I may have found a little mileage trick/V6 auto

My previous truck was a manual 6 speed (frontier) and I always used kept the RPM's as low as possible for the best gas mileage. When I bought my auto tranny 2010 Taco, I was a little disappointed that the auto kept the RPM's up a higher than I liked. Sometimes really high when driving through hills. Well, now when I want the RPM's lower, I just bump the shifter over to 4th, from D for a few seconds, and then back to D. Then and all is well. The truck runs in a higher gear. It seems that it learned that I like to drive it that way, and usually keeps the tranny at a higher gear. Just something to try, but i'd bet that my mileage will improve a little from it.

 

I just leave it in D and I pull low RPM's. Leaving it 4 will not allow it to do all the way to overdrive and should cause you to have higher rpm's. The only MPG trick I have found is a light foot on the gas pedal and try to keep the rpm's under 2,000.

 

You mean you drive around normally in 4? Just leave it in D and it'll pick the appropriate gear for the conditions... If you want it to stay in a higher gear, lighten up on the right pedal and it won't be as quick to downshift when going up a hill.

 

yeah i would think that would be worse, overdrive is your friend

another thing i always see is people just racing to red lights and stop signs. if the light is red ahead of me a always take my foot off the gas and coast

i think im gonna cut a hole in the floor soon so i can just flintstone that bitch around and save all my gas

 

No, you misunderstand the post. I just pop it in 4 for a second or two, than back to D. Then while back in D the RPMs stay lower. It shifts sooner.

 

Downshifting should increase RPMs, not decrease. Confused.

 

sometimes I do this by accident
Never thought of doing this to help mpg. Cool find you shared.
I tracked my mpgs for awhile, have a scangauge but it is what it is.
I do drop it to 4 when towing & use it in the winter time going down the mountain roads when its icy.

 

So you meant, after the transmission already downshifts to 4th on it's own, slide the gear selecter into 4, then back to D and it'll upshift back to 5th? Interesting concept for getting better mileage but I'm not convinced it'll work. Your truck downshifts because it needs more power, if you force it back into the higher gear, it'll turn lower RPM's but will be working harder trying to maintain speed. Your truck is still calling for more power, therefore more fuel. Lower RPM's doesn't always equal better mpg. Not saying it won't work, just might not work as well as you'd think.

 

Just slide it into D at any point while driving around town. Sometimes even when it is in a lower gear but revs are high, just bumping it over to 4 for a second makes it shift to a higher gear. There are times when I am just driving around and the truck hangs in the lower gear(higher RPM's), even if I just barely have the throttle pushed. I think it has something to do with the way that the ECU learns your driving habbits. Just try it. Obviously driving down the highway at 70 the truck is already in overdrive and this wont help. This is for daily driving around town.

 

Ease on gas from a stop, keeping it under 2000 ...... I think I get great mileage.

 

rocko, i know what u mean, I used to do this as well, however, some on this sight seem to believe that when you are not applying any gas pedal pressure, no matter how high the rpms are, the engine is receiving little to no fuel. This is why the autos get better mileage than the manuals, and this is also why they have the engine breaking effect. I have since stopped this practice and just let the truck shift when it wants and to whichever gears it wants, kinda why i baught an auto.