17.5 MPG with a 4cyl Camry

[Guest]

Hi, everyone

Just wondering is that possible?
Anyone ever experience that kind of a poor mileage out of their 4cyl Camry? ( My Camry is a 96 auto)
I filled up with BP Amoco (93octane) last week and only got 220 miles (slightly over a 1/4 of the tank left when I filled up again)
I do a lot of stop and go driving.
And I drive my car pretty hard sometimes.

[Jackass-Jeff]

It's possible to get really low milage from high reving and stop go driving.

Gas is eaten up the most when you start to move from a stop. Once you're already in motion, less effort is needed to accelerate because of your momentum. To save gas, you can try to cut down on revs (3000 max) and use a freeway. If you don't have an option to use the freeway, then your milage will only improve slightly from the 'gentle' driving

[Yanks0114]

How old is your car? Any check engine lights? Is there anything else wrong with the car other than the mileage? and why are you using 93 octane, thats a waste for the 4cyl

[Mole]

so if you were to go down to the E and have the reserve light come on, it would be roughly 300?

thats worse than my car.... i get 320-50

[Jackass-Jeff]

why are you using 93 octane, thats a waste for the 4cyl

False statement.

"that's a waste for a N/A LOW COMPRESSION engine" =] I'm sure the 3S needs some high octane stuff =]

[Guest]

I think the main reason why the mpg is so low, as many have stated before is because of the fact that I drive it hard. A friend of my, has an IS300 and he's kind of complaining that he get's 17mpg, but when I told him that I'm getting close to that he was very supprised. Not to mention the preformance of his car vs. mine which is very shity.

I don't know what you guys use in your 4cyls, but when I tried using 87 it ran like crap. 89 is acceptable I guess, but the difference in price is not that big between 89 and 93, so I tend to go with 93. Plus I have the feeling that the car runs smoother and has a bit more power.

As for the car itself it has 114k miles and no problems so far, it's very reliable. There seems to be nothing wrong with the car.
I'll try to take it easy on the next fill up and see what I get.

[SKYravefever]

why are you using 93 octane, thats a waste for the 4cyl

False statement.

"that's a waste for a N/A LOW COMPRESSION engine" =] I'm sure the 3S needs some high octane stuff =]

False statement.

"I'm sure the 3S-GE or GTE needs some high octane stuff." =] There is the 3s-fe.

And guest, register as a SolaraGuy member! We won't bite... and most importantly, we rarely flame Easy with that lead foot of yours, and your mileage should improve.

[TadS]

I am pretty sure the 96 Camry is a 5S-FE guys. And stop and go driving kills my mileage too, just takes the motor alot of RPMs to the car moving. The 5S-FE is great for long distance freeway drives though.

[Yanks0114]

why are you using 93 octane, thats a waste for the 4cyl

False statement.

"that's a waste for a N/A LOW COMPRESSION engine" =] I'm sure the 3S needs some high octane stuff =]

False statement.

"I'm sure the 3S-GE or GTE needs some high octane stuff." =] There is the 3s-fe.

And guest, register as a SolaraGuy member! We won't bite... and most importantly, we rarely flame Easy with that lead foot of yours, and your mileage should improve.

I'm aware that certain 4cyl need 93 octane, but thats why i said THE 4cyl, refering to the camry 4cyl 5s-fe.

[Jai_Jai_Binks]

Guest - expect 220-250 for city driving (stop and go) and close to 300-350 for hwy driving...the thing is higer gears (m/t and auto as well) the car consumes less gas then it does in lower gears (stop and go situations). there are bunch of other stuff you could do if your mpg drop is unexplanable - change sparks, wires...get efi serviced, replace fuel-filter! but then again, like you someone else stated...that heavy rigth foot could ease up your milage as well....

[Kocho]

Hi, everyone

Just wondering is that possible?
Anyone ever experience that kind of a poor mileage out of their 4cyl Camry? ( My Camry is a 96 auto)
I filled up with BP Amoco (93octane) last week and only got 220 miles (slightly over a 1/4 of the tank left when I filled up again)
I do a lot of stop and go driving.
And I drive my car pretty hard sometimes.

17 is kind of low, but not too far fetched if you torture the car in a city traffic. If you have poor mileage (less than 26-28 mpg on the highway, then I'd worry).

In my '00 i4 auto I usually put Mobil '93 (yes - it runs better, IMO compared to '87). On the highway I get at least 500 miles on the tank with less than a couple of galons left in it. This is between 30 and 33 mpg. I drive at about 65-80 mph, but usually do not come off overdirve almost at all.

In the city, I've never gotten below 23 mpg, it usually stays around 26mpg on mized city/suburban traffic. I do not push it too much, but still usually drive it more lively than most other grocery getters...

[Turbosolara]

it could be:

1. need to change engine oil?
2. Spark plug need to replace?
3. you car is running too rich (O2 sensor is dead) - check engine light might lite up
4. your tire pressure is not correct
5. you need wheel alightment
6. air filter need to replace
7. you have reallllly heavy objects in the trunk

[TadS]

it could be:

7. you have reallllly heavy objects in the trunk

Need to stop hauling around all those bodies .

[Guest]

it could be:

1. need to change engine oil?
2. Spark plug need to replace?
3. you car is running too rich (O2 sensor is dead) - check engine light might lite up
4. your tire pressure is not correct
5. you need wheel alightment
6. air filter need to replace
7. you have reallllly heavy objects in the trunk

it's none of the above
I changed the spark plugs and ignition cables when I was at 105k, now I'm at 114k.
Air Filter is clean, tire pressure is ok, no check engine light either.

I just have to take it easy on my Camry
I guess it's up to how you drive the car and not what you drive a 4cyl or V6. I need more low end torque

Sorry that I still haven't registered at the site, had some problems with that, never got a return e-mail to confirm my registration

[Hsakuragi]

how HARD do you drive...i own a 95 5sfe camry before, usually i get 400 per tank with only octane 87...everyday i pull that car to 4500rpm on 2nd gear (auto) to get in the carpool lane, i still get that mileage.. total you get is 240-250 per pank? i remember 3rd gen camry has 14.5 gal tank..maybe ur gas tank is leaking?