Hello There, my 2nd Post yay (IMG:style_emoticons/default/s12.gif)

Ok, I just went out about 3 weeks back and bought a used (First NZ owner) Japanese import 2000 Toyota Caldina GT-T ST215 and I must say its a nice car to drive but there is a ugly side to this story......

The fuel consumption!
I put in about NZ$120 to fill the 60 litre tank, and only get 360Km driving Smoothly around Christchurch, and not using the Turbo and being Full Time 4WD Doesn't Help.
Now I hoping that you guys can tell me that you get far more Km's than that (maybe round 400, 450 to 500Km's around town)!
I don't know if the guy who owned it overseas in Japan put in any performance chips of played round with the turbo, but Hopefully if I take it in to toyota and they mite be able to help me,
give it a tune up, or get one of those fuel saver jobbies. (www.fuelstar.co.nz)

oh and its still under warranty Mahaha (IMG:style_emoticons/default/gunsmilie.gif)

Also Fuel$aver.govt.nz (www.fuelsaver.govt.nz) tells me that a 2000 caldina, 5 seater, 4 speed automatic and 4WD travelling 14,000Kms a year,
using 95 fuel type and 5% Habits uses 9.7 litres per 100Kms (I think), but i have a funny feeling that it uses far more than that!

Would like to hear back from anyone that can help me out (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif)

Cheers

AG

Hi, I have an auto 98 GTT Caldina (Japanese import).

I find that I get about 380-400Kms (conservatively driving) and use approx 45 Litres.
Are you sure that it is a 60litre tank? I haven't checked the specs on my car but I was thinking it was more like 50 (maybe 55) litres. I haven't run it dry so don't know for sure.

Thanks for the reply sk8dude (IMG:style_emoticons/default/liebe011.gif)

I just checked online http://www.cars-directory.net/specs/toyota...na/2000_1/2042/

It says it has a 60 litre tank but theres no information about the "fuel consumption at 60Km/h" spot BUT.....

Just got a call before from a mechanic at miles toyota and he said that it uses the following:

Fuel consumption at 10-15 modes, l/100km = 9.8 Litres according to site is correct
Fuel consumption at 60 km/h, l/100km = 13 Litres Accoring to mechanic at toyota

So its gonna hurt me more round town, but better when I go on long hauls eg: Queestown, nelson, hanmer etc (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif)

Still, mite look into one of the fuelstar fuel savers (IMG:style_emoticons/default/s12.gif)

Also pays for everyone to check that there car is well maintained to save fuel costs since the **** put it up another 6 cents: $2.23 a litre for 95!

Thanks

AG

I'll be getting my '98 GT-T next week :)
Will do some testing when I get it, will also be in Chch for the weekend, so watch out for me :)
I'll be doing mostly long distance driving in it.

Better not be using more than 10lt/100km or I'm in trouble with the Mrs.
Or it won't be much better than the 3.4lt Prado doing 14.5lt/100km (why we're buying Caldina to only use the Prado for towing)
Or back on Trademe it goes.
Was told by current owner 9lt/100km but figured 9.5 would be a good result.

I do believe all Caldina's come with 60lt tanks.
Toyota are conservative with the fuel guages.
My prado's light comes on with 25lt left to go (90lt)

Fuel consumption will depend how heavy your foot is.
If you heavy accelerate around town then you'll suck the juice.

Some googling and I see on an Aussie Toyota site (official) this:

1997-2002 3S-GTE 9.0lt/100km (aprox)
2003+ 3S-GTE 9.4lt/100km

AG
$120 to fill @ ~$2.19/lt ?
= ~ 55lt and 360km
=15.3lt/100km that is quite shocking, my 3.4lt Prado does 14lt/100km and it weighs 2T and is a square brick (comparative)
Best do another test one in town one on the open road.

You may have a faulty O2 and or temp sensor, or your injectors are straight pipes pouring in petrol uncontrolled :)

Hi Mobilenvidia (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grin.gif)

I'll keep a look out for ya, but don't know what colour yours is, mines white (Go figger) with cromies which I want to see later on
For Advanti's and a get a AVS 5 star alarm :)
oh and misses was happy about mine, UNTIL I opened my mouth and said it has a turbo, OOOPPPPSSSSS!!!!!

Yer I should do a test on my car to make sure that it is better on a long haul and round town.
you could be right if a O2 or Temp sensor is not working, but isn't what a "engine Warning Light" is for?

I don't know if the guy in japan did any mods to the engine cause it all looks stock to me. could just need a simple tune (IMG:style_emoticons/default/gitara.gif) .

Also got a slight "tinge" if thats what it is everytime a push heavlly in idle, toyota man said I should try using 98 octane
to see if that stops the noise, or its no tuned properly and using slighty more than it should!
.....but buying 98 is gonna hurt me, CRAP!! petrol's gonna hurt no matter what :(!

I'll see how much it costs 2day to fill (Payday yay :D) tho its still quarter fill, run out on monday :(.

Laters

AG

Funnily enough mine is white too :)

(IMG:http://images.trademe.co.nz/photoserver/93/68511393_full.jpg)

If O2 sensor is not working right may not show a fault on the dash.
Need Toyota to plug in the diagnostics machine in to plug (not sure where it is on a Caldina)
This should give a complete result of everything in the car.
Best do some proper tests first, to save $$ as Toyota workshops are not cheap.

98 Octane being 5c more per litre will mean $3 more per tank of 60lt.
My Mrs doesn't (nor did I till after I bought it) that it takes premium fuel.
Does yours have a trip computer ? this should give some info.

My '98 GT-T has been in the country for some years now and looks to be tuned for our fuels.
Check air filter a dirty filter will have a drastic effect on fuel consumption.

Remember to measure consumption in Lt not $ hard to compare :)

What part of town do you reside in ?
I'll be staying out in Kaiapoi over the weekend (from Thursday when I get the car)
If you're not too far, could meet and compare cars, do a few burn outs, few drags ..... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grin.gif)

Hi there sorry for late reply....

Im in papanui but Im gettting to the point now were i've got to save money, so the burnouts and drags are out the question sorry :(.
can still meet up on sunday if ya still keen )?

the mags on yours are the same as my old one's on my vectra. no good to any one unless they own a vectra :(.

its got a trip meter A & B so I don't touch A and Just reset B every time it hit E :D.

Oh and mines got the hell bodykit and its the mags that let it down, looking at these Babys http://www.magandturbo.com/pages/wheel.asp?aid=-988989921
not going to lower it or anything still want to get up to Mt Hutt haha!

Anyway Bed time now (IMG:style_emoticons/default/57.gif)

Peace out

AG

You on 18" ? Eek.
Mt Hutt will wreak havoc on your tires :)
Any big stones will bounce straight through the tyre onto the rim.
Body kit, ouch, take it off at the bottom gate :) or it will come off on the way up.
I stayed away from the body kit version as it's too easy to break with a rabbit/stone/curb and very $$ to fix/replace

My baby is running on 215/45/17 Goodyear F1's I may change this as a first project to a more grippy all purpose tyre.
Maybe slightly higher profile as well to keep those RPM down, wonder if 225/55/17's will fit ?
I cruise at 105km/hr where ever I go, so the F1's are complete overkill :)
But a tire that works on snow occasionally will be of more use, as the F1's will no doubt be terrible on it.

Sunday is out, got a very long day.
First thing is Airport pick up inlaws, then Timaru then back to Mt Cook.
But I'm sure my first long drive in the GT-T will be pleasurable.

Don't lower the Caldina, I think it looks ugly lowered, for Mt Hutt you'll want to raise it ;)

I'll be able to do a decent Open road fuel consumption then too.
Have you got any better fuel use results yet ?

hi there

A GT-T i feel your pain big time, i too just recently purchased a 2000 caldina gt-t (sold my tt legacy manual to upgrade). and let just say the fuel usage experience hasn't been to crash hot. even worse with my 19's on. (the legacy with the 19's on got better usage i.e.:420 k's, and that was including some semi spirited driving). i have been driving the cald like the biggest nana but to no real improvement in consumption. id be interested to know how u get on with your testing as i think i may have a similar problem.

kris

Hi Guys, sorry again for the late reply again, there's not enough time in the day :(.

I filled up at a independent fuel station "Pak N Save" and so far I used half a tank and traveled "243Kms" on regular 95 fuel
Instead of using the stupid "V Power" from shell which only gave me about "340Kms" on a full tank driving like a nana too :). I'll let
everyone know how I get on once the tank empty's!

The Cars height Is the same "stock 140mm" so going up the Mt Hutt track should be Fine, I've been up to coronet peak and Mt Hutt
skifield in a Subaru GT-B using low profile tyres as we went up coronet peak which was a "paved road". It's only when you
get to the top it turns to mush with rocks, mud and ice and the car handles fine apart from the bit of slippage hehe :) so im guessing
the Caldina should handle fine (IMG:style_emoticons/default/57.gif)

I think that lowering the car would make it look ugly, If I was younger I mite of but now I think its wise just to leave it the way it is :0.

I was thinking about selling the kit down the track to swap it for a orignal kit that comes stock for if it and when i start going snowboarding
more often and maybe change the mags too, I don't know so many things to do first. I've got some 17" tyres at home in the shed, so I
mite get 17" mags instead.

AG

Big difference by using different fuel, must give this a test also.
Vpower is designed for acceleration, not really a thing to promote in times of sky high fuel prices.
I would be more inclined to buy a fuel that saves you money at the expense of acceleration.
Chances are if you run 95+ you are running a high spec/power car and loosing a couple of kw (GT-T has 191) is not a biggy.
Wonder if the electronics are making it run too rich with V-power ?
The O2 sensors maybe getting confused
The GT-T should be getting around 500+km per tank

I pick up my baby today, am really looking forward to it.
Picking it up from a BP so will fill it with what ever they have and reset the trip meters
Will take some getting used to from my old '88 NIssan Laurel Diesel :)

Picked it up today, filled it up with Caltex 95, don't know what name they call it.

My GT-T comes with milage computer.
It displays how many km/lt.
If you guys have a heap of buttons on the very top of the centre consol (infront of clock0
The top left button turns it on/off most buttons I have no idea what they mean as it's all in Japanese.
But the very right button is the Mileage computer, and is in km/lt, it cycles through a couple of other settings as well.

Not having driven the car long enough to get a steady reading (it takes ages to settle)
But doing about 10km on the Northern Motorway to Kaiapoi it got to 9.6km/lt which is about 10.xlt/100km
Will take sometime to get a reading from the trip meter and next fill.
Drove past a few Shell stations to get to Caltex :)

The car looks to be good and economical on the open road.
The km/lt goes down around town driving.
Not the best indicator as it's taking an average over time and the graph displays last 2 hours.
Average when taking off from stopped starts at 1km/lt and takes sometime to come up to a reasonable figure.

Now this thing is a rocket (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grin.gif) putting foot down gets instant reaction, turbo lag is not really noticable.
It's in really good condition for a 10yo car with 171k on the clock.
Will need to get me to Toyota and grab an Oil filter.
Got a 5lt of 10w40 pure synthetic oil watching on Trademe.
Will grab some NGK iridium spark plugs maybe from Supercheap or Trademe depending on the price.
And a new air filter.

Didn't come with Goodyear F1 tyres as in ad, in the end another brand 215/45/17 with much more sensible tread.
Tyres are a little noisy as this is all I can hear in the car, it blocks all other road noise.
Nothing too distracting.
Spare is a 15" wheel , I take it this came with it originally, so would not want this on long with 17" other wheels and 4wd with VSC
The 17" MAK Fiorano 7 spoke mags look the part really makes the car.

Everything else seems pretty standard, not even sure the seats are electric or not.

Under the hood is a very tight packed motor, the belts look new and sooo wide.
I can see I', going to have to remove the intercooler to get to anything (airfilter is even blocked by it)
Will need to give it a clean as the filter/grill is full of bees, as is the radiator/oil cooler.
The battery is tiny compared to what I'm used to, but it works so who's complaining.
Engine Oil filler and the Strut brace clash will need a long spout to fill it.
Not checked underneath yet to see how easy it is to get to the sump.

Overall a nice car and I think I got a good car for a good price.

I'll be back with more consumption results as they come to hand.
Tomorrow the wife has it all day shopping.

Finally got round to filling her again.

Results with Caltex 95 Octane:

Distance 446km
Used 44.43lt
= 10lt/100km or 10km/lt

I did 200km around town and then drove the rest on the open road.
Didn't thrash it but did drive more vigorously than I normally would.

Doing around 110km/hr on the Canterbury plains the trip computer told me I was getting 10.4km/lt so fairly accurate .

Now when I filled with BP 95 Octane in Fairlie I got a terrible reading to start with 7-8km/lt max this was for about 1/2 hour and only doing 100km/hr
After this the readings came back to a more sensible reading of 9.7km/lt still doing 100km/hr
I wonder if the computer takes sometime to adjust to different fuel ?

Another odd thing, the Fuel light came on just after the 1/4 left mark.
Not knowing the car and not wanting to run out of fuel, I drove from Cave to Fairlie with the light on (30km)
Filling at Fairlie it only took 44lt so the light comes on with about 20lt (1/3) left in the tank
I could have driven another 150km comfortably and still have 5lt left.

hi guys

well i would have updated you guys sooner, car was involved in a 4 car pile up lucky for me i was the front car, anyways she in the panelbeaters now, can't wait to get her back,

so i had been running that car on shell vpower - getting around 440 k's of some semi spirited driving but mostly nana driving, however for a while there i was putting octane booster (instead of 98) in the car (long story work pays for gas they only use caltex or shell)..

i was getting around 480k's per tank when i filled it assuming the tank is 60 l usually about 7 l left.

so i believe the magic 500 is possible, just before i put her in the shop i swapped my pod filter set up for a standard box etc, so i expect better number and i hate that bloody noise.

I took the car up north during the big storms and i must this thing is bloody impressive on its first drive even in the wet and on the hills this thing hauls arse.

Hey Huffyboi,

Driving just normally with boosting it on quite a few occassions I get around 450km's to a 60L tank. All these vehicles have a 60L tank. Yours really is getting poor fuel economy, have you made any modifications to the vehicle? If it's standard then you should take it in for a tune up (IMG:style_emoticons/default/gitara.gif) cos it isn't playing nice with you lol

Its pretty standard,doesn't help that it got the heavy old 19's on it (spent most of its time stuck in auckland traffic), just had a trans server, driving heaps better now so until i next get to drive her (mrs now has it) i won't really know. i have spoken to my mech about a tune up, maybe i should just take it to another place i.e. toyota to be checked out. spark and sh*t are all good oil is 2000 k' sol and only 3000 to go till its changed again.

Wheel alignment may also help? Is your tyre wear even?

Faulty thermostat can cause bad fuel consumption, especially in colder climates. They tend to fail open, so the motor never comes up to temperature or can't maintain temperature. If you heater doesn't work on the open road on a cold winter night, that's a sure sign but it can be quite bad & not particularly noticeable. Pull it out & look at it.

O2 sensor can be faulty even when in car diagnostics says it's OK. A sniffer up the exhaust & dyno would tell for sure. Even if it's stuffed it shouldn't cause more than 10% extra fuel consumption.

My Caldina fuel light also comes on around 1/4 full, odometer is a better indication of how much fuel is left.

It's a 1998 1.8L 7A-FE leanburn 5spd & gets:
7.06L/100km (40mpg, 14.2km/L, 852km/60L) when driven on the open road at 100-140km/hr,
6.57L/100km (43mpg, 15.3km/L, 918km/60L) when driven a bit nicer,
8.07L/100km (35mpg, 12.4km/L, 744km/60L) when driven reasonably hard around town on short trips.

Used to have a 1994 Caldina 1.5L 5E-FE 5spd & with the same driving it used about 5mpg more petrol.

Hi I have a Caldina GTT (1997) manual here in the UK and it can be thirsty when driven hard but on a long run will return 33 mpg @ 75MPH (120kmh) which I don't think is too bad for the size and performance of the vehicle, around 400 (640km)miles to the tank, but realistically taking road / weather / load & other variants into consideration 280-300 miles (448-480km) to the tank would be good going, but much less if you want to have a bit of fun (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Hello all :) my fault for the long time no see part :(.

hey huffyboi

well my fuel consumption hasn't changed at all over the last 6 months, just got back from a drive to nelson and had a pretty good driving experience with
500 km on the clock there and back (Christchurch to nelson and back). Still get around the 400 mark running on 95+ or 98+ driving like a nanna round town haha :D just bought some pulstar pulse plugs to replace the old ones that are in there cause the service history is completely in Japanese, also a new air filter and a oil change soon too would help :)
Gotta get this thing looked at by Toyota to make sure that the engine is running as it should be hehe!!! money Aaaaa :(

leaving the kit on now since I've started to like it and other people stratching it :( ( oh and me backing into my mate hehe :)

Mags are a nono at this stage untill I save my molaa for the wedding.

I'll install these plugs and air filter and see how i get on.

Cheers

AG