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Wagons Toyota Matrix Toyota Matrix: MPG-Real World Numbers
158 messages, Last post on Dec 02, 2009 at 12:09 PM
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I talked to a rep from Toyota Canada about my poor gas mileage and he was very helpful. He told me that I could bring in my car to the local dealer and have it checked (under warantee) because if it is getting bad fuel economy than that is a warrantee item. He also said the dealers have ways of checking the fuel milage the car is getting and would be happy to do so for me (at no cost). He acutally phoned the dealer of my choice and told the service manager to look after me regarding these two items. The fact that Toyota stands behind their products this well is awesome and is great news for Toyota owners. I also talked to him about my findings with changing gas stations and posed the question to him about bad fuel and/or fuel with the wrong type of additive in it that may not work well in this car. He told me that any unleaded fuel from any gas station should be fine. As far as any additives in the fuels he thought that running up to 25% ethanol in the fuel is fine (he wasn't sure but he thought it was 25%) and the fact that gas stations shouldn't be using more than 10% ethanal in their unlead fuel (depending on gas stations) it should be fine. I found this interesting since ethanol (or ethyl alcohol) is produced by using a fermentation process of yeast and sugar to produce alcohol which is basically the same type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages. Ethanol contains approx. 34% less energy per unit volume than gasoline, and therefore in theory, burning pure ethanol in a vehicle should result in a 34% reduction in miles per gallon, given the same fuel economy, compared to burning pure gasoline. Therefore, I would have to asume that the more ethanol that is added to the gasoline the worse the gas milage would be using that fuel. In other words if 10% ethanol was added you would expect to get 3.4% worse fuel economy (10% of 34%) than gasoline with no ethanol. This would mean that bad fuel or fuel additives could only account for 1-2 mpg difference in fuel economy not the 25% difference I noticed. It would now seem most likely that the cause of the huge difference is incorrect pump calibrations. Obviously more checking is needed in my cause but I found this information very interesting. |
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Replying to: nippononly (Apr 16, 2008 7:41 pm)
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Replying to: loudog2 (Apr 18, 2008 12:32 pm) I don't think the article I saw said anything about pumping slowly or rapidly. But just thinking about it for a second here, my first thought is that the slower you pump it, the less chance there is for air to get in there and make the pump measurement of dispensed quantity inaccurate. |
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I discovered today just how LOW Matrix can go in the fuel economy it delivers. I was heading back from LA on the interstate, and turned the keys over to my sister. She never drives less than 80 mph, with extended stretches at 95 mph and an average of somewhere right in the middle of the two. With the A/C running the entire time and two of us in the car plus luggage, we managed only... ....about 32.5 mpg (360 miles, 11.1 gallons). I will call that a record low for my ownership so far, and it just goes to show what a chomp high speed can take out of your mileage. |
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Replying to: nippononly (Apr 27, 2008 10:11 pm)
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Replying to: dcamarce (Apr 28, 2008 9:09 pm) |
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Replying to: nippononly (Apr 27, 2008 10:11 pm) |
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| Now I'm getting depressed reading about the mileage you are all getting. I first posted because during the winter months (I live in MA and work in NH) I would drop to around 26-28 mpg. Before that and now, the best I'd ever gotten was around 34 mpg. Granted I don't drive highway miles but my commute is straight roads with only 1 light for 16 miles. I average around 50-60 mph. Seems like I should be getting more. I have a 05 AWD wagon. but with gas the way it is I'm thinking about hitching it to a horse. | |
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Replying to: kerry8 (Apr 29, 2008 7:34 am) If you are managing to pull 26-28 normally, then that is probably about all you can expect, given the AWD and the automatic transmission. And if you look at the other AWD cars available in the market, you will soon discover that you would do even worse with any of them. So cheer up! You are getting decent mileage for an AWD!  BTW, those numbers I have been posting are for a FWD 5-speed manual, the best possible combo for mileage in a Matrix. Don't be disheartened if you have AWD or an automatic and make a few points less. I used to have a Subaru Impreza hatchback with a manual, and the best I could ever manage in that was maybe 27 mpg for a running average, 30 or so on all-highway trips. |
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Replying to: nippononly (Apr 27, 2008 10:11 pm) |
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