Poor Yaris Hybrid Mpg?

[Ethanedwards]

How on earth do you get such poor mpg? Tonight 62 and I was not trying that hard. This morning running very late A12 and it was down to a lamentable 59. GC is better at this than me but sheesh... worst ever was 55 and thare was snow so it was cold.

[OldSkoO1]

I have managed to exceed the manufacturers official average in nearly every car I've owned and I don't drive slow. Quite the opposite actually.

Only cars I can't are the new eco diesels. My old t180 auris I simply couldn't and my prius after 3 weeks ownership I'm very close. My first full tank and I'm half way through and reading 67-68 mpg. Very close to the 70.4mpg average for the t-spirit.

Over the first half tank I learnt quickly how to treat the hybrid system. I've added 10mpg onto my previous best efforts. I've experimented with slow and fast acceleration, throttle position, p&g, hill factoring, cruise and no cruise, EV forcing and EV avoidance. Probably more too.

Simple principals as already mentioned is

Don't try to trick the system to running on Battery.

Don't floor it

Don't accelerate slow

Don't brake at the last minute

Don't p&g

Don't glide just to have to accelerate again

Don't glide to a stop

Do glide but then go into energy recovery if stopping, maximise charge back into Battery so energy is not taken from ICE

Do glide downhill , avoid energy recovery here if not stopping (glide as in nothing showing on HSI)

Do accelerate with reasonably quick speed, use 3/4 on HSI for flat ground quickish acceleration up to 40mph, use half way into PWR for higher speeds, gradually pulling back to 3/4 as you approach speed.

Don't over speed to then glide, waste of energy especially at high speeds, you loose too much mph due to wind resistance.

Therefore don't glide at speeds higher than 45mph unless it's downhill and speed can be maintained

Do try to maximise the use of glide and foot off accelerator slow downs if you are approaching a junction but not at the expense of annoying people behind you. Slightly later glide and energy recovery slow down is nearly as good

Do try to keep braking in energy recovery, ie not displaying full bar braking, trying to keep braking just under max to make sure you capture as much energy as possible

Do try to use cruise control at every available opportunity even on slight hills

For steep hills employ an approach to accelerate with 3/4 HSI before the hill, learn how much mph to go up that will allow you to bleed off speed to maintain about 50 mpg on instant readout whilst going up. Steeper longer hills might need +10mph at the foot. Very steep hills just maintain a steady throttle position.

Cruise control is very effective, coupled with acceleration between 3/4 HSI (just under pwr) or going half way into pwr (before engine note changes) coupled with the most effective technique which is trying not to brake when coming to a stop (if you do use energy capture brakes), these together have produced very good mpg for me.

Lifting off and forcing EV at 35 - 45mph and below is only effective for me if I know I have either a long stint at 50mph or above or I have a big regen opportunity coming up. Forcing EV and prolonging really doesn't help mileage. Just keep it in EV if you can maintain a speed that using the lower half of EV. For the borderline moments, around 40mph I typically switch between very minimal ICE usage, just over half way and glide. Glide on flat is still very effective at 40mph because there isn't as much air resistance.

If I have a slight downhill I switch back to forcing EV if it doesn't come naturally as I know i can maintain speed on EV with either a glide or a tiny wedge to the left.

The other thing worth mentioning is anticipation. Like with the hills use the gradients and set the speed accordingly using downhill and flats to your advantage. In town I like to use EV up to 10mph so use the cars in front to judge take off you are likely to be slower than the one immediately in front so leaving a bigger gap start rolling as you we cars in front of him start off. It's a bit of a trick but clearly you need to check the guy in front is paying attention. Also I like to use EV around roundabouts, stay in EV on the HSI and when ready immediately get into the acceleration phase. Don't slow transition it.

All of that and I'm getting over 70mpg on my 25 mile mixed conditions commute. My average is bought down to 67mpg because my 1-2 mile trips are killed by the warm up process and no matter what 50-55mpg is the most I can achieve there.

[Ethanedwards]

I'd like to add. Ac on and using Asda el cheapo unleaded as well. Non Lrr tyres though I do keep them 2psi higher as a rule.

[OldSkoO1]

Yes mine came with non lrr tyres too - Michelin primacy which are apparently an F for fuel usage but pumped up to 40 & 38 rear I still get over 70mpg

[Grumpy Cabbie]

What are the oil requirements in the Yaris HSD?

Doesn't it use the older 1.5 engine that the Prius gen2 used? If so, doesn't have have 5w30 as the recommended oil but that it 'can' use ow20 too?

Or is it that people think they can beat the car and try keeping it in electric more than it should?

Or is it that people think the car is magic and just drive with a heavy right foot and then grumble at the economy.

But there are more reports of the Yaris HSD not doing so well for mpg's. Maybe there's something with the car? You hear of Prius owners getting over 70+ mpg and even 90+ mpg trips over 20 miles (me for instance) but nothing like that with the Yaris HSD. Surely they should be posting pictures with trip averages over 100 mpg if I can get over 90 in my car.

See attached pics (one at 88 mpg over 20 miles and 91 mpg over 11 miles)

[PeteB]

Certainly I was worried by the poor computed mpg when I had a test drive - my old Gen 1 Prius would have done better under similar conditions.

The Yaris won't be helped at higher speeds by a much poorer drag factor than the Prius, and I suspect most people opt for the higher spec models with bigger wheels - I've not been able to discover how that affects the CD on the Yaris, but on the Prius it adds 0.2 - which is massive. Bigger wheels do appear to add 6 ft to an already not wonderful (compared to previous model) turning circle however!

At least with the 2012 upgrade the basic Prius aquired a decent multifunction display, so I was able to get 15" wheels, built in (optional) SatNav and have the cruise control switch fitted. This upgrade included daytime running lights and heated, electrically folding mirrors so I got almost everything I really wanted/needed (by the time the dealer added sensors both ends, protections kit and heated seats).

[RunningInPleasePass]

I think peoples idea of steady driving differs greatly from one person to another,

I consider myself a steady driver and when on the motorway I try and average an indicated 65 MPH, at that speed just about the only thing I overtake is HGV vehicles, most cars are going much faster then me.

For my part, with an Auris HSD, the MPG is getting better and better now the weather is warming up and the car is coming up to 20k miles.

I measure the MPG over each fill up, after about 400 to 450 miles, the indicated average is about 65 MPG and the calculated average is now up to 61 MPG, that is with a mixture of town and motorway driving.

I have had higher single journey readings, last week after a round trip of 150 miles on the A1M, it indicated 75 MPG but the road was very busy and I did well to average 55 MPH.

My advice is to slow down if you want better MPG!

[OorWullie]

Having just joined the club and having purchased my first Yaris 1.5 hybrid petrol on 2nd June 2014 and having covered the first 200 miles the mpg is showing as 44. Whatcar's calculation indicate 48, Which says 37, Markporterhouse 37, and Carsite 37. When I did the 100 mile test it too showed 37 mpg and the 100 mile test is fairly accurate. This would indicate that my car's meter is approximately 7 mpg below the actual consumption. The car is driven mostly twice daily at distances of less that 6 miles on rural roads with the longest distances being 15 miles about 5 times weekly. No attempt has yet been made to test the car on Battery although it initially runs on Battery after starting nor has it been tested in the economy mode as seldom is it on the motorway. On first collecting the car and travelling 75 miles on the motorway it showed a consumption of 44 mpg on the meter. Having read the numerous comments clearly, like the initial poster, the consumption is higher than what could reasonably be expected. I am not heavy on the accelerator nor do I drive harshly and even when the engine is run-in surely it would not be expected to produce a much better fuel consumption. I am aware that driving short distances makes the car a fuel guzzler. I am also wondering how many other posters have actually tested the consumption on the 100 mile test?

[Grumpy Cabbie]

If I get less than 45 mpg out of the Prius I am hammering it, and I mean HAMMERING it.

The lowest average I ever got over 90 miles was 41 mpg. My average over 35k miles of town taxi use was 49.9 mpg. If you're getting well under 40 mpg UK, then there's a problem.

The is a small trick out there though. US gallons are much smaller than UK gallons (3.7 litres to 4.54). One wonders if people are inadvertently using US mpg's?

Equally, there are many many many posts on here about people getting much lower consumption than expected. There are many common reasons for this, the first being tyres being under inflated. Under inflated tyres may reduce fuel economy by 10%. That's not much in a 35 mpg car but it's significant in a 60 mpg car.

Seriously, if you're getting less than 45 mpg UK out of a correctly functioning UK hybrid, then something is very very wrong somewhere. I'll leave others to work out what may or may not be wrong.

[Teemu]

I have Yaris HSD with 15" wheels fitted with Nokian tyres. After 52 000 kilometers/32 000 miles no problems at all. Now with warm summer weather mpg is just great. Last tank I got 3.5 l/100 km which is about 80.7 mpg (calculated on the tank, not using mpg computer). When driving almost all the time around the city (outside center) with speed limits under 60 km/h I got the best result so far: 3.3 l/100 km or 85,6 mpg, very happy. Always happy to show this picture to a friend who got a Kia with double the mpg...

Speed is the enemy on mpg and also cold weather. When driving on highway with 80 km/h mpg is quite good, but when speed limit is 100 km/h mpg goes down. During the cold winter mpg goes down to 60 mpg.

I am driving around city, highway and on the centre of Helsinki with traffic jams. Driving style is normal with keeping the speed limits, not slowing down.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Nokian tyres are almost unheard of here, though I understand they have a good reputation.

Perhaps this is the issue? Do the tyres vary depending on which country the car is sold in, even within Europe? As mine and others have found, lrr tyres make a big difference to top end fuel economy. You can get mid 50 mpg out of any tyre but I could only average over 60 mpg+ using the lrr tyres. Presume the Yaris HSD is the same.

As I've said before, it's like putting remoulds on a Ferrari. Sure you could drive it about but you'd never be able to get the full benefit of the car. The same applies to non lrr tyres on a hybrid.

[joancy]

I have the yaris hybrid T4 the tyres are as what comes from the factory, there is about 3,ooo miles on the clock and the highest mpg I have achieved is 55mpg, I also am a careful driver, and keep it in economy mode as advised by the garage, The garage told me only to expect 50mpg, I will now check the tyre pressures to see if I can improve on that, I do some dual carriageway and some town about 8miles a day every day. Joancy

[Parts-King]

Personally I would not advocate Eco mode all the time. Just let the car do it's own thing, you concentrate on anticipating the road ahead, backing off the throttle when approaching traffic lights and the like. I was getting 62 out of a Yaris without really trying too hard

Kingo

[Teemu]

I am running on eco-mode all the time, pwr-mode rarely and not using the ev-mode at all. Factory fitted tyres would have been Bridgestone but dealer fitted Nokian Hakka Green tyres, they are as name suggest fuel saving tyres.

[OorWullie]

Today, the daily local run was exceeded to approximately a 30 mile round trip on country road conditions and being held back by a rather wide tractor for about 2 miles. The average speed on the clock 27.5 mph but interestingly the clock showed a drop in consumption from 44 to 55 mpg. Driving was in normal mode and the only minor issue was the battle with my wife over wether the air con should be on or off. The weather was humid and wet. Having been driving for over 50 years I find the Yaris light, easily manoeuvrable, and fast, and a car that requires constant awareness at keeping it under control especially on country road bends or corners.

[OldSkoO1]

There must be a significant difference between the yaris and prius yet the official combined is about 70mpg for both?

Haven't used my prius in a few days but a 30 mile mixed trip today got me 74mpg. Whilst it doesn't help the yaris drivers I simply can't understand why the difference is so big!

I simply drove how I explained a page or 2 back in this thread. My tires are f rated for fuel, Michelin primacy so I might get better mpg with Eco tires. I have them at 40 psi and 38 psi rear, cold pressure slightly lower.

I used the pwr range every time I accelerated apart from slow town traffic, quite a lot of ev use there.

[timberwolf]

I have the yaris hybrid T4 the tyres are as what comes from the factory, there is about 3,ooo miles on the clock and the highest mpg I have achieved is 55mpg, I also am a careful driver, and keep it in economy mode as advised by the garage, The garage told me only to expect 50mpg, I will now check the tyre pressures to see if I can improve on that, I do some dual carriageway and some town about 8miles a day every day. Joancy

Your total mileage per day is 8 miles? Do you do that 8 miles in one go, or is it split into a number of trips?

[SK100]

I bought a new Yaris Hybrid Icon + in March this year and have now done just over 2000 miles. Initially, my fuel consumption started at 53 mpg (measured brim to brim over a full tank - not based on in car display) but after having followed many of the tips on this forum my last full tank gave me 64 mpg. The car is brilliant in my opinion, but you do have to adjust your driving style a little bit to get the most out of it. Mind you, the official consumption figure is more than 80 mpg but hopefully most people are now aware that the lab-based official figures are rarely repeatable in the real world.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Toyota OC mobile app

[Grumpy Cabbie]

So it can be done with the Yaris. I'm still wondering if people are tempted to use electric rather than just drive. Just seems strange the larger Prius appears to be getting the higher mpg's.

We'll get to the bottom of it though :)

[FROSTYBALLS]

Nokian tyres are almost unheard of here, though I understand they have a good reputation.

Think the standard fitment for 15 inch wheels is either Goodyear/Dunlop (both made by Goodyear anyway) or Bridgestone. From Teemu's one post his Yaris is a 2012 model with 32,000 under it's belt - so the tyres could have been changed for Nokians (made either in Finland, Russia or a contract factory elsewhere).

[Teemu]

Nokian tyres are almost unheard of here, though I understand they have a good reputation.

Think the standard fitment for 15 inch wheels is either Goodyear/Dunlop (both made by Goodyear anyway) or Bridgestone. From Teemu's one post his Yaris is a 2012 model with 32,000 under it's belt - so the tyres could have been changed for Nokians (made either in Finland, Russia or a contract factory elsewhere).

Yep dealer fitted them instead of the factory Bridgestone. Mine are made in Finland.

For those who struggle with low mpg, it is good to remember that with more miles the engine loosens up and mpg gets better!

[paul.r]

I simply drove how I explained a page or 2 back in this thread. My tires

are f rated for fuel, Michelin primacy so I might get better mpg with

Eco tires. I have them at 40 psi and 38 psi rear, cold pressure slightly

lower.

I am amazed at the amount of people running with the tyres at too high a pressure trying to eke a minimal amount of fuel saving..the first thing i did after buying my 2011 T-Spirit Prius was to change the large 17 inch wheels and Michelin Premacy 215/45 series profile tyres..( which really belong on a sports car)..for a set of new 15 inch alloys fitted with Continental 195/65 series tyre for a better..and lot quieter... ride,i run these at 36psi front,33 rear...as recommended... and the fuel consumption is excellent..best so far is 78 mpg over a 40 mile run,75.5 is achieved quite often too...my previous cars 5-Series BMW/Mercedes E-Class had large alloys and tyres fitted also and i never ran them with more than 30 PSI all round..the tyres always wore even...i think many fail to realise that too much pressure will not only give an uncomfortable/hard and bouncy ride the centres will also wear out prematurely from being over inflated...take a look in a car park at the "hot hatches" with the middles worn... The way to good fuel consumption in an auto...be it Hybrid or not.. rests entirely in the right foot,just to add my new set of wheels/tyres fitted/balanced/delivered to the door off the "net" cost a lot less than a set of Michelin Premacy low profile tyres would have,..why does a car with a top speed of around 110 mph need tyres that are speed rated at 168mph??? ,it doesn't but Toyota charge you for them anyway when buying..

[OorWullie]

That is what I am hoping TeeMu but even the consumption the Yaris has giving during its first few miles is a considerable improvement on the Corsa 1.4 SE hatch auto which produced a miserable 22 mpg! In comparison I am saving £11.50 a month on the Yaris with its free road tax and about £100 per month on petrol and hence the reason why I could afford another new car after 14 months! Previously to the Corsa, I had a used 5 series BMW 10 years old (loved the car) and for the same journeys as the Corsa it provided 20 mpg so there was little difference in consumption between those two cars but the Yaris is the money saver and maybe over the next year or so I might consider getting another.

On looking around the market for a used but lower consumption car to replace the Corsa I expressed an interest in Toyotas on the company's Web page and the next day this was followed by a sales rep interested in my financial position. I explained what I could afford when to my amazement, with a little creative accounting, the rep came up with the offer to purchase a new Yaris Icon plus 1.5 hatch. All that I had to do was to say this is my maximum expenditure and the dealer's finance department did the rest. The negotiation was done through the Internet and all that was required was to meet once at a convenient golf club to sign a couple of documents, hand over the Corsa, and the Yaris was mine; amazing!

[valmiki]

Hi Paul,

Where did you get your 15"s from? As I am looking into doing this, did you have much hassle about offsets, etc.?

Thanks

valmiki

I simply drove how I explained a page or 2 back in this thread. My tires
are f rated for fuel, Michelin primacy so I might get better mpg with
Eco tires. I have them at 40 psi and 38 psi rear, cold pressure slightly
lower.

I am amazed at the amount of people running with the tyres at too high a pressure trying to eke a minimal amount of fuel saving..the first thing i did after buying my 2011 T-Spirit Prius was to change the large 17 inch wheels and Michelin Premacy 215/45 series profile tyres..( which really belong on a sports car)..for a set of new 15 inch alloys fitted with Continental 195/65 series tyre for a better..and lot quieter... ride,i run these at 36psi front,33 rear...as recommended... and the fuel consumption is excellent..best so far is 78 mpg over a 40 mile run,75.5 is achieved quite often too...my previous cars 5-Series BMW/Mercedes E-Class had large alloys and tyres fitted also and i never ran them with more than 30 PSI all round..the tyres always wore even...i think many fail to realise that too much pressure will not only give an uncomfortable/hard and bouncy ride the centres will also wear out prematurely from being over inflated...take a look in a car park at the "hot hatches" with the middles worn... The way to good fuel consumption in an auto...be it Hybrid or not.. rests entirely in the right foot,just to add my new set of wheels/tyres fitted/balanced/delivered to the door off the "net" cost a lot less than a set of Michelin Premacy low profile tyres would have,..why does a car with a top speed of around 110 mph need tyres that are speed rated at 168mph??? ,it doesn't but Toyota charge you for them anyway when buying..

[paul.r]

Hi Paul,

Where did you get your 15"s from? As I am looking into doing this, did you have much hassle about offsets, etc.?

Thanks

valmiki

Hi,no the offset is correct for the car they are ordered for..i will put two links in below and you can put the vehicle they are required for in the "wheel and tyre finder" bar at the top....I was very happy with the service and products i received...they came by courier delivered to my door,each one balanced,well packaged individually,complete with spacers and wheel nuts..i bought the

15 Inch MSW (by OZ) 19 Silver Alloy Wheels fitted with Continental eco contact 5 tyres (which i requested)..the only other item i bought was a set of locking wheel nuts with tapered ends..the ones supplied by Toyota have flat ends and are not suitable.So far i have been very pleased with the ones i bought about 18 months ago

http://www.wheelbasealloys.com/alloy-wheels/toyota/prius/xw30/15-inch

http://www.wheelbasealloys.com/alloy-wheels/msw/19/silver/15-inch