I'm back ... with a 2009 Toyota Matrix
 

After an accident left my 1997 Honda Accord totaled I picked up a Toyota (Corolla) Matrix and after the first tank I'm getting almost 33 mpg with 60% highway / 40% city.

Any specific suggestions for this model?

Anything I should change in my scan gauge II other than resetting to defaults then changing engine size (1.8 L), fuel tank size (???), and cut off (24 default seems too high ... moving it to 17 gives more feedback before jumping to 9999).

Thanks!

My signature should be working now too!

i have a scangauge what is the # 24 that you are changing to #17 do ?

33MPG? Seems rather low.

Anyone got suggestions for our fellow EcoModder?

Check out the driving tips. My wife (who doesn't do anything fancy) got 35 mpg in our Matrix fairly easily.

...I'm getting 36+ mpg (...and intermittant "peaks" up to 40+ mpg) on my '09 Vibe with 1.8L with automatic. The US gas tank capacity is listed at 13.2 gallons.

...which? is that "Ca" as in California or Canada?

Second tank = 32.
Not great but it included a lot of traffic and city driving. Also I live a mile up a steep hill which hits my milage pretty hard. Plus a hilly commute with traffic bits.

I've read the 108 tips and follow some of the less invasive techniques (coasting in neutral and rare coasting with engine off, stay at or below 65, look 30 seconds ahead, and similar).

Need to change out the current 5w30 oil (Toyota installed but not Toyota recommended ... The manual recommends 5w20 or [or 0w20 "for improved efficiency]). Impact should be small though, maybe 1-2% increase.

I'm open to any suggestions though!!!

Welcome back J,

Man it's hard to get good mileage on hills. My daily average goes down when I'm doing a long drive in the hills of Pa. I drove to Altoona my SGII daily ave. was 43.4. When I drive on more level terrain, to Cleveland, my SGII average was 46.1. So that difference you are experiencing 32 as opposed to 35 could be just that!

My only mods are Synthetic oil, cheap wally world brand, & aired up tires to 50 psi.

Good luck w/ your Matrix!
Dave

I did recently (toward the end of the last tank) increase the tire pressure from the recommended 32 psi to 45 psi. The max on the tire sidewall is 51 psi. I could go up to the max, but the ride is already a little bouncy and has plenty of road noise ... I'll see what it's like at 50 psi after a couple tanks at 45 psi.

On the highway my average is easily over 40 mpg per the scan gauge, easily over 50 mpg on 40 mph speed limit streets, but on the hills I get killed ... I watch my trip (23 miles) average go from 37 to 33 mpg during the last 1.5 miles because of the steep hill with several stop signs (and loads of officers to prevent anyone from rolling the stops).

Still, very happy with the Matrix!

Me too!