82 Toyota Tercel

[Stephen2]

The wife saw the site on MSN i think and thought it would be interesting so i am checking it out.

I dont know much that can be done to increase our efficiency that we haven't done already.

We only drive 1 vehicle. We want to save fuel as we just dont have any money.

We are driving an 82 for 2 reasons. The first is i bought this car cause i had an 81 and i loved it. This was a replacement for it as i had the 81 about 12 years ago. It was super hard to find this car. I wanted a 4dr 5 speed but got a 3 speed hatchback. I guess you take what you can get.

Since we have the car, it is what we drive now. It has been stored the past 2 winters but now is our daily driver as i have no other choice currently.

I dont know the exact EPA numbers as it is 25 years old, but a site i found claims 29/36.

My wife works about 15 minutes away and it is used to commute. On the weekends we try to geocache so we drive all over from highway driving to back roads.

Although the tires are the wrong size (the tires that were originally on that car are either special order or not available) it gets about 27.5 mpg. When i figure the math difference with the tires it is about 29mpg (maybe 30).

I hate it because if the windows are up and you are on the expressway it really sounds like it needs to shift. But no extra gear is present... Ugh!

We dont drive fast or start fast. I will try to be more cautious about driving style but always take it easy as it is a 25 year old car with only 62 horsepower.

I guess i could check the tire pressures.

I intended to drive behind trucks to draft after seeing mythbusters but we never really go that far so i dont see how that will work.

I do wonder about when to let the car idle and when not too. Since it is an automatic i hate the extra starts due to you cant pop a clutch like a manual. It is not fuel injected so i wonder where the threshold is.

I am trying to read the info on this site which all seems logical as it is stuff my dad taught me. He is weird about that kind of stuff. He drives a big box truck for work and obsesses about mileage and fuel. He will take out every tool possible to alleviate weight. This makes sense except when you realize it is a work truck. Saving pennies on a 3 pound tool makes no sense when you get to a job and need it and either have to drive to go get it or a new one at the store. Stupid if you ask me. It happens.

So far i gave up on reading the page with the million yellow question marks. They could just be links and not annoying question marks everywhere...

If you have any input about the car idling that would be helpful.

Thanks.

[hawkgt647]

Considering the age of your car, I was wondering when it was serviced (air filter, oil, oil filter, etc.) and if it's due for a tune-up. That could boost your mileage.
Wheel alignment & front wheel bearings - something else to check.
Does it have A/C? If so, minimize using it.

Good Luck and Welcome to the site!

[Stephen2]

Originally Posted by hawkgt647

Considering the age of your car, I was wondering when it was serviced (air filter, oil, oil filter, etc.) and if it's due for a tune-up. That could boost your mileage.
Wheel alignment & front wheel bearings - something else to check.
Does it have A/C? If so, minimize using it.

Good Luck and Welcome to the site!

Thanks for the idea. The fact is that my goal is to save money and not get the best fuel mileage. Giving the car all that extra stuff could help but it will certainly cost more money than it is worth. (Not the car worth.)

I have no reason to beleive that the wheel alignment is off.

I dont use the AC.

I had this same type of car before with a manual transmission. Although it got better than this it was not the 40 mpg that i have seen reported for this type of car.

Its a great car but financially doing those things would pass the point of diminishing returns. I dont see a need to get all that stuff changed and a tune up for an extra mile or 2 a gallon.