2003 Camry 4 Cylinder 2.4l
 

My Camry has 241k miles on it and without trying to hypermile I can easily get 30 mpg on the highway. I drive mostly highway and some back roads. With hypermiling driving techniques what do you think I could get my MPG to? I would like to see 35. Do you think it's possible? Thanks!

I got 32-33 MPG driving an '04 Toyota Sienna minivan on the highway. 40 MPG highway with the Camry should be fairly easy with hypermiling techniques. I think there's a thread on here where MetroMPG tested out a Camry of the same generation and it's results were surprisingly good for such a large car.

What do you think is obtainable by just hypermiling through the way I drive and that's it? (As in no wheel covers grill covers etc.)

The key to hypermiling is to slow down and conserve momentum - but by doing it safely. Check out the 100+ Hypermiling Tips page for some examples.

Also, air up your tires to sidewall max. That should be good for a couple MPG and takes no time at all.

Won't that make my tires wear out faster?

Increasing air pressure won't make the tires wear more quickly, and might even make them last slightly longer, assuming you aren't accelerating or braking too quickly. Overinflated tires don't have to flex as much, meaning they don't generate as much heat, meaning they should last a bit longer with the possible downsides being increased road noise, harsher ride, and possibly worse handling characteristics.

You could probably get 50 MPG if you drove at 45 MPH.

Oh ok. I've always heard it'll make the center wear out faster on the tires.

I've not ever experienced that. The side of my tread always wears out first but I take corners much faster than most people because a. it's more fun and b. preserves momentum. I'd wager that most on here do not have an issue of wearing out the center of their tires. It may have been an issue with old style bias ply tires.

PM Capriracer if you want to know everything about tire pressure, wear, performance, etc, etc.

With an automatic Camry, you're pretty much limited to slowing down on the highway, if you're not interested in any modifications to the car itself. This is assuming you're not riding people's bumpers and frequently using your brakes during steady-state driving - brakes basically convert gasoline into brake dust and heat.

Redpoint already said it, and I'm just adding: I don't think so. I haven't experienced accelerated tire wear, and I'm running my Prius at 50psi. My truck gets 45psi. Wear hasn't changed for me.

Slow down. Going twice as fast requires eight times as much power, so backing off even a little makes a big difference to how much power it takes. Averaging 60mph takes only 78% as much engine power as averaging 65mph, while being only 8% slower. Leave a couple of minutes earlier, back off the gas a tiny bit, and the savings can be significant.

You could experiment with some stealthy grille blocks, behind the grille of your car. Block off those regions that don't actually open directly onto the radiator. They won't show from the front, especially if you take a few minutes to paint them black once you get the locations and sizes adjusted to suit you. NOTE: monitor engine operating temperature carefully when you do this.

Don't accelerate like grand paw, when appropriate get in top gear fairly quickly, throttle down to about 3k, let off to make it shift and throttle down again. Not nearly as important as not using brakes. But a little bit to be gained there.

I hate to break it to you, but since the EPA rates your Camry at 29mpg highway, you're already hypermiling!

Odds are you're already not driving like other people or have great conditions.

I remember the poster showing tire wear well and good when sitting in the lobby at a tire center. But since I've been on here I've never had any wear out in the middle when driving around above "max" pressure.

I've had plenty of seat time in my mom's 2002 Camry 2.4l/auto and it does get 30mpg highway or more without being modded, at freeway and passing speeds no less.

Could you get 35mpg by being radical? I imagine so, but it would be a huge pain to you and others. Could you modify it, have it look the same and get 35mpg? Absolutely.

That is only the case for bias ply tires. Radial tires hold their shape much better.