Not Getting Over 25 MPG With A Mostly Stock V6 4X4 Tacoma? It's Your Damn Fault. Friday Edition.

You are correct my friend. 32.09 inch SL load rating 48 lbs. each.
Also I have no added weight to the truck other than a bed cover. Which is basically flush mounted.
I think at higher speeds this might actually help mileage as it blocks air hitting the tailgate. But I could be wrong.

 

Ok, you caught me. I really didn't drive 73 mph and get 22 mpg the whole time.
I had about 5 miles of 45 mph 4 lane getting on and off I74 at the beginning and the end of the trip.
I also had about 15 miles the same situation getting on and off I85 on I74 of a 65 mph zone. So I was only running about 70 mph.

So, you sly dog you! The one that caught me in my trickery!
In reality the facts are.
Out of the 210 miles I had only about 190 miles of 73 mph travel. 15 miles of 70 mph travel. And 5 miles of about 50 mph travel.
And I never claimed 22 mpg. I reported 23. Based on visual facts. Using the dash mpg and then adjusting it for tire size.
Other facts.
My dash tank MPG said 22 at the end of the trip.
My tires are 4.9% larger than stock.
I had the cruise set at 70 mph on I85. Waze confirmed 73-74 mph during the trip.
I'm not claiming anything. I'm just reporting the facts as I saw them that day.
What's really funny. If I'd reported my tank average for the trip at 17 or 18 mpg. Most everyone would have agreed the
dash mpg's are accurate as hell. As soon as it's a little outside the norm. The haters start to hate.

 

It is not that you are claiming slightly better mpg, you are claiming about 40% better. That is substantial. We all know that some get better mileage, but if the truck were capable of that kind of performance, Toyota needs to buy your truck back so they can figure out something that must have must have gone incredibly right in your truck that no one has. I have 50k on my truck. I have driven highway, city, beach, hills, and east coast mountains. I have tracked every mile since new with the fuelly app. Even with the occasional pump cutting off before completely full, I have never seen 20mpg. In the case where I may hit 19, the next is usually 16 because you never know how full it is.

The worst mileage I have ever had was in the hills of SC and NC which ironically you are claiming to have driven. I had the exact same experience with cruise control where it down shifted and the RPMs kick up. Higher RPMs = poor fuel economy. I mean, the faster your engine spins, the more gas it needs. You are claiming that in these conditions that your fuel mileage improved beyond the norm.

Something about your claim is either incredibly wrong or incredibly spectacular.

 

I agree. I'm not new to Tacoma's. Owned 5, all Gens. My daily driver has been a Tacoma for 12+ years.
And as I said in a post or 2 back. These are light 32's at 48 lb's. And I have a flush mounted bed cover. Not sure If that played a factor or not. I think at the next fill up this weekend I'll try and check the miles driven over the next tank vs. gallons used. And compare that to the Dash Tank mpg. It won't be a road trip it'll just be my normal weekly driving which usually comes in at around 18-19 mpg. But I want to compare the 2 to each other. May take 2-3 tanks to get a good average of miles vs gallons used.

 

The lighter tires have very, very little impact on your MPGs and while your tires are 9lbs lighter than my Nittos, your wheels are actually15lbs heavier than my SCS so your unsprung weight is more. I would be very interested to see what your true mileage is over time tracked with an app.

I know the mpg computers are notoriously wrong. It was called a 'dreamometet' in the 4 runner world because it was so far off. Oddly, much like this it shows much higher mpgs than you are really getting. Is there a chance that Toyota would do that on purpose?

 

Seems like OP got lucky with wind conditions this trip.

 

I looked at a couple of apps. They wanted me to allow the app to know my current position by my phone. Not really cool with an app tracking my every move. Even though it probably happens every day. I think I'll check it by miles vs gallons used unless you know of a good app that doesn't track your every move. But that may not be possible.

 

Undoubtedly there is a reason those apps are free. I'm sure Fuelly knows my every move and sells it. You could really do the same thing with a spreadsheet and some simple cell formulas. That is really all those apps do.

 

I would rarely get 20mpg with a similar setup

 

Stock SR5- rarely get more than 17mpg but… I am not easy on the pedal. I drove cautiously for a week to see if anything would change and it did, I got 22mpg. How you drive, aggressive, (what some call cautious- normal), or slow-will have the biggest factor in MPG.

 

I'm the original owner of a '20 TRD OR w/lift and 285/75/16 tires and just this week....somehow...I got the best mileage I'VE EVER SEEN with this truck. Normally 16-17mpg on a really good day and 14mpg on a bad day.

 

I love a good mileage thread!

 

That’s terrible, I average 17-18mpg with 33s

 

honestly, i get more MPG then the "miles per tank" measurement.

 

As requested.
Filled up the truck last week. Triple click method as some have suggested and reset the trip meter.
I will drive it till almost empty and then refill it. Same gas station, same pump if possible.
Triple click method again. Then check miles driven X 1.048 (tire adj) by gallons used.
Then I'll have a miles/gallons used calculation. I can see how it compares vs. dash calculation.
Probably need to do this over multiple tanks to get a good average.

Not looking to shabby. 106.3 tire adjusted miles. And just off full.

 

You guys should be getting in the 20s in a basically stock truck, considering all the high tech thinking that went into the new engine and transmission.

 

Added another 100 miles to the truck. Now at 210 tire adjusted miles on the tank. Still over half full.
Looking forward to see how the miles vs. gallons used, compares to the dash calculation.

 

Almost another 100 miles. Tank still over 1/4 of the way full. This is going to be interesting.

 

Aren't MPG's are hugely influenced by the roads, terrain, traffic you are driving on as well as how you drive. Are you someone who squeels tires at every stop sign, or do you coast down hills at 40 mph to watch the meter rise... Comparing different drivers on different roads is kind of silly IMO.

FWIW, I average 15-16mpg on a 2021 stock OR. But most of my driving is short trips around town with a lot of hills and stop lights. Whenever I drive on the freeway I get closer to 18 mpg.

 

DONE!

3 click fill-up method used. Same station, same pump both times.
384.5 miles X 1.048 tire adjusted = 403 miles. Gal. used 18.92. 403/18.92 = 21.3 mpg.
Over a 3 week period. Truck was driven 7 days/week.
Mon-Friday 22 miles round trip to work & back. 2 miles 45 mph zone, 6 stoplights. 20 miles 65-70 mph interstate hwy.
Weekend, all city driving. Gym then to local Diner for lunch both days. Then Big box or local market.
Probably 4-5 other stops over the 3 weekends. Probably 70 miles total over the weekends with multiple stoplights along the way.
Truck calculation 21.1 mpg. Gal. vs. miles driven 21.3 mpg. Pretty damn close!