On my first extended highway drive, I noticed that the odometer read 4.5% too low when calibrated against the highway mileage markers.

I expect all xBs might have this problem.

It helps to explain some of the low mpg readings some have reported: mpg ought to be 4.5% higher.

Any others notice this?

phil

i have noticed something like this also....

i installed a gps navi unit in my xB when i had 400 miles on the odo, 0 miles on the gps.

at 2000 miles on the odo, the navi also showed 2000 miles.

thats a 400 mile odo loss to 2000 gps miles, or 5%
(i also don't know how accurate the navi gps is...)

You cant really judge by the highway markers. What is your normal "cruising" RPM? Probably someone to properly convert from the metric system to the US system :lol:

all i kno is that there is somthing wrong with it

aftermarket wheels mabey??

I noticed this as well.

When I drive to work in my STi it is exactly 35.0 miles. When I drive my Scion (totally stock) to work it is 33.3 so something is definitely off. Also, according to mapquest it should also be right around 35 miles.

So how would this be fixed? I am getting cruise control installed anyways in about a week or so and will ask the tech to check it out. My calculations would determine it is 4.8% too low. I have been getting about 31-32MPG (Highway/City- but mostly highway) so perhaps my MPG should be better.

all stock steelies on my ride, stock size tires too.
so that is not a cause.



the fix is to get slightly smaller (diameter) tires.

i need to use my radar gun and check the accuracy of the speedo now. (how far off is that?)

could also be the reason some people are getting bad gas milage?

Look at the bright side ar vehicles are showing less miles than what is really on them.

Look at the bright side ar vehicles are showing less miles than what is really on them.

Good point, so when my odometer reads 57K, it is really 60K :lol: . If I leave as is, I will just make sure I will increase my MPG by 5% so that is accurate :wink:

cool the warranty is longer.........

5% longer warranty, but also 5% higher speed when cop pulls you over for speeding. I usually stay within 5mph above the limit, this could add a couple more and be enough to get pulled over...

Can others test their Xbs and report how much they find the odometer off?

Phil

Anyone reported this to Scion Corp or a reputable Toyota/Scion service center?

hmm.. couldn't somone test this on a dyno too? Most speedo's are electronic now, so they'd prolly be able to reprogram it when we threaten the lawsuit!

The ODOMETER is off about 4.3 - 4.4/5 percent. The ODOMETER.

I have RS #510 , it's off. Buddy of mine has a TCM - off by the same percent. We both ran I-65 from mile marker 7 in Mobile to 107 north of Evergreen. We both registered low. Me, 102.9, him 102.8 miles. (he also has a slightly diff. tire diameter than I, accounting for a small difference between us)

The SPEEDEOMETER is NOT off, only the odometers!

For nitpickers , the speedo IS off. We did 10 runs in both xB's on a flying mile, all 20 runs ran at 60.0x seconds - every time. The 100'ths of seconds variable is well within operator variances etc etc etc.

In short... the ODOMETERS ARE off. Granted - in the owners favor though.

you have the oposite of what this thread was started about...

you traveled 100 miles and you car says you went 102-103 miles

what we are seeing is we will travel 100 miles, our cars tell us we went 95-96 miles.



i did check my speedo (radar), it was under actual speed by manufacture tolerances.
speedo 80
actual 78

all readings and tests were done with the stock 15 inch tire and rubber.

I just reread what I wrote - and it reads about as stupid as it sounds. I wrote it completely backwards from what I was writing. UH DUH ... God, and to think I advocate the prompt execution of the terminally stupid. I THOUGHT it right - wrote it wrong - LOL.

We DROVE until we got 100 miles and then compared it how far we'd actually gone. Anyhow - I'm a temporary idiot - no need for a lengthy explanation, I'm sure everyone can figure out now what I MEANT (which is the total opposite of what I said....)

MORAL OF THE STORY. On BRAND NEW TIRES the xB speedometers are dead-on, the ODOMETER IS SLOW by about X.XX%.

As your tires wear, your speedo will read that you are going faster than you really are (opposite effect of course on things like redneck trucks with oversized tires - the speedo says you're doing 65 when you might actually be going 75)

Anyhow - my bad - I wrote my math backwards - got the rest right - just f'd up the only really important part. Uh der.

George did a very accurate test sometime last year and indeed its off... OH well better resale.. :lol:

The last several weeks I have have done numerous mileage tests in the xB and w/my other car on the same strip and have noted a reading of 5.1% too low on the xB (not 4.8% as indicated previously). I assume that each xB owner will report a different number as the problem may be different on each xB as well as other factors. I am getting cruise control installed on my box next week and will ask the tech if he has heard anything about this issue. I really doubt they can provide a "quick-fix" (even if I wanted it). Typically, odometers have an error tolerance between 1-2%, but 5% is too much.

For folks complaining that they haven't been able to achieve the EPA mpg on the xB, you may have this problem and in that case you should increase you MPG calcuation by this %.

Anyone know if the xA has the same problem?
phil

Perhaps it has something to do with the japanese model having smaller tires? Maybe somthing wrong with the conversion to USDM models? Just a thought. :?

Yes, if the odometer were calibrated for smaller tires, then the odometer would read too low with the xb's 15 inch tires.

I beleive all Scion's (well at least xA's and xB's) come with a port inspection. One of the items on there is ODO readings... maybe someone left something out on the inspection proceedureals...

5% longer warranty, but also 5% higher speed when cop pulls you over for speeding. I usually stay within 5mph above the limit, this could add a couple more and be enough to get pulled over...

Nope, the speedo and odo don't have the same error. My speedo reads about 2% high, while my odo reads 4.5% low.

These are common errors in production cars. The manufacturers don't want to be blamed for speeding tickets, or for attempting to defraud owners on warranties, so the errors are almost always the same, speedo reading high, odo reading low.

George

Perhaps it has something to do with the japanese model having smaller tires? Maybe somthing wrong with the conversion to USDM models? Just a thought. :?

The JDM bB has 185/65R15 tires. The US market 185/60R15 tires are smaller in diameter than the JDM tires!

George

Wow! I didn't even check. I just assumed... silly me :oops:

I think I know the answer:

The Echo has 175/65/14 as standard tires. The Scion's 185/60/15 tires are 3.4% larger than the Echo tires in diameter.

I bet Toyota went cheap and just used the Echo calibration for the odometer?

Any solutions to this dilemma? i have a customer that put 20's on his xB and would like to correct the speedo. He has called all of the local tire shops and even a speedometer shop. Anyone have any resources?

Unfortunately most of the speedometer recalibration devises do not work on cars with certain types of ABS. I was going to order one called the Yellow Box, but the technician from the company told me that it probably wouldn't work on our rides. Here's a link to the product. The tech told me it might work, but no guarantee.
http://www.ricks2k.com/products/yellowbox.php

Thanks...I'll Pass it on!!

xA has same problem...or is it a problem?

okay, not to be a nerd :shock: , but if the mileage is reading 5% low, then the mpg should increase by MORE than 5%. Why?

Because if you actually travel 100 miles but the odo shows only 95 (a 5% low reading). You would have calculated your mpg using the 95 figure which is 5% lower than it should be. SO, to correct and calculate the corrected mpg, assuming the 5% error value is constant and accurate, you would multiply the incorrect mpg value by 5/95, which is an increase in the mpg of 5.26%, not 5%.

:-)

okay, not to be a nerd :shock: , but if the mileage is reading 5% low, then the mpg should increase by MORE than 5%. Why?

Because if you actually travel 100 miles but the odo shows only 95 (a 5% low reading). You would have calculated your mpg using the 95 figure which is 5% lower than it should be. SO, to correct and calculate the corrected mpg, assuming the 5% error value is constant and accurate, you would multiply the incorrect mpg value by 5/95, which is an increase in the mpg of 5.26%, not 5%.

:-)

I'm glad that someone else thinks of these details! :)

George

vv

??

??
what????.....

well i may have the same prob. i called service center and told them i dont get the estimated mpg. they said i will see the estimated after 10k miles. so if the odo is off this may be also a prob. i usualy get 245 miles at 1.5 or 2 gallons left in the tank