Iq Mpg In Warm Weather

[bobkneale]

Since the weather has been hotter over the last 2 months in the UK, my average MPG has gone from 60+ MPG to 70+ MPG.

A massive difference !

This is recorded by 2 scan gauges plus my manual calculations, my runs have remained the same and I always use Shell V Power Nitro unleaded.

I know the engine warms up slightly faster is this the only reason ?

Ideas ? ?

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Tyres are warmer, the roads don't have dampness or puddles all of which cause slight drag. The car will be running at optimum temperature and gets there quicker. I guess you could say the air is less dense but whether that makes any difference I really doubt it.

All you've got to do now is switch on your a/c and get back to where you started.

[bobkneale]

Tyres are warmer, the roads don't have dampness or puddles all of which cause slight drag. The car will be running at optimum temperature and gets there quicker. I guess you could say the air is less dense but whether that makes any difference I really doubt it.

All you've got to do now is switch on your a/c and get back to where you started.

Air con has been on for most of the time, yet still getting 70 MPG !

[atkiman]

My petrol rav always gaind a couple of mpg from winter to summer from 30 to around 32, the iq goes from 49/51 winter to 55/56 summer. Just doesn't run as much electrics summer , lights heater etc, I run climate control most of the time set at 20 it only ticks over most of the time at 1 or 2 blocks on the read out.plus the cars doesn't have to work so hard to warm up in the winter.my diesel ravs the same definite increase in mpg summer over winter.

[Guest]

Hi,

I would love to know how people manage to get 60+ and 70+ MPG when the wife and I can only get 50 MPG from our two IQ2's.

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Tyres are of utmost importance. Low rolling resistance tyres make a big difference as do ensuring your tyre pressures are correct and not low. Even 1 or 2 psi below what they should be can cause drag and lower mpg's at the top end.

Are you on original tyres or did you replace them with something none LRR?

Also, the non automatic IQ's should use the thinner (and expensive) 0w20 oil. Experience from the Prius forum is that when 5w30 oil is used, mpg's at the higher end are impossible to achieve. Change to 0w20 oil and economy at the high end improves again. Did you garage use the more expensive 0w20? Or just use the 5w30? Strangely the automatic IQ is to use 5w30.

[bobkneale]

I can only tells you what I have done to get approx 60 MPG in Winter and 70 MPG in summer my list is as follows:

I am not sure which of the below make the most contribution to good MPG to be honest.

I have just returned from a short run (15-20 Miles) and have averaged 75MPG on this run today, no passenger just me.

No order of Priority:

2010 1.0ltr Manual IQ

I "hyper mill" my driving tactics all the time

Change gear often

Keep Revs low

Very light throttle pressure at all times

Change up at 2000 RPM if possible

Don't exceed 60 MPH often

Switch of engine if standing still for more than a minuite

Average speed is mostly 40 - 50 MPH or less

Hardly any motorway driving

Drive when roads are not too busy

Mainly B & A Roads

Coast in gear to junctions and traffic lights where possible

Reduce load weight by not carrying items that I don't need

Don't use my brakes that often (antisipate in advance situation and coast in gear)

Increase tyre pressures to max

Check Tyre pressures once per month

Use Shell V Power Nitro unleaded all the time

New spark plugs at 40,000 miles (before they were due to be replaced)

Fully synthetic oil changed every 5000 miles

Use BG44 fuel system cleaner once per year

ZX1 oil treatment once per year at oil change

New Air filter every year (even if it looks clean)

Use 2 Scan gauges to monitor various functions

Average run length is approx 10 Miles or more (not less)

Maximum run distance is approx 50 miles

Carry a passenger 50% of the time only

[Andy Kay]

The thing I like most about the iQ is that it's so much fun to drive. I think you can miss all that fun if you get too focused on keeping the mpg low.

[Soeley]

The thing I like most about the iQ is that it's so much fun to drive. I think you can miss all that fun if you get too focused on keeping the mpg low.

I dodn't care too much about MPG when I'm having fun :)

[Grumpy Cabbie]

The thread is about economy so that's why we're obsessing about it, but you're right, the IQ is fun to drive and excels in a town.

It makes what is normally a miserable place to drive, fun. We love just being able to park without worry, nipping through gaps, doing a U turn in one go. Any situation where a normal sized car would fail. And to be fair, we don't really care or drive the car with a view to being economical. Mrs Cabbie is definitely a foot to the floor driver.

[bobkneale]

I bought an IQ to keep my motoring costs as low as possible, and it has achieved that for me. With low running costs and zero road tax etc,, plus cheap to look after and quite good MPG etc,,,

Other than the turning circle I do not enjoy driving it, the ride is choppy with the short wheel base, it is the cheapest and smallest car I have ever owned, last two were Volvo S80 and Jag XJ6 plus a number of large 4 wheel drives. So the little IQ is OK for me (based upon my current needs now).

I don't live in a city i live in the rural countryside so parking is not an issue for me.

When my car "needs" change again the IQ I will keep as a second back up car, and buy a larger car again to gain some decent driving comfort again.

[Sensha]

Keep your speed below 60 MPH and you'll do your best mileage there. It appears as if the good folks at Toyota designed the car to get the best mileage results at 100 KPH. That's based upon 30,000 miles of experience and tracking.

If we run below 60 MPH (not something you would normally do here in Texas, where the interstate speeds run up to 75 MPH, and one toll road allows 85 MPH), we get up in the 40 MPG range (using non-Imperial gallon measurement for the fuel side, of course). As soon as we spend any amount of time at 65 MPG, the economy drops down in the mid-30 MPG range..

[tarquin]

Its generally recognised here that 56mph is the best fuel economy unless things have changed

David

[Grumpy Cabbie]

Its generally recognised here that 56mph is the best fuel economy unless things have changed

David

I'd completely disagree but I understand how you have come to that conclusion.

56 mph is a speed where they measure fuel consumption in the tests and because it's a reasonably fast steady speed, the car gives its best economy at 56 compared to the 30 mph city testing. But that doesn't mean it's the best speed for the best economy. Your car may get much better mpg's at 50 mph and certainly much better at a steady 40 mph than 56 mph. It's the steadiness of the speed.

In the US they call it Highway rating.

[Cyker]

Yeah. I've also been finding lately that it doesn't really matter that much whether I'm doing 56, 60 or 70mph - My MPGs have been close enough that I don't really notice any difference!

I think it is because the gains I get at 56mph get wiped out by overtaking, while 70mph you can cruise without changing speed for a long time, plus at that speed you're right in the middle of the maximum torque band so it will just destroy gradients with only a tiny bit more pedal pressure and momentum, whereas at 56 I need a lot more pedal pressure to spin the turbo up to get the extra torque required.

I tend to cruise at 63mph (Yay digital dashboard!) as that has proven to be a good compromise and allows me to stay in the left lane for much longer than at 70mph (i.e. less overtaking required) and keeps me out of the outer lanes for longer, because frankly they are full of jerks. (Plus it's fun flying past both outer lanes when they suddenly get congested while the the inner lane remains completely empty )

[bobkneale]

An Interesting debate about improving MPG

My previous list of actions as stated in earlier in this post have got me up to 70MPG in summer.

If i find any other ways of improving it further I will post them, its getting a lot more difficult to improve on 70MPG and also a bit of a challenge to maintain it. My last few journeys I have slipped to 67MPG !

[tarquin]

Here is one to add. As you may know when i first bought the car i lowered the suspension and fitted 18x215x35 wheels which gave me a return of around 48mpg. Now me thinking thats ok its a multidrive. 3days ago i had enough of the awful roads we have to endure so i fitted the original 15 inch. Nice and soft ride now. I went on a long journey and keeping at 56mph i returned a whopping 68 mpg. 20mpg more. Now if i could just loose some weight i have 72 in my sight lol

David

[Soeley]

That is the thing with tyres, the stickier they are for corners is good and adds to the fun, but they also create more drag so up goes the fuel usage. If I could have gone up to 17" rims and kept to 185 width I would have done, but skinny wheel/tyre combos are not popular with the aftermarket :(

[bobkneale]

Here is one to add. As you may know when i first bought the car i lowered the suspension and fitted 18x215x35 wheels which gave me a return of around 48mpg. Now me thinking thats ok its a multidrive. 3days ago i had enough of the awful roads we have to endure so i fitted the original 15 inch. Nice and soft ride now. I went on a long journey and keeping at 56mph i returned a whopping 68 mpg. 20mpg more. Now if i could just loose some weight i have 72 in my sight lol

David

This could be added to the list however the payback period on it would not justify its cost in my view. (From a MPG perspective)

[scimberk]

Im Currently getting about 55mpg average.

Details as follows

2011 IQ2 manual

Regularly serviced

Tyres, Brdgestone original, pressures a little high.

Fuel, cheapest

Try to keep revs to a maximum and usually forget to use 4th and 5th

Always drive like you are in a race for your life against a rabid alligator in a Bugatti.

Hit roundabouts as fast as possible and hope for the best.

Try to overtake as many cars as possible.

Leave breaking to the last minute (brakes are for wimps)

Keep journeys to a minimum of 100 miles an and a maximum of as much as your nerves will take.

A/c on all the time

when travelling in lane2 of a dual carriageway, at a more than reasonable speed, take other people flashing to get past as a challenge. Dont stop till they are a dot on the horizon.

:)

[Ben Davy]

I'm noticing about 3mpg difference between V Power and standard Shell fuel. I haven't worked out if it's worth it. I think it's approx 7/8p a litre more for V Power. If that mpg figure is correct then I would say it's not worth it for economy. I'm only judging on nearly half a tank, will see how many miles I get to the tank of standard compared to V Power and will post. With V Power from full to the light I got about 280 miles to 26 litres which I think worked out at approx 50mpg. So now I'm on the standard will see what I get. My driving doesn't really vary so it should be quite a good measure of the fuel give or take a few miles.

[bobkneale]

I'm noticing about 3mpg difference between V Power and standard Shell fuel. I haven't worked out if it's worth it. I think it's approx 7/8p a litre more for V Power. If that mpg figure is correct then I would say it's not worth it for economy. I'm only judging on nearly half a tank, will see how many miles I get to the tank of standard compared to V Power and will post. With V Power from full to the light I got about 280 miles to 26 litres which I think worked out at approx 50mpg. So now I'm on the standard will see what I get. My driving doesn't really vary so it should be quite a good measure of the fuel give or take a few miles.

Last time I checked I was getting 5MPG+ more by using Shell V Power, I have not calculated if the difference in price V increased MPG is worth it from a cost perspective, just decided it was a better fuel so my little IQ engine might like it better ! I also noticed that tickover on my 3 cyl IQ was smother with Shell V Power.

[Soeley]

I have tried Shell V-Power Nitro in the last three tankfulls, and can say I have NOT noticed any change in MPG in my 1.33 engine.

[Ben Davy]

Well it seems it's made no difference, which I'm not overly surprised on a low performance engine. It made a noticeable difference on my S2000 and on my Kawasaki Ninja. Both in performance and mpg. The cleaning properties are a good selling point on the fuel though. I think with the urban driving it doesn't make a difference but over a long constant journey I'm sure it would. I've seen dyno proven results of the old Optimax before it came V Power, it also has more friction properties now which the engine has to do less work to do the same work. I think it worked out about £1.50+ a fill up, so for piece of mind it's worth it.

It's all I use in both my Ninja and 100cc two stroke as it prevents detonation and on something that gets a good 100mpg it makes no difference in running costs.

[bobkneale]

Checked my tyre pressures a week or so ago and they were low, since increasing them I'm now back up to 60+ MPG and often better !

Did not realise how much difference it would make !