Car says my mpg is 30, but it's suppose to do 35 ?

[Fast1970]

I bought a new 2014 Camry SE last spring with the four cylinder city 25 highway 35. The digital mpg monitor in the dash says between 30.6 -- 31 I drive a combination of highway and city everyday driving with five day work week. I don't do hard stopping or fast accelerating normal driving speeds only. I went on a 8 hour drive the other day on the highway through new york state and the highest mpg I got was 31. In stop and go driving I'll get around 30.6. So is Toyota lying how come I'm not getting closer to 35 mpg ? Is it norm that car manufacturers inflate the numbers to sell ? I know the EPA has has tighten the rules for the manufacturers about the mpg, but I wanted to ask anyway.

I'm not getting 35 mpg but at least I'm not getting 25mpg either so I guess it equals out I guess. Maybe someone could shed some light on this and tell me it's normal. thanks

[CivicSpoon]

I'd say this is pretty typical. Honda, Kia, and Ford have already been either sued or lowered their mpg ratings on certain vehicles, after customers have largely complained of false ratings.

Theoretically, you could probably get 35 mpg, but it'd likely only happen in a controlled environment, inside a room, on a dynamometer. There are a lot of factors that prevent a car from reaching the advertised rating. Weather, temperature, tires, weight or people and objects inside the vehicle, condition of maintenance/tune-ups parts (air filters, spark plugs, etc), speed the car is driven/RPM the engine is revved at that highway speed.

So basically, the manufacturers are just estimating what the vehicles will actually do. Honestly, I'd say you're doing pretty good since you're only a few mpg off from Toyota's rating.

[Dave B.]

Three other points to consider:

1. The 'government' specifies a strict 'test loop' to establish MPG ratings. The cycle really doesn't include the types of traffic most of us encounter, but it's supposed to level the field for all the manufacturers.

2. Are you using your cruise control on the highway and keeping a check on your tire inflation pressures? These two things can make a big difference in improving your MPG ratings.

3. Right now, it's winter in Ohio (I live there, too...). The oil companies change the formulation of gasoline that they sell in the winter. I'm not a chemist, but the winter blend is basically a more easily ignited mix that ends up being less energy efficient. I keep track of my fuel mileage and have found that there's a noticeable difference when the two switches occur each year.

Hope this helps!
Dave B.

[Black Lotus]

Typically the EPA mileage is within a coupla MPGs of what your car can do. If the weather is bad--headwind, wet roads, etc. the mileage will drop. If you're driving faster than what the car was rated at, it will be less. If you driving style is just a tick more agressive, it will be less.
As an example my old '97 Civic HX was rated for 40 MPG on the highway.
In normal freeway commuting and almost no around town use, I could only get 36 (over the whole tank of gas).
Gritting my teeth and holding it at 60 MPH--and in the right lane to keep from getting run over-- I got my 40 MPG.
The car bored me anyway so I sold it.
MPG problem solved.
From then on, I've only bought sportcars.

[Black Lotus]

Originally Posted by Dave B.

Three other points to consider:

3. Right now, it's winter in Ohio (I live there, too...). The oil companies change the formulation of gasoline that they sell in the winter. I'm not a chemist, but the winter blend is basically a more easily ignited mix that ends up being less energy efficient. I keep track of my fuel mileage and have found that there's a noticeable difference when the two switches occur each year.

Hope this helps!
Dave B.

Some states add alcohol too, to lean the engine out to "lower emmissions".
Sometimes this hurts MPGs. as the fuel loses energy by being diluted.

[Stealthee]

There are several factors that affect mileage, but the first thing you need to do is calculate your actual fuel mileage by dividing miles driven by gallons used. I have found the information center on my Grand Prix to not be very accurate. On more than one trip my information center showed 25 mpg, but when I did the actual math it was over 28 mpg, when the car is only rated at 24 mpg highway.

Also, just because you are on the highway does not mean you are going to get highway mpg's. If there are lots of hills more fuel will be used due to increased load on the engine. On a few trips on I68 my highway mpg was as low as 20 mpg, and I was getting at least that on my daily commute to work.

My current mpg has gotten as low as 14 mpg due to winter blend of fuel, colder temps, warming the car up in the morning, and due to I now only drive 4 miles to work.

My Stealth is rated at 19 city/24 highway. I got over 30 mpg more than once and was getting 25-26 mpg daily driving.

All that all of this means is that you can only take the EPA ratings with a grain of salt. Driving conditions, where you drive, how you drive, etc all influence your fuel mileage. And again, do the actual math, don't trust the the information center as it is only doing calculations based on load, etc.

[Fast1970]

ok thanks

[John1397]

Originally Posted by Dave B.

3. Right now, it's winter in Ohio (I live there, too...). The oil companies change the formulation of gasoline that they sell in the winter. I'm not a chemist, but the winter blend is basically a more easily ignited mix that ends up being less energy efficient. I keep track of my fuel mileage and have found that there's a noticeable difference when the two switches occur each year.

Hope this helps!
Dave B.

Nice to know