this is prolly a silly question but im wondering why a camry gets better mileage than the tc if they use the same engine

 

Geared differently=different milage.

 

tC has a few more HP, and a few more lb-ft.
tC has much shorter gearing, and faster "normal" acceleration.

This is enough to make up the 1-2 MPG difference between the tC and the camry.

Just some personal observations - worst was 20mpg, best was around 30. Please note i've had the car for 2 weeks.

 

its really because of the shorter gears the tC has.
Shorter gears means that you will be keeping the engine in a higher RPM for a longer time than if you had longer gears.
This is a big reason why the automatic transmission on the tC gets better gas mileage than manual tC. The manual tC's gears are much shorter, but the car is considerably faster.