Not-so-hyper-miling (2020 Toyota Corolla 2.0L 6-speed manual)

[#SaveTheManuals]

Hi everyone. I've long been a casual employer of hypermiling techniques. Mainly via properly-inflated tires, conservation of momentum, choosing the optimal gear, and DWL. I've never really done any physical modifications, and I don't plan on it with our current vehicles; but I'm here to learn and make some mental modifications so I can improve my technique and maybe squeeze out a few additional MPG.

We're driving a 2012 Honda Odyssey (automatic) and a new 2020 Toyota Corolla 2.0L (6-speed manual).

The Odyssey is used as a people/stuff hauler (carpool, dump runs, etc.), and I'm not the one putting most of the miles on it. So it has a pretty unimpressive lifetime MPG of 25. When I drive it I tend to get in the low 30's around town (EPA 19/28), but I don't drive it much.

With the Corolla, I will probably be putting on about half the mileage. We just got it a couple weeks ago and it has < 300 miles on it. Our average since taking delivery is 37.2 MPG (EPA 29/36). But even my wife, who is not nearly as interested in hypermiling as I am, managed to get 40+ MPG on her last trip the other day. So I'm hopeful we can routinely average in the low 40's combined.

My biggest fuel-efficiency win is not having to drive much in the first place (no commute to speak of), and putting on as many bike-miles as I can, especially for nearby errands where the car MPG would be low. My dream is to put together an all-weather e-bike with a trailer that I can take grocery shopping (~6 miles to the store).

I look forward to learning by reading the archives and discussing with forum members!

[MetroMPG]

Welcome!


(Sorry about your intro post getting stuck in moderation limbo - I changed a setting to help weed out spammers, and your post got caught in the net.)


Congrats on picking the manual for the Corolla - that's one of the biggest factors in potential fuel savings. The EPA test procedure handicaps manuals by a pretty big margin, and that makes it easy for a motivated eco-driver to exceed the ratings -- much easier than the same car with an automatic.


Also, it's just more enjoyable to drive.

[#SaveTheManuals]

Thanks Metro! Interesting stuff about the deviation from EPA MPG on manuals. That certainly corresponds to my experience with manuals in the past.

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Also, it's just more enjoyable to drive.

Heck yeah -- see my username. Actually the MT turned out to be one of the biggest deciding factors in favor of the Corolla versus a comparably equipped Civic. The Civic had superior handling and ride characteristics (which I also value), but I could not abide the combination Turbo+GDI+CVT in the Civic.

[MetroMPG]

I'm surprised you don't have a manual minivan too! I think the Mazda5 is the last one you could have gotten with a stick. Though it's not nearly as big as the current crop of vans.

[#SaveTheManuals]

I love the Mazda5 for a small minivan-like thing. I didn't even realize it was available with a MT. Should have known though, it being a Mazda. As much as I love having a MT in the Corolla, I really miss the short-throw 6-speed MT in my (former) 2001 Miata.

On the other hand we do love the Odyssey, and we need the full 8-person capacity for our carpool. We've saved a ton of gas $$ by being able to participate in the carpool. It's cut out thousands of miles of driving per year for us.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

It does surprise me that you can still get a manual for the Corolla there in the U.S. while in my country (Brazil) it's not available anymore.

[#SaveTheManuals]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

It does surprise me that you can still get a manual for the Corolla there in the U.S. while in my country (Brazil) it's not available anymore.

I'm sorry to hear that. :/ Are MTs still generally popular in Brazil, like they are in Europe?

Sadly MTs are becoming pretty scarce in the U.S. I was really surprised that Toyota (known for being pretty conservative) decided to make a MT 'sport' model of the Corolla with the 2020 redesign. It even has an auto rev-matching feature -- a clear nod to enthusiasts. Their gesture worked for this enthusiast, but I fear Toyota will sell so few MT models that they'll switch to CVT-only in short order.

[MetroMPG]

It even has an auto rev-matching feature -- a clear nod to enthusiasts.

The real enthusiasts know how to do this themselves.

[#SaveTheManuals]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

The real enthusiasts know how to do this themselves.

Lol, indeed. Perhaps it's meant as a nod to MT n00bs...which if you think about it, are like embryonic enthusiasts. 'Ya gotta start somewhere!

But what I meant was that this type of rev-matching feature has heretofore only appeared in certain sporty/enthusiast cars like Porches and BMWs (probably others that I don't know about, but it's certainly not super common). To the best of my knowledge this is the first time it's appeared in an econobox.

Thankfully this feature is disabled by default in the Corolla. I've played around with it and it works, but it does take a bit of fun out of things. Still, it would undoubtedly be helpful in smoothing things out for new MT drivers. Besides rev-matching it also adds a bit of RPM when launching in first gear, to help prevent stalls (and yes, to waste a bit of gas).

[Fat Charlie]

Anything that helps a clutch get past someone learning how to use it is a good thing. If you can disable it once they've learned.