What Have You Done To Your 3rd Gen Today?

I run nothing but premium fuel in my truck and I get amazing fuel economy. I can average as good as 27mpg to and from work. And consistently average better then 24mpg per tank! I've made a 200 mile trip one way and have averaged 25mpg both ways on the trip. So people saying that running premium fuel will result in worse fuel economy is a bunch of shit!

 

Correct me if im wrong, but octane is the resistance to predetonation. I dont believe vp race fuel will burn slow (good song btw), but it can handle higher amounts of heat and compression before predetonating. Reason turbo and high compression cars require high octane. Now our trucks are not pushing performance numbers so knocking due to low octance is rare if possible.

What does this mean in our trucks? Run 110 race fuel and its just tossing money down they toilet since the engine does not have the hardware to predetonate the fuel.

But! Our engines are fancy beasts with dual vvt and a dozen injectors. I believe someone has figured out an algorithm to advance timing when higher octane is presented. Truck actually does feel a bit more powerful running 93 and i get about 23.5mpg when i fill it with premium and a bottle of techron which i only do every 5k. Rest gets regular 87 fill ups and 22mpg. Only because money vs mpg gain is not worth it.

Sports car nut with years of rotary engine experience. Bad gas=flames out the tailpipe. Learn quickly or cook tailgaters haha

 

I don't think it should result in worse fuel economy, but I do think it's a waste of money to run premium in an engine designed to run on 87.

 

I did this same thing on my last trip to the beach. Only i used mine to make pina coladas!

 

I only average between 18-19. On a long road trip the best I could accomplish was 20.5. Not real sure how people are getting 20+ on the regular.

 

Let's see your lifetime average on the truck just not the tank average. That's the true tell tale sign of what your getting. The two are typically night and day especially after fueling up.

 

So does your premium fuel contain ethanol? Where I fill up 87 contains 10% ethanol, 93 is ethanol free.

 

If you put in 110 race fuel, you'll likely damage the engine/sensors.

Reason being that it's generally got a ton of ethanol in it, and for whatever reason Toyota decided that that's bad (Notice the NO E85 statement near/on the gas cap?)


The octane rating specifically defines a resistance to predetonation, yes. BUT, to accomplish that, they either have to dump in a bunch of ethanol (there are legal maximums for the amount of ethanol in fuel that is marketed as gasoline, in most areas), or increase the amount of octane vs. heptane. Heptane is much easier to burn, and burns much faster and cleaner, but doesn't resist knock very well. Octane is harder to burn, and has a lower energy density than heptane (Both have a higher energy density than ethanol).

Although your car might be able to adjust timing based on fuel performance (it can), that doesn't usually equate to better miles per gallon, as more advanced timing doesn't help too terribly much (there's a maximum that's beneficial to running efficiently, and a maximum that's beneficial to running with highest performance). In addition to it not helping directly, you're also using fuel that has a lower energy density which is also more expensive. Significantly more expensive, in some markets.

 

Ethanol vs no could make a significant difference in MPGs. Congratulations on that one. Incidentally, it's usually the low grade of fuel around here that's got no ethanol. And then they add ethanol to turn it into the "premium" grade...

 

Thanks bro.. And no I didn't use plasti-dip. I got the truck new about a week ago and the chrome grill really bothered me lol so I pulled it off and I painted the mesh and outer bezel wrinkle black and painted the emblem satin black.

 

I went all flat but your looks really good too.

 

I'd like to suggest that driving habits and tires can contribute heavily to fuel economy. I have a DC OR with knobby tires and I often get a ~15mpg average tank in stop-and-go city traffic an on the highway going 80-95mph when crossing the state. However I do see ~24mpg when cruising the city highways at ~55mph, being gentle on the throttle, and over inflating the tires a little. And temporarily even better when cruising downhill. I don't think anyone's getting better than ~24mpg consistently.

You are not the only one getting 15mpg! Most people probably don't want to admit how bad their milage is. What tires do you have on and what's their pressure? I've compared several 87 octane tanks to 92 octane tanks and haven't personally seen a difference but will continue to test. Take other's reports with a grain of salt and explore the details...

 

I get shit for mpg also. Too many variables to really compare equally. I've lived in the Midwest, west coast and now Las Vegas. Very different roads, climates, driving conditions, etc. one thing is for sure, they could have done better on the engine/tranny combo. Not being A hater, just saying they could have done better.

 

FYI: regardless of the clearly stated credentials, no one will listen to you or read that comment and consider its credible source. The moment I read that I laughed because people don't care about facts.

Anyway, thanks for your qualified comment.

 

I think they struck a decent balance for a wide audience. I held out buying my Taco hoping they'd come out with a diesel like the HiLux - but clean. I've got it all backwards now - my car is diesel but my truck is gas! I don't care much about milage in the city but 30mpg on the highway at high speeds would be sweet, and I'd gladly pay $3K+ more for that. The Colorado/Canyon with its new diesel engine is a smart competitor.

 

I took the Taco out for tacos this morning...

 

i got over 7000k miles on mine and haven't seen one tank average less than 20mpg or over 22mpg.

I have averaged 30mpg on trips of 20+ miles... But tank average still ends up being between 20-22.

I expected 18mpg tank averages when i bought this truck so im happy. I wouldn't complain at 18mpg.

My brothers ford gets 16. Father's dodge at best is 15-17. Brother in laws Chevy gets 13 most the time.

I think the tacoma does great personally.

 

My MPG has gone up quite a bit recently, just ticked over 4k miles. I'm regularly getting over 27mpg in light traffic/highway, 31 without traffic.

Even my morning run to work where i sit in traffic for 15mins of my 30min journey I'm getting 25

 

You are not alone. I might be around 15 if I do the calculations to adjust for larger tire size. But per the truck display I'm around 14mpg. I expected a hit with lift and 33" tires but dang. I get 17ish tank average on my 1ton Ram... with 22ish highway trip average empty. This is going to suck as my DD if this continues.

 

@andyr562 and i did our roughcountry 2inch front level kit this weekend! @andyr562 is the sand and im the MGM