Mods for mpg

I think they say it helps so they can charge a couple extra bucks per tire for special air that does not expand and contract

 

How about using nitrogen in the tires. Not sure how much lighter it really is than air. Most ppl wouldnt do this but ou could take out the back seat and passenger seat. Even if this is a little out in left field it would be interesting to see if it actually helped mpg.

Ps I guess I wasnt the first to say nitrogen. X that part

 

lol well the green valve stem caps should give you at least 2 or 3 mpg better

 

When I got my Taco a couple years ago, with 120K already on it, I was getting 22mpg at 65mph at +/- 2750 rpm. The truck had an aftermarket air filter in the original Toyota airbox and a glasspack muffler that was just too loud for me. In an effort to get to my goal of 25mpg, I spent a bunch of bucks on a high performance air filter with the smooth tube and all that, and a magnaflow cat-back exhaust system.

Results: 22mpg highway at 65mph and a loud muffler.

Truth of the matter is simply this: You can't hardly beat what the factory puts on them these days. Back in the old days you could take your chevy and pop on a set of headers, a glasspack, and a carb spacer and increase your mileage by a handful. Not any more. You might be able to increase your hp a little, but your mileage will never increase enough to pay for the mod in a hundred years.

The most sensible mod for improving gas mileage I have ever come across was to change out the O2 sensors at about 125K miles. My mileage started dropping to 20.5 and 21 and I started getting the occasional CEL light. I read a thread that said changing out the O2 sensors after 120K miles would help, so I did. It got me back to the rated 22mpg.

Sorry to rain on the parade, because I like modding my Taco like anybody else, but this is the simple truth.

 

So I drove to a local festival last weekend that is about 75 miles round trip and I noticed that my mpg was a little lower than normal.... I get about 17.728 in the city and 16.325 with that bit of highway driving.... I was cruising at around 75-80 the whole way.... I also noticed that the tach was at around 2500 rpm at that speed... anyone know what the gear shift speeds are??? and like I had said earlier in the thread to the taco I have the deckplate mod... k&n filter... and bed cover

 

hmm, im wondering what changing out my o2 sensors will do.... im gettin 19-21 now. not complaining at all though. never drive over 65

 

haha i just wanted to use that. If you really are getting those number thats amazing

 

love that flag, man !!! lmmfao !!! :-D

 

Unfortunately one of the biggest contributors to lousy mileage is the big ass tires we all love so much. You want better mileage ? Highway tires, conservative tread, all the air they will safely hold. Save the mudders for off road trips. The other one is 55 to 60 MPH on the highway. At highway speeds wind resistance is a huge enemy, and the increase in parasite drag from 55 to 75 is almost geometric. Just like booze and loose women the good stuff is always bad for you.

 

I understand all that drag stuff.... bout to graduate in Mechanical Engineering.... I put a bed cover on to help keep the drag outta the bed.... and it works pretty well... got bout 1mpg increase... just was wondering at what speed over drive kicked on..

 

You should do the math and see what your mileage is, corrected for tire size. A larger diameter tire means you actually travel farther than what your odometer says you are traveling (longer distance per rotation), and your speedo will read slower than you are actually moving. So if you are indicating 17mpg on big tires, you might actually be doing a lot better than that. You could also get your speed and mileage numbers with a GPS rather than the odometer. The GPS doesn't care what size your tires are.

 

I am running the stock tires.... at the stock height

 

Oh my F***ing head. I cant believe I havent been taking that into account. Its not like I didnt know how much it influenced the speedo. I just never thought about the added distance traveled. Somtimes I cant believe they let me brush my own teeth.

 

Nitrogen in the tires does work well. I used it in my last truck and and got an extra 30k miles out of my tires. I did notice a slight mpg difference as well. I think that the benefit of nitrogen filled tires is that they arent affected by temp as much as air. Therefore keeping consistant even contact with the road. Also greatly improving safety.

 

I live up in the mountains so adding a cai and a pro dry filter, reducing weight, and running better gas, I average 340-370 miles to a tank of gas. I dont drive like a grandma all the time, but even at its worst when I am running up hills and using 4x4 I still stay around 320 per tank ( before gas light ). The largest changes came from just modifying my driving style. I went from a 400 hp audi s4 to the tacoma and drove it like an s4. If you stay in the right rpm ranges, time your stops out properly, and keep lots of good air flow going then you should get better gas mileage.

 

bullshit. air is 78% nitrogen.

 

Save your money and keep your foot out of it and no higher than 2000RPM. I get a constant 17.4 18.5 in town no freeway.

 

Something not mentioned above but useful is the AC off mod. It bypasses the condensor running when you have the knob on defrost or any defrost combo position. The condensor runs even when you have the heat on in the winter. The mod makes the condensor run only when you push the AC button....seemed to help me gain 1mpg and you can feel the drag when the compressor kicks on...