Heads-up Autoblog! Buried in a boring-looking post on Toyota's Open Road blog: news that the Japanese manufacturer will follow Nissan's lead and add a real-time fuel economy gauge to all its Toyota, Scion and Lexus vehicles. The yet-to-be-finalized gizmo will debut in the next-generation 4-Runner, launched in August ‘09. ToMoCo's Corporate Comms Director Jon F. Thompson writes that the Eco Driving Indicator will include an "Eco Zone Display" that will tell the driver that they are saving money and the planet, and reducing our need for oil-related foreign military entanglements [paraphrasing]. Autobox-equipped vehicles get an "Eco Lamp" that illuminates once the driver enters the “Eco Zone” (da da da da da, da da da da). Drivers of manual transmission-equipped vehicles (do they still make those?) light the lamp by hitting the most fuel efficient shift point. The system will, of course, include an Average Fuel Consumption Meter to help aspiring hypermilers frustrate dangerous drivers yakking on the cell in their [non-Toyota] gas hogs. I mean, optimize their fuel economy. Oh, and Thompson says social engineering rocks! "We’ve learned that as we work to make our vehicles more efficient, we also can work to make our drivers more efficient."
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Ah, everything old is new again.
Anyone remember the fuel economy gauges on the 70s GM vehicles like the Cutlass?
This is an absolutely brilliant idea. A lot of manufacturers over the last 25 years have already offered trip computers to provide instant MPG’s for the ‘hypermilers’. However by making it a video game of sorts, instead of just an obscure feature for the frugal minded, Toyota is building even more street cred to move their heavier machinery.
This will definitely help Toyota’s sales…
Haven’t BMWs had a mpg gauge for over 10 years?
Personally, I despise this type of stuff.
Like Pavlov’s dog, people will start driving slower and slower to to get a treat from the Eco Zone / Lamp.
Friggin’ wonderful.
Do you think they’ll put one on the thirsty Sequoias and Tundras? Man, that IS green of them.
I smell another smarmy ad campaign coming. (Rolls eyes)
@tcwarnke; certainly all BMWs manufactured after 2000 at least have this as an option… (as do Minis); it actually does work occasionally for me when tooling about town – until an open road beckons, and then you just want to see that fuel consumption needle buried!
That idea goes back well beyond 2000. I remember my friends ’67 Barracuda having an “economy meter” which really was a vacuum gauge. Less vacuum meant better mileage! Countless examples of such can be found over the years.
Don’t laugh but my fathers late 80s Cadillac had the same thing. Lots of cars have it. MPG, Range Etc. Nothing new and will either be ignored or turn into an irritant. Talking cars anyone?
The first I saw were in mid 60s Grand Prixs. It was a big vacuum gauge with red and green zones.
beetlebug:
More vacuum meant better mileage — the highest vacuum was pulled by the engine with the throttle plates closed while going downhill, or downshifting.
My ’90 Escort GT had an “upshift” light; if you followed it, you would lug the engine…
I covered that area of the gauge cluster with tape.
The fuel economy meter in my Crown Vic isn’t any better, despite being electronic.
Going down a hill, 50 mpg! Going up a hill, 16.
Hey if we use less gas and can save some money, I say put them in.
Ahhh, thanks for clearing up the vacuum gauge thing, Shaker.
I love those instant fuel economy meters, I like to see how much gas I save by going light on the throttle. Who knew fuel injectors were so smart?
That said, my cars give the reading in an easily defeatable multifunction display. This looks more like the driver facing vacuum gauges of 70s American iron (GM and Ford) and most BMWs from the past 20-ish years.
I’d be very interested to see if anybody does any eye-tracking research on this.
Does anyone else suspect that people will spend more time looking inside at the fuel economy rather than outside at where the car is going?
From a road safety perspective a display that told you the average MPG at the end of the journey rather than during the journey would be better.
Just for kicks and giggles this should be retrofitted to Hummers and Excursions.
I had one of these in my 18 wheeler. It does affect your driving. When you’re buying 500 gallons of fuel a week every little bit helps.
I wonder what mileage my xbox gets?
The idea is a good one: I was shocked at the fuel economy recorded in the G35 I drove, compared to that of my golf (which I calculate myself), and it convinced me to not even shop for a V-6 of that kind.
However, the realization is waaay too videogamish. “Hitting the Eco point”? Come on!
Toyota had fuel economy green/red light indicators during early 80’s, maybe even earlier :)
I’ve driven ’83 AE86 Corolla with similar dash –
http://www.aeu86.org/download/ae86/id/8664
8000rpm redline engine and economy indicator – oh I so love the 80’s :)
my father’s 1984 5-series had one of these . . . . . . I am somehow less than impressed by Toyota’s.
I used to have a neighbor with an ’80s Cadillac that had a fuel economy display.
It said “8” most of the time.
-Matt
Measure anything, and it will likely improve.
If they make it turn red when you punch the gas, people will punch the gas less (except when demonstrating to their friends).
driving course: people haven’t crashed their Caddies, Tbirds, and Bimmers in large numbers for the past 30 years. (quite frankly, the old ones seem way more entertaining than this new one)
Its safe to assume these gauges just as safe as any other on the dash.
Don’t forget, Subaru also implemented ECO gauges in some of their Legacy GT models, the one with the user-selectable throttle maps.
As a kid, I was always fascinated by gas mileage gauges, shift indicators, etc. mainly because they moved a lot. My favorite was the one in the old Mercedes 190E, though I didn’t find out they were vacuum gauges until a friend of mine turbocharged his 190E and turned his economy gauge into a boost gauge.
Nice to see Toyota is finally jumping on-board with something that apparently many other manufacturers have been doing for decades. I wonder if this little gizmo will impact Tundra sales.
Adding an iFCD and aFCD to vehicles is an excellent way to inform the consumer of something they should be aware of – how much fuel they are using at a given moment. Yes, these gauges are nothing new, and no, they aren’t 100% accurate. However, with most of our fuel consumption going towards the average commute, why not make things 10% better?
I have an iFCD/aFCD display in my 2007 Mazda3 (had to hack into because it’s the 2.0L), with a 5-speed, I regularly get 41-42 MPG per tank with 90% city miles. Why? Because I know how much fuel I use and can regulate it to fit the conditions of the road.
Worried about slower drivers? Try worrying about $6/gal gas. ;)
I got a ScanGauge 2 a few months ago. The vehicle I drive most often doesn’t even have a tach, so comparatively, I’m awash in data. Assuming the readings are close to accurate, the real-time MPG readings are striking. An experiment I’ve yet to perform is to repeat a suburban route (mix of stop/go and a run of a mile or so at say 35 MPH) using different patterns of acceleration. Should I creep away from the stop sign and thus spend more time/distance in lower gears or accelerate more quickly causing an upshift with lower rpms, etc.? My guess is that there’s some range in the middle that might offer near-optimum results, but I’ve been too lazy to find out.
I have one of these in my Vette and I find it pretty useless. It helped to keep me entertained during one 8-9 hour drive in which I somehow manged to get the 6.0L V8 to average 29+mpg
I’m averaging around 11.1mpg in the city over the past 10 months :(
I drove an ’08 Impreza service rental whilst getting my Forester serviced and it had a “real-time” mileage gauge. I use the term lightly, because it made no difference when I caned the engine hard or cruised at an efficient speed on the freeway. A useless waste of electric current if you ask me.
No doubt Toyota’s display will be more effective than that, but the idea of a lamp that lights up when you’re “in the zone” is ludicrous.
Should I creep away from the stop sign and thus spend more time/distance in lower gears or accelerate more quickly causing an upshift with lower rpms, etc.?
The latter. All else being equal, accelerate at maximum load and shift as soon as possible.
johnf514, how did you get that in your 2007 Mazda 3? I have one too (with the 4-speed auto) and that would be a fun thing to have.
I’ve driven a Prius before and I think it does impact your driving, in a good way
those economy meters go back even further. A friend of my brother’s had a ’63 Grand Prix with on of those.
I have mixed feelings about them–worry about inconsiderate economy addicts doing the economy slow-mo in traffic. Between them and the cell phone addicts, and text messagers, we could all grind to a halt even sooner during rush hour. The economy meters should come with a warning that says “be considerate of all the traffic behind you.”
My grandparents have a 1976 Lincoln Mark IV sitting in their garage with the 460 cu.in. V8 under the hood-big motor for a big car. It too has an economy display, in the form of an orange light that flickers on every time you pull away from a standing stop!!!
Oh, the light says “Lo Fuel Econ”.
I drive my 2001 4 cyl 5spd Accord like a bat out of Hell, and no vacuum gauge or digital game display is gonna change what I do.