Toyota Echo Real World MPG

kneisl1 · July 2007

The battery is heavy and also the electric motor and controls are heavy too. What we need is a 1.2 liter engine in a 1600 pound body. The 1982 Honda Civic!

fuzzy5150 · July 2007

01 Echo, 152,416 miles. Last 12 week average; 47.14, high 54.63, low 41.71

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.

maarty10 · July 2007

My 2000 echo can get up to 350 kilometers on half a tank all highway. So thats about 47 miles per imperial gallon ( approx. 4.55 liters per ) This is with premium 92 octane and keeping it under 120 kms per hour. I have a k&n air filter, sythetic oil in the crankcase, iridium plugs, michelin x-ones @ 32psi, automatic trany. AC running. I find using cruise control helps with the better mileage too.

nippononly · July 2007

my commute has been different the last few weeks, because two days a week I am going to an alternate office site, which is 20 miles each way on a 55 mph drive along rural roads.

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. :-)

kneisl1 · July 2007

Twice now Ive gotten over 50 mpg driving at a steady 60-65 mpg in fifth gear on the freeway. I believe this isnt an aberation. If you can keep the speed to that its very rewarding mileage wise.

sniffles · August 2007

2003 4 dr. Echo w/5 spd. manual, my last tank was 44.7 mpg., with 75% highway (about 65 mph) and 25% suburban driving, also used the AC very very little, my tank before this using the AC I got about 42.1 mpg, I also fill up all the time at the same gas pump at the same gas station (Exxon)so these figures a accurate

mopar71 · August 2007

Those are accurate numbers for a manual trans, some people on the board are saying that they get 50 or 60 miles per gallon,I just dont believe it.90 percent of my driving is highway doing a steady 65 and the best I do is 42.But I have an automatic trans.

kneisl1 · August 2007

At a steady 60-65 mph freeway driving no stopping/slowing Ill get 52 mph. Done it twice now. I just rarely drive on the freeway...to bad! Oh. I should add in the summer. Mileage gets worse in winter.

nippononly · August 2007

I agree! Who needs a stinkin' hybrid anyway??!! :-)

kneisl1 · August 2007

Ive read the Prius uses the same gas engine the ECHO does, only the valve timing is modified.

nippononly · August 2007

The Prius 1.5 is the same block, but it runs on the Atkinson cycle (all "regular" engines including the Echo's run on the Otto cycle). There is a change in the way the valves operate - they don't fully close or something like that. This results in lower compression (and therefore less power) and gas savings.

kneisl1 · August 2007

Id like to get one of those in my ECHO. I wonder if its necessary.

mopar71 · August 2007

374.2 miles used 8.733 gallons. comes to 42.8.Show your numbers!The echo only has an 11 gallon tank.

nippononly · August 2007

My Echo has a 12.4 gallon tank. Don't know about others' cars.

Tonight's fill: 398 miles, 9.1 gallons, comes to 43.7 by my calculations. I am going to call that one 44!

kneisl1 · August 2007

234 miles in three weeks of driving took 5.5 gallons. Thats 42.5 mpg. On the nose no upward rounding! This was all in town driving, speed never exceeded 45 mph. Trip lenth never over 6 miles. Frequent runs to the store a mile away. Put THAT in your pipe and smoke it, Prius! BTW I filled up for $2.51 a gallon!

nippononly · August 2007

My gas last night was $3.09/gallon, which is the lowest I have paid in a loooooong time.

And for the semi-official running mileage computation, my fill last night gets recorded as 43.5. The 44 was just for celebration! ;-)

mopar71 · August 2007

234 miles in 3 weeks, :surprise: I do that in 2 days! I drive 60 miles one way to work.thats 120 a day.X2 days is 240.

kneisl1 · August 2007

You have the potential to put hundreds of thousands of miles on your ECHO. I did that with Beetles back in the 70s. But my ECHO will be 16 years old before it sees 100k miles. Ar least at the rate its going.

nippononly · August 2007

will see 100K miles before the six-year mark, at the rate it's going.

peterhh · October 2007

As a 2005 Prius owner, hats off to Echo & Yaris! Prius mileage is strongly dependent on outside temperature and use of a/c (which also heats in the winter)... plus, you can't trust fill-up gallons (where the automatic shut-off of the station's gas pump can cut off over one gallon early... even same pump!). Plus, you can't trust your odometer without checking vs "measured miles". Plus heavy-foot vs light foot makes about 5-8 mpg difference. Plus, for Prius you definitely can't use the car's "trip mpg" number. All that being accounted for (and based on 23K miles overall), our family Prius in the summer gets 44-46 cumulative mpg in mixed city/fwy travel (many tanks, neither heavy nor light foot). It gets 37-39 mpg in the 3 cold new england winter months (also cumulative but not as many miles driven). Heating up the engine generates a big hit to mileage, but the biggest culprit is the use of "auto a/c" setting or "defrost" (because both use the a/c as a heat pump to warm the car interior). Best mileage is obtained with outside temp around 65, moderate speed (45 mph), and hilly roads... you can expect that mythical 50 mpg... and you can get close in city traffic w no ac. Soooo... we love our Prius, but for all-things-considered economy, I agree... it's Yaris or a used Echo.

kneisl1 · October 2007

Thankyou for your post it was very informative. My brother (an engineer) says the regenerative brakes on a Prius contribute no more than 5% efficiency to the engine. Which is in practice nothing. The auto shut off at stops also does very little for mileage and it isnt included on other cars by itself. The Prius is full of features that appear to be wonderfull advances in technology. But it is actually a hoax. That "hi tech" dashboard just stokes the ego. And consider this: a 1980 Honda Civic got 50 mpg all by itself...

nippononly · October 2007

several tanks in a row now of 42 or 43 mpg readings. The reason is we are in the part of the year when I am not using the A/C that much any more, but the mornings are still relatively mild.

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.

dephinusorca · October 2007

Hi,

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

kneisl1 · October 2007

I got 52 mpg once when I drove my 2001 man trans on the highway. Usually I just drive it to work where I get 40 mpg. I dont go over 45 mph and its about 6 miles to work.

nippononly · October 2007

is several tanks at 49 mpg, which was all highway, speeds no higher than 70 except for occasional 80 mph bursts to pass, and little A/C use.

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.

dephinusorca · October 2007

So for my first tank I got 472.9 miles on 9.70 gallons of gas for total of 48.75 mpg. This was 90%+ trips over 20 miles, all in mild weather (50-70 degrees) but I'd say I drove it hard, (by my cautious standards anyway), for the first quarter tank, since I wanted to see how the car would perform (amazingly well, I thought). Also, this includes about 30 minutes of helping my wife relearn how to use a manual, and that was pretty hard on the mpg I suppose. Anyway, I'm almost giddy about this, because I think 50mpg highway should be very achievable, which is almost 50% above my previous car (34mpg) and 22%-35% above EPA ratings (old ratings vs new).

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?

nippononly · October 2007

The fuel light comes on when you are down 9.5 gallons. Which means you have close to 3 gallons to go (total capacity on the 4-door is 12.4 gallons; the 2-door may hold less, I don't know), and yes, Toyota fuel lights come on WAY too soon - it is a widespread "problem" of the brand.

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).

dephinusorca · October 2007

I will definitely do this, and should have some more info a week from tomorrow, when I'll need to refill. I think the two door (which I have) does have only 11.9 gallon tank. Wierd the light would come on with 2+ gallons left (and the indicator still a bit above E). There aren't many roads with 80-100 mile stretches with no gas stations. Now I wish I drove it a little farther to make it to the 500 mile mark, which I've definitely never done in any car.

dephinusorca · October 2007

Oil closed above $90 barrel today. Why aren't car companies making 50mpg cars (for america anyway)? This is stupid. Glad I got my echo, but I'm sure they could make even more efficient cars.

kneisl1 · October 2007

Americans think they are too good to drive a car like an ECHO. All they want is eight cylinder cars. If we all drove ECHOsthere would be plenty of cheap gas!

dfwcat · October 2007

I just turned over 160K on my 00. 4dr automatic and dealer installed cruise.I bought it new and have enjoyed it so far. On trips I easily get 39 mpg. combined mileage is about 35. Currently about 33 due to needing a tuneup.

nippononly · October 2007

I'm in the middle of a week of commuting off-site to an office that is more than 80 miles from my house, all interstate driving at 65 with passing at 75, little to no traffic.

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! :-)

kneisl1 · October 2007

Well youre not exactly soaking them for gas money driving an ECHO! :P

dephinusorca · October 2007

Second tank filled up yesterday at 440 mi on 9.77 gallons for 45mpg, 80%+ freeway. This is less than my last tank, in similar conditions, so not sure whether because of unequal fill-ups, slightly colder weather, or moderately more around town driving over the weekend.

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.

nippononly · November 2007

and I got about 46 mpg! 8.0 gallons, 367 miles. I think that's 45.875 mpg to be exact. ;-)

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! :-)

dephinusorca · November 2007

What is the impact of the defroster? Do you mean front or rear? I'm definitely not driving 75 and I don't have A/C so I'd like to see higher mpg than I got on my last tank. Maybe I should check my tire pressure.

nippononly · November 2007

Front defroster. On models with A/C (like mine) the defroster is linked to the A/C, so when I have the defrost running it means the A/C is running too (although less than it does when you are using it to cool down the car).

grayliner · November 2007

I was considring selling my ECHO and getting a Scion xD. I need a 4 door for my growing kid.
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!

nippononly · November 2007

No kidding. Your Echo weighed 2080 pounds brand new. Actually, I think your 2-door might have been a few pounds less.

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.

billyg1957 · November 2007

Hi, I own 2 2003 echos. They are identical with the following exceptions.
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.

kneisl1 · November 2007

Have you tried primium gas? I would take it to the dealer and ask them to look at it.Pinging may be bad for the engine!

dephinusorca · November 2007

422.1 mi on 9.152g = 46.12 mpg, 80% + highway. Running average on 3 tanks is 46.7 mpg. Guess I won't ever get a chance to hit 50 unless I go 100% highway. Won't be able to try that until my next vacation, though, probably.

nippononly · November 2007

Pinging means you need the timing adjusted. You should have a shop check it out, as it will do gradual damage over time. Take it back to the shop that did the tune-up, and tell them that despite their efforts it is still pinging.

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.

nippononly · November 2007

now that I am back to my regular commute: 42 mpg.

388 miles, 9.2 gallons.

And it's time again for an oil change and tire rotation. Perhaps this Saturday. :-)

dephinusorca · November 2007

435.5 mi on 9.575g for 45.48mpg, running ave 46.41. I thought I drove slower on this tank--mostly 60mph--but saw slight decrease in fuel efficiency. Could the car be more efficent at 65/70 than 60? Or maybe just other factors at work.

nippononly · November 2007

One of the things about this car is that with such a small gas tank and such high mileage, small variances between gas pumps and gas stations can calculate out to 1-2 mpg differences, like the difference between 9.4 gallons and 9.7 or whatever. No two pumps will pump exactly the same amount of fuel into the tank before stopping, and I would imagine the variance is at least 0.3 gallons, maybe as high as 0.5. So comparing one tankful to the one before it may not be that meaningful. That's why I kept track for a while of a long running average over 10K miles or more. And at that time, which was spring and summer 2006, I had a running average of 41.5 mpg, leaving out two trips I took on the interstate that had phenomenal gas mileage and would have skewed the average up had I used them.

dephinusorca · November 2007

Yes, I know youre right on that but I'm a creature of habit and always fill at the same pump right by my work. One time I know the pump stopped early and could tell because (1) the mileage was a couple mpg over all my other tanks and (2) after filling up the needle always goes above full and then starts to drop and hits "F" right at 50mi, but that time it hit at 25mi instead, so I suppose it was just under 0.5 short on the fill up. Still, I think the averages would have to work themselves out pretty quickly--a half gallon over the space of 50 gallons is only 1%.

grayliner · November 2007

Yep, the Echo is 23-25% lighter than the xD. I gathered the same numbers as you did after posting. In racing weight is everything. Folks spend big $$$ on titanium and carbon fiber aftermarket parts.

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.

luvmyecho3 · November 2007

don't let the tank get too low,bad for cat convertor,and a few other reasons
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.

dephinusorca · November 2007

474 on 10.037 = 47.23 mpg. Running average now 46.58.

Toyota Echo Real World MPG

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