2000 camry/solara 2.2L i4, MPG ?

[fenixus]

hello,

what is average MPG for such cars ? no mods, all stock, running on regular fuel. I'm not asking about what manual says, I'd like to see real life numbers from daily users.

I currently get 22-27MPG (around 70% highway, rest is city driving)
2 months ago installed Bosch spark plugs and wireset (and a new fuel filter) and planning to replace them all with NGK very soon (unhappy with Bosch). also now have a new timing belt (replaced together with water pump).

Quite recently discovered that had uneven tire pressure after last wheel rotation, so perhaps now those numbers would be a tad higher.

thanks for info.

[touringcamry]

Have you changed the air filter recently?

Though figures sound about right for your vehicle otherwise.

[fenixus]

yup, air filter is new - I always change them like every 6-12 months.

I think its MPG is slightly too low as now in mostly highway driving is burns same amount of fuel as it does in city driving. wasn't like that a few years ago. may it be that Bosch plugs are the guilty ones?
anyway NGK plugs are on their way to me (amazon), will give it a shot, perhaps reset ECU and see what happens next heh.

there was a few people in these forums warning me against using Bosch plugs heh, perhaps they were right?

[touringcamry]

I've only ever changed plugs once in my 2.2L Camry and I used Denso plugs and NGK wires so I don't know what effect Bosch plugs would have.

How are your brakes looking? Any stuck calipers?

[fenixus]

thanks man.

seems I went wrong way with Bosch. I should have stick to NGK in first place. reason why i so badly want to install NGK is that I also have a slight but annoying idling revs problem (a tad too low). i tend to blame Bosch plugs for that, perhaps I'm just very wrong. not sure.

I replaced front brakes a week ago with new Hawk HPS (front) and at same time replaced top and bottom caliper pins. i also put new bushings and Permatex grease (anchor boots were looking OK).
reason why i replaced the sliding pins was that former outer pads were worn a little more than inner ones.
MPG seems to be a little better since then. haven't refueled it yet, so too early to tell exactly.

[touringcamry]

If the caliper was dragging like that it would cause increased fuel consumption.

Have you tried cleaning the throttle body and or IAC? That could be one reason for low idle or engine dying while idling.

[fenixus]

ah, i see, that makes a lot of sense now.

i cleaned TB once about month ago with half a can of carb cleaner (gumout), also sprayed some into IAC hole, not sure if it helped. i will be doing the TB cleaning again to make sure (with a tooth brush this time) before i put new plugs in.
idling speed is not as low for engine to die, but sometimes i can feel some extra vibrations and shaking a little, just like something was clogged a bit. not a real problem, just an annoyance.

are there any other MPG related things I may check myself ?

EDIT:
just refueled it and yes, MPG improved after brake job. usually for last month i was between 22-23MPG, while last week shows 25MPG (same regular Shell fuel).
i'm switching to v-power for now, i assume MPG will increase somewhat further due to higher octane rating plus i'm counting on Shell's cleaning additives too

touringcamry, i know you used Hawk HPS pads in your cars as you were the one that told me about them. have you used those pads with any additional shims (e.g. OEM toyota) ? thing is i don't have shims and was wondering if it changes anything. Hawk's have a rubber stick-on shim on the back for noise dampening which is good enough i think, perhaps i'm wrong, am I ?

[touringcamry]

Eh...I installed those Hawk pads back in 2002ish so I don't really remember what I did to be honest. I think i just took the old pads out and put the new ones. I know that I just installed the pads and left the rotors alone. In 2006 when I wrecked, I had put another 50000 miles on the car, but the brakes were still good up to that point so I had never did any brake work on my 2000 Camry between 2002 and 2006 other than replace the brake fluid and rear drum adjustment and inspect brake wear.

[fenixus]

glad to hear that, thanks for info! i will be flushing brake fluid this weekend. it's never been done yet on my car (9 years!!). i hope NGK plugs will fix other minor issues I started having since "tune up"

cheers!

[touringcamry]

That's not to say that you can expect 50000 miles out of your Hawk pads! It depends on your driving conditions. I know people who have the factory original pads even at 100000 miles.

[fenixus]

of course. all depends how often and how hard the driver uses brakes