Poor Yaris Hybrid Mpg?

[valmiki]

Brilliant, thanks ;-)

[joancy]

Hi I have the yaris hybrid T4 I was also getting 48-50 mpg and doing the same as you, as was advised on this site, thank you, to just keep it in normal driving mode do not bother with eco or ev, and just watch your driving the car immediately increased to 56-60 mpg worth a try hope it works Joan

[Mel and Claire]

I do a mixed urban/motorway commute each day of about 18 miles - I have owned the Yaris T SPirit Hybrid for about a year. Cold weather mpg is around 60mpg but when its warmer the Spirit can hit 70mpg mostly aided by the very slow speed on the motorway.

At optimum a few weeks back with the car able to run on electric for most of the ay and aided by the traffic freeing up each time the Battery got low allowing me to rebuild the Battery power I managed to get a staggering 82mpg out of her.

As time has gone by the car has increased its mpg - early on 64 was about the average but over time she has loosened up a bit.

I drive gentle, seldom exceed 50 mph due to the roads being clagged up. I tend to try and maintain a constant speed and gently glide as much as is possible and try never to stop completely which sometimes means gliding up to traffic lights and hoping they change before I get there :)

On the whole the more I drive the Yaris the happier I am with it - I find it quite calming to drive and seldom get stressed in the car. When the traffic is looking bad I can resort to hypermiling games. Love the electronics in it which are so well designed. Still loving it very much.

[paul.r]

joancy said

just keep it in normal driving mode do not bother with eco or ev,

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That is exactly as i do ..the only time i put the Prius in power mode is when using the motorway as it really helps when overtaking or a burst of speed is needed...

Mel and Claire said

On the whole the more I drive the Yaris the happier I am with it - I

find it quite calming to drive and seldom get stressed in the car. When

the traffic is looking bad I can resort to hypermiling games. Love the

electronics in it which are so well designed. Still loving it very

much.

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Me too...after owning lots of cars over the years including executive/4x4s/sports cars etc i find my Prius very nice/rewarding to drive...if i go into the nearby towns/city and the traffic is heavy ...no prob...i just plod along,no clutch in clutch out...let the auto do its job,whisper quiet commuting...when the new model comes out i will definately be taking a look with the view to buying another........happy motoring

[joancy]

today the best I got on my yaris hybrid was 81.5, that is the best yet so do not give up, I guess it is going to average about 60-65, but that was only after just keeping it in normal driving, no eco no eva, ok Paul, let me know how you get on. Joancy

[GSC112]

Latest update , I have now covered 8600 miles since new my tank averages over the last 11 months have been between 49 mpg and 54 mpg calculating brim to brim refueling and taking the mileage as trip meter reset each time. Trying on various time driving he whole tank full on eco mode the next time co mode and pulse and glide any lately in normal mode which seems to be the most efficient, and as the weather has improved, I am now achieving 55.5 mpg calculated and 56.9 indicated on computer on full tanks.

I have also tried changing tyre pressures and now left them at the recommended values for 5 passengers and high speed use instead of the lower values, I also do find that travelling on the 17" "T spirit wheels and tyres a bit teeth rattling at times and I am also thinking of going down the 15 inch route. (but can't justify the cost over the possible gains)

I will be taking it in for its first service next week so I will keep you all posted if any problems are found /sorted, The only thing that I find is that the engine seems to be racing at all times rather than go into a nice tick over at about 6-800 rpm when warmed up. So i'm hoping they will find some thing silly, like a sticking choke or something similar!

[FROSTYBALLS]

If you do look seriously at getting the 15 inch wheels, check whether your insurance company will accept the change. Some will, some will charge an extra premium, some won't. For example one member who downsized wheels and was with Toyota Insurance, had the change refused as it was outside of the car's original spec.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Generally ignore the revving engine. It's usually revving to charge the Battery or the a/c or both. If you have a full Battery and it comes on it will usually be because the engine is cold.

When the Battery is full the engine should drop the revs a little. Try not to use EV mode or keep the car in electric longer than needed as this will throw the car out of its kilter.

[paul.r]

If you do look seriously at getting the 15 inch wheels, check whether your insurance company will accept the change. Some will, some will charge an extra premium, some won't. For example one member who downsized wheels and was with Toyota Insurance, had the change refused as it was outside of the car's original spec.

I believe you have put this argument against 15 inch wheels before,personally i cannot believe any Ins company would refuse cover for this change..unless they were silly OTT 19/20 inch alloys???..Maybe the member would come on here and be kind enough to inform everyone WHY it was refused that would be very informative...but people should consult their insurance company if they have doubts...The original spec of the Prius is either 15" wheels with 195/65/15 tyres or 17" wheels with 215/45/17 tyres, the radius/circumference of the wheel + tyre is virtually the same...now if i had changed from 15" to 17" fitted with costly tyres that would be another story....Why do they fit tyres with a speed rating of 168mph on a vehicle not capable of a 110mph,the lower the profile the worse the ride and the more chance of doing damage if a pothole is hit,just remember that thin piece of rubber is all there is between you and the road..the wider the tyre the lower the braking performance is and the worse they are in snow...i speak from personal experience..plus on top of this they are more than double the cost x 4 of a standard one...This is just my own personal opinion and i think we should return to the original post

Replying to Poor Yaris Hybrid Mpg?

as we are way off topic,i only added the links because i was asked to,what others do is their own choice ...Horses for Courses... :chinese:

[Cyker]

Well when I wanted to buy some new alloys for my old Yaris to replace the shockingly corroded ones it came with, eSure told me I'd have to stump up £70 more a year as it was classed as a performance change, even tho' they would be the same 14" size as the current ones (And these were not super light forged Rays Engineering alloys, just normal cheap Wolfrace alloys!).

TBH I still don't understand why Toyota have this obsession with big alloys on their HSD's. The ONLY performance reason for bigger rims is to accommodate large brake calipers, but the brakes on the HSDs are tiny! Outside that, bigger rims are worse in every regard: Tyres are more expensive, ride comfort is worse, fuel usage is worse, acceleration is worse... and frankly nobody is going to buy a HSD for the bling factor so stupidly big rims are hardly going to be a major selling point!

BTW, are all these 80+ mpgs peak numbers, or journey/full tank averages? Not so impressive if they are peak, but !Removed! impressive if they are tank averages!!!

[Grumpy Cabbie]

If you do look seriously at getting the 15 inch wheels, check whether your insurance company will accept the change. Some will, some will charge an extra premium, some won't. For example one member who downsized wheels and was with Toyota Insurance, had the change refused as it was outside of the car's original spec.

I believe you have put this argument against 15 inch wheels before,personally i cannot believe any Ins company would refuse cover for this change..unless they were silly OTT 19/20 inch alloys???..Maybe the member would come on here and be kind enough to inform everyone WHY it was refused that would be very informative...but people should consult their insurance company if they have doubts...The original spec of the Prius is either 15" wheels with 195/65/15 tyres or 17" wheels with 215/45/17 tyres, the radius/circumference of the wheel + tyre is virtually the same...now if i had changed from 15" to 17" fitted with costly tyres that would be another story....Why do they fit tyres with a speed rating of 168mph on a vehicle not capable of a 110mph,the lower the profile the worse the ride and the more chance of doing damage if a pothole is hit,just remember that thin piece of rubber is all there is between you and the road..the wider the tyre the lower the braking performance is and the worse they are in snow...i speak from personal experience..plus on top of this they are more than double the cost x 4 of a standard one...This is just my own personal opinion and i think we should return to the original post. :chinese:

Logic and insurance companies don't always go hand in hand and you will often find the cheaper ones are less flexible. The 'computer says no' variety. Anything outside standard manufacturers spec, however worthwhile or beneficial the modification is, is a 'no'. Why? Because it's one size fits all when you're at the cheaper end of the market. The same way you're not going to get Primark taking your jeans up or adjusting a newly purchased suit for you like a Savil Row tailor would (extreme example but you get the idea).

Some insurers will look at modifications though so you must tell them of ANY modification regardless of if 'you' feel it's an improvement for the better. Never assume it'll be fine. The more open minded insurer will generally be understanding and happy to update their records. Others are not. Better to find out and have them give you 7 days to replace cover than have a claim turned down later. Chrome trim, different wheels, different badges, higher tinted windows, induction kits, different lights, uprated or performance brakes, DRL modifications (even though it may be perceived that it's a safety improvement) all have to be mentioned. It's not for us to argue whether we think it's right or not. They're the ones providing cover and asking "Has the vehicle been modified outside manufacturers original specification?".

I'm surprised Toyota Insurance aren't accommodating though. The Mrs has pranged her IQ and they were great and hassle free when dealing with the claim - so far. I'm planning on pimping the ol' Prius up when I get a job again and am thinking lots of chrome trim from the Toyota dealers. It will need declaring to my insurers at the time and I'll be upfront with them and find one who can accommodate my poor taste :)

[FROSTYBALLS]

If you do look seriously at getting the 15 inch wheels, check whether your insurance company will accept the change. Some will, some will charge an extra premium, some won't. For example one member who downsized wheels and was with Toyota Insurance, had the change refused as it was outside of the car's original spec.

If you do look seriously at getting the 15 inch wheels, check whether your insurance company will accept the change. Some will, some will charge an extra premium, some won't. For example one member who downsized wheels and was with Toyota Insurance, had the change refused as it was outside of the car's original spec.

I believe you have put this argument against 15 inch wheels before,personally i cannot believe any Ins company would refuse cover for this change..unless they were silly OTT 19/20 inch alloys???..Maybe the member would come on here and be kind enough to inform everyone WHY it was refused that would be very informative...but people should consult their insurance company if they have doubts...The original spec of the Prius is either 15" wheels with 195/65/15 tyres or 17" wheels with 215/45/17 tyres, the radius/circumference of the wheel + tyre is virtually the same...now if i had changed from 15" to 17" fitted with costly tyres that would be another story....Why do they fit tyres with a speed rating of 168mph on a vehicle not capable of a 110mph,the lower the profile the worse the ride and the more chance of doing damage if a pothole is hit,just remember that thin piece of rubber is all there is between you and the road..the wider the tyre the lower the braking performance is and the worse they are in snow...i speak from personal experience..plus on top of this they are more than double the cost x 4 of a standard one...This is just my own personal opinion and i think we should return to the original post

Replying to Poor Yaris Hybrid Mpg?

as we are way off topic,i only added the links because i was asked to,what others do is their own choice ...Horses for Courses... :chinese:

To be absolutely clear on this - nowhere in my original post have I argued for or against the fitment of different size wheels and tyres.

I have just stated the fact that anyone considering changing their wheel and tyre combination should check with their insurance company first to see whether the insurance company will accept the modification, and if the insurance company do accept the modification, whether an additional premium will be payable.

As regards the member who had their change from 17 inch wheels to 15 inch wheels refused as it was outside the specification for that model see post 27 of the following:

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/145281-toyota-motor-insurance/page-3

[paul.r]

Thanks for the reply and link to page..it seems Toyota are not very flexible with the insurance at all...just to say ..to notify my insurance company of the change of wheels/tyres as they put it...

Replacement of factory fitted wheels with wheels/tyres of a non-standard size or specification

..costs no extra premium at all...this is with LV=....

they also have a further adddition for them

Replacement of factory fitted wheels with alloys of the same size

My insurance fully comp with over 20 years NCD with £200 excess is £177.42 for the year...without any bells and whistles...legal cover/breakdown/courtesy car etc etc

[Alan_B]

I have had my Yaris hybrid since last October. My average since purchase MPG is 54.5 and it's increasing at the moment; I'm not sure if that is because the car is now well run-in (~9500 miles) or because it's summer. I do a lot of short journeys so this figure is not so bad although it's a long way short of the official test figures. According to the internal systems, the peak MPG on the flat is achieved at speeds around 50 MPH. It drops off a bit at 60 MPH and by about 20% going from 60 to 70 MPH. I reckon that if you want to achieve better than 60 MPG on a longer journey you cannot do this by driving at 70 MPH on a motorway but stick to 60 MPH (pretend you're a lorry) and you can.

[OorWullie]

When I do the 100 mile petrol pump check I find the car's meter is 5 mpg lower. It would be nice to know how frequent is this error. My current meter recording indicates 42 mpg with a high of 51 but the pump test suggests 37 mpg. Most of the journeys are of short duration of between one mile to twelve mile. At times it may do only five miles daily. The average monthly usage is 600 miles. I recognise that such short journeys increase consumption so I am not complaining but grateful that I can get such acceptable milage.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

If you're getting 37 mpg over 100 miles, then you have a fault.

(Or you're hammering the car or drive lots of 1 mile journeys or drive up steep hills continuously or have the tyres at the wrong pressures or try and use electric mode instead of letting the car work out when to use electric or ICE)

I have mentioned many times before that I averaged 49.9 mpg over 35,000 miles/12 months of hard, town taxi use. On a run my car will return a trip average of between 60 and 75 mpg and this from the larger and heavier Prius.

I only ever got 41 mpg (tank fill up calculated) over 90 miles in the middle of winter with an average speed of 12 mph. That was my lowest ever. If you're continually getting about 40 mpg then there is something wrong somewhere - seriously. It just doesn't tie in with other owners experiences.

Check your tyre pressures if you haven't already.

The Mrs was looking at replacing her IQ with a Yaris HSD, but with so many owners reporting shocking economy, I think we'll consider something else instead. The Yaris HSD has such potential to get great mpg's compared to the Prius, yet many owners are reporting what I would consider very poor economy. Something is wrong somewhere. It can't be so many owners doing it wrong so collectively, yet most Prius owners can achieve high 60's and mid 70's to the gallon.

[Alan_B]

Some hard facts:

When I bought my Yaris last October it had about 1600 miles on the clock. When I last filled it up on June 18th I had driven a further 7703 miles and used a total of 642.01 litres (l) of fuel. That is 11.998 miles per litre or 54.545 miles per gallon. I'm in the UK and I'm using imperial UK gallons =4.546 l. The fuel tank has a nominal capacity of 30 l and the most I have ever got in there was 31.02 l when the indicated range was under 5 miles before I filled it up (i.e. the tank was indicated to be very close to empty).

I have never achieved as much as 400 miles between fill-ups, 400 miles on, say, 28 l would be about 65 MPG so I have never achieved 65 MPG on a tank of fuel and I have fuelled the car 25 times since I bought it. I do a lot of short journeys of under 5 miles, driving at 20-60 MPH with little start-stop. But I do the occasional long journey where the car should achieve its best results. For what it's worth my car came with Dunlop Sport Fastresponse tyres, 175/65 R15

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Some hard facts:

When I bought my Yaris last October it had about 1600 miles on the clock. When I last filled it up on June 18th I had driven a further 7703 miles and used a total of 642.01 litres (l) of fuel. That is 11.998 miles per litre or 54.545 miles per gallon. I'm in the UK and I'm using imperial UK gallons =5.546 l.

Erm I understood UK gallons were 4.54 litres and US gallons are 3.78.

If you're calculating a gallon as 5.546 litres, then you're way off.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallon

I'm hoping 5.546 litres to a gallon is a typo or I'm misreading it something.

[Alan_B]

It was a typo which I have now corrected. But I showed my working (7703 miles on 642.01 litres) so anyone can check the maths!

[timberwolf]

For what it is worth, that is the sort of calculated mpg that I would expect to get for that type of journey.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

For what it is worth, that is the sort of calculated mpg that I would expect to get for that type of journey.

Then I'll hang onto my ol' Prius.

I only ever use it for popping to the shop a mile away or into town 2 miles away and back. I'm getting between 46 & 50 mpg. Some of that involves hill, though obviously I come back down them later.

When I commuted to an office 4 miles away (8 mile daily run) I would average between 48 mpg in winter and 60 in summer.

But the one thing I guess we should all remember. If we're getting 37 out of a hybrid, we'd have got 25 out of something else.

[Ten Ninety]

I test drove a Yaris HSD before I bought the Prius a year ago. I was a big fan of my wife's Auris HSD and wanted another hybrid - the Yaris looked like it would be a good option. However, during the test drive I noticed the on-board display was showing a full 10mpg lower on stretches of road that I'd just driven on in the Auris. It seemed like it needed to be worked a lot harder just to get anywhere and I found the throttle was much harder to manage. Even in Eco mode it was a lot sharper than the Auris/Prius.

There were lots of reasons I didn't choose the Yaris in the end, but the suspicion that it was going to be more of a challenge to get up to the sorts of mileage figures I wanted was definitely a prime consideration. Whilst a test drive over a handful of miles is hardly the last word in scientific comparison, it has been interesting to follow this thread and read other peoples' experiences.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Jay, do you think it has been tuned more to comply with official mpg calculations rather than real work economy? Reading about the Battery being reduced by 20% to fit under the seat rings my alarm bells. The gen3 Prius Battery is worked much harder than the gen2 and then the Yaris working it hard with less is a recipe for trouble.

[Sagitar]

If you're getting 37 mpg over 100 miles, then you have a fault.

(Or you're hammering the car or drive lots of 1 mile journeys or drive up steep hills continuously or have the tyres at the wrong pressures or try and use electric mode instead of letting the car work out when to use electric or ICE)

I have mentioned many times before that I averaged 49.9 mpg over 35,000 miles/12 months of hard, town taxi use. On a run my car will return a trip average of between 60 and 75 mpg and this from the larger and heavier Prius.

I only ever got 41 mpg (tank fill up calculated) over 90 miles in the middle of winter with an average speed of 12 mph. That was my lowest ever. If you're continually getting about 40 mpg then there is something wrong somewhere - seriously. It just doesn't tie in with other owners experiences.

Check your tyre pressures if you haven't already.

The Mrs was looking at replacing her IQ with a Yaris HSD, but with so many owners reporting shocking economy, I think we'll consider something else instead. The Yaris HSD has such potential to get great mpg's compared to the Prius, yet many owners are reporting what I would consider very poor economy. Something is wrong somewhere. It can't be so many owners doing it wrong so collectively, yet most Prius owners can achieve high 60's and mid 70's to the gallon.

I have to agree with GC. I kept my Prius T Spirit for three years and averaged C54 mpg overall for every mile that I did. This included lots of short winter journeys where the warm up period pulled down the mileage and I regularly exceeded long-journey summer mileages in excess of 70 m.p.g. while doing motorway speeds. Always drove the car in a quite ordinary fashion.

[Ten Ninety]

Jay, do you think it has been tuned more to comply with official mpg calculations rather than real work economy? Reading about the battery being reduced by 20% to fit under the seat rings my alarm bells. The gen3 Prius battery is worked much harder than the gen2 and then the Yaris working it hard with less is a recipe for trouble.

It may well have been more EU-cycle optimised, especially having to compete with all the diesels in that segment which have 80+mpg official figures.

I'd quite like to borrow one for a week and do my commute in it, just for the sake of curiosity. It's supposed to be 10mpg more economical than the Prius and it would be interesting to see if it actually returned that kind of improvement on identical journeys, with the same driver. My test drive suggested it would be 10mpg worse, but like I said, that wasn't exactly scientific.