T180 Poor Mpg

[OldSkoO1]

All i would say to people who suffer with poor MPG is reset the ECU. Go for a drive first, get the car up to temperature. Open the bonnet, open the fuse box (plastic box on the right), remove the white fuse pulling tool. Use it to remove ECU-B, (diagram on the back of plastic lid for the box) ECU-B is usually the 3rd one down from top left. Once removed pump the brake till it goes hard, wait 5 mins, replace fuse and go for a drive. Give it a good workout, take it to red line several times mixed in with driving normally. Do some hard accelerations and some normal accelerations but give it a good workout.

After your done, reset the ECU and don't be alarmed if it is low because of the workout.

Now if you can use good fuel and the key is to use smooth / gradual acceleration, don't stab the throttle or floor it and don't lug the engine, try to keep the rev's between 1.5k and 2.6k with the occasional burst higher, there should be no reason not to get the official combined minus 10% over a tank unless you are doing a lot of town driving or stop / start traffic driving. Even then you should achieve at least the urban figure.

I have not trouble getting between 42 and 44mpg from my tank which is a brim to brim calc. I consistently achieve this and the official figure is 45.4mpg. The biggest difference i found was using smooth acceleration so gradually pressing the pedal further until i need to change gear. I also use the max torque band to accelerate and keep a steady speed at about 1.5k - 1.8k RPM.

Good fuel like Shell or bp also helps and for people with DNPR or EGR smooth accelerate and good fuel helps to reduce soot build up meaning the 5th injector is used less. The ECU reset is purely used to reset the engine map parameters as after services cars are left idling for a long time or over time the fuel mappings may not be giving you the best MPG even though they do adjust. It is worth a shot.

[t-spiritpete]

This mpg debate rages on... I am one of the happy campers as it were.

I do a lot of motorway miles and A roads. I have had my T180 (estate) for 2yrs & its done about 55Kmiles.

Heres the thing for me:

USE THE RIGHT GEAR!!!

For example: 6th gear at 70 is way below peak torque & will not be as efficient in burning fuel. 5th in 70 is better. 6th works fine over 80.. (not that I should be saying that but...)

I am also sure it helps every now and then (honest) red lining in 3rd for a bit to clear the various bits and bobs out.

I certainly dont drive like a saint but I CAN get 500miles from 52 litre fill.... I think I have a rare car in that sense if everyone here was to be believed.

I think its a top car - no one gives a shoot about an avensis and you can boot about all day with nay bother from anyone & have a bit of laugh with it. and then 2 or 3hrs later I get out, go and do my job and find that I DONT feel like I have been in the car for 2 or 3hrs.

but like I said, my benchmark these days is 500miles off a tank. . . Gauntlet down folks!!

Mine is a 2.2 150 and i get a genuine 600 miles to 51 litres fillup to fillup which is 53 mpg exactly what the computer says some times as low as 51 mpg!! :P

Another gauntlet down! ..... regards Pete. ;)

[Ayjaycee]

Hi from a new boy to the forum with his first post. I have had my Avensis T180 (57 plate with 30K miles) since February this year and think it is a great car EXCEPT for the fuel consumption which I was expecting to be much better (but that will teach me for believing the ‘official figures’). Since getting the car, I have done 7400 miles and averaged 41.74 MPG (brim to brim calculations which are recorded on a speadsheet – what a saddo!). Apart from the odd long run, most of my driving is taken up by the daily commute to work which involves 2.5 miles on either side of 20 miles of motorway (and return) I tend to keep it to 75MPH on the motorway sections. Interestingly, the fuel computer usually indicates around 2MPG more than calculated by myself and the speedo tends to indicate 3-5MPH more (when compared to a GPS reading).

Not sure what this adds to the debate but thought that I would chip in anyway. I am due a service next month (probably) and will talk to my dealer about improving the consumption. I will report back in due course.

[t180 minnnt]

Hi from a new boy to the forum with his first post. I have had my Avensis T180 (57 plate with 30K miles) since February this year and think it is a great car EXCEPT for the fuel consumption which I was expecting to be much better (but that will teach me for believing the ‘official figures’). Since getting the car, I have done 7400 miles and averaged 41.74 MPG (brim to brim calculations which are recorded on a speadsheet – what a saddo!). Apart from the odd long run, most of my driving is taken up by the daily commute to work which involves 2.5 miles on either side of 20 miles of motorway (and return) I tend to keep it to 75MPH on the motorway sections. Interestingly, the fuel computer usually indicates around 2MPG more than calculated by myself and the speedo tends to indicate 3-5MPH more (when compared to a GPS reading).

Not sure what this adds to the debate but thought that I would chip in anyway. I am due a service next month (probably) and will talk to my dealer about improving the consumption. I will report back in due course.

LOL @ the spreadsheet!! actually quite a good idea!

[tubaman]

With regard to the comment re towing, I got 35mpg this summer covering many hundreds of miles towing a 1000Kg (folding camper) with 4 X adults & fully laden.

The key was staying in 4th gear, around 60mph with revs around the 2200rpm mark.

Motorway driving (non-towing) circa 52mpg, around town 35-37mpg, mixed driving circa 43mpg.

I really love the car & am happy with the power, comfort and mpg.

Its not particularly quick upto 30mph (150bhp versions beat mine) but after that I can leave many cars well behind......if I need to.

[cmia]

Those who are comparing the Vw or vaxhall engines... to the toyota diesel engine..

just start it on a cold moring, and you will notice the diffrence.

It doesnt matter how much sound proofing you install in a vw, and how loud you have the stero,

you can still here the engine.

[ptri]

My maximum mileage between fill-ups is 681. The overall mpg after 40k miles is 54.3 (but the car is rarely driven on short journeys and is usually in cruise control on motorways).

[tubaman]

Ptri,

I would be interested to know what gear/speed/revs you get your best miles per gallon ?

I think mine is around 2200rpm, 5th gear circa 64mph

[ptri]

Ptri,

I would be interested to know what gear/speed/revs you get your best miles per gallon ?

I think mine is around 2200rpm, 5th gear circa 64mph

Well I usually drive in 6th gear at between 1600 & 1700rpm (I'm not usually in a hurry). I don't believe manufacturers would bother with a 6th gear if it didn't improve official consumption figures, so driving at a constant speed (on the flat) at 55mph and above is probably better done in 6th. Also I keep the aircon off most of the time as there's no point in just drying the air for no reason - it's not good for the skin (I save a fortune on moisturisers :D ), or my contact lenses.

Basically the slower you drive (in the highest gear that doesn't labour the engine) the better the mpg (40mph in 5th is probably optimum for an Avensis).

[tubaman]

I wouldn`t dream of driving in 6th around 1600-1700rpm for fear of straining the engine/no pulling power etc etc but I will give it a try to see what effect it has on the economy.

Thanks

[cmia]

I wouldn`t dream of driving in 6th around 1600-1700rpm for fear of straining the engine/no pulling power etc etc but I will give it a try to see what effect it has on the economy.

Thanks

downhill probably ok

But uphill engine would be under too much load

[t-spiritpete]

I wouldn`t dream of driving in 6th around 1600-1700rpm for fear of straining the engine/no pulling power etc etc but I will give it a try to see what effect it has on the economy.

Thanks

Try using the "momentary" mpg read out on the computer in different gears and you will see that the car will return very good mpg figures at 1700rpm, try this one, 10mph steps for each gear so ending up going into 6th gear at 60mph. My 150 bhp will cruise all day at 1700 rpm in 6th and return 63mpg at that constant speed and as i said in a previous post give me 53mpg overall, 600 miles to a tank (51ltrs) using a mix of road types. Using a light throttle for economy and using the gears correctly by not putting the engine and transmission under load can give fantastic mpg results but as I say mine is a 150bhp, in saying that I would have thought the 180bhp having the extra power should also give good results using the same throttle levels only using the extra fuel when the extra bhp was used, then again I don't know how the engine is mapped.

Interesting topic anyway, best regards to all .... Pete.

[OldSkoO1]

I did a proper test on this at 60mph in my Auris; over the same route under the same conditions over 6 miles.

The results were

4th = 41.6mpg / 2.6k RPM

5th = 46.3 mpg / 2k RPM

6th = 51mpg / 1.6k RPM

However, there is no way you should attempt to drive uphill in 6th at 1.6k RPM. imho to prevent stressing the engine you should only use 6th gear at 1.6k RPM on flat or downhill roads.

I must also point out the test route i used was hilly.

[ptri]

We need someone with 'optimal drive' to tell us what revs we should be using...

[Paul/C.]

I just want to try and find out a bit more about the problems that everybody seems to be having with poor mpg figures from the Verso T180.

My issues are the same as everybody else and i have tried without success to get the problem resolved.

The only respones that i receive from the dealership and customer services, is "we can not find any fault with the car, it must be your drving style" I know it's not my drving style because i also own a Honda Civic Type r GT and i can almost get it to give me better mpg than i am getting from the Verso!!!

I have also been driving diesel engines for many years (VW,BMW etc)and they have all given me excellent mpg and in some cases exceeded the published figures.

My question to the forum is:-

Has anybody actually had the poor mpg problem resloved by a dealership?

What figures are you getting?

I have the T180 Verso and currently get 41.1mpg combined. Very pleased with that, although just bought a new Avensis tourer yesterday to replace it which should get me 50.4mpg.

[OldSkoO1]

I had a 150 tourer Avensis (new shape)

Got me 46mpg from the midlands to the south coast, driven round for a week (up and down hills / towns etc) and back again.

Was only touching 50mpg on the down at 70mph. Fully loaded car, crammed with bags and people.

//The optimal drive thing won't make much difference if the car isn't driven for economy in mind.

Smooth throttle, accelerate when the car is generating max cylinder pressure, which is roughly max torque (slightly less), for low frictional horsepower loses and maximum volumetric efficiency. Then maintain speed at around 1.6-1.8k RPM.

Don't stab the throttle, just gradually press it to build speed, use Shell / bp fuel and get up to speed fairly quickly.

[DrNorthy]

I got an 09 T2 Avensis think its 126bhp d4d 2.0 and i struggle to get 41mpg use to get 50mpg out of a 05 mondeo 2.0 130 TDCI so i dont think its just you even the missus cant get it much higher. Doing 1000 mile i week i feel like im always in the sodding garage

[Paul/C.]

Don't stab the throttle, just gradually press it to build speed, use shell / bp fuel and get up to speed fairly quickly.

Might be going off thread here, but I always fill with Morrisons diesel. Does BP/Shell/Esso premium brands really make a difference. The odd time I've used them, I don't seem to notice any power improvement or economy?

[OldSkoO1]

In my opinion they are better quality fuels.

In my opinion Shell fuel burns cleaner, produces less soot which in turn will mean less soot build up. Excessive soot build up produced by poor quality fuel, dirty air filter, overfueling from ECU mapping or planting your foot will mean more soot going into the EGR valve.

The more soot in the EGR valve means the 5th injector is used more, which injects and burns diesel into the exhaust system to burn off this excess soot; therefore using more fuel.

As far as i have learn't fuels like Shell and bp especially v-power have additives / more additives to produce a cleaner burn.

You won't notice much difference in power, but after a few tanks you may start to notice better economy or a cleaner quieter running. The additives also help keep the deposit build up on the injectors down and the diesel with additives help increase lubrication to the fuel pump and injectors. It will take about 4 tanks to notice a difference. I personally use Shell extra and then v-power every 4th fill. But if coming from another fuel i would use 4 tanks of v-power first.

I view it like feeding myself. As crazy as it sounds. If i ate fast food every day, you wouldn't notice much difference to start with, but eventually you would run into problems 9 times out of 10.

Don't forget that most fuel is derived from the same source but shell and bp are differentiated by the chemical additives that are added post extraction.

[t-spiritpete]

In my opinion they are better quality fuels.

In my opinion shell fuel burns cleaner, produces less soot which in turn will mean less soot build up. Excessive soot build up produced by poor quality fuel, dirty air filter, overfueling from ECU mapping or planting your foot will mean more soot going into the EGR valve.

The more soot in the EGR valve means the 5th injector is used more, which injects and burns diesel into the exhaust system to burn off this excess soot; therefore using more fuel.

As far as i have learn't fuels like shell and bp especially v-power have additives / more additives to produce a cleaner burn.

You won't notice much difference in power, but after a few tanks you may start to notice better economy or a cleaner quieter running. The additives also help keep the deposit build up on the injectors down and the diesel with additives help increase lubrication to the fuel pump and injectors. It will take about 4 tanks to notice a difference. I personally use shell extra and then v-power every 4th fill. But if coming from another fuel i would use 4 tanks of v-power first.

I view it like feeding myself. As crazy as it sounds. If i ate fast food every day, you wouldn't notice much difference to start with, but eventually you would run into problems 9 times out of 10.

Don't forget that most fuel is derived from the same source but shell and bp are differentiated by the chemical additives that are added post extraction.

What are your thoughts on Total Exellium diesel as it is a cheaper premium grade diesel fuel than Shell or BP?

[Felix_DCAT]

I got a 2006 Avensis D-CAT 2.2 here in Germany in September and have not been able to achieve less than 8.2L/100km - in the region of 30mpg. That includes driving at 120km/h to Berlin from Dresden. (on unlimited Autobahn :( ) I notice that the instantaneous fuel consumption varies continuously between about 6.5 and 9.0 L/100Km - this suggests continuous dosing of fuel by fifth injector at that speed. It makes no real difference if I do this in fifth or sixth gear. However, I have noticed on the last two trips that the fuel consumption improves dramatically (by about 40%) after about 1 hour of driving. This continues after I leave the autobahn driving at 30mph. This all suggests to me that there is a a DPF conditioning problem in these cars. Some people on this forum have suggested idling the engine for 30 secs before turning it off after a run to protect the DPF. Others have said never use sixth unless you are in Germany. In other words do the opposite of what you would expect and rev the engine for longer in each gear and stay in a lower gear than necessary to ensure proper burning of fuel. Anybody else had any experiences like this? What about suggestions for re-conditioning a DPF? Have Toyota ever done anything to address this problem?

[cabcurtains]

As Euro V/VI Diesels are geared up for lower emissions, the MPG's are worse than the Euro III/IV Diesel's like the Ford 2.0/2.2 and VAG TDI 90/110/130/150 etc etc

The situation will now never change unless new cars have some serious weight reductions to counteract the effect.

[Felix_DCAT]

I got a 2006 Avensis D-CAT 2.2 here in Germany in September and have not been able to achieve less than 8.2L/100km - in the region of 30mpg. That includes driving at 120km/h to Berlin from Dresden. (on unlimited Autobahn :( ) I notice that the instantaneous fuel consumption varies continuously between about 6.5 and 9.0 L/100Km - this suggests continuous dosing of fuel by fifth injector at that speed. It makes no real difference if I do this in fifth or sixth gear. However, I have noticed on the last two trips that the fuel consumption improves dramatically (by about 40%) after about 1 hour of driving. This continues after I leave the autobahn driving at 30mph. This all suggests to me that there is a a DPF conditioning problem in these cars. Some people on this forum have suggested idling the engine for 30 secs before turning it off after a run to protect the DPF. Others have said never use sixth unless you are in Germany. In other words do the opposite of what you would expect and rev the engine for longer in each gear and stay in a lower gear than necessary to ensure proper burning of fuel. Anybody else had any experiences like this? What about suggestions for re-conditioning a DPF? Have Toyota ever done anything to address this problem?

Some more information on this - the two trips I mentioned above were done at outside temperatures of about -4 deg C. They returned about 8.2 L/100km. I just did another Berlin round trip with temp of -5 going up and -11 coming back. Same effect after one hour - fuel consumption improves. However, coming back I was in a hurry so I increased my speed up to about 150km/h not long after the consumption dropped. Immediately the real time fuel consumption started to oscillate between high and low levels again. This leads me to believe that the fifth injector dosing depends on the temperature of the DPF. At ambient temps of -11 there could be considerable cooling of the DPF or maybe the exhaust gases themselves are cooler (as well). Needless to say overall these two trips returned 8.6 L/100km. Anyone on here from Toyota that would like to comment?

[Steve84]

I've noticed my mpg dropping over the last 12 months. i go upto mid wales most weekends and at best i could get just shy of 50mpg and that 70-80mph dual carriage ways, 60ish on a roads. Its a 200 mile round trip and on a good run and get like i've said just shy of 50mpg, on a bad run 43-47mpg. Round town i'd be getting mid to high 30's. Now i get 33mpg on a run and around town, if i drive in a eco mind i get 33mpg if i drive like a prat i get 33mpg. The car has a full toyota service history its a 2006 56 plate. I had the car in 2007 it had only done 1000 miles in 12 months. I've done 36500 miles since i've had it. I've had new injectors in the engine at 12500 miles, several ecu updates. Since i've had the car i only use Shell extra diesel, sometimes Shell v-power, i also use toyota injector clearner every 2-3000 miles. My car has started to smoke not every day not all the time but when it does, it puffs out clouds of smoke i'm just thinking maybe the poor mpg and smoking could be connected.

[t-spiritpete]

I've noticed my mpg dropping over the last 12 months. i go upto mid wales most weekends and at best i could get just shy of 50mpg and that 70-80mph dual carriage ways, 60ish on a roads. Its a 200 mile round trip and on a good run and get like i've said just shy of 50mpg, on a bad run 43-47mpg. Round town i'd be getting mid to high 30's. Now i get 33mpg on a run and around town, if i drive in a eco mind i get 33mpg if i drive like a prat i get 33mpg. The car has a full toyota service history its a 2006 56 plate. I had the car in 2007 it had only done 1000 miles in 12 months. I've done 36500 miles since i've had it. I've had new injectors in the engine at 12500 miles, several ecu updates. Since i've had the car i only use shell extra diesel, sometimes shell v-power, i also use toyota injector clearner every 2-3000 miles. My car has started to smoke not every day not all the time but when it does, it puffs out clouds of smoke i'm just thinking maybe the poor mpg and smoking could be connected.

Sorry i've not read all the replies but in your case steve, have you had the egr valve cleaned as this could be your problem? Toyota don't clean it out during a service if my info is correct, why they don't is a mystery to me.

Pete.