenance i have done is the routine oil changes, tire rotations and recalls. does anyone know why i am getting this kind of mileage?

[msncorolla422]

Originally Posted by psyduck

I own a 09 corolla sport and i have about 33000 miles on it. recently i have noticed that my driving range is around 280 miles on a full tank. the only maintenance i have done is the routine oil changes, tire rotations and recalls. does anyone know why i am getting this kind of mileage?

heck that is how far I get. But I do a lot of idling and city driving...now that I moved it went up as Im more on the highway now...

have you done your intake filter? balanced your tires? done a wheel alignment? Im sure you do this but the correct tire pressure? just to name a few...

[nevermind65]

My buddy with an 09 gets 24-27 mpg. He drives mostly city and some highway. I get almost 35. I drive mostly highway and very little city.

Big difference in how you drive. What is the gas mileage reading on the dash? That thing is pretty accurate. It should give you your average MPG.

[nervx]

Originally Posted by psyduck

I own a 09 corolla sport and i have about 33000 miles on it. recently i have noticed that my driving range is around 280 miles on a full tank. the only maintenance i have done is the routine oil changes, tire rotations and recalls. does anyone know why i am getting this kind of mileage?

i get around that myself all city driving.

[FlawedLegacy]

msn's post is dead on, LOTS of variables to check. Just work your way up from the simple ones (clean intake filter/tire pressure) to alignment/balance/rotation/etc. Likely something simple or a combination. Also depends a lot on city vs highway miles and how you drive within those two? (IE drive like a bat out of hell on highway vs conservative city driving might be fairly close numbers)

[JesseXRS]

That sounds very low for an S, I can usually get 300 miles to a tank with my car (different engine I know), with the avg being about 27 mpg. But I don't have really bad city traffic to deal with on my work commute. You don't have a turbo kit installed with bigger injectors do you? j/k

[rieds]

if i drive a lot of city miles thats all the better mine gets. and the mileage gauge on the dash isn't very acurate in my car. it usually reads about 1.5-2 mpg higher than what i actually get. the best way to check your mileage is to fill up, let the auto shut off on the pump shut of three times, reset your tripometer to 0 then when you fill up again divide your mileage on your tripometer by the gallons of gas you put in on the second fill up. my car got better mileage with a k&n drop in air filter, removing the vapor filter in the airbox and moving the air intake tube to the front grill. theres a thread on here with pictures on how to do this if you want to try it. like others have said, if i drive a lot of city i get around 26mpg, if i drive mostly highway i get 33mpg.

[FlawedLegacy]

why do you fill up with it clicking off 3 times? I've always heard the first stop is the best for the car and unless you do the SAME AMMOUNT each time, your reading will be off for the mpg.

[cabur]

Originally Posted by FlawedLegacy

why do you fill up with it clicking off 3 times? I've always heard the first stop is the best for the car and unless you do the SAME AMMOUNT each time, your reading will be off for the mpg.

3 clicks gives the fuel time to get into the tank and is a more accurate full fill up check. Some pump pumps so fast that the tank air have no time to clear to make way for the fuel.

[Jeff Lange]

Depends on the pump and the car. I've seen pumps that would overflow the tank and pour down the side of the car if you tried to go to even just a second click.

Just saying, if you're going to click it that many times, pay attention to make sure you're not spilling.

Jeff

[rieds]

a few people suggested the three stops when i asked a question about fuel mileage so thats what i tried. my car seems to be touchy about how far you put the nozzle in and at what angle. it will shut off as soon as it starts if you put the nozzle in all the way on some pumps. i have to back it out about an inch or it keeps shutting off.

[nervx]

Originally Posted by rieds

a few people suggested the three stops when i asked a question about fuel mileage so thats what i tried. my car seems to be touchy about how far you put the nozzle in and at what angle. it will shut off as soon as it starts if you put the nozzle in all the way on some pumps. i have to back it out about an inch or it keeps shutting off.

pumps without a splash guard do this. took me a while to figure it out.

i always stop at the first click or gas will overflow on most pumps.

[pmesfun]

Overfilling can also throw EVAP codes.

[nevermind65]

What does the clicks matter? I write down mileage from the last time I put gas in, then write down the gallons I put in and calculate it out. It takes 1 or 2 times before you get the real number, but it is dead accurate. I keep a running track every time I put gas in.

[SuperchargedMR2]

Originally Posted by nevermind65

What does the clicks matter? I write down mileage from the last time I put gas in, then write down the gallons I put in and calculate it out. It takes 1 or 2 times before you get the real number, but it is dead accurate. I keep a running track every time I put gas in.

I do the same thing, always have. I have a small tablet that I log every fill up in & also all maintenance that I do to the car. When I do sell a car the buyers appreciate all the information.

There will be a small amount of difference in MPG with each fill-up because you can add quite a bit more gas with several clicks but if you do it the same way every time at the same station on the same pump each tank will also be very accurate. That's why I also like Fuelly.com since it keeps a running MPG average & an average MPG of the last 10 tanks too.