my apologies, whats DTE? Maybe I'm doing something wronge. ANY help I can get to figure out my gas mileage will help but when the Trip Odometer (A) reads 200-250 miles in which i set to zero when I filled up and when my gas tank shows EMPTY, the calulations I get on a 21 gallong tank is ~9-12 mpg. :mad: I'll post a a pic
PS I have the XLE (AWD) I know AWD pulls more gas, but these numbers are insane. Someone told me to have the dealer check some sensors. I'll make an appointment next week as this vehicle is only 2 weeks old
QUOTE: "The distance the vehicle can travel with the remaining fuel is calculated and displayed based on the quantity of remaining fuel and past fuel consumption".
"The displayed value is updated every 1 second."
"Every time you refuel the vehicle, the calculation is reset".
"The actual driving range varies with driving habits and road conditions. If fuel consumption is good, the driving range will be longer. If fuel consumption is poor, the driving range will be shorter"
Example: Last night at 15,345 miles and 4.8 miles since I had refueled the Sienna, DTE was 501 miles. Now at 15,387 miles (42 miles later), the DTE dropped by 54 miles and reads 447 miles because I had some stop and go driving this morning.
That's just it--I don't idle much--I live in a fairly small town and the stop lights are timed pretty well. Most driving is around 35 mph. I am constantly on the go--the van doesn't have much time to cool down between trips--although most of my trips are less than 8 miles--but usually many of them together. (SAHM--kids in all kinds of stuff) We don't have traffic.
I can find a sweet spot when driving around 37 where I can "coast" for a long time--instant MPG runs about 45-50--but I feel I can go too long without hitting the gas, (over a mile) thus why I'm having the problems. The other day the thing took off on me at a stop light--up to 10 mph without me ever touching the gas!! (Yes, I know this isn't normal--but my dealer will not help me--going to a different dealer when we go on vacation) This last tank was 14.6 mpg--I had no highway driving on this tank. I will have to look at the instant mpg on the highway next time I do that. Thanks for the help.
DTE (distance to empty) is *very* conservative. I think they calculate it not really based on the tank being empty, but to the point where the low fuel light comes on.
It's so far off the actual number as to be useless to me. I bet when it hits zero you still have 3 gallons left in the tank.
Treat it this way - when DTE hits 0, start looking for gas, but you'll have more than a few miles to find it.
My trip computer, on the other hand, turns out to be pretty accurate. It reported 26.2 mpg and I calculated manually an average of 26.1 mpg. So it was only off by 0.1mpg, accurate enough that I may not bother calculating my mileage any more.
Ok, here's a question--do you reset your mpg computer after every fill up? Why such a silly question?--the head mechanic at my dealer told me that if I reset it after every fill up, then it was resetting the memory chip in the van that "remembers" how you drive. I personally think this is a load of bunk, but I have been wrong before. I know I'm full of questions, but I can't seem to get anywhere with my dealer (the only one within 45 miles) so I'm asking everyone I know. :confuse:
And you're right, that's baloney. My mileage keeps improving, so it's not re-learning anything. In fact the opposite is true - it has learned that I'm happy cruising along at steady speeds and has leaned out the fuel mixture for best efficiency.
Is the message in an article that came with my July "Utah Toyota Service Centers" maintenance reminder. Under the graph was the message: " Gas mileage decreases rapidly at speeds above 60 mph. Each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.10 per gallon for gas. Observing the speed limit is also safer"
A nice little graph of MPG vs Speed in MPH (as nearly as I can read the graph).
Same here, the DTE is very conservative. In fact, I think it would hit zero when the low fuel light turns on (i.e. a couple of gallons left), not when it's actually empty.
What's your best for a whole trip?
I got 30.6mpg going to the beach this weekend. I've seen 31.3 but speeds picked up and my average dropped.
Oddly, the trip computer is very accurate in calculating my average mpg, but not in the distance-to-empty.
Drove 59 miles today, readout is AVG 27.6 MPG, DTE 243 mi.
Comparing the data with yesterdays will show the trip computer DTE conservative nature: I drove 59 miles but the DTE dropped 72 miles. :confuse:
The BEST for a long round trip (that includes some city driving during each trip) was 29.2 MPG. On the same round trip, the trip average has been: 29.0 MPG June, 2006; 27.8 MPG August, 2006; 29.2 MPG April, 2007; 28.2 MPG June, 2007; 28.0 MPG June, 2007.
The average of these 5 round trips would be 28.4 MPG (6,850 miles using 241.1 gallons)....EPA rating is 26 highway. :shades:
I just filled from half-a-tank. Mileage was 20.6 That is the worst I've ever got. Obviously not a lot of Hiway miles, but it's still way off norm. I have 16,000 mi in 9 mo. Our weather here in Seattle during this half tank was freakishly wet and humid. Somewhat cool, too. I guess that really had an effect. Much more than I would have thought. I think I'm going on a drive tomorrow, if I go where I'm thinkin about, it will be 225 +, so I'll post again.
I have a 2006 Sienna LTD FWD with a similar problem but in the opposite way. My odometer is short changing my miles. I just noticed it recently because I started to commute to work with my Minivan. The same route I take everyday to work with my old Acura Legend was 17.6 miles on the dot, but with my Sienna it was 16.6 miles. Now at first I thought maybe my old car was off, but once I drove my wife car to work (Subaru Forester) it got the exact same miles as my old Acura 17.6 miles. Another time I borrowed my Mother's car, a new 2006 Honda Accord, just to test out my theory and the same result - 17.6 miles. This of course may explain why I never get more than 18 MPG on my Sienna. I am currently getting just 17.4 MPG on average.
I am not sure what can really be done, recall maybe? I barely put 4000 miles on the Minivan (according to the odometer :confuse: ), but I will certainly mention this problem to my dealer the next time I bring it in for an oil change. Let me know if you got anywhere with Toyota.
Just went on a 800 mile trip. While there took the van to another dealer. Filled him in on my woes, and the bunk I was getting from local dealer. He understood my frustration, but also pointed out that if there was no TSP for my problem, not much could be done. However, after listening to me for a while, we worked out that my idle was too high. (1100 when resting, 1400 when going about 35). So he hooked it up and basically "rebooted" my whole system. She runs beautifully now!! The resting RPM's are down to 800!! 35 is around 1000. Amazing what a difference--she is much quieter and my mileage has improved. Was 22.5 on the highway with some city thrown in. Still not great, but apparently there was an article in the Houston Chronicle about how the newer larger engines in the Siennas really hurt the gas mileage. Guess who has the newer larger engine??
If anyone is in the Houston/Conroe area--I can highly recommend Gullo Toyota. I can not tell you how nice they were and they really do now how run their department. I'm just dreading going back to my local dealer to get my third stereo put in, and now two of my voltage outlets are busted!!
I used mid-grade twice, maybe, in 16,000 mi. Have used Premium the rest of the time. I've read if you are not climbing passes and/or not loaded, that you don't need 92 octane. The manual doesn't say that, though. I guess the engine computer will adjust for knock. Someone just called (I'm at work), gotta go.
I just checked. Both places in the Manual; Starting and Driving, and Specifications, it does say 87 octane.
Select Octane Rating 87 or higher. For improved performance, use premium unleaded gasoline with an Octane Rating of 91 or higher.
So, how do these run on Regular gas? Any of the car magazines, Ratings guides, etc, ALL say the Sienna with 3.3 uses Premium. They don't go into any detail. We have 87-89-92. I've seen 86, maybe even 85, but can't remember where. Canada had 94 Octane at Chevron stations.
"I bet folks in Houston are using more throttle than I am, perhaps."
I'm sure they are--all the things you hear about Houston drivers is very true. Not to mention all the time they sit on the highway. Makes me very glad I don't live there anymore.
Actually, given the long, straight roads, I bet they're just traveling and far higher speeds than I am here in MD. I rarely exceed 65mph, you rarely can!
Just checked the latest Consumer Reports Ratings guide, and it lists Regular fuel for the 3.5. Checked the '07 Highlander and Solara with the 3.3, and they list Regular, too. I'll try to kick the Premium habit next trip to the pump. Will start with 89, and see if we gets the shakes and knocks.
Just looked and my 2006 Sienna LE trip computer reads 487 miles after driving it 80 miles since last refill Thursday August 9th. Adding the distance I had driven to the 487 DTE indicates it could easily go 567 miles between fill ups.
It had read DTE 505 miles on Saturday but I did not write down how far it had gone since refilling. :shades:
My Sienna used 48.2 gallons to go 1379 miles on last round trip to Anaheim = 28.6 MPG. The trip computer showed 29.2 MPG when I refilled it Thursday August 9th ( 2 % more than ACTUAL mileage ).
How far is it to the beach? Do you compute one-way or round trip mileage?
My data is for a round trip of approximately 1380 miles. My 06 Sienna and 02 T&C LX ALWAYS got better gas mileage going to Anaheim than returning....even though prevailing winds are normally southwest from central Utah to the Cajon Pass between Victorville and San Bernardino (headwind going to Anaheim).
Mileage is ATROCIOUS driving north from St. George to Cedar City Utah (often as low as 8 or 9 MPG)...but 99 MPG much of the way going from Cedar City to St. George, Utah.
One-way, though the first 30.6 mpg tank was from the beach back home, and the 2nd was from my home to the beach.
I fill up the tank at the beach, during the trip.
Why?
Gas costs $3.19 in Potomac, MD, where I live, and $2.69 in Deleware on Rt. 113, on my way home!
Gotta love a big, 21 gallon gas tank combined with the kind of mileage I'm getting. In theory I could go 600 miles. In practice I can easily go more than 400 and not worry about having to get gas until I can find it MUCH cheaper than near my house.
As you can see, I save 60 cents per gallon by simply being able to wait until the weekend beach trip to fill up the tank. That strategy has worked like a charm. :shades:
To top that off, I got a Shell card and get another 5% back, so I've actually been paying roughly $2.56 per gallon, net.
Good policy. I also love the relatively large gas tank and the excellent gas mileage of my 2006 Sienna LE. The Sienna can go much further between refills than my bladder permits. :shades:
I just came back for return trip of 800 miles. I was barely able to get 25 MPG on the highway portion of the trip. Comparing with 30 MPG, this is horrible. I'm getting 100 Miles less :mad: It was hilly through WV and I was driving 70-75 MPH.
Also, theoretically, I should be able to go 500 Miles with 25MPG... but low fuel light came on at 400 Miles since I filled the tank :mad:
I now have approximately 4000 Miles on the Sienna.
I did have an around-town tank that only gave me 23mpg.
My last tank was in the 28.x mpg range, mixed driving.
70-75 puts the RPMs up there a bit. I usually go a bit slower, mostly because traffice is more dense here. I'd say my average cruising speed is probably 65mph.
IMO the Sienna does best just as it shifts in to 5th gear, which is at around 46mph in my van. I realize that's not a practical speed, so it's hard to maximize gas mileage.
Take the scenic back roads, maybe? Those are often 45mph speed limits, plus you see more sights.
2006 Sienna average gas mileage for ALL driving for 17, 603 miles is 24.8 MPG. Last round trip gas mileage was 31.7 MPG on 89.5 octane fuel. Used front and rear A/C the entire trip home but I am NOT an agressive, fast driver.
The Sienna gets slightly better gas mileage than 02 T&C got.
Wow....this is great mileage... I'm not aggressive either. All my long distance driving is with cruise control... even in the city, I manage to use cruise.
I took delivery of my new Sienna LE 07 couple days back. Since then I have driven about 90 miles and fuel indicator is very little over half tank. I am guessing it would give bad mileage. Is this expected initially ? Any driving tips/tricks for getting better mileage. Thanks.
Before you took delivery, the van probably sat around idling, waiting to be unloaded off the truck, etc.
I would go ahead and fill it up now, and just zero out the trip computer (it has to be in park, at the average MPG display, then hit the two outer buttons at the same time and hold them until it blinks 0.0).
Even if you don't, mileage will creep up pretty quickly.
When I took delivery mine was in the 13mpg range. Before my first tank was empty it had crept up to the low 20s.
13 ain't even that bad, the Kia Sedona I test drove was in the 7s! :surprise:
Well, I'm a bit anal on my tracking, so I figured I'd share that as of 30,000 miles on my 2006 Sienna LE 8 seater that I'm averaging 19.25 mpg...over the course of time I've never done better than 23.32 mpg on a tank nor worse than 15.91 mpg per tank...and over the course of things, I've averaged $2.55 per gallon, for an expense of $0.13 per mile driven.
I normally drive about 2 to 3 mph over posted speed limit. Speed limit was 65 MPH 1/4 of the way, 75 MPH for 1/4, and 60 MPH on the 2 lane, undivided portion which was about half but included about 2,000 feet gain in altitude.
I did speed up to 80 - 85 MPH or so when entering the Interstate from 2 lane portion were Interstate portion speed limit was 75 MPG. (Must merge safely :shades: ).
2005 SLE AWD, live near Asheville, NC. . Family hauler, vacation vehicle, my business trip car of choice due to driver comfort. We live on top a mountain ridge that requires a 500 foot elevation gain over the last 1/2 mile via a 14% grade and 5 switchbacks, so that portion of our daily drive is around 6 MPG. I tend to drive 9 miles over the posted speed limit, in town or on the interstate. I am admittedly an "unhesitant" driver at best,"assertive" at worst.(Lost tourist and elderly part-timers from Florida have been known to pull off the road to get out of my way on winding 2 lane roads.) Average over 45,000 problem-fee miles is 18.9 mpg.
Computation of overall gas mileage was made by writing in a book the current odometer mileage, fuel purchased, date, cost, and the gas mileage for that refill and then another column to keep a running total of ALL fuel purchased with still another column for OVERALL average fuel economy.
I have put 709.9 gallons of fuel into my Sienna and it had 17,603 miles on odometer when last refueled for the overall average of 24.8 MPG. Mileage at refilling has been as low as 13.1 MPG in the winter when refilled March 2, 2007 and as high as 36.0 when driven on a round trip test to determine the MAXIMUM possible fuel economy.
I reset the trip computer average economy only BEFORE each long trip of approximately 1380 miles. Trip computer is about 1 % higher than actual calculated mileage. :shades:
Comments
PS I have the XLE (AWD) I know AWD pulls more gas, but these numbers are insane. Someone told me to have the dealer check some sensors. I'll make an appointment next week as this vehicle is only 2 weeks old
I did not think that it keeps tracks of your driving habits
"The displayed value is updated every 1 second."
"Every time you refuel the vehicle, the calculation is reset".
"The actual driving range varies with driving habits and road conditions. If fuel consumption is good, the driving range will be longer. If fuel consumption is poor, the driving range will be shorter"
Example: Last night at 15,345 miles and 4.8 miles since I had refueled the Sienna, DTE was 501 miles. Now at 15,387 miles (42 miles later), the DTE dropped by 54 miles and reads 447 miles because I had some stop and go driving this morning.
Sarah
I can find a sweet spot when driving around 37 where I can "coast" for a long time--instant MPG runs about 45-50--but I feel I can go too long without hitting the gas, (over a mile) thus why I'm having the problems. The other day the thing took off on me at a stop light--up to 10 mph without me ever touching the gas!! (Yes, I know this isn't normal--but my dealer will not help me--going to a different dealer when we go on vacation) This last tank was 14.6 mpg--I had no highway driving on this tank. I will have to look at the instant mpg on the highway next time I do that. Thanks for the help.
It's so far off the actual number as to be useless to me. I bet when it hits zero you still have 3 gallons left in the tank.
Treat it this way - when DTE hits 0, start looking for gas, but you'll have more than a few miles to find it.
My trip computer, on the other hand, turns out to be pretty accurate. It reported 26.2 mpg and I calculated manually an average of 26.1 mpg. So it was only off by 0.1mpg, accurate enough that I may not bother calculating my mileage any more.
Sarah
And you're right, that's baloney. My mileage keeps improving, so it's not re-learning anything. In fact the opposite is true - it has learned that I'm happy cruising along at steady speeds and has leaned out the fuel mixture for best efficiency.
A nice little graph of MPG vs Speed in MPH (as nearly as I can read the graph).
...MPG........Speed in MPH
28 mpg........40 mph
29 mpg........50 mph
29.5 MPG....52 MPH
28 mpg........55 mph
27 mpg........60 mph
24 mpg........62 mph
23.5 mpg.....65 mph
22.5 mpg.....70 mph
22 mpg........75 mph
My 2006 Sienna rated 19 city 26 highway gets better highway gas mileage at any speed than this example. :shades:
So if I cruise at 45mph, I get lower mileage than I get at 48mph, because it's in 4th gear instead of 5th.
Once in overdrive, though, mileage will drop as speeds increase.
This shows the very conservative estimate of the DTE since 20 gallons of gasoline will take the vehicle 550 miles at 27.5 MPG. :shades:
What's your best for a whole trip?
I got 30.6mpg going to the beach this weekend. I've seen 31.3 but speeds picked up and my average dropped.
Oddly, the trip computer is very accurate in calculating my average mpg, but not in the distance-to-empty.
Comparing the data with yesterdays will show the trip computer DTE conservative nature: I drove 59 miles but the DTE dropped 72 miles. :confuse:
The BEST for a long round trip (that includes some city driving during each trip) was 29.2 MPG. On the same round trip, the trip average has been:
29.0 MPG June, 2006;
27.8 MPG August, 2006;
29.2 MPG April, 2007;
28.2 MPG June, 2007;
28.0 MPG June, 2007.
The average of these 5 round trips would be 28.4 MPG (6,850 miles using 241.1 gallons)....EPA rating is 26 highway. :shades:
That is the worst I've ever got. Obviously not a lot of Hiway miles, but it's still way off norm.
I have 16,000 mi in 9 mo.
Our weather here in Seattle during this half tank was freakishly wet and humid. Somewhat cool, too. I guess that really had an effect. Much more than I would have thought. I think I'm going on a drive tomorrow, if I go where I'm thinkin about, it will be 225 +, so I'll post again.
I am not sure what can really be done, recall maybe? I barely put 4000 miles on the Minivan (according to the odometer :confuse: ), but I will certainly mention this problem to my dealer the next time I bring it in for an oil change. Let me know if you got anywhere with Toyota.
Good Luck...
I'd leave it as is. It'll add resale value.
26.09 mpg. Just filled a couple hours ago, and gas was the cheapest in a long time. Premium, $3.05
IMO We (me at least) have been defeated when anything under $3 a gallon looks good.... :sick:
If anyone is in the Houston/Conroe area--I can highly recommend Gullo Toyota. I can not tell you how nice they were and they really do now how run their department. I'm just dreading going back to my local dealer to get my third stereo put in, and now two of my voltage outlets are busted!!
Sar
Someone just called (I'm at work), gotta go.
In high altitude areas, 87 octane is mid-level grade. :sick:
Select Octane Rating 87 or higher. For improved performance, use premium unleaded gasoline with an Octane Rating of 91 or higher.
So, how do these run on Regular gas? Any of the car magazines, Ratings guides, etc, ALL say the Sienna with 3.3 uses Premium. They don't go into any detail.
We have 87-89-92. I've seen 86, maybe even 85, but can't remember where. Canada had 94 Octane at Chevron stations.
I can't argue with that.
Also, the 3.5l V6 has so much reserve power that I *still* don't think I've had to floor the throttle all the way.
I bet folks in Houston are using more throttle than I am, perhaps.
"I bet folks in Houston are using more throttle than I am, perhaps."
I'm sure they are--all the things you hear about Houston drivers is very true. Not to mention all the time they sit on the highway. Makes me very glad I don't live there anymore.
I'll try to kick the Premium habit next trip to the pump. Will start with 89, and see if we gets the shakes and knocks.
The Lexus models with this engine (IS350 for instance) make up to 308hp and are more highly tuned. Those need premium fuel. Ours don't.
Post like this are forbidden by Edmunds rules, for good reason!
It had read DTE 505 miles on Saturday but I did not write down how far it had gone since refilling. :shades:
My Sienna used 48.2 gallons to go 1379 miles on last round trip to Anaheim = 28.6 MPG. The trip computer showed 29.2 MPG when I refilled it Thursday August 9th ( 2 % more than ACTUAL mileage
Thanks,
2. Go to the average MPG mode, then press and hold the two outer buttons on the Trip Computer, at the same time. It will go to 0.0 mpg.
My 07 LE averaged 30.6 mpg going to the beach this past weekend, tied my best for a whole trip. :shades:
Outer most button is "mode" and next three to it are "home link" buttons.
Which buttons are you talking about?
My data is for a round trip of approximately 1380 miles. My 06 Sienna and 02 T&C LX ALWAYS got better gas mileage going to Anaheim than returning....even though prevailing winds are normally southwest from central Utah to the Cajon Pass between Victorville and San Bernardino (headwind going to Anaheim).
Mileage is ATROCIOUS driving north from St. George to Cedar City Utah (often as low as 8 or 9 MPG)...but 99 MPG much of the way going from Cedar City to St. George, Utah.
You press the 2 outermost buttons at the same time. It has to be in Park and in the avg MPG mode for it to work.
I didn't get it to work at first either! :sick:
I fill up the tank at the beach, during the trip.
Why?
Gas costs $3.19 in Potomac, MD, where I live, and $2.69 in Deleware on Rt. 113, on my way home!
Gotta love a big, 21 gallon gas tank combined with the kind of mileage I'm getting. In theory I could go 600 miles. In practice I can easily go more than 400 and not worry about having to get gas until I can find it MUCH cheaper than near my house.
As you can see, I save 60 cents per gallon by simply being able to wait until the weekend beach trip to fill up the tank. That strategy has worked like a charm. :shades:
To top that off, I got a Shell card and get another 5% back, so I've actually been paying roughly $2.56 per gallon, net.
I just came back for return trip of 800 miles. I was barely able to get 25 MPG on the highway portion of the trip. Comparing with 30 MPG, this is horrible. I'm getting 100 Miles less :mad: It was hilly through WV and I was driving 70-75 MPH.
Also, theoretically, I should be able to go 500 Miles with 25MPG... but low fuel light came on at 400 Miles since I filled the tank :mad:
I now have approximately 4000 Miles on the Sienna.
Will it get better?
I did have an around-town tank that only gave me 23mpg.
My last tank was in the 28.x mpg range, mixed driving.
70-75 puts the RPMs up there a bit. I usually go a bit slower, mostly because traffice is more dense here. I'd say my average cruising speed is probably 65mph.
IMO the Sienna does best just as it shifts in to 5th gear, which is at around 46mph in my van. I realize that's not a practical speed, so it's hard to maximize gas mileage.
Take the scenic back roads, maybe? Those are often 45mph speed limits, plus you see more sights.
The Sienna gets slightly better gas mileage than 02 T&C got.
What speed were you driving at?
I would go ahead and fill it up now, and just zero out the trip computer (it has to be in park, at the average MPG display, then hit the two outer buttons at the same time and hold them until it blinks 0.0).
Even if you don't, mileage will creep up pretty quickly.
When I took delivery mine was in the 13mpg range. Before my first tank was empty it had crept up to the low 20s.
13 ain't even that bad, the Kia Sedona I test drove was in the 7s! :surprise:
-Cobbo
I did speed up to 80 - 85 MPH or so when entering the Interstate from 2 lane portion were Interstate portion speed limit was 75 MPG. (Must merge safely :shades: ).
Just curious, how did you keep track of 17,000 mile average? Did you never reset the computer?
I have put 709.9 gallons of fuel into my Sienna and it had 17,603 miles on odometer when last refueled for the overall average of 24.8 MPG. Mileage at refilling has been as low as 13.1 MPG in the winter when refilled March 2, 2007 and as high as 36.0 when driven on a round trip test to determine the MAXIMUM possible fuel economy.
I reset the trip computer average economy only BEFORE each long trip of approximately 1380 miles. Trip computer is about 1 % higher than actual calculated mileage. :shades: