Are you getting bad MPG?

HOPE SOMEONE CAN HELP ME WITH THIS QUESTION I GOT WITH MPG.. I DONT HAVE A LIFT NOW BUT PLANNING ON GETTING ONE SOON.. ID LOVE TO GET A 3" LIFT BUT KIND OF SCARED HOW BAD OF MPGs ILL BE GETTING ESPECIALLY WITH THE GAS PRICES NOW A DAYS.. I WANT TO STILL BE ABLE TO DRIVE THE THING! LOL..
BUT MY QUESTION IS DO YOU THINK THERE WOULD BE A BIG DIFFERENCE IF I GET A 3" LIFT WITH 285s OR LEVELING IT WITH 275s? THANKS

 

I leveled mine with 275 70 R17 BFG A/Ts and saw a decrease in MPG of about 2mpg... sucks. The 285 tires will be worse due to more drag on the road.. and probably more weight. Also you'll need spacers or different offset rims with that width. . mine rub a little on the upper control arms when turned all the way to the stops.. I just avoid doing that though, not a big deal.

I like the lift and tires, but the biggest upset is the differance in acceleration and top end with the new tires.. they are WAY heavier than stock and its more sluggish up to 60 and the engine stuggles to pull 80-100 now where before it wasn't too much work. . Not that I do that often. Just one stretch of freeway that I like to test that out.

hope this helps, but doesn't dissuade you from buying...

 

do you happen to have a side pic of your truck? id like to see how the 275 ATs fit. thanks

 

22 average with the V6/Auto/4x4. Im easy on the pedal, have an Mk3 Supra Turbo for gas and tire burning.

 

Best I've seen is 15.5 or so. I've been driving like a granny for a while hoping it would make a difference, but it hasn't. My truck is manual and I've been attempting to keep it at around 2000 or a little more rpm, which seems low (my 98' i'd wind up to 3500 and had waaayy better mileage). Calling the Toyota Dealer today, I've only got 6000 left on the warranty and need it addressed soon, I'm going broke. I've been tracking my mileage on Fuelly hoping the dealership will take me seriously, but I still have my doubts (hard dealership to deal with). Maybe 02 sensor...or MF? I hope they find something. Any info would help, gret forum and thanks.

URL=http://www.fuelly.com/driver/FishinTaco/tacoma][/URL]

 

well i went from 14.5mpg in the winter months to about 17.5-18mpg now according to my ultra gauge, i feel alot better now that 14mpg stuff was really pi$$ing me off

 

Even with the stock 3.73's and 33" tires. I am still gettting around 18mpg. I keep the MAF clean, cleaned once a month. I also clean my K&N every month as well. Have you changed your Differential fluid? How about a new fuel filter, fuel system flush? I know these all helped my truck get back to descent MPG's

 

Just returned from a trip, Chicagoland to Alexandria, VA.
Used cruise on the way to VA and averaged 18.4mpg, not happy, especially since I had driven Chicagoland to Dallas, TX. when the truck was brand new, and averaged 21+mpg.
Did the drive back from VA without using the cruise :-( and averaged 20.4mpg.
I think 2mpg, as a price for using the cruise, is considerable, but on my next road trip, I will pay the price. That drive, with no cruise, was miserable.

 

well my best i think was 21.8

and my avg is 19.8

for DC/4x4/V6

 

I've done three 1,000+ mile road trips with my truck and no cruise control...its not bad, I'm actually getting used to it. But I do have to stop more often to give my leg a break.

 

And altitude! You supposedly lose approximately 5% of your power for every 1k ft above sea level. That takes a toll pretty fast.

 

You lose power at wide open throttle, but that has nearly no impact on partial throttle driving, since the engine is not breathing at it's maximum anyway. You will probably even get a better fuel economy at altitude for the same temperature/ speed, since you travel through less dense air. Lower max power at altitude yes, worse mpg no.

 

Well it's more than that, as you simply can't make up for the loss of oxygen in the atmosphere. It was brutal on carburetored engines, because without an adjustment, the mix would run really rich and hugely affect performance. Modern computer controlled injectors adjust by injecting less fuel into the mix. But that means less combustion .. and hence less power. Which means at altitude, you're pressing the pedal more for less.

You hear all different kinds of numbers though. I've heard you lose 3.5% of horsepower for every 1000 feet. I've hear it's 5%. I've also read that you have approximately 75% of total power at 6000 feet, as compared to sea level .. and it certainly gets worse the higher you go.

Anyone who has ever driven out of Denver or Summit County and to the Eisenhower Tunnel at 11,158 feet knows exactly what I'm talking about. Everybody dogs.

Consider that at sea level, the atmosphere has 20.9% oxygen. In Denver (5280 feet) it's around 17%. At the Eisenhower Tunnel, it's about 13.5%. And over Mosquito Pass near Leadville (13,185 feet) it's a paltry 12.5% .. a huge drop!

But gas mileage is a whole different matter, and in that sense I don't think altitude affects it much if at all. Again, it definitely did with carburertors if you didn't adjust. But with modern engines, it's more a matter of power loss.

Consider that I live at 8650 feet, and at 6000 miles on the truck, my last tank I got 18.3mpg.

One big advantage of altitude though .. you can run lower octane gas. Regular unleaded is 85 octane in Colorado, and Toyota dealerships say that's just fine.

 

Down to 11.5 MPG now with the lift.

 

Just caculated mileage for the first time today, 22.5 makes me happy. I don't beat on my truck but I don't baby it either.

 

4k miles on V6 and last tank avg 22 mpg, 50% hiway. Tires +5 psi, tonneau and M1 EP synthetic oil.

 

Looking at your great gas mileage and woundered if your Tacoma is 2wd? I looked at your profile discription and you say DCSB, but you never said if it was a 2wd or 4wd. I find it very hard to believe a 4wd will get 22mpg. Best I every got with my 4x4 TRD Sport DCLB was 19+ MPG never made it to 20 MPG even when I took it easy.

 

I got 23-24 mpg consistantly last fall when we were still on summer gas in my 4x4 dclb 4L auto. I noticed on another thread that the manual transmissions aren't getting as good of mileage, maybe that's the difference?

 

4x4 Tacoma Double Cab Long Bed's do not come with manual transmissions.

 

i just switched from stock tires to Michelin ltx2s and gas mileage went from 16 to 18 in mostly stop and go driving. As my last car was a 1998 explorer v8 that's about a 7 mpg improvement so I can't complain....