Mpg

[nevica]

Hello,

I have a 2010 IQ and I am the original owner.

In it's first year I could achieve over 60 mpg with normal usage.

5 years on and with 37,000 miles later I can achieve 50-52 mpg. The car has had regular oil changes with the correct oil. (2 full oil changes in the past 5 years).

Can anyone suggest why the dip in mpg and what can I do to get it back to 60 mpg.

Thanks,

Nevica

[FROSTYBALLS]

I'd hardly describe 2 full oil changes in five years/37,000 miles as 'regular oil changes'. The service intervals are supposed to be every 12 months or 10,000 miles, whichever occurs first, with an oil change at each service.

So perhaps a thorough service may help as an initial measure.

[nevica]

Yes, I have had a complete Toyota service as well. I didn't mention that.

But the whole point of my mail was not criticism on the oil change interval but more to ask if this is normal for the mpg to drop by 10 mpg. What could be the problem?

What good would a complete service do and what do you mean in particularly by a complete service? ie break it down what needs to be done?

Thanks,

[FROSTYBALLS]

From what you've posted, the car has only had 2 oil changes in five years/37,000 miles and one Toyota service (which presumably is one of the 2 oil changes mentioned) - and, if correct, implies a basic lack of maintenance, especially compared to the servicing requirements Toyota recommend for the vehicle.

[nevica]

Forgive me for being impertinent but I'm looking for an answer to my questions. I realise that you might get angry to my reply but I am asking what makes up a service. I'd like to know more.

Frostyballs, your answers don't help!

[atkiman]

I give myself a range of mpg, depending on traffic,weather,type of driving , varies from 47 (lots of town stuff),51ish winter dual carriageway/motorway,55 summer easy dual carriageway/motorway, add in roadworks,heavy traffic etc,take today , cold , crap weather,heavy roadwork traffic, usually first block goes at around 100 mls, today 78. You could even have slipped into a different driving technique without realising it.

Monitor it over several weeks, see what happens, as for servicing, air filter and plugs .

Tony

[Devon Aygo]

Forgive me for being impertinent but I'm looking for an answer to my questions. I realise that you might get angry to my reply but I am asking what makes up a service. I'd like to know more.

Frostyballs, your answers don't help!

Your dismissal of Frostys advice is not helpful either! 2/3 services in 5 years is neither regularly or correctly maintained, the oil in your car is only supposed to remain in the engine for 12months/10000miles leaving it in longer will lead to the breakdown of the oil resulting in build up of combustion waste products in the oil which in turn increases friction within the engine causing premature wear and a reduction in fuel economy.

You also say the correct oil was used but fail to specify what grade was used, your car is designed to run on 0w20 grade oil using anything thicker such as 5w30/10w30 will again result in increased friction within the engine lowering fuel economy.

Having the correct service carried out when required also ensures other components on the car such as Air filter / Spark plugs and brakes are replaced/maintained when required, a service on your car includes an inspection Visual on small services / physical on full services of the brakes to ensure things such as the brake pads are moving freely within the calipers or that the brake discs are in good order even a small build up of dirt/corrosion can cause pads to partially stick or discs to drag increasing friction and reducing fuel economy.

All Frosty was highlighting was that you car has not been fully maintained as required and that this may be the cause of your reduced fuel economy.

Your curt replies are hardly likely to illicit responses from members if you are going to dismiss their advice so swiftly.

[nevica]

I wasn't dismissing Frostys advice. I would hardly call them curt replies. All I'm trying to do is get information that is all.

Thank you all for your advice.

[atkiman]

If you peruse the service book,you'll find a breakdown of what each service entails.

Mines serviced regularly and with the right spec stuff and after nearly 90k miles , mpg is still up and down like a whores draws

[Guest]

Daniel, we just got 52mpg too.

Our car, is a 1.0 Manual (iQ obviously) and is serviced once a year (September), we've had it for four years and I just entered my details onto the Fuelly website and was shocked to see 52mpg. Our average between my wife and I is -according to fuelly up until recently, 57mpg +. Also, just lately, it has felt like it is straining a bit. I have been saving my pennies and have had a Terra Clean (see more below) process done on the car today. I then topped the tank up to full (brimmed from half a tank shown on fuel gauge) and hope my next Fuelly figures are better than 52mpg!

It's difficult to say for certain there is a huge improvement, as the computer fuel AVG figure is not that accurate, but, driving from north end of Shrewsbury back to where we live is approximately 22 miles (driven as opposed to shortest route through town), it displayed at our house on my return as 57.7mpg. A good improvement. Then, from our house to Newtown, Powys, 58.7mpg, and return was 57.9. So, I am hopeful it is worth it. Bearing in mind too that it is winter and the weather and road/traffic conditions play their part, as well as heaters and AC.

Fuel-up Added, 52.2 UK MPG, Details- MPG: 43.4 / UK MPG: 52.2, mi/L: 11.5, Miles: 225.7, Litres: 19.67, Price: £1.00/Litre, Total: £19.65.

TERRA CLEAN- (Go here to see where they are near you http://terraclean.co.uk/ ) Paid a visit this morning and it took just over an hour to run the treatment through the engine. My initial impression of the car after the treatment is that it feels lighter on the throttle, easier progression, smoother and ever so slightly quieter. As noted above the mpg has improved already, as we barely got the computer to show anything much above 53mpg. Yes, we all know it's winter and there are a myriad of things that can affect the mpg. However, that is rather a low figure for us, even in winter. Having averaged around the 60mpg during the summer, a potential drop of 7mpg is a lot.

Okay, the treatment was done by ACE Car Care Ltd at Unit 7 D&E Vanguard Way on Battlefield Enterprise Park in Shrewsbury. At this point, even with the high -for me- price of £108, I think it will be worth it. They recommend it be done once a year but unless it gets cheaper, it will be every couple or three years for us. You can find out more about Terra Clean on the Internet or visit the ACE Car web site. It's too much to put on her and I don't want to steal any more of Daniels thread than I have already. It reduces emissions, restores mpg and regains performance.

Almost missed that out, performance is far better. No sluggishness, very linear acceleration and no hesitation at junctions and lights from the engine. Reminds me, must tyre pressures checked again.

[craggle]

The cold weather affects things too don't forget. The engine will be colder when left overnight so will take longer to warm up and the engine normally runs a bit richer during the warm up process. Bit like the choke in the old days.

Also colder weather usually means things like the heater, lights and heated windows are used more adding more load to the electrics and then the alternator which is engine driven.

Not sure how tyre rolling resistance is affected in the cold as well but there must be a difference.

Craig.

[atkiman]

I usually reckon on 3 to 4 mpg loss in winter , rav or iq .

[sparrow2]

I have had my IQ3 from new for over 6 years. I have it serviced at the main dealer every year (since it always has done less than 10,000 miles in a year).

My yearly average fuel consumption figures are as follows (courtesy of Fuelly) -

2010 44.6

2011 44.5

2012 43.9

2013 43.8

2014 44.1

2015 44.8

I am a very careful driver in some ways (I keep to the speed limits and always leave a good gap with the car in front) but tend to accelerate quite briskly when the road is clear and often drive exactly at the speed limit. In other words I take no special measures to save fuel.

[atkiman]

A14 and m6 4 days a week for me 92 ml round trip , run mostly at around 65 mph,, but can get up to 80 to 85 on occasion, 49 to 51 winter, 52 to 55 summer and on an iq3 , nearly at 90k now , only had 5k on it when I bought her

[Guest]

I can see, going by all the comments on this thread, that we are all aware of the many factors affecting fuel economy, including the driver. It helps me think more forgivingly about the figures quoted by car manufacturers about how good their motors are when it comes to fuel economy. I suppose too, that most people will take the cheaper tax where possible due to these very misleading figures, even if we know they are not accurate.

Recently I had our car Terra Cleaned, and I got this e-mail from Ace Car Care today, which helps explain the process a little better-

A Colonic Irrigation For Your Engine - WHAT?!
Hi, It might sound a bit strange, but bear with me a little and I'll explain.

As your engine burns fuel (petrol or diesel), carbon is created as a by-product of the burn, and this carbon gets deposited on the internal parts of the engine, like the injectors, cylinders, piston tops, valves, exhaust system, sensors, etc.

Over time, this build up of carbon gradually results in the engine and its components operating less efficiently, which reduces the power, uses more fuel, and increases the emissions/CO2 output of the vehicle.

Now not so many years ago, engines were stripped and 'de-coked', but now with the advances made in technology, there is a quicker and less costly way of removing carbon build up from your engine and exhaust.....it's called TerraClean.

The process works by disconnecting the fuel lines and connecting the TerraClean equipment to the vehicle, and running the engine on the TerraClean fluid instead of the regular fuel. There are several cycles to the process, but after an hour or so, the work is done and TerraClean cleans everything from the injectors through to the tip of the exhaust, including the cat!

[sparrow2]

These are the manufacturer quoted figures for the IQs (mpg) -

1.0 1.3

auto manual auto manual

Combined 64.2 58.9 54.3 54.3

Urban 55.4 47.1 44.1 44.1

Extra-urban 70.6 67.3 62.8 62.8

see http://media.toyota.co.uk/wp-content/files_mf/1360602840130204MiQtechspec.pdf

So it looks like in my case I am getting either slightly more or slightly less than the urban figures each year. The point I was really trying to make with my figures was that in the 6 years I have had the car there has been little change in fuel consumption. In fact my final year was by a tiny margin the best one.

The usual complaint I hear is that motorists do not do as well as the official figures. So I should be grateful I am close to at least one of them! This is particularly so when I make no attempt to drive economically other than I usually change gear when the little green up and down triangles advise it.

I have often seen my instantaneous mpg reading at its maximum of 99.9 - however that has little bearing on the true average measured by Fuelly.

[atkiman]

Ignore the green light , its rubbish.once told me to change down,

I was close to 100mph at the time, if you do follow it , you'd end up with a RSI,

[sparrow2]

Well I have never had it going at 100mph but at 70 mph on motorways or dual carriage ways when there is a gradient it often requests a change down to 5th which I do, sometime later if the gradient increases further another change down to 4th is requested which I do and finally if the gradient increases yet more to 3rd which I have always ignored. I just let the speed drop down a bit when it requests doing 70 mph in 3rd. In general I find this procedure useful in the sense that I find myself overtaking a lot of the less powerful cars after these change downs because my car keeps going at 70 mph and the others cannot maintain that speed. I do not think 70 mph will red line it in 3rd but I am just a bit concerned about the reaction of my wife. If my change downs are not perfectly smooth my wife will often criticise me! She does not seem to understand that a smooth change down at 70 mph is not as easy as a smooth change down at 40 mph! Over the years I have improved though and the criticism has become much less frequent. In addition I would imagine at 70mph in 3rd the engine might shriek quite a bit which may also upset my wife!

[atkiman]

Well I have never had it going at 100mph but at 70 mph on motorways or dual carriage ways when there is a gradient it often requests a change down to 5th which I do, sometime later if the gradient increases further another change down to 4th is requested which I do and finally if the gradient increases yet more to 3rd which I have always ignored. I just let the speed drop down a bit when it requests doing 70 mph in 3rd. In general I find this procedure useful in the sense that I find myself overtaking a lot of the less powerful cars after these change downs because my car keeps going at 70 mph and the others cannot maintain that speed. I do not think 70 mph will red line it in 3rd but I am just a bit concerned about the reaction of my wife. If my change downs are not perfectly smooth my wife will often criticise me! She does not seem to understand that a smooth change down at 70 mph is not as easy as a smooth change down at 40 mph! Over the years I have improved though and the criticism has become much less frequent. In addition I would imagine at 70mph in 3rd the engine might shriek quite a bit which may also upset my wife!

Blimey dont think I've ever changed down at 70, unless I'm trying to get passed the odd bm or audi, let it lug a bit she'll pull it ok, I just let the speed drop you'll get down to mid 60's and if she's holding speed keep it going, ignore the green light , never worked on my mums 84 corolla, hasn't got any better.better off to watch the speedo and rev counter, try changing around 2k rpm.

[sparrow2]

When climbing a steep hill you have to change down and do more than 2000 rpm or the car will simply stop! On a motorway with a moderate gradient when doing 70 mph the same principle applies however you have a choice - change down if you want to keep doing 70 mph or let the car slow down even if you have the accelerator fully depressed. It is my belief that the change down triangle is giving you advanced warning of this situation. Now if you can see the gradient is about to reduce a little later then there is no need to bother to change down since you will only be requested to change up again after the gradient lessens. However if the gradient remains as it is or steepens then the choice is yours - slow down or change down!

I find my IQ3 hums along quite sweetly in 5th and 4th at 70 mph. I have never tried 3rd though.

In general I find the change down/ change up lights do give useful advice but you can ignore them if you can see that the reason they are giving the advice is shortly to disappear. For example in flat roads in fourth the change down light comes on for me at about 20 mph. If I can just accelerate a tiny amount it will go out and I do not need to change down (unless I want to accelerate quickly of course). This is in fact quite a common situation for me when going through traffic calming measures to and from work in fourth when the speed limit is 30mph. I can stay in fourth and go through quite safely at just a little over 20mph. Normally the car feels fine but just occasionally I slow down just a little too much, it starts to labour and the change down light come on.

In addition there are always special circumstances in which you would wish to ignore them. It is after all just advice.

I suspect the advice the lights give corresponds to when an automatic box would change. My wife's car is an automatic. You can override its change ups and change downs if you wish but my wife and I have never ever done this in the whole ten years we have had that car!

[FROSTYBALLS]

The gear shift indicators, which are intended to make drivers dtive more economically, became compulsory on all new cars sold within the EU from November 2014, although many manufacturers fitted them well before 2014.

[Guest]

I mentioned earlier in this thread about having the Terra Clean treatment on our car. I was hoping that the claims for this were true, and I have to say they are, in my opinion. However, I am including here the last seven fuel ups (mainly because we were averaging 60mpg regularly up to early December) which includes the latest fill up on 28th January. An increase of 6.38mpg; I think the results speak volumes for this treatment. Yeah, I know, as mentioned earlier too, there are other factors in fuel economy, but I'm going with my gut on this one, plus the evidence below from 4 Dec last year to 28 Jan this year. All figures courtesy of the Fuelly web site.

60.3mpg 04 Dec

50.9mpg 14 Dec

56.4mpg 20 Dec

53.7mpg 04 Jan

53.7mpg 11 Jan

52.2mpg 20 Jan

58.58mpg 28 Jan

[atkiman]

On 27/01/2016 at 0:20 AM, sparrow2 said:

When climbing a steep hill you have to change down and do more than 2000 rpm or the car will simply stop! On a motorway with a moderate gradient when doing 70 mph the same principle applies however you have a choice - change down if you want to keep doing 70 mph or let the car slow down even if you have the accelerator fully depressed. It is my belief that the change down triangle is giving you advanced warning of this situation. Now if you can see the gradient is about to reduce a little later then there is no need to bother to change down since you will only be requested to change up again after the gradient lessens. However if the gradient remains as it is or steepens then the choice is yours - slow down or change down!

I find my IQ3 hums along quite sweetly in 5th and 4th at 70 mph. I have never tried 3rd though.

In general I find the change down/ change up lights do give useful advice but you can ignore them if you can see that the reason they are giving the advice is shortly to disappear. For example in flat roads in fourth the change down light comes on for me at about 20 mph. If I can just accelerate a tiny amount it will go out and I do not need to change down (unless I want to accelerate quickly of course). This is in fact quite a common situation for me when going through traffic calming measures to and from work in fourth when the speed limit is 30mph. I can stay in fourth and go through quite safely at just a little over 20mph. Normally the car feels fine but just occasionally I slow down just a little too much, it starts to labour and the change down light come on.

In addition there are always special circumstances in which you would wish to ignore them. It is after all just advice.

I suspect the advice the lights give corresponds to when an automatic box would change. My wife's car is an automatic. You can override its change ups and change downs if you wish but my wife and I have never ever done this in the whole ten years we have had that car!

Perhaps I ignore cuz all the trucks I have driven over the years never had lights to tell me when to change gear, mind on 12 or 15 speed manual gear box it would like having blackpool on your dash.different driving techniques,thats all,you drive yours like a v8 two stroke detroit,I drive mine like a 14 litre 290 cummins

[Guest]

Just topped up the tank again as it got to half full and with other journeys still to do this week, it made sense to fill up today on the way back home. Of course, everyone knows how windy it is today -Monday- and where we live, in a valley, it is even more windy. This I think has affected our mpg as well as going to Ikea in Wednsebury (J9 off the M6) and has dented the otherwise better mpg since the cars Terra Clean. Still, at 56.0mpg and motorway speeds -not over 70mph- it stuck to around 57.8 going there. That's like, downhill. Coming back is mostly uphill, and so 56mpg. I know also that a diesel car could likely get better mpg, but why would you want one when you have an iQ? BTW, only small items bought at Ikea, although my wife was sussing out if a new large rug would fit in the car... my answer saved me over £50.

[Mark_P]

 I had the car Terracleaned this morning, I went for the big cans and that came to 120 quid.  Took over an hour to run both cans through the engine. I could tell the difference almost straight away on the main roads.  Once i hit the motorway, the car felt smoother and more responsive until I hit some very strong headwinds :)

I am doing a long drive to Norwich tomorrow, this will be the test to see if the fuel economy is better.