EPA has new mpg figures....

takza · Post by **takza** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 5:37 am

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/calculat ... n=1&id=627

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/calculat ... n=1&id=626

I'm managing around 34 mpg mixed in the summer though.

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 9:12 am

Its too soon to tell, and I've been doing too much highway mileage to say normal economy, but my last 3 tanks were- 41, 46, 29. More highway on the first 2 obviously. Highest I've ever seen was 49mpg, pure highway. And no, it wasn't a quirk fill-up, because it happened twice in the same day on the same trip. How you like them apples?

Oh, and btw, the last 3 trips, when on the highway, have been with 3 other "adults" (17-21) and my 1-year-old niece in the car.

I could just kiss my Terc.

Mickey_D · Post by **Mickey_D** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 9:16 am

I hate you Typrus. The absolute best I've ever gotten out of mine was 22mpg.

Normally it's around 18.

coltarms · Post by **coltarms** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 12:32 pm

My typical driving is all cold starting short distances, and a heavy foot at take off. I average about 25mpg. My best ever on the hwy was 34.

brianp · Post by **brianp** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 12:50 pm

I've been getting 22-28 lately, and get 32 at the most in the summer... It could probably use some work or something to optimize things.

Post by **ARCHINSTL** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 1:22 pm

This is from my post in June of 2005, when there was another thread about MPG:
"...Well, I am compelled to add my two bits.
I owned one of the first SR5s in St. Louis in late 1982, so recall the new performance.
It had no A/C or roof rack to detract from performance (can't recall if it had P/S to sap the output). It was a stick.
In suburbia driving the MPG was usually in the mid-to-upper twenties. On the highway at legal plus a bit speeds the MPG was 32-35. It never came close to 40, even at 55 steady and a tail wind..."

Preceding was with the LOWER (sorry for prior goof...) ratios, so presumably the MPG was better than the later models.
Are the odometers still accurate after 20+ years...?
Tom M.

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 4:32 pm

Considering my speedo is still pretty close, and my odo reads roughly the same distance to "X" location as any of our other vehicles, I'd say yes. Yar.

MootsMan · Post by **MootsMan** » Fri Mar 02, 2007 10:06 pm

In my '86 Dlx, I'm getting 30-32 MPG on a consistent basis. My driving is a lot of freeway, but some secondary roads and a slight bit of city driving as well. I'm having to fill up about every other day with the amount of driving I'm doing. When I started driving this car back in late September, it had between 171k and 172K miles.....last night it turned over 181K.

takza · Post by **takza** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 6:21 am

Typrus wrote:Its too soon to tell, and I've been doing too much highway mileage to say normal economy, but my last 3 tanks were- 41, 46, 29. More highway on the first 2 obviously. Highest I've ever seen was 49mpg, pure highway. And no, it wasn't a quirk fill-up, because it happened twice in the same day on the same trip. How you like them apples?

Oh, and btw, the last 3 trips, when on the highway, have been with 3 other "adults" (17-21) and my 1-year-old niece in the car.

I could just kiss my Terc.

AAAAAAAAARGH!

Well.....I got 47 mpg on an eight hour day driving east on the high plains with a 25 mph tailwind all day....and 600 lbs in the car. I had ole Clint with me that day...we were just driftin' along....eatin' oranges.

But seriously folks...which way was the wind blowing on those days?

My 33-34 in summer avg is from multiple trips in relatively level areas about 1K feet above sea level with a lot of stops...for the most part wind is factored out....since I'm heading various directions...and usually end up where I started.

At least I think I do...let me check....yea...I'm here.

My car's too ugly to kiss.

Jts · Post by **Jts** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 6:28 am

I've been getting 24-26 city and 30 on trips to the mountain, which is all freeway but involves a constant full throttle in 2nd or 3rd gear when it starts going up. I was/am a little disappointed at getting 25 mpg city. Anyone want to say what their highest mostly or all city mpg was?

takza · Post by **takza** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 6:35 am

ARCHINSTL wrote:Preceding was with the LOWER (sorry for prior goof...) ratios, so presumably the MPG was better than the later models. Are the odometers still accurate after 20+ years...?
Tom M.

My car is an '83...has ~235K miles...and using Google Earth...the odo actually reads low by 1.87%. So I could add this % to my mpg results...adding around 0.5 to my mpg. So instead of maybe 33.5 mpg...it would be 34 mpg.

This is with slightly undersized tires (-1%). With 205/75/14 tires on it I should manage ~ 37 mpg....since in most cases around a 3 to 10% decrease in final ratio adds this much to the mileage.

Typrus · Post by **Typrus** » Sat Mar 03, 2007 11:42 am

My 84 baby has the 3.727:1's
I live 20 miles out, the trip into town involves a 9 miles non-stop 50mph stretch, then it starts to slow up and stop more. I might call it intermediate driving. I average 26-ish with that (pre cam-timing fix, we'll see if it worsens or gets better) Worst I've gotten with pure in-town (with Denver's traffic, Loveland and Fort Collins could be at best considered town) was something like 24.
ACTUALLY, worst I've EVER gotten was 14mpg. That was before I got my carb rebuilt after the accident. Amazing the difference it made. THANK YOU CHARLEY! heh.

takza · Post by **takza** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 4:42 am

Typrus wrote:My 84 baby has the 3.727:1's
I live 20 miles out, the trip into town involves a 9 miles non-stop 50mph stretch, then it starts to slow up and stop more. I might call it intermediate driving. I average 26-ish with that (pre cam-timing fix, we'll see if it worsens or gets better)

If I remember right...you found that your cam timing was retarded by one tooth or 9 degrees? Meaning you had less torque at lower rpms and more power at higher?

Wondering if this cam timing contributed to your good mpg?

I tried advancing the cam by one tooth...no power to speak of....59% increase in time from 30 to 55 mph in 5th. Didn't bother to test mpg.

Bonus:

"I had a similar problem to yours; lack of power on acceleration and lack of power in 5th gear on the freeway. I attributed it to the secondary butterfly not opening even though the secondary circuit and secondary capsule seemed fine. What it turned out to be was a lack of mechanical advance in the distributor due to the centrifugal advance weights being frozen on their respective mounting shafts. After freeing up the weights I experienced lots more accelerative power and didn't have to keep my foot the floor to maintain 70MPH on the freeway and also an increase of four more mpg."

keith · Post by **keith** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 9:42 am

Sticking weights is a common problem with just about all cars that have mechanical distributors. The Tercel may be easy to deal with. In the past, I have always disassembled the distributor, freed the weights and lubricated them with silicone or Moly-B grease. The tercel distributor has a weep hole just below the weights. Follow the mounting/adjustment bolt down to the bottom of the distributor and you will see the hole, there is a tube cast into the housing around it, but it is the bottom most part of the distributor.

With the engine running and the vacuum disconnected, its easier to disconnect the vacuum at its source at the intake manifold, just before the carburetor. black screw in thing with 1,2,or 3 ports called a fuel filter, check for mechanical advance. There are no specs in the FSM for how much advance but I'd expect the timing to go from 5Ã‚Â° BTDC at idle to around 12-15Ã‚Â° at 2000 rpm. If it doesn't move, try spraying a little WD-40 into the weep hole while idling. Within a minute, the advance should start working. Then at idle, reconnect the vacuum advance and the timing should jump to 13Ã‚Â° BTDC. If it doesn't, then you need a new vacuum advance or the advance plate is stuck.

For the latter, the ignitor is attached to the vacuum advance, You should be able to move it in a clockwise direction by pushing on it. If it won't move, use a little WD40 on the ring the ignitor is attached to that goes around the distributor shaft.

Post by **Petros** » Wed Mar 07, 2007 6:34 pm

My fuel economy is 27-29 for mixed daily driving, and the best I ever get on a road trip is 33 mpg (with a recently overhauled engine). That is about what it was rated for I think. Getting 14 to 22 mpg as someone posted means something is wrong with the engine.

How on earth are you getting 40 to 46 mpg!?!?

What have you done to the engine/carb/exhaust syst?

What kind of tires are you running?

Why do you think you are getting such good MPG?

I find it hard to beleive they could even be tweeked to get that good mpg. The best I would hope for on mine is 36 or so, after a number of mods I am planning.