2007 Camry SE
 

I finally got rid of the Outback and I replaced it with a Camry! So far the only thing I have done is aired up the tires to ~39 PSI. Based on the fuel gauge I seem to be getting at least 30 mpg, which is a huge improvement over the Subaru. I plan on doing a tune up, air dam, LED lights, and a partial grill block. My hope is to get at least 36 mpg combined from this car!

36 could be difficult in some driving conditions. The 2AZ is working against you a bit since it's so old, but you could try an underdriven crank pulley. Another area to gain a tiny bit is the power steering, you can decrease the system flow rate at the flow control valve to reduce its power consumption at the expense of slowing down the steering rack a little. Maybe manual torque converter lockup?

Depends how it's used.

These cars can be surprisingly efficient highway cruisers. I think 2007 was the first year of the next gen car compared to my dad's 4-cyl Camry - same engine?

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1351467646

Speed vs. MPG chart: 2002 Toyota Camry 2.4 auto (impressive highway MPG sleeper car?)

He's since replaced it with a slightly more efficient 2005 with the automatic 5-spd vs. 4-spd.

2007 still has hydraulic power steering, huh? That's low-hanginging fruit. I'd take the tire pressure up a bit more too. I tend to run ~45-50. Maybe some more underbody paneling.

I'd avoid any undamped crank pulleys. You can probably find a real underdrive damper, but easier (and cheaper) would likely be individual underdrive pulleys for the various accessories. An undamped pulley is likely to eat anything connected to the timing chain, especially oil pumps, and may also increase wear on bearings.

What do you have for mpg instrumentation?

The 2002 had OEM instant and average (on separate pages of the display though, so less useful). The 05 has nada... though I suspect if it had the button, it's there in the display anyway.

Nothing at the moment. I think I might use the scan gauge E from my Jeep in this car. Some higher trim levels do gave their own mpg readout though.

Is it safe to adjust the flow rate on the PS pump?

I agree with the idea of not getting just any underdrive crank pulley. Hopefully they have individual underdrive pulleys for the accessories.

That chart shows that the Camry really takes a big mpg drop at highway speeds. My driving is mostly highway, so focusing on aero should be a priority. How do air dams compare to underbody panels?

Air dams are a lot easier to make and test, that's for sure.

I'd definitely get the SGe in there. I like that gauge showing instant and trip avg. The average bar graph is a good motivator too.

Adjusting the flow control valve would be trimming the spring a little so it opens earlier. The rack will be slower, but if you can turn the wheel okay at idle I feel like it's not an issue. Better would be to just delete the PS and loop the rack, but you'll have to muscle the wheel a bit. If the spring was trimmed too much, you have the option of boring out the flow control orfice to undo the change a bit.

There are probably better gains to be had from the water pump. Due to the constant-flow-output design of the PS pump, the energy loss through the rack is fixed, and the energy loss through the flow control valve increases linearly. The water pump has no bypass valve so the losses grow cubically. At like 2500rpm the water pump is usually already eating a few headlamps worth of power in excess of the engine's cooling requirement.

As for the air dam, you could start with extended tire spats first for something easier and less conspicuous/fragile. They don't add frontal area and only improve the Cd, while an air dam increases the frontal area.

Is your Camry a V6 or I4? I surmise if you keep your foot off the floor with the gas pedal below you that you should be able to get some good numbers, especially on the highway.

I've always wanted to do a back to back FE comparison between the I4 and V6 Camrys and Accords.

^ I bet the highway numbers would be surprisingly close. It's one reason (excuse?) I've heard people give for choosing the 6 over the 4.

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Also, yes! Make a garage page for the Camry!

https://ecomodder.com/forum/emgarage.php?do=add