13 MPG??

Ha!! Well, technically he is correct. I go up the hill to where my house is, right after work and then have to continue further up the hill, to get to my kid's daycare, when I pick him up! I guess that would equal twice.

 

Honestly, I am quite confident about the idling being the issue...I used to idle alot years ago in a small town. We all would leave our cars running outside of the grocery store when it was cold just to keep them warm.

Never thought about it until gas skyrocketed. I'm anxious to see the results when you signifigantly reduce the warm up period.

EDIT: And yeah, I guess you kind of do go uphill both ways!

 

I agree, I would love to be able to do that.

 

Good to hear. I only warm it up in the mornings, at my house, so I'll just curb that to 5 min or so and see what happens. After the winter, that part of the equation will be nullified, anyways.

 

From Tom and Ray Magliozzi, the Car Talk guys:



What's your MPG when you're idling? It's negative! You're actually burning gas... and going nowhere.
If you're sitting outside a tattoo parlor waiting for your grandmother, and you know it's going to take her a good 15 minutes to get that new Komodo dragon tattooed on her left butt cheek, turn off your engine. You're just burning money. Some people have heard a myth that it takes more gas to start a car than to run it. So they use that as an excuse to leave a car idling. It's complete B.S. If you're stationary for more than a couple of minutes, shut it off, and save gas.
This tip also applies to warming up the car. Unless it's below freezing, cars don't need to be warmed up at all. Driving them gently is the best warm up there is. If it's 25 degrees out, you might want to let it warm up for 30 seconds. If it's 10 degrees out, warm it up for a minute. If it's -10 degrees out, move somewhere warmer.

 

.... uhhh yeah .... let me know how that goes for you; the throwing out gf's car part.

Uphill both ways, in the snow!

Think you've got it figured out ... My big MPG drops usually occur when it gets really cold (-5 to -30 f) and I let the truck idle 5 to 10 mins at work. I work midnight shift and at those temps it cold soaks pretty bad.

You might consider the block heater idea; and a "buddy heater" for the interior. A buddy heater is a small electrical heater that mounts under dash (or wherever convenient) and you plug in just like the block heater. You have to route the cord through the firewall and eng compartment to get the plug in the same area as the block heater plug. Then get a timer to turn them both on about 1 to 2 hour before you want to leave for work. I think I bought my last one at Car Quest.

When we first moved to Alaska that's what I used for my car (wife's car stayed in garage--ya' know). Then I built my shed and made room in the garage for both vehicles ... now everyone is happy and I wouldn't go back...at least not as long as I live in Alaska. My son still uses the buddy heater in his truck and also has a block heater. FWIW

 

Glad we figured this out for him! MPG for him is minutes per gallon since he wasn't driving! For every hour his truck ran but didn't move, he made 24 miles (4 days 15 min. each, idleing and 6 miles driving round trip).

An hour of driving can get you 50-70 miles usually... 2-3 times more than he got. 13 mpg x 2 is 26 mpg, normal for the I-4 engine, yes?

 

Makes sense to me ... I knew something was driving that number ... the idle time was the missing piece of the puzzle!

 

yes, thanks guys!! I still am going to run the tank more to the empty side of things and check again, along with cutting the idle time down by 1/3 to 1/2, and then calculate again.

But it may just be that after winter, and when the truck has more miles driven on it, is when I will see much better results. And that's o.k. by me, just as long as there was nothing wrong with my new truck!!

Thank you everyone for your input and theories behind it all!!

 

Sorry about the uphill twice every day. I thought the OP said he went home every day for lunch, or I was just remembering when I was young. If I had only lived three miles from work and had a girlfriend at home, I know I would have been going home for lunch every day. LOL On a different note, just waiting to fill up till your down to about a 1/4 of a tank will help. Hauling a full tank of gas up your hill every day "once" is still carrying extra weight around. We used to fill up at sea level, because it was cheaper, and then drive up to 4500 feet where we lived, thinking we were saving money. Until I realized I was burning a 1/4 of a tank of gas lugging the other 20 plus gallons up the hill. Started running up the hill on a 1/4 tank and then filling up near home and even paying more per gallon I saved quite a bit.

 

I updated my fuelly account, guess I am not that bad. One 10 mpg tank and a 12 mpg tank, but still averaging 18. something.

 

I'm now sitting at a little less than 1/2 tank (as measured by the gauge on the dash) and trip meter says 162 mi. Still going to run it to close to empty, and see where I'm at.

 

Keep us informed fan. Wanted to see if we were able to help.

 

I see nothing wrong with your gas mileage considering your driving conditions. I have a 2011 4X2 Tacoma 5 spd and operate it under simular conditions.
3 miles to work
5 traffic lights
temperature below freezing
live on a steep hill
slushy roads
Only difference is, I do not warm up the engine before driving.
I get around 15,16 mpg around town in winter but this jumps to around 30 on the highway in the summer.
My previous cars (09 forester and 05 Matrix) delivered much the same mileage. The Matrix was a bit higher but not much.
I'm sure if you operated a V6 or 8 under these conditions the mileage would be much worse.

 

I will! You guys already helped by describing how much my driving situation can take a toll on gas mileage. Didn't realize all of the "little" things added up to big things!!

Yup, that's my situation -- minus the slushy roads -- so far, as we haven't gotten anything for snow, yet. Add in idling to defrost the windshield in the a.m. and that's me.

Your last point you make is the most interesting to me, as I think back to what I was really getting with my V8 Dakota for the last 7 years!!!

 

My worse mpg tank was 18 but I am very soft on new vehicle and mix up town and highway.


I have 4x4 5sp. Took a few tanks to get expected mpg.
Winter gas is bad on mpg (sept to apr); your truck is brand new.

You can sort of check in your head as you go:
First 1/4 tank is 5 gal
2nd 1/4 is 9 gal
3rd is 14 gal
Gas empty light is 17 gal
4th is 18 gal

 

I think 162 / 9 = 18mpg (if your gas gauge is calibrated the same as mine). You are right where you should be

 

Only the 1/4 full line, I found different than you...

I did a lot of checking the first year of my 2010. The following was consistant (+/- 0.5 gallon):

First 1/4 tank is down 5; 16 in tank (agree)
2nd 1/4 (Half Full line) is down 9; 12 in tank (agree)
3rd 1/4 tank is down 13 gallons; 8 in the tank (only disagreement)
E Light is 17 gal; 4 in tank (agree)
E Line is 18 gal; 3 in tank (agree)
No more gas in tank (down 21 gallons).

 

Ok.. Ran the tank to almost empty then filled her up today:

236 miles traveled since last fill up

16 Gallons to top it off

=

14.75 mpg



Will just have to wait for better weather time of year and engine break in, for better results. Thanks to everyone for your time and efforts on this whole situation. Have a happy and safe holiday!!!

 

That is what I am getting lately (14.5 to 15.5) in my 2010 V-6, AUTO 4WD... I wish it was at least 16 mpg and higher, but our gas has so much ethynol to make the hippies happy, it just can deliver the miles as it used to!