Comments on: First Drive: 2009 Toyota Corolla LE (37.9 MPG)

By: Benjamin Jones

Benjamin Jones — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 04:46:49 +0000

Obviously, you’ve found a typo. I am not the original author, so I can’t say if the typo is in the distance or the time, but one of the two of them is off. Given that this article is quite old, I doubt the original notes are still around, so unfortunately we probably won’t be able to correct this typo.

By: Elliott

Elliott — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 15:56:43 +0000

The Raw Data info says the vehicle was tested at 2.6 hours with an average of 63 MPH. I’m trying to figure out how you got a Distance Driven total of 446 miles. That’s over 170 MPH.

By: Jon

Jon — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:15:13 +0000

My wife and I got in an accident on Thanksgiving day and now we have to get a new car with the money. I have been looking at the 09 and 10 Corolla and also the 09 civic. Any suggestions? My main want is FE that and not being squished into a tight space. I am 6’3 and 280 so I am a big guy. What should I get?

By: Kim

Kim — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 15:08:08 +0000

Test drove many vehicles before purchasing 2009 Toyota Corolla S!! Comfy ride!! I,m at 5300 miles. City driving I’m getting 34 mpg! I got 38 on highway trip doing 80mph. I haven’t driven it through the winter–anyone drive a winter yet?

By: HowDoYouSetTheClock

HowDoYouSetTheClock — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 01:52:49 +0000

2009 Corolla … Avis Rental …. Out and back to Mall of America… 300 miles each way… 38mpg @ 65mph avg… Ride is good… Handling is a little twitchy on bumps or uneven pavement… Kudos to Toyota engineering. Now, How Do You Set the Clock on the Speedo? It’s been 45min off for the whole week – Sheesh!

By: Lee

Lee — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 07:51:27 +0000

I’ve had a 2009 Toyota Carolla LE since November, 2008. I love the car!!! It has 8000 miles on it. In maneuvering the bumper to bumper winter traffic of suburban Boston, I am getting, according to the FE gauge, an aggregate of 31.7 mpg (60-40 highway/city). I expect that in the warmer weather with better traffic flow to improve on that.

By: joseph salazar

joseph salazar — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:17:38 +0000

I drive about 3500 miles a month. Bought my ’09 corolla S in Apr’08. I have 25K on it and love to drive it hard. Cornering, punching it out off the block, braking at the last minute, oh, and my favorite… Back road foothill driving. Cornering and swerve and turn and bank and lean. Oh it the best car I could have wanted. I test drove a lot of cars before I chose this one. Fusion, altima, 6, yaris, alantra, satern… You want to talk about bad seats. Satern was the worst.
MPG wise, I average 32 over my whole ownership. With my job I have to log each mile but if I drive nice and a little under the speed limit. I can get this bad girl to sip down 34 mpg in the city and 44 on highway. If I draft a truck, 53mpg on a 140 mile trip. LoL iLOVE THIS RIDE!!!

By: Tony

Tony — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 15:21:25 +0000

This is my observation on the mpg of my corolla LE 09. When I just bought it, I was getting around 41 mpg on the highway driving 65-70 miles per hour and I believe it has synthetic oil on the engine. When I had an oil change, and the dealer put regular oil, I was getting only 38-39 on the highway driving 65-70 miles per hour. Thus, I concluded it is best to use synthetic oil for the new Toyota Corolla 09.

By: RH77

RH77 — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:31:10 +0000

Hi Steve:
Most of my reviews are based on speed averages in the 60 mph-range, over 300+ miles (long Interstate runs). As a result, many figures may seem inflated due to the “highway mileage effect”. Take a look at the raw data stats and comments to get a feel for the route.

I am re-testing vehicles using a city-heavy circuits, to get a better handle on what you might expect. If you’re doing mostly highway driving, you could expect the number reported. If not, they would very likely be somewhat lower.

-Rick

By: steve

steve — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 18:26:52 +0000

09 toyota corolla.. why does toyota corola webiste say 35mpg.. How fast are you guys going to get 38 or is it underrated?

By: steve

steve — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 04:42:55 +0000

my 09 corolla S has 3000 miles on it and I’m only getting 29mpg…. And the K&N air filter made it worse, dropped to 26!!!!! WTF is going on?

By: RH77

RH77 — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 01:32:17 +0000

@Andrew:

Check out the links at the top of the blog for links to the EcoModder website — you’ll find discussion and tips to improve your everyday fuel economy.

Best FE to ya…
-Rick

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 06:18:13 +0000

I absolutely love my ’09 Corolla S. I am nearly 5,XXX miles into my ownership. Currently I drive a 66 mile a day commute with a touch of city and a dash of highway. I seem to stick around 36-38 MPG no matter how the car is driven. I have hypered’ it to a combined AVG of 40 MPG, but I find that the effort is simply not worth the minimal cost savings. I can’t wait for a K&N filter to come out! Any tips or tricks for better MPG? Feel free to e-mail.

By: Charlie Longstaff

Charlie Longstaff — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 23:20:51 +0000

Gas guage is slow after fill up on Toyota Camrys as far back as 91″ that I know of.
Honda Accord as far back as 94″, it’s just the way it is or have we just had a bunch of bad ones?
They eventually make it to FULL!
As far as the seats go have you ever tried the Civic?
Not good!
CCL

By: jim young

jim young — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 01:53:37 +0000

I purchased my 09 corolla because of the trouble I had with my avao. I currently have three thousand on it and can say that it gets better MPG than the avo with a bigger car. I am spot on with my gps and took family to Graceland, we got 44.7 mpg, and when driving around stop and go we get 37. for this size car that is about as good as it gets. I do have one problem, I filled it up from dead empty and the gas guage only went to a quarter, slowly over eight miles it went up to full, I shut it on and off and it snapped back to full after it had went slowly up. I dont know if this will be a problem in the future. If it is I hope it goes under war.

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 14:25:38 +0000

I purchased one of these and am currently getting 41 mpg in a stop and go commute… mostly from taking my time.

My biggest complaint is the manually adjustable seats don’t allow for an adjustment of the lower lumbar support… when I contacted Toyota, they told me that they were sorry and they thanked me for choosing Toyota. My family has purchased Toyota’s for 25 years now (2 – 84 camry’s, 86 camry, 91 camry, 98 camry, 2003 camry, 2005 highlander, 2006 prius and now my 09 corolla), and I felt that this was not a good response on their part.

I may choose to modify the seat myself or take it to a specialist, but other than that I’m happy with the car.

By: Rick Harrell

Rick Harrell — Sat, 24 May 2008 21:52:51 +0000

Excellent point, Nerys. Truthfully, “super efficient” is relative to my testing. Over the last 8 years of renting vehicles an average of 1 vehicle every 2 weeks, this one achieved the highest FE for any vehicle other than the Prius.

The car was driven like the “average Joe” to see what can be expected: A/C used. Drove 70-75 MPH on the highway. Brisk acceleration in town. Tires at stock pressures. All adds up to a impressive total, Stateside.

We do still have a long way to go for your definition — and I hope it’s not too far off.

By: Nerys

Nerys — Thu, 22 May 2008 02:07:55 +0000

Nice only complaint is classifying it as super efficient. It does not even fall in the median for say anything on the eurasian continent (many cars with over 40mpg)

I would call it “moderately” efficient not super efficient by any stretch 37.9mpg is just not that good