For me, I carry about 3 people on average... So perhaps thats why my lower MPG.

Btw, yes I did notice the bottom half of the gas tank seems to be less. I thought I was insane. >_>

 

Nope, no extra junk in the trunk, and I'm the only one in the car.

As for the top half of the tank being being larger, I thought it was odd to. Basically the reserve is before the F, not below the E. Kinda stupid if you as me.

 

That's pretty close to my own results, and about what I expected.

The xB's mileage is not exceptional for a small car; as noted, many vehicles, from Corollas to Civics, do better.

The reason the xB was featured in so many lists of small efficient vehicles was because it's classified as a wagon, and as such, competes with heavier vehicles like the Matrix, and it wins because its city MPG is so high.

The difference between its relatively high city MPG (30) and its relatively low highway MPG (34) is aerodynamics. In stop and go traffic at slow speeds, it doesn't matter. At a steady 70, it does.

I think of my xB as a LUV -- Local Utility Vehicle. It's in its element when it stays close to home.

This is also why I think Toyota didn't worry too much about ride quality, highway noise, or cruise control. These are things that become really important on long trips, which the xB isn't primarily designed for.

RichC

 

For the first 6,000 miles around town and on short trips my manual xB had an overall average of 35 mpg. Then I took a 2,500-mile trip in 7 days, and the overall average for that was also 35 mpg. So for 8,500 miles, the average is still 35 mpg.
I think the driver and the type of driving affect mpg the most. I go the speed limits and don't drive hard or fast. I live in an area of the country where traffic is slower and not so congested. I don't have fast traffic to keep up with. I don't have stoplight drag races followed by long waits idling at lights. I don't have high speed Interstate commutes interspersed with long backups from accidents etc.

 

I get between 28 and 30, my best tank was 36, that was on premium, and I spend between $12 and $19 on a tank of gas 2 times a week

 

NOPE Low tire pressures are the main culprit.
I ran my own test and did nothing but raise my tire pressure from 29 psi to 34psi and my mpgs went from 28-29 (with my 17's on) to 33-34 which is the same I get while running my steelies. I'm very happy now that I know it matters that much.

 

So you're saying that aerodynamics have nothing to do with it?
Then why didn't they design the SR-71 into the shape of a refrigerator.

Corollas are heavier and have a bigger engine, yet the best I've ever got on mine was 39mpg in the highway.

The corolla has a 0.30 drag co.
The xb has a 0.35 drag co.

If you don't think it matters, you need to go back to 3rd grade science.

 

I've had my box since No. last year, and have put about 26,000 miles on it from work and travel across country. Just for the sake of gas reumbursement from work, I calculated my milage as frequently as I could. I found that typically I averaged 29-33 mpg with mixed driving, but mostly highway.
More recently, on my trip from NJ to ND, with my box loaded down with just about everything I have I got 26-28mpg with the A/C on for some of it.
I've also noticed that my milage depends on which way the wind is blowing. no joke. In the plains out here if there is a stiff 20mph opposing wind, keeping 80mph cut my milage down to 22!!!! 78 miles from Grand Forks to Fargo, straight into the wind. On the other hand, on my way back, I got about 35mpg at the same speed.

 

It all depends on my attitude for the day on how I'm driving. The worst tank I had was 28mpg, the best was 32mpg. I'm happy with it either way. I don't have to worry to much about my driving style that way. However I'm arount 3500 rpm at 70. I wonder why there are differences in rpms for everyone?

 

Ok, so on my third tank I got 29 mpg and I was in a hurry on more than one occasion. Maybe because the car has nearly 1k on it the break in period has something to do with it? Not sure, but it puts my heart at ease.

 

Why am I getting such poor MPG in SoCal? Im at 3k on the odo. I used to drive around 70ish, most of my miles are freeway miles. (After the break in of 1.5k Miles) And I lug around 3-4 people usually (including myself) and I get about 27...

Right now, my current tank is doing AMAZING, I'm at 180 miles and just below the half way point. Drove 80ish most of the way on that tank w/ a total of 4 people... Chevron gas really does make the difference. I used to use shell, but Chevron wins.

 

UMMMM May be it's all the weight you are carrying you think? Can you save 5% with Chevron? I love my 5% discount on Shell fuel