MPG Mods

I had a K&N in my civic back in the day. For whatever reason it did not like the K&N and kept killing my O2 sensors.

 

Good ol' fashioned driving habits and tire pressure go a long way.. probably save you more money in the long run instead of buying aftermarket parts.

 

I could not agree with you more.

Despite the recent post to the contrary, I have heard from several members of this forum that they gained 1-2mpg by switching all their lubricants to synthetic: gear oil, motor oil, chassis grease, everything.

Also, I feel compelled to warn about increased tire pressures. While *slightly* increasing tire pressures above the manufacturer's recommended pressures can reduce rolling resistance and return a few more mpgs, *excessive* tire pressures are not likely to yield further benefit and, more importantly, can cause dangerously low traction especially in adverse driving conditions (rain, snow, etc), circumstances which can quickly lead to spinouts or other loss of vehicle control. These pickups are notoriously light weight over the rear axle to begin with. Just trying to look out for my fellows.

 

i agree with DGXR. too much air is a bad thing. i dont know much about the synthetic theory.

i was getting 18 in my V6 Tacoma 4x4... keep my speed between 60 and 65... now im getting 20-21mpg... 2 inch daystar "leveling" lift, and 265-70-17 BFG AT KOs.

just slow down, drive like an egg is under the accelerator, and leave 5 min earlier... whatta u care if people are passing you? they're just giving more money to the oil companies... it might not be much, but it all adds up... if it didnt, they would lower the price of gas and diesel. funny how the price of a barrel of oil goes down but the price of fuel goes up or remains the same.

Prediction: gas prices go down in late september / early to mid october...

Oh, sorry about the rant on gas prices... i know this is the wrong thread for that.

 

oh yeah, i also keep reading post by people yapping about having to drive 120,000+ miles to break even on an $80 air filter... or a pants load of miles to pay for the synthetic fluids... how many miles do you put on your vehicles before you get rid of them? i put 265,000 on my last one... that air filter was WAY paid for... along with the straight pipe exhaust... i think that's really all i did to it other than changing the stereo and getting new floor mats every now and then... i forgot to mention all the times i threw a bucket of water on it just to have it dirty again in a few weeks... by economic standards i guess washing your car is a loss too... it'll just get dirty again right?

i plan on giving my Tacoma to my son when he turns 16... only got 15 more years till i get a new truck! maybe then toyota will produce a small diesel engine that meets the EPA blah blah and i can keep it for 30 years... and believe me, the new K&N filter i put in that thing will pay for it self too.

in the meantime i'll get the service kit for my K&N filter... oh wait i have one left over from that Dodge i put 260,000 miles on, i guess that's pretty much paid for its self as well. the longer i keep my truck and perform proper maintenance the more i'll get out of the $31,000 i spent on it... $31,000... that's alot of money to spend on anything with 4 wheels and not keep it till it just wont work anymore... drive it till a junk yard turns you away, that's how u get your moneys worth.

 

Agree with you on this one...I just got the ultra gauge on a group buy and it proves it.

 

I'm not sure if everything I'm going to say was mentioned already but... I found that throwing a tonneau cover, aFe Pro Dry S air filter, Synthetic everything and removing the spare tire helped me quite a bit. I average about 24mpg, however, I drive like a grandpa and hit cruise control once my speedometer hits 65mph. Honestly I don't recommend removing the spare tire for obvious reasons, but if you have unlimited road side assistance like I do then it might be something you could take into consideration.

 

Have had the Taco just over 4 years now. The first year or so I was getting 23-24 MPG most of the time. Then I joined the Fuelly website, and just by thinking about better mileage it started to improve. Lower revs before shifting and driving 3 or 4 MPH slower on the urban interstates brought it up a MPG or so. WhenI got the ULtragauge and watched it read 100+MPG when coasting, I got the bug to get even better mileage. Several new techniques and 1.5 years later I'm up to the 26-27 MPG range consistantly.

 

Is the AFE pro-dry air filter better than the k&n filter?

 

I alread have an old posting below that answers most of your questions not answered here. Anything that makes your vehicle have less drag will def give you better mileage. "I have NOT purchased one but truly believe a TONNRAU COVER is the best way to improve mileage because there is such a huge drag from the wind." (I'm always throwing oversized items in there (so neglected to buy 1 yet) but may purchase one because my mileage is horrible with my quick starts/crusing speeds at 2500 RPM.)

I always use cruise control but never get better than 16 MPG. Currently averaging 14-15 MPG. I believe you need to keep your rpm at 2k about 65 mph to have any effect on mileage after owning my vehicle for 7 plus years (V6 Cew Cab LB). All synthetics- Absolutely NO change in mileage in my experience but better for your vehicle (less wear), less maintenance, longevity of truck; definitely worth it but don't expect a change in mileage; just peace of mind.

I could buy 9 quality $10 air filters with my NAPA discount for the price of 1 Pro Dry AFE. Not worth my agrevation w/aftermarket; they all need maintenance. If you buy one when you first purchase the vehicle brand new you may get your money back if you keep the truck for a 100K miles; not a bad idea.

If you plan on driving like there is an egg under the the gas pedal (someone quoted) you should have purchased a 4 cylinder in the first place. A V6 is for someone that wants a powerful fun to drive truck for its class and can get up & go, getting out into busy traffic and towing. See other notes below if you like under my foum name. Good luck.

Note: I would never drive without a spare tire.

 

Neither will help mpg.

 

so You say AFE over K&N intake?

 

I say OEM toyota over either, I want my engine as clean as can be, and the aftermarkets all let in more dirt, with no mpg gain.

 

but the TRD intake is also like 600 bucks. ha for 600 bucks i could just buy a whole exhaust system

 

The exhaust system won't help you mpg either.

 

oh well it will sound cool im going with a super 40 muffler swap and AFE intake and if i drive like an egg is in my engine pan in high hopes it will improve i might get better
my tire size does not help either but im not going down

 

how does it take away it says online it can increase horse power and fuel economy

 

The key word is CAN

 

Dyno results say otherwise.

 

well Fack ha how about magnaflow ? never ran one of those before