Fuel Mileage Tips and Tricks

[Tom in Tacoma]

There often seems to be an active thread here in the 3rd Gen forum about fuel mileage and how much everyone gets per gallon, what kind of fuel to use, tire pressure, etc.

I thought it might be useful and interesting to read what others are doing to get that last little bit of mileage out of their gallon of gas. Let's assume you maintain your car and it's running optimally. What can we do to improve mileage?

Here, in no particular order, are some of the things I do that make up "Tom in Tacoma's Hypermileage Tricks":

• Don't Brake - If you leave a little extra distance between you and the car ahead you can coast for a while longer before you absolutely have to brake. Most people will step on the gas and quickly thereafter step on the brakes, turning that gas they just used into heat from the brake friction. Quite often I won't have to touch the brakes at all before the car ahead once again moves on.
• Try Not To Stop - Even if you're only moving a foot per second, you'll save on fuel if you don't have to come to a complete stop before moving out again. This ties in with the 'Don't Brake' tip above.
• Alignment - Get your wheels aligned!
• Tires - Some tires are designed to improve your gas mileage. Go ask the tire guy or Google it.
• Tire pressure - Make sure your tires are properly inflated. I settled in on 32psi all the way around. If you have your car serviced by someone else - double check the air pressure afterwards, you'll be surprised how often they screw it up.
• Drive With A Feather - Once you're up to speed, drive as if you're pushing on the gas pedal with a feather. The car will accelerate even if you barely press on the pedal. If you press on it to accelerate only to have to take the foot back off the pedal (or even brake!) you just turned your expensive gas into heat for nothing.
• Keep Your Windows Shut - It's all about aerodynamics. The car will slip through the air better with the windows shut.
• Get Rid Of The Junk - An empty car weighs less! (DUH)
• Hilly County - Of course - coast downhill! But just before you crest the hill, get off the gas and let momentum carry you over the to downhill side. If you time it right you won't lose any speed.
• Don't Warm It Up - There's no need to warm up your car by letting it idle in the mornings. After idleing for 20-seconds the oil is getting circulated throughout the engine. Go ahead and start driving slowly and let the rest of the car warm up slowly as you drive. Remember, this is the time when your car is getting it's worst mileage - no jackrabbit starts! The fewer cold-starts the better for mileage and the life of your engine.
• Keep It Warm - A car that's garage kept will come up to operating temperature sooner.

Okay - enough from me. What are your tips?

[TrailDust]

Keep the electrical demand to a minimum. The more electricity you draw while driving, such as plugged in devices like cell phones, GPS units, computers, etc., or same or similar devices built-in to your vehicle all draw electricity which puts a load on your alternator and ultimately reduces mileage by several percent.

[Alesen]

Leave extra distance from the car in front so that when you absolutely have to brake, you open up your driver's door in order to use air resistance to slow down your car (passenger is a plus) enough so that when you brake it is from a slightly lower speed saving you a few drops of gas. Or if that is not enough carry a large metal stick, while the driver's door is open, press and hold firmly against the ground for added braking (you can also use your left foot).

But seriously I think you covered everything lol.

[pmesfun]

+1 on warming up the engine. I read in a thread that when you are not moving you get 0 MPG.

[Tom in Tacoma]

Originally Posted by pmesfun

+1 on warming up the engine. I read in a thread that when you are not moving you get 0 MPG.

Excellent point! Try this - fill up the tank so the fuel mileage resets to zero. Then don't go anywhere. Just sit there and watch the fuel mileage display.

I suppose I keep myself entertained by seeing how much mileage I can get. I suppose a side benefit is I'm minimizing wear and tear on the engine, the tranny, tires and the brakes. I gotta do something to keep myself entertained on my long daily commute!

[Tom in Tacoma]

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. This morning I stopped at a gas station (ARCO - cheapest gas I could find) and filled the tank. Got on the freeway about 2-miles from the gas station and drove through some stop-and-go traffic as well as quite a bit of 70-mph (+/-) miles.

By using the 'coast as much as possible while keeping up with the flow of traffic' and 'Don't use the brakes' that I discribed above here's the results:



A couple of things I'd like to point out; when you hypermile over a period of time the cruising range adjusts - 432 miles on this tank as an example, This mileage is the result of mixed driving on I-5, I-405 and Hwy 520 (if you're familiar with the Seattle area)(for the record, Seattle has the 10th worst traffic in the country).

So, there's my proof. What you got?

[grandpapa]

Originally Posted by Tom in Tacoma

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. This morning I stopped at a gas station (ARCO - cheapest gas I could find) and filled the tank. Got on the freeway about 2-miles from the gas station and drove through some stop-and-go traffic as well as quite a bit of 70-mph (+/-) miles.

By using the 'coast as much as possible while keeping up with the flow of traffic' and 'Don't use the brakes' that I discribed above here's the results:



A couple of things I'd like to point out; when you hypermile over a period of time the cruising range adjusts - 432 miles on this tank as an example, This mileage is the result of mixed driving on I-5, I-405 and Hwy 520 (if you're familiar with the Seattle area)(for the record, Seattle has the 10th worst traffic in the country).

So, there's my proof. What you got?

Tom, I have a hard time understanding this screen. I don't even know what it's for so I never bother to look. Please explain/correct me

"After refueling" 33.4mpg, does it mean your last tank avg 33.4? from the computer
"Cruising Range" does it mean the last crusing range or is your CURRENT cruising range before the tank is empty?

Cruise
"Average Speed", "Distance" means since the last refuel?

[Tom in Tacoma]

Originally Posted by grandpapa

Tom, I have a hard time understanding this screen. I don't even know what it's for so I never bother to look. Please explain/correct me

"After refueling" 33.4mpg, does it mean your last tank avg 33.4? from the computer
"Cruising Range" does it mean the last crusing range or is your CURRENT cruising range before the tank is empty?

Cruise
"Average Speed", "Distance" means since the last refuel?

Here's the breakdown:
- After refueling = shows the miles per gallon achieved since last refuel
- Cruising Range = distance to empty

Cruise
- Average Speed = Average speed since the car was last started
- Cruising Range = distance to empty

That help?

[grandpapa]

Originally Posted by Tom in Tacoma

Here's the breakdown:
- After refueling = shows the miles per gallon achieved since last refuel
- Cruising Range = distance to empty

Cruise
- Average Speed = Average speed since the car was last started
- Cruising Range = distance to empty

That help?

OK, Consumption, cruising rage = Distance to empty, now make sense since our sienna use DTE

Cruise, Distance = probably means total distance since last refuel?

That lead to another question. Do you do a manual reset everytime after refuel? I just use the old pen/paper method to track my mpg

[Tom in Tacoma]

Originally Posted by grandpapa

OK, Consumption, cruising rage = Distance to empty, now make sense since our sienna use DTE

Cruise, Distance = probably means total distance since last refuel?

That lead to another question. Do you do a manual reset everytime after refuel? I just use the old pen/paper method to track my mpg

Oops! Mistake!

Cruise, Distance is the distance traveled since the engine was last started.

Consumption numbers reset automatically after refueling, Cruise numbers reset when you start the engine. It's all done without finger-pokes.

[grandpapa]

Now I am disapointted!!

My "After Refueling" shows 20.3mpg and "cruising range" is only 272!
What's up with that?

[Tom in Tacoma]

Since I tend to hypermile a lot, right after refueling the cruising range will climb with each refill up to the point of 430-miles.

Grandpapa - you just gotta start coasting more and press the gas pedal with a feather!

[CISA93]

Originally Posted by TrailDust

Keep the electrical demand to a minimum. The more electricity you draw while driving, such as plugged in devices like cell phones, GPS units, computers, etc., or same or similar devices built-in to your vehicle all draw electricity which puts a load on your alternator and ultimately reduces mileage by several percent.

Very true, but these are 125 AMP alternators and Toyota (as almost every auto builder has gone to these high output alternators due to the computers (that's where the power goes first) It was my understanding that Toyota installs a clutch pulley (with single ball bearings, revised to double ball bearings) to allow the alternator to spin faster with less RPM from the engine. I just had my alternator serviced and the clutch bearings were seizing after a "load check" and checking the battery before a trip up to Central CA. Nippondenso discovered their single balling bearing pulley was causing to many problems. I averaged about 30.9 mpg using a "light feather" reference Grandpa mentions on this thread.

I used cell recharger and speed detector (since CHP loves to ticket at around 76 mph) on I-10 and I-8.

[nitronate33]

how much do you figure you can possibly save in a week driving for max fuel efficiently vs. driving normally?

how much longer is your commute time as a result?

for someone like me, who isn't sitting in traffic, if i can go 80 i'm gonna go 80. if i can get to work 5 minutes faster, that 5 minutes AT work is worth more than whatever i save getting to work driving slower and concentrating on crazy hypermiling stuff.

[scottfarm]

Use ethanol free gas. That alone adds 2 more miles per gallon.