Fuel Economy on Pro

My Pro is bone stock and I get 16-18 MPG religiously through 12K miles. My average trip, though, is 10-15 miles stop-and-go ~45MPH.
If I'm travelling on the highway for a few hours, I'll see about 18.5 MPG.

Maybe I drive a little aggressively. . .

 

I wish I knew. I bet @hiPSI knows. Educate us!

 

If I keep the beast under 70 I can get 20mpg. I have steel armor and it's lifted. All about keeping those rpms down.

 

This, plus mountain driving. Mine has 600 or 700 miles, I got 19.2. On flat Iowa roads, headwind half of the trip. Bought my 2016 Sport same time of year. It will get better, however I did notice from 2016 to 2019 hwy mpg dropped from 23 to 22 on the window sticker.
With that said, drove my father in laws 2017 Limited and his tank average was 26.5. Air dam, street tires and 10k miles on it. He never cracks 55 mph! Best I got on my Sport was 26.5, started Pro mods, average dropped 23 mpg. I am hoping this Pro will get there after break in and Spring fuel.

 

Here is mine from yesterday, 20% city 80% f'way.

 

Y'all are funny trying to do everything you can to eek out a few more mpg. I get it, the gas mileage is pretty pathetic. But anything under 30 mpg is pathetic these days. IMO if you don't need to drive a truck every day for work, buy a 5 year old Chevy Volt for <$10k and do most of your driving with that. It'll pay for itself in gas savings in like 6 years. Plus you'll keep the miles off your truck.

 

I think guys that keep their truck stock, just want to get what it was advertised to get. But there are many factors to get to that point.

 

Not being a ass but why didn’t you buy a Prius if your worried about gas? I meen you don’t buy an off road truck and expect good gas mileage.

 

mine is trd off road avg 19-22 on the highway light footed .city 14-16 =( probably driving it like a race car around town lol .If u baby the gas peddle u will see better mpg .

 

'17 MT Pro, 40k miles.
today i think i got her up to 15.6 on the highway. no weight, just driving 93oct on OV full Otto tune. worth every penny. but OV is now talking about efficiency so next year i may get up to 17!

 

Here are a few articles and my thoughts that explain what winter gas is and why we need it. I learned most of this stuff in college but have forgotten most of it.

One:
Here's the poop: As specified by state law, reformulated winter gas contains any number of lighter, lower-boiling-point hydrocarbons (butane, propane, etc.) that just so happen to have an excellent octane value. Added to this may be any number of oxygen-bearing ether compounds (MTBE, ETBE, ethanol) that improve emissions and also have a relatively high octane blending value.

So what's all the bad hype for? Price, for one thing "It's actually more expensive to make reformulated winter gas than normal, summer fuel, ' says Thomas Hart. Lower fuel economy is another concern.

"The oxygen-bearing compounds displace fuel components, so it takes more fuel to get the job done. Normal gasoline has a stoichiometric ratio of 14.7:1, reformulated winter fuel runs between 14.3 and 14.4:1," says Mitch Markusich.

And the complaints about poor performance? Mitch says, "When people ***** about the fuel, it's not really the fuel's fault. The weather is largely responsible; after all, it is winter. Low cranking voltage in the battery, increased oil viscosity, atmospheric condensation in underground fuel tanks and so forth."

The bottom line is that when it's cold, winter gas seems to be the hot ticket for performance enthusiasts. Not only is the dense winter air good for horsepower, but the higher oxygen content and octane value of winter gas make the pot sweeter And as for fuel economy and price? When did that ever get in the way of having a good time behind the wheel? It s just too bad we have to deal with all that snow and ice".

Two:
A Primer on Gasoline Blending
Gasoline is composed of many different hydrocarbons. Crude oil enters a refinery, and is processed through various units before being blended into gasoline. A refinery may have a fluid catalytic cracker (FCC), an alkylate unit, and a reformer, each of which produces gasoline blending components. Alkylate gasoline, for example, is valuable because it has a very high octane, and can be used to produce high-octane (and higher value) blends. Light straight run gasoline is the least processed stream. It is cheap to produce, but it has a low octane. The person specifying the gasoline blends has to mix all of the components together to meet the product specifications.

There are two very important (although not the only) specifications that need to be met for each gasoline blend. The gasoline needs to have the proper octane, and it needs to have the proper Reid vapor pressure, or RVP. While the octane of a particular grade is constant throughout the year, the RVP spec changes as cooler weather sets in.

The RVP is the vapor pressure of the gasoline blend when the temperature is 100 degrees F. Normal atmospheric pressure varies, but is usually around 14.7 lbs per square inch (psi). Atmospheric pressure is caused by the weight of the air over our heads. If a liquid has a vapor pressure of greater than local atmospheric pressure, that liquid boils. For example, when you heat a pot of water, the vapor pressure increases until it reaches atmospheric pressure. At that point, the water begins to boil.

In the summer, when temperatures can exceed 100 degrees F in many locations, it is important that the RVP of gasoline is well below 14.7. Otherwise, it can pressure up your gas tanks and gas cans, and it can boil in open containers. Gas that is boiled off ends up in the atmosphere, and contributes to air pollution. Therefore, the EPA has declared that summer gasoline blends may not exceed 7.8 psi in some locations, and 9.0 psi in others.

A typical summer gasoline blend might consist of 40% FCC gas, 25% straight run gas, 15% alkylate, 18% reformate, and 2% butane. The RVP of the gasoline blend depends on how much of each component is in the blend, and what the RVP is of each component. Butane is a relatively inexpensive ingredient in gasoline, but it has the highest vapor pressure at around 52 psi.

In a gasoline blend, each component contributes a fraction to the overall RVP. In the case of butane, if there is 10% butane in the blend, it will contribute around 5.2 psi (10% of 52 psi) to the overall blend. (In reality, it is slightly more complicated than this, because some components interact with each other which can affect the expected RVP). This means that in the summer, the butane fraction must be very low in the gasoline, or the overall RVP of the blend will be too high. That is the primary difference between winter and summer gasoline blends.

Why Prices Fall in the Fall
Winter gasoline blends are phased in as the weather gets cooler. September 15th is the date of the first increase in RVP, and in some areas the allowed RVP eventually increases to 15 psi. This has two implications for gasoline prices every fall. First, as noted, butane is a cheaper blending component than most of the other ingredients. That makes fall and winter gasoline cheaper to produce. But the increased ability to add butane also means that gasoline supplies effectively increase as the RVP requirement increases. Not only that, but this all takes place after summer driving season, when demand typically falls off. On the other hand, refiners usually draw down inventories of summer gasoline leading up to September 15th to make room for the changeover, and this can lead to vulnerabilities should hurricanes come into play (as they did this year).

These factors normally combine each year to reduce gasoline prices in the fall (even in non-election years). The RVP is stepped back down to summer levels starting in the spring, and this usually causes prices to increase. But lest you think of buying cheap winter gasoline and storing it until spring or summer, remember that it will pressure up as the weather heats up, and the contained butane will start to vaporize out of the mix.

And that's why gasoline prices generally fall back in the fall, and spring forward in the spring.

 

^^^
Very good article explaining why all petro companies bend us over the barrel. Need to know how did the cars in the past run without all that crap added to the gas.
Ya, I know, the EPA, the tree huggers, the global warming alarmists. For all those bent to "save the planet", I have to let you know that a volcano emits a lot more pollutants that any country. Ocean floor has more emissions of oil, gas, CO2, and many more toxins that all the people produced in one year.
All that is a colluded scam between the petro companies, governments, environmentalists.
If the "processed" gas is SOOOOOO good, why is not used in aviation??? Try putting street gas in a Cessna or Piper and see how the engine like it...only aviation fuel is used. Want power to your rear wheel in a taco? Put aviation fuel in it but kiss goodbye the cats.

 

I think 20 mpg <\> for a truck and all it does is pretty good... esp when you want it
I dont drive conservatively though, I have fun when I can, pedal down go time

 

I was only asked to explain it, not discuss the history and politics lol.
For the record, I blame everyone who got picked last in gym class.

 

Why can't we have ONE type of gas? Summer, winter, armageddon, one type.

 

Did you not read my post?

Several reasons:
1. EPA rules
2. See #1.

Before you start bitching again, the EPA has done a lot of good things for our environment. They have also done a lot of stupid stuff with serious over reach.
Summer and winter gas is simply designed to maintain the Proper Reid Vapor pressure.
Don't know how old you are but back in my day I remember on a hot day looking at the truck and seeing gas running out of the cap.

 

We know this is BULLSHIT!
A colluded excuse by power at be to keep prices up and extort as much as possible from all of us.
Put a gun to their corrupted heads to make ONE type of gas or kiss your family's ass goodbye and see how fast will be done. I drove cars/trucks for 40 years.
There is no incentive to change since the money pours in.

Taxes
The tax on a gallon of gas in 1950 was approximately 1.5% of the price. In January 2017, the federal, state and local tax on a gallon of gasoline was 19.5% of the total price. This means that taxes added about 48 cents to the price increase in a gallon of gas. Federal tax made up 18.4 cents, state tax made up 27.3 cents, and local and other taxes made up 4.3 cents per gallon. Other countries have vastly different tax policies for gasoline, some of which can make taxes the largest price component.

 

Just bought my 2019 Tacoma Pro and right out of the gate I’m getting between 17-18 mpg. These trucks transmissions are tuned so low that when going up a hill you have to push on the gas to keep up with your speed making it down shift all the time, which results in poor mpg. I took it in to add some bed LEDs and they told me that these new truck need to learn how you drive and once you break them in they drive and get better mpg. I only have 750 miles so far. Once I take it in for the first oil change, I’m asking for the TSB latest tune. If that doesn’t work I’ll pay the 700+ for the OVtune. Already payed 48k (including 3k of add-one) why stop there lol. Also on Toyota.com they are only rated 17 city and 20 hwy.

 

Toyota has not added the 2019 to the latest TSB. Mine got stuck in 3rd or 4th gear using cruise control going from 45 mph to 55mph speed zone. Had to shut cruise control off or switch to manual mode in hind sight.