MPG Mods

New member here w/ 07 V6 Prerunner wanting to weigh in on the air filter subject. Put a K&N on the wife's 02 Highlander years ago, no MPG nor performance gain at all. Once the computer senses the air flow delta it adjusts the fuel ratio. With all the pressure on the car manufacturers for better MPG, if a simple after market filter would get the vehicle another 1/2 MPG, your truck/car would have it on it in a New York minute. Also, there is nothing more detrimental to the longevity of an internal combustion engine than dirt either from the air or from the oil. Them thar Toyota engineers ain't stupid and I'm staying with a clean stock filter.
Thanks for listening to the rants and raves of a lunatic.

 

I just filled up after 133 miles (8.7 gallons).. and got 15.3 MPG. Not happy about that. It was all city driving although I live in a semi rural area. I make short trips 5x a week to a park and ride which is about 2 miles from home and my truck doesn't even "warm" up. That most likely accounts for the bad mileage. I have the 4x4 V6 4.0 liter engine. I drive conservative. Let's see!

 

Buy a scanguage. Its the #1 first thing if you want better gas mileage. Can't get better till you know what better is!

 

+1

 

I drove a whole tank around town being very careful to keep my rpms below 2000, and actually got WORSE mileage....not sure why. Driving a 2011 double-cab 6 cylinder long bed and only getting around 18 in-town. What else can I do?

 

Get a 9X' Mazda NA Miata as a secondary car, can get one for about $2500, and it will do 30+ MPGs, the savings in Taco gas by using the Miata 50% of the time will quickly make up for the cost of the Miata, and the Miata is just fun. I did it and love having both the 4x4 Tacoma and the Manual Miata.

 

Thinking about getting one of these for my 2010. i cant decide which i want any insight?

 

I have 2012 DC 2.7L and I drive 130 miles back and forth to work, it is 30 percent city with lots of traffic lights and 70 percent local highway.
I have been doing some study on gas mileage if I drive on highway at 63 MPH with cruise set....gas mileage is 24 combined. At 60MPH, it goes up to 24.7 combined. Now when I drive at 55MPH then it is a big difference, it's upto 26.5 combined.

 

Looked on their site, (AFE Pro-Dry Air Filter) but they don't have the 2012 Tacoma listed...does the 2011 filter fit the 2012?

...anyone....anyone...

 

Hey there folks, first post here. I am heavily considering purchasing a 99 3.4l Tacoma, its the TRD offering. It has 134,xxx mileage. It has had all major maint. performed, with records. It has a 2.5" lift, done professionally. It is an auto trans. I am hoping that you all could offer advice on what to look for in the way of common ailments that I should be on the lookout for?

 

Before I bought my 2012 Tacoma SR5 access cab 4x4 w/4cyl I knew the fuel economy was going to be poor. Other pick up truck owners I know say it's better than theirs so I don't get to concerned. If I want to control mpg I do mainly highway driving w/cruise control set on 67mph which put's my rpm's around 2200. MPG really suffers when rpm's are 2500 or above. There are no plans to try other mods such as chips, downloads, air filters, etc to increase mpg. I'll just live with what I have if the truck pans out and lasts me 20+ years.

 

That is *amazing* fuel economy for a double cab, really great stuff. Have you done anything to the truck such as changing lubricants to synthetic, running higher tire pressures, etc? I have a hard time driving 55mph, everyone else is going so fast and it makes me feel like a nuisance or a hazard -- I usually cruise highway at 65mph and rarely go above 70. With 50/50 city/hwy miles, my average is 24.2mpg over the last 25,000 miles. Not bad for a pickup

 

My Best friend had one & drove it like you; very easy (got similar mileage). That is ALL you can ever expect to get out of a Tacoma V6 05 & up. I have an 05 Crew Sport LB and get 15-16 miles per gallon but I don't baby it. LOL
From my experience when buying a new vehicle my mileage between city and highway (at best) came out to be what the manufacturer stated I would get during city driving. Toyota started 17-21 mpg when 2nd Gen Tacoma came out in 05; then went from 17-20 mpg in the following years. I would recomend to anyone buy the Tundra 4.6L/get the same mileage and have a full size truck although I love my Tacoma and don't believe there is a sportier truck from the factory than the Tacoma. 4.0L TRD Sport Crew LBed (Silver-my pref).... Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

2 mpg better than I'm getting.

 

I installed a helix power tower throttle body spacer in my 05/4.0 4x4 4dr lb and picked up 2mpg .anyone have anything that actually works other than that? I went back to stock tire size and getting 18/23mpg ../

 

I have a 2007 4 cylinder manual transmission Tacoma and I once got 27 mpg. That's here in hilly Vermont. I did this by coasting down my road half a mile to the main road in neutral with the engine off but ignition on, then shutting down the engine whenever I came to a hill of any length and turning the ignition back on to have the odometer registering. That's risky of course. after a few pumps on the brake, your vacuum is gone and it takes considerable push to get braking. Maybe not enough to stop you from hitting that deer that jumped in front of you.

So I don't do that anymore and max out at about 25 mpg by coasting in neutral when the hills come up.

Charles Scott

 

Just a random thought, might be stupid so dont make fun.
But... With long highway driving like 800 miles can taping up hood and light gap lines and mabye some of the grille improve anything at all? im assuming it would do nothing on a truck but any thoughts? haha.
Remember, just a random thought

 

Doubtful, but it's almost free, let us know. 1 mph slower would likely get you more.

 

Sorry if this is a repost...I haven't gone through all the postings here so someone may have suggested this already.

Get rid of any additional weight not permanently attached to the vehicle that you can. I unloaded my spare tire, jack tools, lug wrench and any other miscellaneous "live load" that I could find. I have AAA Plus RV (covers my truck, trailer, Harley) so as far as needing a tow, in case of a problem, it's not an issue for me. Some might not find this practical though.

I weighed my spare and tools on my digital shipping scale. Their combined weight is 75 pounds.

 

i am in the same position as kylefrdavis i just bought a 98 standard cab 2.7 its lifted 3inch on 33x12.50 i realize that alone is going to lower my gas milage i was thinking in city and possibly make me get a little better one why because the big tires, boy was a wrong first good drive with it was 120 miles so i figured i would check mpg's, it took me 11 gallons to drive that distance so i figured 11mpg. i tried again on the way home to see if i made a mistake and got the same. i love my truck but can't break afford it this way. I'm thinking of going down to a 265/75/16 anyway anything helps if you in somewhat the same position