MPG Mods

[kylefrdavis]

Pardon my newness. I've never been on one of these forums so forgive me if I ask something that has been asked. I tried to do some searches but I don't always understand the abbreviations (even though I used to be LAPD and understand a lot of abbreviations), nor exactly what parts to buy and mods to make. I plan this week to buy a 2005 4cyl manual tacoma access cab 2wd (not prerunner). i want to put a camper shell on it and use it as a commuter and for occasional car camping. could you please make recommendations for a shell as well as mods so i can get the best MPG possible. thank you very much!

[DanGer]

There are plenty of threads on this but they all boil down to the same thing:

Put in a high flow drop in airfilter (AFE is recommended)
Keep tires aired up
Use synthetic fluids
Get a scangauge to assess your driving habbits
And drive like there is an egg under the accelerator
Remove the secondary (Charcoal) air filter (4 cyl owners tend to see more benefit than 6 cyls)

[br217398]

welcomE!!!!!! list the abbreviations you need help with well let you know. we were all new at one point

[kylefrdavis]

Originally Posted by br217398

welcomE!!!!!! list the abbreviations you need help with well let you know. we were all new at one point

thank you! is AFE a brand or type of filter? if it is a brand, which model or type is recommended?

[DanGer]

AFE is the brand, go to autoanything, enter you vehicle info and it will bring up the correct filter for you

[kylefrdavis]

Originally Posted by dgerm

AFE is the brand, go to autoanything, enter you vehicle info and it will bring up the correct filter for you

thanks. i went here (http://www.autoanything.com/air-filters/20A50341A1.aspx) and there are 3 types of AFE: AFE ProDry S, AFE Air Filter, and AFE ProGuard 7? would you mind telling me which kind? and why AFE?

thanks again.

[vtragweed]

pro dry, because they work

[DanGer]

^^he nailed it!

[neslerrah]

hello & welcome to TW!
I agree w/ dgerm.
The list below is pretty much what a 5-lugger needs.

Originally Posted by dgerm

There are plenty of threads on this but they all boil down to the same thing:

Remover the secondary (Charcoal) air filter
Put in a high flow drop in air filter (AFE is recommended)
Use synthetic fluids
Keep tires aired up
Get a scangauge to assess your driving habbits
And drive like there is an egg under the accelerator

[JDCPA]

Some of us leave it stock and drive it easy.
20+ around town.
24+ on the highway.

[thenrie]

Being LAPD, you had better look into the CA vehicle emissions laws before you buy and install any mods. Many of them are not legal in CA. Besides that, no matter what anyone or any advertisement tells you, you will not be able to improve the gas mileage on your 2005 with ANY mod that will pay for itself in improved gas mileage over the life of the vehicle (unless of course you own it for the next 300K miles).

"Back in the day" you could bolt on a set of headers, get a foam air filter, put in a carb spacer, and a glasspack muffler and get 4-5 extra mpgs, but vehicles today are already engineered for maximum efficiency under the constraints of the required emissions equipment. You cannot legally remove any emissions equipment (although you can use approved aftermarket stuff), so anything you do will essentially negate all that engineering, and there is nothing available, and no combination of aftermarket things, that will gain you more than one or two mpg. Divide the cost of just one such item by the cost of gas for 2mpg (let's see, $2/gal, 22mpg, that's about 9 cents per mile and at 24mpg it is 8.3 cents per mile, so we're talking about .7 cents per mile) and see how many miles you will have to drive to pay for it (keeping in mind that just one add-on will never give you 2mpg). I have about $1000 in efficiency mods, so I would have to drive that pickup 71,429 miles (1000/(.007 x 2)) to pay for all that, if I were getting an additional 2mpg, which I am not.

I did everything I could to try to get to 25mpg with my Taco. Never made it. She drives happily at 22mpg no matter what I add or change. The best thing you can do is regular maintenance and keep your air filter clean.

On the other hand, I just love buying new toys and putting them on my Tacoma!

[DanGer]

Originally Posted by thenrie

Being LAPD, you had better look into the CA vehicle emissions laws before you buy and install any mods. Many of them are not legal in CA. Besides that, no matter what anyone or any advertisement tells you, you will not be able to improve the gas mileage on your 2005 with ANY mod that will pay for itself in improved gas mileage over the life of the vehicle (unless of course you own it for the next 300K miles).

"Back in the day" you could bolt on a set of headers, get a foam air filter, put in a carb spacer, and a glasspack muffler and get 4-5 extra mpgs, but vehicles today are already engineered for maximum efficiency under the constraints of the required emissions equipment. You cannot legally remove any emissions equipment (although you can use approved aftermarket stuff), so anything you do will essentially negate all that engineering, and there is nothing available, and no combination of aftermarket things, that will gain you more than one or two mpg. Divide the cost of just one such item by the cost of gas for 2mpg (let's see, $2/gal, 22mpg, that's about 9 cents per mile and at 24mpg it is 8.3 cents per mile, so we're talking about .7 cents per mile) and see how many miles you will have to drive to pay for it (keeping in mind that just one add-on will never give you 2mpg). I have about $1000 in efficiency mods, so I would have to drive that pickup 71,429 miles (1000/(.007 x 2)) to pay for all that, if I were getting an additional 2mpg, which I am not.

I did everything I could to try to get to 25mpg with my Taco. Never made it. She drives happily at 22mpg no matter what I add or change. The best thing you can do is regular maintenance and keep your air filter clean.

On the other hand, I just love buying new toys and putting them on my Tacoma!

I am going to conditionally disagree with you. If you buy a drop in filter, even if it doesnt repay for itself in gas mileage, It will in the fact that you never have to buy a new filter again. Major things like exhaust modification will not however. You may see some gains in the power department but for gas mileage it not pay for itself

[kylefrdavis]

Originally Posted by dgerm

I am going to conditionally disagree with you. If you buy a drop in filter, even if it doesnt repay for itself in gas mileage, It will in the fact that you never have to buy a new filter again. Major things like exhaust modification will not however. You may see some gains in the power department but for gas mileage it not pay for itself

thanks to y'all. i'm practicing my southern instead of my californian "you guys". i quit lapd and am moving to NC at the end of the year, where all my family has relocated. so thank you very much for all the info. we're planning to pack up and drive cross country in december. do we need to do anything special for a cross country trip, besides what you have already suggested? i was looking at those Timbren rubber load boosters. we just have books, clothes, camping gear and a few tools to pack up. do you think i need those? we're not planning to tow, just to get a shell. any suggestions on shells too?

thanks so much

[DanGer]

the timbran are great, but generally used for towing. I am not sure how well it will apply to a loaded bed so hopefully someone else can chime in

[thenrie]

Yeah. Dgerm is right about the aftermarket filter. Just keep it clean. As for the airbags, I see huge dump trucks using them all the time, so I suspect they will help your springs handle a heavier load, at least in concept. I don't know anything about the particular ones you mentioned. Truthfully, though, I doubt you will need any. Your stock springs will handle a pretty good load.

[thenrie]

Yeah, Dgerm is right about t he drop-in filter. Just keep it clean. The intake systems, though, like the AFE Stage 2 that I bought, won't do enough for you to be anywhere near worth the money.

As for the load boosters, I have seen huge dump trucks using a similar system in place of springs, so I expect it works fine on a small one, at least in concept. I don't know anything about the particular ones you mentioned. Truthfully, though, I sincerely doubt you will need them. The Tacoma's stock springs will handle a pretty good load, if they are in decent shape to start with.

[silverback]

Well there you have it in black and white. I was thinking of just replacing my stock air filter and thats it. With some fluid upgrades. I just filled my truck and now I am at a quarter tank with 350 miles on the odometer. Im hoping I can get to 400 before the light comes on. That will put me at 22mpg. I babied the gas pedal the whole tank so thats as good as its going to get. This was all stop sign driving.

quote=thenrie;551746]Being LAPD, you had better look into the CA vehicle emissions laws before you buy and install any mods. Many of them are not legal in CA. Besides that, no matter what anyone or any advertisement tells you, you will not be able to improve the gas mileage on your 2005 with ANY mod that will pay for itself in improved gas mileage over the life of the vehicle (unless of course you own it for the next 300K miles).

"Back in the day" you could bolt on a set of headers, get a foam air filter, put in a carb spacer, and a glasspack muffler and get 4-5 extra mpgs, but vehicles today are already engineered for maximum efficiency under the constraints of the required emissions equipment. You cannot legally remove any emissions equipment (although you can use approved aftermarket stuff), so anything you do will essentially negate all that engineering, and there is nothing available, and no combination of aftermarket things, that will gain you more than one or two mpg. Divide the cost of just one such item by the cost of gas for 2mpg (let's see, $2/gal, 22mpg, that's about 9 cents per mile and at 24mpg it is 8.3 cents per mile, so we're talking about .7 cents per mile) and see how many miles you will have to drive to pay for it (keeping in mind that just one add-on will never give you 2mpg). I have about $1000 in efficiency mods, so I would have to drive that pickup 71,429 miles (1000/(.007 x 2)) to pay for all that, if I were getting an additional 2mpg, which I am not.

I did everything I could to try to get to 25mpg with my Taco. Never made it. She drives happily at 22mpg no matter what I add or change. The best thing you can do is regular maintenance and keep your air filter clean.

On the other hand, I just love buying new toys and putting them on my Tacoma![/quote]

[DIVER_5]

Hey guys, just a quick tip for saving gas...
I have not done the math yet since I just tried it with 1 tank of gas however, i drive 1 1/2 hours to work normally at a quick speed of 70-75mph.
Around 2500 rpm's at least. Always having a somewhat of a heavy foot.

Now, I just drove the last tank of gas out and kept it always under 2000rpm's .... there is a significant difference.
I did not do the math cause I forgot to set me trip odometer, however I got an extra day of driving out of it before my fill up.

I am gonna do the number, on my next few tanks and see but, if your having issues, just take off waaay slower at green lights and just set your cruise control to the exact speed limit and when approaching a hill, disengage the cruise control and just keep your RPM's under 2000 on your own.
It is a good difference.
I am pushing A/T tires on a 18" Rockstar Rim btw.

[Raven65]

I own a bone stock '09 4-cylinder 5-speed regular cab and have a roughly 40-mile (one way) daily commute and I have a choice of driving interstate or two-lane highway. If I take the interstate route and drive about 75 mph, I get 26 MPG. If I take the backroads & keep the speed down around 55-60, I get 28 MPG. Regardless of the routes, I try to be VERY easy on the throttle and shift between 2000 and 2500 RPMs. I think that impacts your MPG as much or more than your cruising speed. These engines have great low-end torque... there's no need to rev them to 5000 RPMs before shifting. If I drive aggressively - quick starts, hard acceleration, speeding, passing, etc. (otherwise known as "fun" ) - MPG suffers noticably.

[91r100gs]

Three things I do in addition to others mentioned here, is to minimize the use of cruise unless on very level terrain. When not on cruise control, limit your release and reapplications of the throttle as much as possible.

When headed down a long stretch keep your off the accelerator as much as possible. No fuel is being used when in gear and coasting on most EFI vehicles.

Anticipate green lights by looking ahead and if red ahead, coast if you can. Racing to that red light really eats the fuel. Starting from a dead stop uses more fuel per mile than anytime the engine is running. Every light you can catch on green is just more fuel savings.

Drive without shoes, it really helps with the tactile feedback of the gas pedal. Ususally you will not push as hard on it, hence saving fuel. Hope these help.