What Fuel Do You Use?

[chi tang]

I use BP or Shell and for every 3 tank fulls of normal I will stick 1 tank of premium in.

At 61k miles Mr T has said my car needs a EGR change, inlet manifold clean and a new ECU program update.

I wonder if the fault is caused by the normal fuel I have used??

[Joseph D]

I use BP or SHELL and for every 3 tank fulls of normal I will stick 1 tank of premium in.

At 61k miles Mr T has said my car needs a EGR change, inlet manifold clean and a new ECU program update.

I wonder if the fault is caused by the normal fuel I have used??

No, it won't. If there is an ECU program update (if it is actually necessary at all), it is most likely a preventative measure by Toyota.

As far as fuel is concerned there is no need to spend additional money on the expensive premium variety. You will not get better MPG or engine care from using it. Stick to Standard 95 octane.

[MEP's Yaris GS]

As above.

I use the normal BP stuff myself. I avoid all supermarket fuel

[IanIanIanIan]

We have done a few hundred thousand miles in a couple of Prius. We just put in the cheapest going and have never had any such problems.

Just follow the handbook specs, all will be well.

[Wayne2015]

I use BP or SHELL and for every 3 tank fulls of normal I will stick 1 tank of premium in.

At 61k miles Mr T has said my car needs a EGR change, inlet manifold clean and a new ECU program update.

I wonder if the fault is caused by the normal fuel I have used??

I ONLY use Shell as they have extra added additives to supermarket fuel

I use to only use Shell V-Power that was only when I had a more high performance car (and no, it does not extend the mileage that much V-Power ...)

To save pennies, the least I done was to use supermarket fuel, but every 4th tank use V-Power to clean the engines/injectors better

Ref ECU update - is it a Toyota re-call?

I put my reg into the Toyota website recall - and it stated I had an outstanding recall or customer service.

Took it in into Toyota and they said all it was was a ECU update that was out earlier in the year, but they hadn't time to get the ECU Update recall out at that time....

[FROSTYBALLS]

I tend to use standard BP or Shell petrol, and V-Power or similar when doing a long motorway journey. If Tesco has any fuel promotion on that reduces the cost per litre, I'll use their Momentum fuel which has a better additive package than their standard fuel.

According to the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency website there is a recall for certain Auris and Prius+ models that requires updating the motor generator and power management ECU's - R/2015/152.

[chi tang]

About the ECU update. Toyota did not mention if it was a recall and when I asked they said that it wasnt a recall but since a new EGR valve has been fitted a new update would ensure optimal engine performance.

£473 lighter in the wallet. Lets hope this is the end of repair issues apart from my every 10k service.

[PeteB]

Chi

Would I be right in thinking you do few long trips and mostly short ones?

Regards, Pete

[chi tang]

Chi

Would I be right in thinking you do few long trips and mostly short ones?

Regards, Pete

YUP, Mr T advised to take the car on the motorway and give it a good blast once a week. This will clear up the manifold of carbon deposits

[Wayne2015]

Is there a thing called a carbon filter?

If so what / where is it on your car?

And does the Auris Hybrid has one?

[Cyker]

Huh, it's a HSD, not a diesel! That is ridiculous!

[Wayne2015]

Huh, it's a HSD, not a diesel! That is ridiculous!

Just a newbie - so had to ask silly questions!

Guess that's a no then ;)

[PeteB]

Is there a thing called a carbon filter?

If so what / where is it on your car?

And does the Auris Hybrid has one?

If you mean the charcoal filter (aka cannister) there is one in or near the fuel tank to capture excess vapour when filling or when the tank heats up.

Some people advocate not completely filling the tank as it can damage the charcoal filter, but I've routinely brimmed mine for over ¼ million miles in various Prius models with no problems.

There also used to be a charcoal version of the pollen filter available (which lives near the bottom glovebox on a Prius), but my dealer tells me they stopped making these due to lack of demand.

[Wayne2015]

Is there a thing called a carbon filter?

If so what / where is it on your car?

And does the Auris Hybrid has one?

If you mean the charcoal filter (aka cannister) there is one in or near the fuel tank to capture excess vapour when filling or when the tank heats up.

Some people advocate not completely filling the tank as it can damage the charcoal filter, but I've routinely brimmed mine for over ¼ million miles in various Prius models with no problems.

There also used to be a charcoal version of the pollen filter available (which lives near the bottom glovebox on a Prius), but my dealer tells me they stopped making these due to lack of demand.

Cheers Pete!

I only asked coz my pollen filter got changed at dealers for £40 on Tuesday - as they said it was manky :(

Then Frosty gave a few links out pointing out there is a Toyota Charcoal pollen filter for cabin which is more effective

On one of the links there was a mentioned of a carbon filter as well and I wondered what is it???

Best to read on my thread post #208...

http://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/169456-find-me-an-auris-hybrid/page-21

[Cyker]

Huh, it's a HSD, not a diesel! That is ridiculous!

Just a newbie - so had to ask silly questions!

Guess that's a no then ;)

Ahh no, sorry - I meant that as a response the post about the EGR in a hybrid needing to be changed due to short journeys. That has always been a diesel problem; Petrols should never have this problem!!!

Petrol exhaust is incredibly hot and should have burned all that stuff off easily!

The problem with diesel is the exhaust is much cooler so unless you're turbo boosting like Knight Rider it never gets hot enough to burn off any carbon, which is why they say you need to go on long motorway runs to burn out the carbon in the DPF.

Also, diesel doesn't burn off as cleanly as petrol so there is carbon dust in the exhaust which gets sucked into the EGR.

Petrol engines should not have these problems!!!

Another example of stupid regulations having the opposite effect of what they want to happen!

[MEP's Yaris GS]

Ahh no, sorry - I meant that as a response the post about the EGR in a hybrid needing to be changed due to short journeys. That has always been a diesel problem; Petrols should never have this problem!!!

Not on a HSD however, they seem to run a lot cooler, not helped with soak away from the block when the enging isn't running etc.

On a short journey they rarely get up to full operating temp.

[FROSTYBALLS]

As regards the enhanced air condtioning (pollen) filter, I've asked Parts King whether these are still available. They are still available for the Auris, Yaris and Rav. They weren't available for all models on the UK market.

[PeteB]

Huh, it's a HSD, not a diesel! That is ridiculous!

Just a newbie - so had to ask silly questions!

Guess that's a no then ;)

Ahh no, sorry - I meant that as a response the post about the EGR in a hybrid needing to be changed due to short journeys. That has always been a diesel problem; Petrols should never have this problem!!!...!

There have been quite a few examples of Toyota Hybrids (3rd Gen) needing new EGR devices, including Grumpy Cabbie's old Prius.

The common theme seems to have been lots of driving in heavy traffic and/or mostly short journeys. Some have suggested using supermarket fuel hasn't helped.

[Wayne2015]

Huh, it's a HSD, not a diesel! That is ridiculous!

Just a newbie - so had to ask silly questions!

Guess that's a no then ;)

Ahh no, sorry - I meant that as a response the post about the EGR in a hybrid needing to be changed due to short journeys. That has always been a diesel problem; Petrols should never have this problem!!!...!

There have been quite a few examples of Toyota Hybrids (3rd Gen) needing new EGR devices, including Grumpy Cabbie's old Prius.

The common theme seems to have been lots of driving in heavy traffic and/or mostly short journeys. Some have suggested using supermarket fuel hasn't helped.

I mostly JUST didn't 6 miles commutes + 2 evenings on the bypass and lots of after school short trips!

Shall I just drive a bit faster on the bypass then????

[Cyker]

That would probably help, possibly at the expense of some fuel economy.

I've been driving my D4D a lot harder for the past few years, initially as an experiment and this seems to have helped stave off the dreaded EGR sooting up that city-driven diesels are prone to. (I keep it below 2000rpm until the engine temp light goes out, then it's full bore starts off the line and fairly brisk acceleration all the way )

Funnily this change in driving style has had almost no effect on my MPG (If anything it's better?!); My theory is that a) Diesels are much more efficient under harder loads than softer ones (And produce less NOx!), and b) Because I get to the speed limit much faster, I'll get in 4th or 5th gear much earlier where I use little to no accelerator to keep the car rolling along at the speed limit.

The HSDs are even better at this: You can do a similar thing by accelerating as hard as you can without going into the power band (i.e. go right to the edge of the Eco band), and then you lift off the accelerator just enough that it doesn't put any more power into the engine, but also doesn't regen - You will effectively frictionless and can roll for aaaages at the same speed if you can find the sweet spot on the pedal :)

(It's almost like putting a normal car into neutral, except without the hideous danger )

The more aggressive acceleration* delivers more heat than the cold engine can sink away so the cylinders warm up faster, and the coasting uses no fuel, so theoretically it should be quite efficient. From what few people have given feed back after trying this, it seems to generally work!

(*Note, the acceleration is 'Brisk' and not 'Flooring it so that it screams like a scalded cat' )

[Wayne2015]

That would probably help, possibly at the expense of some fuel economy.

I've been driving my D4D a lot harder for the past few years, initially as an experiment and this seems to have helped stave off the dreaded EGR sooting up that city-driven diesels are prone to. (I keep it below 2000rpm until the engine temp light goes out, then it's full bore starts off the line and fairly brisk acceleration all the way )

Funnily this change in driving style has had almost no effect on my MPG (If anything it's better?!); My theory is that a) Diesels are much more efficient under harder loads than softer ones (And produce less NOx!), and b) Because I get to the speed limit much faster, I'll get in 4th or 5th gear much earlier where I use little to no accelerator to keep the car rolling along at the speed limit.

The HSDs are even better at this: You can do a similar thing by accelerating as hard as you can without going into the power band (i.e. go right to the edge of the Eco band), and then you lift off the accelerator just enough that it doesn't put any more power into the engine, but also doesn't regen - You will effectively frictionless and can roll for aaaages at the same speed if you can find the sweet spot on the pedal :)

(It's almost like putting a normal car into neutral, except without the hideous danger )

The more aggressive acceleration* delivers more heat than the cold engine can sink away so the cylinders warm up faster, and the coasting uses no fuel, so theoretically it should be quite efficient. From what few people have given feed back after trying this, it seems to generally work!

(*Note, the acceleration is 'Brisk' and not 'Flooring it so that it screams like a scalded cat' )

Cool! :)

I used to have a 170bhp diesel - love the way u can floor it and the mpg doesn't dip that much (unlike a petrol) ....but I still don't like diesels - lol

Am testing my hybrid at the mo...

Been driving full tank like Miss Daisy (veeeee-ry slow accelerate, drive, coast and brake - rarely in the power bands unless in a rush or uphill) got: 52mpg and 400miles

Testing 2nd phase now:

Brisk (as u said) acceleration into the power bands, but still retain driving and coasting/braking like Miss Daisy just to see the difference on MPG and RANGE.

3rd phase will be : Brisk accelerate, brisk drive and brisk braking (no coasting)

4th: as 3rd (above) but with Shell V-Power

Then I will know what my car and my driving style does to economy + range :)

[Cyker]

Keep us posted on your findings!

[Wayne2015]

Keep us posted on your findings!

ok! :)

[Joseph D]

Testing 2nd phase now:

Brisk (as u said) acceleration into the power bands, but still retain driving and coasting/braking like Miss Daisy just to see the difference on MPG and RANGE.

My prediction is that you will get best MPG and RANGE in the 2nd phase test.

Just be wary of only doing one tank per testing cycle. Everybody who keeps tank to tank records (e. g. Fuelly) knows that there are inexplicable variances between tanks, all things being equal. My recommendation is to do a minimum of 3 tanks per test cycle, use the average of those 3 tanks and keep accurate written records.

I have done the V-Power (read 98/100 octane) vs 95 Octane test all using Shell (to keep brand anomalies out of the picture), and proved to myself there were no benefits to using higher octane fuels. While using the higher octane was not significantly worse (2 out of 3 tanks produced lower economy (higher consumption), it proved to me that I should just save the difference and keep the cash in my pocket rather than make a donation to big oil.

I documented that testing in this post: Supermarket Fuel | Page 3 | post #27 | Toyota Owners Club

YMMV.

[Wayne2015]

Testing 2nd phase now:

Brisk (as u said) acceleration into the power bands, but still retain driving and coasting/braking like Miss Daisy just to see the difference on MPG and RANGE.

My prediction is that you will get best MPG and RANGE in the 2nd phase test.

Just be wary of only doing one tank per testing cycle. Everybody who keeps tank to tank records (e. g. Fuelly) knows that there are inexplicable variances between tanks, all things being equal. My recommendation is to do a minimum of 3 tanks per test cycle, use the average of those 3 tanks and keep accurate written records.

I have done the V-Power (read 98/100 octane) vs 95 Octane test all using Shell (to keep brand anomalies out of the picture), and proved to myself there were no benefits to using higher octane fuels. While using the higher octane was not significantly worse (2 out of 3 tanks produced lower economy (higher consumption), it proved to me that I should just save the difference and keep the cash in my pocket rather than make a donation to big oil.

I documented that testing in this post: Supermarket Fuel | Page 3 | post #27 | Toyota Owners Club

YMMV.

Completely agree there!

WHICH? magazine confirmed a while back that superfuel s are at best cleans and protects the engine better and the claim about increasing the mpg were all removed from the sales pitch not long after.

The benefits I gained from V-Power were more silent, smooth delivery of power and a little more grunt - but that only applies to certain cars...

With my Auris, I planned to just use Shell normal fuel (for the added additives over supermarket fuel) - but will ocassionally add V-Power maybe once/twice a year...

My planned 4th usage of V-Power is just that - the main aim is to clean the engine out...

I wish I had your patience in doing 3-4 tanks per test - but as u say my 2nd test might be the best .....and I suspect I probably stick with that but will monitor the usage over a time....