Estimated fuel mileage 3rd gen

New member here and first post as well.

I bought a 2019 Tacoma TRD Sport last year. When I first filled the gas tank it said my estimated mileage was around 330 miles to the tank. After continued usage of the truck and refueling at the same gas station, I began to notice the decrease in the mileage range. It is to the point now that I only get 270ish estimated mileage range when refueling. I usually gas up before getting to 1/4 tank. My average gallons are usually 16 or so that should put me in the 270ish range. But what about the gas that is already in the tank? Doesn’t that get thrown in the mix?
In checking some of the vehicle specs through Edmunds.com, I found the gas tank capacity to be around 21.1 gallons. An average of 20 miles per gallon, this should put the actual miles at around 422 miles per tank. Yeah, I know not real world numbers. However, in checking with other truck owners they still get around 330 miles when refueling their Tacomas. So what gives? Anyone have any ideas? I’m just trying to figure out where I lost 60 miles in.

 

It's still in there, calculating MPGs is probably most accurate.


you are getting nearly 17 mpg which is about average.



here is a link if you want to drill down based on options,, I will warn you, it's not well kept. It appears users may be able to enter information here, so there are duplicates.
https://www.fuelly.com/

 

There are tons of things that affect mpg. I just did a 1600 mile road trip last week and consistently got different numbers for each fill up. I'd range from 14 and change to 17. The way back I had added a camper shell and my mpg didn't change at all.

Some things that do come into play:
-tire pressure
-tire size
-tire load rating (C, E, changes the weight of the tires)
-are you hauling/carrying anything heavy? any passengers?
-is there any head or tail wind?
-terrain (inclines and declines both play a factor)
-driving style

 

I've run my Tacoma for miles after the refuel estimate and have never added more than 19 gallons. Just because the tank holds 21.1 gallons doesn't necessarily mean it's all usable (the fuel pick-up may not be able to gather the last .X gallons). Has anyone here run their 3rd gen dry (not recommended) then noted the number of gallons you can add?

 

Check my fuelly...


I run the stock firestones at 36psi.
I will tell you the oddity of the v6 on the 3rd gen... 80mph or 70mph 21mpg..... 75mph 20mpg...I think it hunts gears more at 75...

Summer gas is 2mpg better than winter gas in the northeast.
I'm at 22+mpg right now. I use "dumb" cruise control to prevent the slamming brakes...

When you are at ZERO miles left you have 10% of your gas tank left which is 2 gallons basically. So you have 36-42 miles depending on your active MPG and driving style.

 

lifted, stock size tires?

 

2019 2wd sport I’ve owned for 6 years here… basically stock with a tonneau cover and rolling on Michelin Defender LTX tires on the 2022 sport wheels. It has Bilstein 5100s all the way around but set to stock height …42k on the clock, probably 70 city/30 hwy

Lifetime average is 20.1 MPG using the Mileage Keeper app, logged every fill up since I’ve owned it.

Ignore the dash gauge, it’s constantly at least +\- 1.2 or so MPG off the app which does the mileage/gallons calculation after every fill up for both that tank full and lifetime average.

Based on my normal driving I can plan on 350 or so miles before I get between the the 1/4 and empty mark and it takes just a hair under 18 gallons to fill. The range meter will vary between 310 and 360 usually after a fill but it should go further than that if I run it to the empty mark. It’ll obviously do better purely hwy driving but your results may vary with your right foot.

 

The range number on mine changes as the tank is used. When I pull out of the gas station, it's almost always showing around 380. So far this tank I've been about 140 miles and the range is showing 300 miles, It does this every tank so I have to guess it's computer generated based on this tank's MPG and resets to some random #.
My usual MPG is 20-21 in the winter and around 24 in the warmer months.

Completely stock w/tonneau cover.

 

Just did 1300 miles. Fiberglass cap and loaded up with stuff. 95% highway 21.5 mpg

 

When I bought the truck it came lifted with Fox coil overs. I believe that’s a 2" or 2.5” lift. Falken Wild Peak 285 70R17 tires. Not the most friendly street tires. So my MPGs are mostly city with some freeway. Not too concerned about that part of the information, just the computer not being able to predict the “distance to empty” correctly.

 

I'd have to say that the truck was working with the former driver's driving habits and has now adjusted to your own driving habits. Some people are very conscious of how they are driving and how it affects their milage and some aren't. It doesn't matter what they are driving or where, they will get better milage than someone else with different habits. But now you know that the truck can get better milage if you adjust your habits because it's done it before...

 

I've recently been driving a commute that takes me from 2000 ft elevation up to 4,000 ft and a downhill return.
I usualy get around 17 going up and up to 28 coming down.
That works out to 22.5, which is great.
Now there are other times taking a 3 mile trip across town and it's more like 11-14.
Now my Wife's Rav4 Hybrid, that's anywhere from 30 to 40!!!

 

Thanks for the information everyone. I will certainly look into implementing your input onto my driving habits. I live in LA so traffic unfortunately is something that will certainly affect my MPGs coupled with the current tire and suspension setup. More than likely I will choose a set of tires that is less aggressive for use in city traffic.

 

Your drive around the Los Angeles area never lets you drive steady between 45 to 65 which is where you will get the best gas mileage. At least you have great weather overall. Gas mileage is way less when it is below freezing. You don't see that.

 

Man I wish I could get 17mpg

 

I'm pretty much stock with tonneau cover. At 18.8 MPG over the entire life of the truck (70k miles), I"m right in the middle of the chart average.

I think the data speaks for itself - 19 MPG combined is just about what to expect.

 

My gas mileage decreased about 15% after I got larger all terain tires.

 

Keep in mind that with a larger tire size the mpg estimate and odometer will read incorrectly in proportion with the percentage difference in size.