2007 TOYOTA MATRIX wheel

218
Improving fuel economy is easy—just take
it easy. It will help make your vehicle last
longer, too. Here are some specific tips
on how to save money on both fuel and
repairs:
Keep your tires inflated at the cor-
rect pressure. Underinflation causes
tire wear and wastes fuel. See page
272 in Section 7 −2 for instructions.
Do not carry unneeded weight in
your vehicle. Excess weight puts a
heavier load on the engine, causing
greater fuel consumption.
Avoid lengthy warmup idling. Once
the engine is running smoothly, begin
driving—but gently. Remember, howev-
er, that on cold winter days this may
take a little longer.
Keep the automatic transmission
overdrive turned on when engine
braking is not required. Driving with
the overdrive off will reduce the fuel
economy. (For details, see “Automatic
transmission” on page 117 in Section
1 −7.)
Accelerate slowly and smoothly.
Avoid jackrabbit starts. Get into high
gear as quickly as possible.
Avoid long engine idling. If you have
a long wait and you are not in traffic,
it is better to turn off the engine and
start again later.
Avoid engine lugging or overrev-
ving. Use a gear position suitable for
the road on which you are travelling.
Avoid continuous speeding up and
slowing down. Stop−and− go driving
wastes fuel.
Avoid unnecessary stopping and
braking. Maintain a steady pace. Try
to time the traffic signals so you only
need to stop as little as possible or
take advantage of through streets to
avoid traffic lights. Keep a proper dis-
tance from other vehicles to avoid sud-
den braking. This will also reduce wear
on your brakes.
Avoid heavy traffic or traffic jams
whenever possible.
Do not rest your foot on the clutch
or brake pedal. This causes premature
wear, overheating and poor fuel econo-
my.
Maintain a moderate speed on high-
ways. The faster you drive, the greater
the fuel consumption. By reducing your
speed, you will cut down on fuel con-
sumption.
Keep the front wheels in proper
alignment. Avoid hitting the curb and
slow down on rough roads. Improper
alignment not only causes faster tire
wear but also puts an extra load on
the engine, which, in turn, wastes fuel.
Keep the bottom of your vehicle free
from mud, etc. This not only lessens
weight but also helps prevent corro-
sion.
Keep your vehicle tunedup and in
top shape. A dirty air cleaner, improp-
er valve clearance, dirty plugs, dirty oil
and grease,brakes not adjusted, etc. all
lower engine performance and contrib-
ute to poor fuel economy. For longer
life of all parts and lower operating
costs, keep all maintenance work on
schedule, and if you often drive under
severe conditions, see that your vehicle
receives more frequent maintenance.
(For scheduled maintenance informa-
tion, please refer to the “Scheduled
Maintenance Guide” or “Owner ’s Manu-
al Supplement”.)
How to save fuel and make
your vehicle last longer

227
1. Reduce your speed gradually
while driving in a straight line.
Move cautiously off the road to a
safe place well away from the traf-
fic. Avoid stopping on the center
divider of a highway. Park on a lev-
el spot with firm ground.
2. Stop the engine and turn on your emergency flashers.
3. Firmly set the parking brake and put the transmission in “P” (auto-
matic) or reverse (manual).
4. Have everyone get out of the ve- hicle on the side away from traffic.
5. Read the following instructions thoroughly.
CAUTION
When jacking, be sure to observe
the following to reduce the possi-
bility of personal injury:
Follow jacking instructions.
 Do not put any part of your
body under the vehicle sup-
ported by the jack. Otherwise,
personal injury may occur.
 Do not start or run the engine
while your vehicle is supported
by the jack.
 Stop the vehicle on a level firm
ground, firmly set the parking
brake and put the transmission
in “P” (automatic) or reverse
(manual). Block the wheel diag-
onally opposite to the one be-
ing changed if necessary.
Make sure to set the jack prop-
erly in the jack point. Raising
the vehicle with jack improper-
ly positioned will damage the
vehicle or may allow the ve-
hicle to fall off the jack and
cause personal injury.
 Never get under the vehicle
when the vehicle is supported
by the jack alone.
 Use the jack only for lifting
your vehicle during wheel
changing.
 Do not raise the vehicle with
someone in the vehicle.
 When raising the vehicle, do
not place any objects on top
of or underneath the jack.
 Raise the vehicle only high
enough to remove and change
the tire.
If you have a flat tire—

228
NOTICE
Do not continue driving with a
deflated tire. Driving even a
short distance can damage a
tire and wheel beyond repair.
Compact spare tire
The compact spare tire is designed
for temporary emergency use only.
The compact spare tire is identified
by the distinctive wording
“TEMPORARY USE ONLY” molded
into the side wall of the tire.
The compact spare tire saves space
in your luggage compartment, and its
lighter weight helps to improve fuel
economy and permits easier installa-
tion in case of a flat tire.The compact spare tire can be used
many times, if necessary. It has tread
life of up to 4800 km (3000 miles) de-
pending on road conditions and your
driving habits. When tread wear indi-
cators appear on the tire, replace the
tire.
See also the tire information on page
275 in Section 7−
2 for details on the
tread wear indicators and other ser-
vice information.CAUTION
 The compact spare tire was de-
signed especially for your Toy-
ota. Do not use it on any other
vehicle.
 Do not use more than one com-
pact spare tire at the same
time.
 The pressure for the compact
spare tire must be 420 kPa (4.2
kgf/cm
2 or bar, 60 psi).
 Do not exceed 80 km/h (50
mph) when driving with the
compact spare tire.

229

Replace the compact spare tire
with the standard tire as soon
as possible.
 Avoid sudden a cceleration,
sudden d eceleration and sharp
turns with the compact spare
tire.
NOTICE
Your ground clearance is re-
duced when the compact spare
tire is installed so avoid driving
over obstacles and drive slowly
on rough, unpaved roads and
speed bumps. Also, do not at-
tempt to go through an auto-
matic car wash as the vehicle
may get caught, resulting in
damage.
1. Open the rear luggage storage box and get the required tools
and spare tire.
1. Jack handle
2. Wheel nut wrench
3. Jack
4. Spare tire
To open the rear luggage storage box,
see “Luggage storage boxes” on page
173 in Section 1− 10.
To prepare yourself for an emergency,
you should familiarize yourself with
the use of the jack, each of the tools
and their storage locations.To remove the jack, unhook the tight-
ening strap.
To store the jack, make sure it is se-
curely held by the tightening strap.
— R eq u ired to o ls an d sp are
tire

230
To remove the spare tire:1. Loosen the nut and remove it.
2. Remove the luggage storage box.
3. Loosen the bolt and remove it.
When storing the spare tire, put it in
place with the inner side of the wheel
facing up. Then secure the tire by re-
peating the above removal steps in
reverse order to prevent it from flying
forward during a collision or sudden
braking. The compact tire storage area is de-
signed only for a compact spare tire.
Standard size tires cannot be stored
in this storage area.2. Block the wheel diagonally op-
posite the flat tire to keep the
vehicle from rolling when it is
jacked up.
When blocking the wheel, place a
wheel block in front of one of the front
wheels or behind one of the rear
wheels.
—Blocking the wheel

231
3. Remove the wheel ornament.
Pry off the wheel ornament, using the
beveled end of the wheel nut wrench
as shown.
CAUTION
Do not try to pull off the orna-
ment by hand. Take due care in
handling the ornament to avoid
unexpected personal injury.
4. Loosen all the wheel nuts.
Always loosen the wheel nuts before
raising the vehicle.
Turn the wheel nuts counterclockwise
to loosen. To get maximum leverage,
fit the wrench to the nut so that the
handle is on the right side, as shown
above. Grab the wrench near the end
of the handle and pull up on the han-
dle. Be careful that the wrench does
not slip off the nut.
Do not remove the nuts yet—just un-
screw them about one −half turn.
CAUTION
Never use oil or grease on the
bolts or nuts. The nuts may loose
and the wheels may fall off,
which could cause a serious ac-
cident.
—Removing wheel ornament
(steel wheels) —Loosening wheel nuts

233
CAUTION
Never get under the vehicle when
the vehicle is supported by the
jack alone.
7. Remove the wheel nuts andchange tires.
Lift the flat tire straight off and put it
aside.
Roll the spare wheel into position and
align the holes in the wheel with the
bolts. Then lift up the wheel and get
at least the top bolt started through
its hole. Wiggle the tire and press it
back over the other bolts.Before putting on wheels, remove any
corrosion on the mounting surfaces
with a wire brush or such. Installation
of wheels without good metal− to−met-
al contact at the mounting surface can
cause wheel nuts to loosen and
eventually cause a wheel to come off
while driving.
—Changing wheels

234
8. Reinstall all the wheel nuts fin-ger tight.
Reinstall the wheel nuts (tapered end
inward) and tighten them as much as
you can by hand. Press back on the
tire back and see if you can tighten
them more.
CAUTION
Never use oil or grease on the
bolts or nuts. Doing so may lead
to overtightening the nuts and
damaging the bolts. The nuts
may loose and the wheels may
fall off, which could cause a seri-
ous accident. If there is oil or
grease on any bolt or nut, clean
it.
9. Lower the vehicle completely and tighten the wheel nuts.
Turn the jack handle counterclock-
wise to lower the vehicle.
Use only the wheel nut wrench and
turn it clockwise to tighten the nuts.
Do not use other tools or any addition-
al leverage other than your hands,
such as a hammer, pipe or your foot.
Make sure the wrench is securely en-
gaged over the nut.
Tighten each nut a little at a time in
the order shown. Repeat the process
until all the nuts are tight.
—Reinstalling wheel nuts —Lowering your vehicle