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Toyota Echo

5806 messages,  Last post on May 21, 2013 at 2:56 AM

You are in the Toyota Echo Forum.

What is this discussion about? Toyota ECHO, Sedan

Messages Page 279 of 581

#2777 of 5806 response to scaper by nodaker

Feb 02, 2002 (8:13 am)

Yes, I have noticed everything you write about and in fact have written about it myself in this forum. I have chalked up my poor fuel economy to our winter in North Dakota. The last time I filled the tank I got 17 miles to the gallon! We did have a real cold spell and I only do short in town driving. The fuel consumption better improve by leaps and bounds come warm weather or I am going to be extremely disappointed. As for the hesitation you speak about -- it drives me crazy and yes, it feels like there just isn't enough gas getting to where it needs to be. My 2002 ECHO only has about 1300 miles on it (I did do one oil change to see if things would improve -- they didn't), but I've noticed the hesitation from day one. Gas mileage has been poor from day one too. Toyota dealer says everything checks out fine. I am starting to wonder if I shouldn't have bought the Corolla after all. BTW, I am 49 and my driving habits are probably quite similar to yours. I don't leave rubber at every stop light, but I don't putz either.

#2778 of 5806 cold weather mileage by kaz6

Feb 02, 2002 (8:27 am)

for what it's worth, I have averaged 38mpg in 30-50 degree weather.
As for resting my hand on the shifter...I'm guilty as charged. However, I had a Ford ZX-2 with a 5-spd. prior to my Echo and had 78,000 miles with no tranny or shifting problems. There is a difference to resting my palm on the shifter and 'leaning' on it. I suppose I should avoid it all together.

#2779 of 5806 Maybe this info might help? by slugline

Feb 02, 2002 (1:02 pm)

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/info.shtml
Good stuff, including how the EPA conducts its testing and tips on running as efficiently as possible.
Yup, nodaker, I remember your comments earlier. 17 mpg is definitely uninspiring. I am curious to know how many minutes a day your ECHO is actually driving, and how many are just spent idling. Are you idling until that blue temp light goes out?

#2781 of 5806 grnechory81 by slugline

Feb 03, 2002 (8:41 am)

Were we supposed to find something related to the Toyota ECHO at that site?

#2782 of 5806 Response to Slugline by nodaker

Feb 03, 2002 (9:22 am)

First, I need to correct the mileage on my car. It's 2300 not 1300. <hit the wrong key -- I hate when my keyboard does that <g>. Now to answer your questions. I do let my car warm up about 5-7 minutes. Depending on how cold it is outside (last week we were down to -25 for overnight temps) the blue light may or may not be on. Usually, it is on but goes off shortly after I start driving. If I didn't have this stupid Raynaud's disease I could tolerate a cold car, but I'm simply not able to be in a car that is not semi-warmed up. I called an independent garage last week (specializing in exhaust systems) and spoke with a very helpful gentleman who assured me that people spend more *idle* time than they realize. In my short commute of two miles to work, he was pretty sure I was spending 50% of it in idle. He also said this is why I have that rotten egg smell which is the excess gasoline caught in the catalytic converter. (I'm not a mechanic, so I may have got that messed up, but it was something like that). He also said that fuel injected cars (whether big or compact) need to be warm with longer than 2 mile driving intervals for the computer to properly regulate the gas. So, I am finally convinced that the reason I'm getting such poor gas mileage is due the climate I live in, my very short commute, my idle times and my warm-up times. What is disheartening is that I was under the impression that the mileage would be so much better because of the type of vehicle the ECHO is. I could have kept my Blazer and had similar in-town gas mileage. The in-town gas mileage on my Blazer was about 15 mpg. My main purpose for buying the ECHO, or a car of that size and class was with the environment and my wallet in mind. The few longish trips (150 miles) I have made in the ECHO, the gas mileage was been wonderful -- 47 mpg! Unfortunately, that is not the majority of my driving. I can see where the ECHO would be a fantastic commuting car on roads with constantly moving traffic, but zipping around a small town in the winter is not its forte. I'm thinking the Prius would have been the better choice. Of course, where does one buy a Prius in North Dakota?? I don't think we have a dealership in this state.

#2783 of 5806 echofans by grnechory81

Feb 03, 2002 (9:57 am)

hey sorry i forgot, i think he told me he was going to overhaul the site for a new server, but check it out after that =o)

#2784 of 5806 vocus - the value of a dollar by rdeschene

Feb 03, 2002 (2:03 pm)

"Isn't that about the same amount of money though, since the C$ and US$ are so far apart in value?"
 
This was your response to jeprox' note on being able to get the same manual for either CDN$300 or US$150. Just to set this straight, the exchange rate is more like C$1.615 per US$. But if your willing to give me C$2 for every US$1, let's talk!

#2785 of 5806 2-door seating comfort and shape by echo01

Feb 03, 2002 (3:45 pm)

A nice advantage of the two-door Echo over most other two-door cars is that it has much more headroom.
 
This was an important factor in my choice of car, since I'm tall, and two-door cars with their larger doors are easier to get in and out of.
 
The problem though is that most two-door cars have a flattened and squashed-down shape compared with their four-door brethren. I think manufacturers do this because they assume that people who buy two-door cars will think the lower profile looks better. But this flattened shape is a good way to destroy the headroom. However, the two-door Echo, as far as I can tell, has the same profile as the four-door Echo. Result: a two door car with good headroom.
 
The only other two-door car I found that had good headroom was the VW New Beetle.
 
I sat in and drove a two-door Saturn, Mirage and Civic. Every one of these cars felt cramped, and yet the four-door versions of these same cars were much more comfortable. But since I wanted a two-door car, I had to rule all of them out.
 
[I had other reasons as well for ruling out the Saturn and Mirage, having to do with mechanical reliability and insurance/safety, respectively, but that's another story.]
 
I also sat in, but didn't drive, other two-door Toyotas: the Celica and Solara. And I cannot imagine driving a new Celica, it is so cramped for room, and for me it would be a chore to climb in and out of. Even in the much larger Solara, I did not have as much headroom as in the Echo, and my line-of-sight was much closer to the top of the windshield. (And these cars are of course much more expensive than the Echo.)
 
The bottom line is that of the two-door cars, the Echo is one of the few in which the headroom hasn't been destroyed for the sake of "style". And the more I drive my Echo, the more I like this.

#2786 of 5806 nodaker -- gas mileage by slugline

Feb 03, 2002 (11:52 pm)

Your friendly mechanic has confirmed what I've been suspecting all along. Idling is time and gas spent at 0 mpg, and that'll foul up anyone's average. The Prius may indeed be the better choice for your objectives. Under the short-trip conditions you describe, it would be relying almost entirely on it's electric motor -- and electric motors do not need any warmup time to get up and go (although you may still need it personally!). I did a quick query on toyota.com. Out of the four dealers in North Dakota, Cedrick Theel Toyota in Bismarck is labeled as "Prius Certified." FYI

Messages Page 279 of 581

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