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Syn 5W-30, tires 44 psi, car empty, clean and waxed, max speed 55 -58, use as many hypermile techniques as I am comfortable with.
And as a result, I am filling up a little more frequently, and getting...
...44 mpg!! Yup, three tanks in a row have proved it, the last was 419 miles, 9.5 gallons. This little car is a miracle worker.
The funny thing is when I do this, I get reimbursed at the rate of $0.485 for the mileage, and I can't figure the Echo is costing me more than about $0.10 per mile including gas (at the current price of $3.25/gallon) and maintenance, so I am getting paid extra for my volunteer duty. :-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Tonight's fill: 398 miles, 9.1 gallons, comes to 43.7 by my calculations. I am going to call that one 44!
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
And for the semi-official running mileage computation, my fill last night gets recorded as 43.5. The 44 was just for celebration! ;-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I think if most or all of your driving is in town in traffic (not in the burbs where you see long stretches of 45 mph and stoplights are twice per mile), and/or you have a really heavy-duty commute through stop and go traffic, the Prius can provide a major advantage over Echo for gas mileage. In any other conditions, I would call it a wash between the two until such time as gas hits $6 or $7 per gallon.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I just got a 2000 manual 2 door with low miles and want to know what is the best possible mpg for my 120 mile commute. Most posts here describe mixed city/highway, often at pretty high speeds, with some ac use and very low forties in mpg. In my previous car, an 87 Nissan stanza, I regularly got 25% above what it was rated just by driving gentle highway miles (slow acceleration, 60mph, little braking). Is this possible in the Echo? And what is the most efficient freeway speed for this car's engine and transmission? Thanks
Obviously, if I had held my speeds lower like kneisl1 does, I could probably have equalled his fantastic mpg achievement.
For my job I am occasionally assigned off site in one of two places: one is about 20 miles from my house along rural roads where I can average 50-55 mph, no traffic, and the other is 80 miles from my house, all interstate where I hold the speed to 65 and there is sometimes a little bit of stop-and-go. In both scenarios it is no sweat to hit 45 mpg for the week, because of the longer drive and hence fewer cold starts.
If you are into fuel economy and challenging yourself, set 45 mpg as your target for your manual shift Echo. 40 mpg is too easy to hit.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
One thing that did seem odd is that both times I have filled the car when the fuel light started blinking and it wouldn't take ten gallons of gas. The light must be set to leave a 2 gallon + reserve (11.9 gallon tank)? Anyway to know for sure?
I LOVE your initial mileage! I hope that as you put in a few tanks of gas and a running average develops, you can keep it close to that 50 mpg mark. There is certainly no new car, not even the Yaris, that could do so well, except for overweight, overly expensive hybrids (and even the Prius would probably use more gas since your drive is almost exclusively highway).
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
My first fill-up was today: 362 miles, 8.1 gallons, which I make out to be just shy of 45 mpg. That's with me not even trying! There was plenty of A/C use, not to mention that's with a bunch of cold starts: three mornings, going out for lunch from the office, etc.
This little Echo is a GAS MANIAC! Paid $3.19/gallon for gas tonight, it's skyrocketing in my area, I'm sooo glad they are reimbursing me this week while I work off-site! :-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I did take the car through a slalom course several times, which I doubt used much gas but felt pretty good. The first day I got the car I drove it in heavy wind and it felt terrible, but it felt plenty stable going through the cones with tires squealing all the way. I think the weight is distributed ok it's just the high profile combined with light weight that turned it into a kite in heavy wind.
And again, it was without trying. There was more 75 mph driving and more traffic these two days, plus the A/C ran all the way home today, and the defroster has run both mornings for most of the drive.
Fabulous! :-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
But after reading all the posts about mileage I am not selling.
Plus, I test drove a Fit, Yaris, and Scion xD. None are anywhere near as sporty as my manual ECHO. It must be much lighter. It has no AC and not even intermitant wipers - it's that bare bones. It's FAR quicker than any of them in either MT or AT. Sport/loaded or bare bones. The steering is tighter too, fwiw.
I just can't believe they cancelled it! Love my ECHO!
By contrast:
- Fit 2440 pounds
- Yaris 2300 pounds
- xD 2668 pounds!!
The first two have the same power rating as the Echo (under the new system; under the old they may have had 2-3 hp more) and weigh hundreds of pounds more, the third has more power but weighs more than 25% more than the Echo.
No thanks. I'm expecting gas to keep going up instead of dipping for the winter like it usually does. My Echo is my tool for keeping my money in my wallet and not in the gas station cash register...
And there's no way I would expect any of those listed models to get close to the superlative mileage of the Echo. They have decent mileage (at least Fit and Yaris do), but the Echo can really shine if you try just a little to conserve gas.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Car A has Power steering, 15" tires
Car B does not have power steering and 14" tires
Car A pings a fair amount. Did this even after a tune up
Car B never pings
Car A regularly gets 32-35 mpg and seems to top out at 38-39
Car B regularly gets 35-37, and can top out at 42-43 mpg
Questions:
What steps might I take to deal with the pinging?
Do you think the pinging may be impacting mpg?
Is the power required for steering in Car A significant enough to impact fuel economy?
Does tire width impact economy.
Thanks in advance for any help/advise.
Yes, if the timing is off or there is another problem related to the tune of the engine, it could impact mpg.
Yes, power steering impacts mpg, pulling it down just a bit, because it takes engine power to drive the power steering pump. That's why many new models now are going to electric power steering.
Yes, tire width impacts fuel economy - the wider the contact patch the more drag the tire has, which pulls fuel economy down.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
388 miles, 9.2 gallons.
And it's time again for an oil change and tire rotation. Perhaps this Saturday. :-)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
And the electronic steering in the new ones is like water skiing in mashed potatos. The lag is almost dangerous. I prefer my dino steering, but glad it's not any heavier!
With my trunk leak now fixed I'm keeping this gem.
i have averaged 43 mpg hwy driving w/a 5 speed manual trans.
i can drive pretty fast somtimes like 85)and do not notice any dif.
i DO notice a difference w/AC on for extended periods in very hot weather.
the car does lose power and the engine seems to work harder resulting in poorer mileage.