Tacoma 4.0L mileage

its a rating, not absolute...


MPG hmmm...

 

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/coldweather.shtml

 

Am I to believe that is 524 MILES on a tank of gas? Is your truck a V6?
I get just a little bit less than that...ON TWO TANKS.

 

yup.

 

I understand it is just a rating. I have got more than 400 miles on a tank just ONE time on a very long trip that required multiple fill-ups each way. On the first day of the trip, I had to fill up 3 times. Every tank was used on interstate highway, cruising at 70 mph with the cruise control. There was NO rational explanation as to why the mileage on THAT particular tank of gas was so much better than the rest. Now if I get 325 miles on one tank, I feel fortunate.

I am like a poster a couple of posts ago, if Toyoty doesn't do something to improve their gas mileage, this will be my first and last one.

 

So you are gettin more than 100% better gas mileage than me. That's impressive. How the fuck can I believe that. I don't care what the variables are.

 

I'm not going to tell you, its not stock and that's as far as I go.

 

I believe one variable that makes a big difference is ethanol. It's a fucking scam, and it kills gas mileage.

Gasoline without ethanol in it will yield better gas mileage. So how the fuck is ethanol supposed to help when you need to burn more of it to go the same distance?

My apologies for the profanity, but... ethanol sucks balls.

 

Heh heh. I hear ya! I'm sure ethanol makes a difference, and I'm sure winter tires make a difference, and I'm sure cold weather makes a difference. But if you keep adding variables you should still not come up with MORE THAN A 100% difference in mileage.

 

and you would be 100% correct.

 

An easy way to live with the mileage you get is to consider the amount of money you are talking about. Take your 600+ mile trip for example, the difference between 17 mpg you get and the 21 mpg you say you would accept (assuming $3/gallon gas) is about $20. If you make this trip once a month it costs you $240 more a year...I bet you spent almost that much in sales tax when you bought your Very Premium sound system.

I agree that the mileage these trucks get is frustrating, but once I did the math and calculated how little I'd little I'd save and how long the payback period would be if I traded for a different truck that CLAIMS better gas mileage it was much easier to live with the Tacoma.

 

Best V6 tank I've seen, bought time someone with a V6 showing some skills. 28-29 is possible.

 

Yes, duly noted. However, disregard the $ and explain to me how SoCal gets more than 100% better fuel economy than me, when I drive light to semi-aggressive. He gets 524 miles to a tank, and I get less than 400 KILOMETERS! Something other than "variables" is at play here. Just my 2 cents Canadian. I can live with the mileage, but as with anything, I would like to understand it.

 

Ok. So you believe that a difference of 18 mpg is perfectly understandable in 2 identical stock trucks (quotes of 11 and 29). I don't buy "skills" as legitimate for such a variance. If you're talking 80 mph tailwind on a straight, flat highway at 50 mph, that's a statistical data point that can be disregarded.

 

I appreciate your prospective and yes, 17 vs 21 is not a lot. However while I did say 17 to 18 is usually the BEST I get, I average about 15 with sometimes as low as 14. That really sucks.

Now I know I will get the "apples and oranges" thing but what makes this even harder to swallow is the fact that this Tacoma replaced a Saturn SC-2 Coupe. Little double overhead cam 4 cyl, with a 5 speed that ran like a scalded dog, (a lot of people don't believe me when I say that thing would hit 120 with pedal to spare. The only thing that stopped it was the speed limit in the computer) and it EASILY got 28 to 35 mpg on the highway even cruising at 80. Yes I know there is a big difference between the Saturn and this Tacoma but come on, 15 mpg? When I used to fill the tank at today's prices for $35 to $40 US and NOW it is $55 to $65, THAT hurts.

Yes the sound system wasn't cheap. BUT actually most of the components came out of my Saturn, (Saturn died a horrible death, hit a deer on the interstate at 75 MPH, totaled it, it had 285K miles on it and would still be going strong had it not been for "Rudalph"). The only thing I had to buy for the Tacoma was two new tweeters for the front doors and two new subs. The amps, head, other speakers, equalizer, CD changer, Satelite receiver and Blu Tooth unit all were resuable. I did do a complete sound deadening treatment and had to have the whole system re-eq'd. 12 speakers total (6 tweeters, 4 low-mids and 2 subs) with 6 channels of amplifiers totaling 1000 watts

 

I've gotten 36-38 mpg with my 2.7L on many tanks, yeah takes some skill and knowing how your engine works. I get mid 30s driving 55-60 all day at Denver altitude.

 

I calculated the mpgs of my first couple tanks of my truck and it drove me crazy, so I just stopped thinking about it and feel much better.

There is really nothing you can do about it, and trading it in for another, more efficient vehicle will cost way more than the marginal cost saved. So I say just enjoy the truck.

As an aside, if a few mpgs here or there makes a significant impact on your financial well being, then I'd think you probably couldn't (really) afford to buy a $30k truck in the first place (this is a general statement and not directed at any particular person here).

 

As stated in a previous post, I can live with the mileage, but I would like to understand it. I just don't believe worthywads has 23 mpg more "skill" than me.

Edit: damn autocorrect

 

Could not have said it any better , I said the same thing and got a adult time out.

 

Yes 13.3 sucks, it's cold outside, I'm getting 26-29 with my I4 in the winter.