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Toyota Camry Hybrid MPG-Real World Numbers

988 messages,  Last post on Jun 09, 2013 at 7:57 PM

You are in the Toyota Camry Hybrid Forum.

What is this discussion about? Toyota Camry Hybrid, Fuel Efficiency (MPG)

Messages Page 68 of 99

#670 of 988 Re: 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid poor fuel economy [sgoodman] by lzc

Jan 15, 2008 (9:47 am)

Replying to: sgoodman (Jan 15, 2008 7:54 am)
>>I don't understand those who say they get in the high 30s or 40+ w/o even trying.
 
The answer probably lies in your comment that temperature, length of trips, grades, and driving habits determine mileage. After moving from the city (Oregon) to rural California, my mileage improved 3-4 mpg, to 38-40. I doubt my driving style changed much, but the temperature, length of avg trip, distance between stoplights, etc changed a lot.
 
Every time I drive into the congested SF Bay Area, the mileage drops.

#671 of 988 Re: 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid poor fuel economy [stalnaker] by larsb

Jan 15, 2008 (10:38 am)

Replying to: stalnaker (Jan 15, 2008 8:02 am)
ALL gasoline-powered cars with catalytic converters lose MPG in cold weather. Hybrids are even more susceptible because the hybrid drive system does not become fully functional until the engine reaches peak operating temps.
 
Short drives in cold weather is a killer for ALL cars. But people notice it more in hybrids because they care more about and pay more attention to the MPG a hybrid gets.
 
My best tank ever in my 2007 TCH was 44.7 MPG, and that was at 75-80 miles per hour and a packed car. The caveat: I had a 25 miles per hour wind at my back. My best tank under normal circumstances is 40.6 and the worst is 29.6. My cumulative since I bought the car is 35.1 MPG, and that is with about 80% "city"miles and most of the trips short in length, i.e. less than 12 miles and less than 20 minutes. I could do much better if I had a 45-mile highway commute on a clear highway. The car generally gets around 40 MPG in those circumstances.
 
Something else that hurts people in the winter is that they do not keep their tires at optimum PSI. The cold weather saps the air levels in your tires, and you need to check them more often than in the summer. The low tires will deplete your MPG quickly.
 
People who live in areas where the road is frequently covered with snow, ice, slush, or rain will also suffer MPG losses, as the car needs more engine power to push the vehicle through the extra road friction that situation.
 
And, as a small percentage of the "general population" are liars, there are also a small number of hybrid owners who "fib on the high side" about their cars. No avoiding that. But there are FAR FAR more who tell the truth, like I do and others I know for sure do also.
 
Always remember that the circumstances which control miles per gallon achievements vary wildly, and "your mileage may vary" is a good slogan to remember.

#672 of 988 Re: 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid poor fuel economy by redmazda3

Jan 15, 2008 (12:10 pm)

We now have 19000 miles on my wife's 2007 TCH. She has been average 35 - 36 MPG. Most of her driving is to and from work, 8 miles one way with all in town driving with multiple stops and gos. We are in Louisiana with mostly flat terrain but a great number of stop signs and lights. Our temperatures have been mostly lows of middle 30s and highs around 60. Our best tank average was around 37.5 with our worst around 30.
 
I did get to drive for a few days last week on a new tank of gas. I average closed to 40 on the instrument cluster. The instrument cluster always reports about 1.5 MPG more than calculating the tank by hand. I always drive her car more as a game to get the better gas mileage, so I think my average on a full tank would be close to 38.5. After about 4 days of driving, my son needed the car for the evening as his was in the shop. It came back with the instrument cluster reading around 32.3 MPG. Knowing his driving habits, he probable took off fairly quick and stopped quick.
 
Overall we have been extremely happy with our TCH. Our only problem has been the back brakes needing to be replaced, which was under warranty due to a bulletin being issued by Toyota.

#673 of 988 Re: 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid poor fuel economy [larsb] by wvgasguy

Jan 17, 2008 (10:48 am)

Replying to: larsb (Jan 15, 2008 10:38 am)
Sounds like you're actually doing fairly well at 35.1 That's probably off by at least 0.6mpg if you're doing a long hand calculation.
 
My neighbor has a Prius and I've always wanted to borrow it just to see what it could do in my hands. They don't really take the time to understand it.

#674 of 988 Re: 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid poor fuel economy [wvgasguy] by stalnaker

Jan 17, 2008 (11:54 am)

Replying to: wvgasguy (Jan 17, 2008 10:48 am)
I always calculate my mileage and go by that number. For me, the car usually reports 1 mpg better than what I calculate.
 
By the way, has anybody tried increasing their tire pressure to improve mileage? I am curious what a higher but still safe level would be for all 4 tires.

#675 of 988 Re: 2007 Toyota Camry Hybrid poor fuel economy [stalnaker] by wvgasguy

Jan 17, 2008 (12:14 pm)

Replying to: stalnaker (Jan 17, 2008 11:54 am)
By the way, has anybody tried increasing their tire pressure to improve mileage? I am curious what a higher but still safe level would be for all 4 tires.
 
Big debates on that on GreenHybrid. I was on the minority opinion.I do try to go with 36 cold and have not noticed any negative impact on ride and handling. I don't think it will make a measurable difference and could be dangerous for the people reporting 42 to 50 psig.
 
I always calculate my mileage and go by that number. For me, the car usually reports 1 mpg better than what I calculate.
 
That's about right. But with the speedo error you actually drive more miles than what it registers so in fact you are getting better milage than what a hand calculation will give you. In earlier threads I've documented data and results. It is not an issue that can easily be resolved by changing tire/wheel diameter as one would think . While you could indeed change the height by going to a taller tire and correcting the odometer, it would throw off the speedometer reading even further. I don't know that anyone wants to drive around with a speedo that is about 6mph off.
 
You're probably getting closer to 35.6mpg (rather than 35.1) which all things considered is only 6.7% less than 38mpg. Not bad and certainly 225% better than most people probably getting 16 mpg. At $3.20/gallon gas it's a substantial savings over the 16 but it's just pennies a day difference in 35.6 and 38. Only the totally obsessed (like myself) gives a rats hindend worrying about a few pennies per day.

#676 of 988 Going from 35mpg's back up to 38.. by plknj

Jan 17, 2008 (3:53 pm)

First let me say that I have become a little OCD about getting great gas mileage, if I had not become obsessed with this my mpg's would be in the low 30's at best. Coasting and not turning on the air or heat has become a way of life (I do break from this occasionally).
 
Doing all of the above as well as driving 50 miles each way to and from work gets me 38 to 40 mpg... if I only did short drives the mileage would at best be in the 35 area.
 
After my accident the mileage dropped to around 35 mpg's and after a service visit it went back up to the 38 to 40 range. Today I asked what they did and they said all they did was run a service check on the system. They do not know what exactly happened, but think that running a system check may have corrected or reset something. Not a great answer, or the one I was expecting, but an answer.

#677 of 988 Re: Going from 35mpg's back up to 38.. [plknj] by wvgasguy

Jan 18, 2008 (5:27 am)

Replying to: plknj (Jan 17, 2008 3:53 pm)
I am OCD but even my brain tells me on a 100 mile trip in the heat that saving 70 cents on gas (the difference in 35 and 38mpg at 3.10/gal) is not worth it. Where my OCD controls me is that I strive to get the 38 with the AC on
 
I've experimented several times when I read comments the last two summers and I have not been able to prove to myself that running AC on ECO mode hurts my milage to any measurable amount.

#678 of 988 Re: Going from 35mpg's back up to 38 by bobbysoprano

Jan 18, 2008 (2:06 pm)

Replying to: wvgasguy (Jan 18, 2008 5:27 am)
Got our 2008 TCH about 2 weeks ago. So far, we're getting 35.6 mpg in NJ. The majority of the miles are driven on the Garden State parkway by my wife. Last night, I took the car to the dealer to pick up the new plates for her. On the way back I stopped to fill up. I reset the consumption button right after the fill up. This moved my average to the best number ... and zeroed out the average. I figured I'd see what I could do on the way home, which was only about 3 miles. I was quite pleased with 42.1 mpg as I pulled into the driveway.
 
In the short time we've had the car, I've seen what the car *can* get as far as mpg, and I'm very happy with the car in general.

#679 of 988 Re: Going from 35mpg's back up to 38.. [wvgasguy] by plknj

Jan 18, 2008 (3:31 pm)

Replying to: wvgasguy (Jan 18, 2008 5:27 am)
My first rule is to NEVER be uncomfortable:-) I only cheat when I can... waking up to below 30 temperature is definitely not the time to skimp on the heat. Stay well down there.

Messages Page 68 of 99

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