Toyota Auris Hybrid... Fuel Consumption During Winter

[kevin h]

My point is. Prius advertised mpg 72, was eventually getting 70+.... Auris, advertised 78, doubt that it will ever get above 65. Not impressed

[tonino]

I think you should allow some more time, the car is still too new, do another 10k miles and see how it goes, For me 58 out of 70+ Mpg is not that bad results. I never watch what manufacturers claims as they are unreal, also fuel consumption depends of driving style and conditions. My wife does 38mpg, I do 55-60.

[kevin h]

In comparing like for like mileage at a similar time of year. Aurus is much worse than prius. Yes the engine will loosen up. As did the prius, and Sommer temperatures will also help. But why is the Auris so short on the advertised mpg compared to the prius

[Wayne2015]

Well, i'm totally disappointed with the Auris HSD tourer that recently bought (65 reg).

2500 miles under the belt and an average of 58mpg.

My old Prius, with the same mileage in 2010 at the same time of year, was on 65mpg.

I had expected the Auris to be better, not worse.

Not impressed.

I agree!

But I sort of knew that when I bought mine - so was happy with 50+ mpg average...

Many on here were saying the Prius achieve s same or BETTER mpg than official.

Some say coz its lighter, better aerodynamics.

I say its just designed better - for example it has a bigger better Battery that last several miles up to 30mph (Auris only 1 mile up to 20mph)

U have to trade off between the Auris is several £1000 cheaper than Prius for similar year/spec too....

Looking back I should have bought the Prius for better mpg.

But then I wanted a smaller and more conventional looking car :)

What u going to do now?

[Auris 1.6 vvt-i]

Some say coz its lighter, better aerodynamics.

I say its just designed better - for example it has a bigger better Battery that last several miles up to 30mph (Auris only 1 mile up to 20mph)

U have to trade off between the Auris is several £1000 cheaper than Prius for similar year/spec too....

Looking back I should have bought the Prius for better mpg.

But then I wanted a smaller and more conventional looking car :)

What u going to do now?

Not true! Prius doesn't have a bigger Battery (except for the Prius plug-in, that can run up to 35 km purely on electric power, compared to the 2 km for the Auris) - both share the same ICE/HSD/Battery package. However Prius' aerodynamics is supposedly better. Prius is pretty ugly (no offense) but is better built aerodynamically. Auris' was built with design in mind, but this design lacks on aerodynamics.

P.S. Auris runs in EV mode up to 50 kph, so 30 mph as well (when weather is hot). However, now that the weather is cold in the mornings, it turns off EV mode at 30 kph (20 mph) with "Excessive speed" message. At lunch, when it gets hotter, it runs up to 50 kph again. As you know, during cold weather, batteries' capacity drops, therefore the firmware of the car takes care of that by lowering the allowed speed to run purely on electricity.

I knew when I bought the Auris that those figures, claimed by Toyota were impossible to get, as all manufacturers make their tests in perfect conditions - on a stand, no wind, no friction, no drag... But this is how the EU measures that - it is their fault I guess. I am absolutely happy with my mileage.

[kevin h]

Good question, dream about the car I should have bought, but hope that with my driving style in summer things will improve. We shall see.

Must say, the Auris seems to travel further and copes better on acceleration in EV than I remember the Prius doing.

It's just so difficult to cruise at the sweet spot, where the ice is running, but at low mpg. It seems to be 99 or 25

[Wayne2015]

Some say coz its lighter, better aerodynamics.

I say its just designed better - for example it has a bigger better Battery that last several miles up to 30mph (Auris only 1 mile up to 20mph)

U have to trade off between the Auris is several £1000 cheaper than Prius for similar year/spec too....

Looking back I should have bought the Prius for better mpg.

But then I wanted a smaller and more conventional looking car :)

What u going to do now?

Not true! Prius doesn't have a bigger Battery (except for the Prius plug-in, that can run up to 35 km purely on electric power, compared to the 2 km for the Auris) - both share the same ICE/HSD/Battery package. However Prius' aerodynamics is supposedly better. Prius is pretty ugly (no offense) but is better built aerodynamically. Auris' was built with design in mind, but this design lacks on aerodynamics.

P.S. Auris runs in EV mode up to 50 kph, so 30 mph as well (when weather is hot). However, now that the weather is cold in the mornings, it turns off EV mode at 30 kph (20 mph) with "Excessive speed" message. At lunch, when it gets hotter, it runs up to 50 kph again. As you know, during cold weather, batteries' capacity drops, therefore the firmware of the car takes care of that by lowering the allowed speed to run purely on electricity.

I knew when I bought the Auris that those figures, claimed by Toyota were impossible to get, as all manufacturers make their tests in perfect conditions - on a stand, no wind, no friction, no drag... But this is how the EU measures that - it is their fault I guess. I am absolutely happy with my mileage.

I stand corrected then, Sir! :)

[Cyker]

It's not the end of the world, I just mean if you're OCD about getting high mpgs, winter is a tough time!

Hybrids (and diesels!) are extremely efficient and don't generate much waste heat like petrol engines, so they take a loooot longer to get to operating temperature in the winter, esp. when not under any load, and tend to lose it faster when e.g. idling waiting in traffic.

I can literally get half-way to work before the cold engine light goes out in my D4D when it gets properly cold!

It does depend a lot on your driving environment tho'; If I'm doing lots of motorway runs my mpg is practically identical to my summer mpgs, maybe 1-2 off at most. For town driving tho', I've had drops of 15mpgs vs. my summer average and that huuuurts

This is a time of the year where using the right oil also makes a lot of difference - 0W20 will give you far better mpgs vs 5W30 at this time!

Some people also do the ol' taxi-driver trick of blocking up the radiator to force the engine to warm up faster and stay hotter too!

[kevin h]

blocking the radiator doesn't appear to be so effective on the 65 face lift auris. tried the lower ones.

Not sure that I should block the upper ones.

Increased the tyre pressure, still no improvement.

All of this worked with the prius, but the Auris seams to be different.

[TomdeGuerre]

It's not the end of the world, I just mean if you're OCD about getting high mpgs, winter is a tough time!

Hybrids (and diesels!) are extremely efficient and don't generate much waste heat like petrol engines, so they take a loooot longer to get to operating temperature in the winter, esp. when not under any load, and tend to lose it faster when e.g. idling waiting in traffic.

I can literally get half-way to work before the cold engine light goes out in my D4D when it gets properly cold!

It does depend a lot on your driving environment tho'; If I'm doing lots of motorway runs my mpg is practically identical to my summer mpgs, maybe 1-2 off at most. For town driving tho', I've had drops of 15mpgs vs. my summer average and that huuuurts

This is a time of the year where using the right oil also makes a lot of difference - 0W20 will give you far better mpgs vs 5W30 at this time!

Some people also do the ol' taxi-driver trick of blocking up the radiator to force the engine to warm up faster and stay hotter too!

Gotta ask this, do you get any heat through the heater even before it reaches full temp? I was out with an Audi diesel the other day and was pleasantly surprised to find warm air coming through even though it was hardly registering on the scale. There was nothing wrong with the gauge because after a while it came up to normal.

[tonino]

blocking the radiator doesn't appear to be so effective on the 65 face lift auris. tried the lower ones.

Not sure that I should block the upper ones.

Increased the tyre pressure, still no improvement.

All of this worked with the prius, but the Auris seams to be different.

Guys are you kidding, how can you block the radiator and what effect will be? That's a joke especially on a new cars:). Blocked radiator only can help when you have stack thermostat in position open and your coolant circulate through the radiator, forgive about that here. All types vehicles will have an increase of fuel consumption during winter, however if you do drive a lot of miles without stopping the engine in a sub zero temperature you may see better fuel consumption as the cold air is reacher on oxygen which helps better fuel burning. Tyre pressures: increase of tyre pressures not always helps but even sometimes has a negative effect too. The best to have your tyre pressures set just an idea below the recommendation and to take into a count how you gonna use the car, driving yourself only or fully loaded. For example if you are using the car for you and one more person for commuting and set the tyre pressure at 2.2 bar where the manufacturer recommend 2.3 bar you will get better, quieter and smother drive plus better economy. Another tip for the hybrids drive style is not to try to drive very slow and mostly on ev , just keep driving like a conventional car with moderate braking to keep Battery recharge and once you reach your desired speed let the cat floating on e power when possible but don't be afraid to help with petrol engine to keep your constant speed. Hybrids are usually misunderstood technology most of the time and this is the reason many people dislike them. The current hybrid vehicles are not designed to be driven like a fully electric cars but more like a normal petrol cars with fine stop start technology .

Regards

[Wayne2015]

Will

My average been 400 range per full tank since August...

Been as cold as ZERO degrees these past few weeks -

But my range still shows 394miles :) :) :)

Still driving leisurely on ECO mode when can

But no hesitation to press that PWR button whenever I need it (or just for fun!) :)

[Cyker]

@TomdeGuerre - No, it's !Removed! freezing!! The Mk1's heating system is probably very primitive compared to that Audi's tho'. If I leave the fan on it will blow freezing cold air into my face until just before the cold engine temp light goes out, then I can start to feel it warm up.

The Yaris doesn't have a temp gauge tho', just a Too Hot light and a Too Cold light!

As for the tyre pressures thing, it's not a great idea to go too high with the PSI (Hey that rhymes! :D) in the winter as the cold makes the rubber harder and less flexible.

tonino's right about the cold air tho' - It's denser and gives a slight boost in power as it's like having a little extra intercooler

However, it tends to increase fuel usage, esp. in petrol engines, as the MAF/O2 sensor senses the extra oxygen and adds more fuel to keep the fuel/air ratio right, but if your gearbox or CVT is good then you can get away with running lower revs with the extra power which does save fuel :)

[Wayne2015]

Just commuted 6miles home in heavy traffic @11 degrees

[Cyker]

Ooooh I'm jealous! I filled my tank last week and it came out at 55mpg!

Is looking even worse this tank; I've only gotten 420 miles out of it so far and I'm already down to a quarter tank so I'm a good 40-50 miles down on my par!

[Wayne2015]

Ooooh I'm jealous! I filled my tank last week and it came out at 55mpg! Is looking even worse this tank; I've only gotten 420 miles out of it so far and I'm already down to a quarter tank so I'm a good 40-50 miles down on my par!

LOL

No way my Auris is as economical as your Yaris

That 60mpg is a rare ocassion - and the temp was 11degrees did help!

Usually I get just above 50mpg

With a 45L tank - The best range I done is:

1. 414miles (summer, ECO mode)

2. 374miles (winter, with much PWR mode

PS: have become more savvy - and taken a different FLATTER commute home than usual!

[TomdeGuerre]

Ooooh I'm jealous! I filled my tank last week and it came out at 55mpg! Is looking even worse this tank; I've only gotten 420 miles out of it so far and I'm already down to a quarter tank so I'm a good 40-50 miles down on my par!

LOL

No way my Auris is as economical as your Yaris

That 60mpg is a rare ocassion - and the temp was 11degrees did help!

Usually I get just above 50mpg

With a 45L tank - The best range I done is:

1. 414miles (summer, ECO mode)

2. 374miles (winter, with much PWR mode

PS: have become more savvy - and taken a different FLATTER commute home than usual!

Oh FLATTER roads now, is it, thought I saw a BBC traffic thing warning people about long tailbacks in Yorkshire due to an UHV (Unidentified Hybrid Vehicle)

Come on Wayne, give us some real life figures like going up Sutton Bank every day or going over Shap summit, not going home via the Norfolk Broads.

[Wayne2015]

LOL

Tom, they are my real life figures!

It would be very wrong for me to deliberately take a steep uphill route when the flatter one will save me money

I mean why would anyone apart from chugging petrol £££ from the backbox - to also listen to the struggling whining noise of the Hybrid petrol engine as it splutters and coughs to get up a hill...whilst the average MPG display drops every micro-second!

My days of loving to go up a hill in top rev's and loving the noise and adrenlin is now well and truly behind me!

....until I move house and found a garage to parked up a gas-guzzling weekend sports classic car of course! never say never!

[cviclark]

This is my third hybrid Toyota in ten years, so I have long got over the fact that the economy is nothing like the official figures. Mine has however got worse since my last service, during which the ECU upgrade/recall was done (September ). The dealer suggested it was due to the weather, but last winter I was averaging 48mpg now it's down to 46 mpg. The other point is it does not vary between local running and fast motorway. Today 120 miles motorway average 63mph, cruise control most of the way 46.1 might. SHE'LL super fuel. Last year same run 48mpg Tesco normal.

The other thing to note is mpg is very dependant on tyres, so different specs of the same car give very different might averages. Why they put stupid low profiles on the Excel is beyond comprehension, the official brochure states 8mpg less than the same car in Icon spec.

Change the wheels a Toyota say it's not homalgated so your insurance gets hit. They will not deliver the Excel with smaller Icon wheels.

Check your tyre pressures after every service and put them back to fully loaded and high speed.

I am convinced the latest recall changed the charging to the detriment of mpg.

Neither of my Prius,s was on low profiles and even the gene was more economical than the Excel Ts. Not as practical, nice to drive or built as well, but more economical.

[Auris 1.6 vvt-i]

Ooooh I'm jealous! I filled my tank last week and it came out at 55mpg! Is looking even worse this tank; I've only gotten 420 miles out of it so far and I'm already down to a quarter tank so I'm a good 40-50 miles down on my par!

With a 45L tank - The best range I done is:

1. 414miles (summer, ECO mode)

2. 374miles (winter, with much PWR mode

PS: have become more savvy - and taken a different FLATTER commute home than usual!

Last weekend I went to Greece... Lots of mountain climbing, quite a few power bursts on the highways (couldn't resist it ), some snow in the mountains, heavy rains and lots of sun, heavy sideways winds ... Got 841 km out of a 45 l tank (523 miles) (well, didn't spend all of it, obviously, as I was able to get to a gas station driving ) and averaged 4.6l / 100km (61 miles) for the whole 1320 km trip Pretty impressed with my Ausis HSD!

[Wayne2015]

Just commuted 6miles home in heavy traffic @11 degrees

Same 6 miles commute

But at 14 degrees

(But engine still warm from previous 2 hours

And traffic a little lighter):

[Grey Wolf]

So glad I read this post as I pick up an Auris HSD tomorrow and this will help me get the best from the car from the get go, looking forward to trying to getting the flashing "excellent" LOL

[Wayne2015]

So glad I read this post as I pick up an Auris HSD tomorrow and this will help me get the best from the car from the get go, looking forward to trying to getting the flashing "excellent" LOL

Good luck with the EXCELLENT!

I had my Auris for 3 months and its only ever flashed EXCELLENT at me once :(

But I guess I had never ever reached the official mpg of 72?!!!!

Best I got was 70.6 the other night,

But I cheated as I got 68 at home, so egged on by my kids to get 70, I drove around the block until it hit 70.6 - LOL

[tonino]

My Auris does 50 mpg on display, no less no more, mix driving, short distance stop start for a 1.5 mile round trip does 38mpg. Not very good, but that's the reality. Will take her on the run and see how it goes.

Cheers

[Cyker]

So glad I read this post as I pick up an Auris HSD tomorrow and this will help me get the best from the car from the get go, looking forward to trying to getting the flashing "excellent" LOL

Good luck with the EXCELLENT!

I had my Auris for 3 months and its only ever flashed EXCELLENT at me once :(

But I guess I had never ever reached the official mpg of 72?!!!!

Best I got was 70.6 the other night,

But I cheated as I got 68 at home, so egged on by my kids to get 70, I drove around the block until it hit 70.6 - LOL

Ahahahaha! That's priceless!

You have officially joined the MPG OCD crew