Are you getting bad MPG?

does anyone use any fuel additives like lucas oil products or anything? occasional fill up with 89 or 90 instead of 87 and has it improved mileage?

 

I'm getting about 11 MPG taking mostly less than 5 mile trips. In this weather I let the truck warm up about 5-10 min. every morning before work.

 

Fuel in the fuel tank, oil in the crankcase, coolant in the radiator.

Nothing more, nothing less.
There's already enough shit being added to our fuels other than gasoline.
NO fuel additive does anything more than act as a mild detergent (if that).
Lucas additives are a bunch of crap.

Even if fuel additives worked as advertised, they would not provide enough of an MPG improvement to cover their cost (typically $5-$10 a tank).

 

I gotta get one too Jay.....my commute is 54 miles, one way. I average 17.5 which is damned good for our lifts/tires!

 

i put in some 89 shell the other day. not like it matters and probably wasting my money but id like to see what mpg i get, instead of running 87? my guess would be slightly worse mpg because the fuel burns quicker with higher octane? or am i wrong...

 

Wrong.

Octane is the fuel's resistance to preignition.
It is more difficult to ignite (the spark is more than hot enough), but once ignited, the flame front moves at the same speed.

Higher octane allows for more spark advance. The 4.0 can take advantage of this and the result is slightly more power and slightly better mpg, however, the difference is not great enough to offset the extra $3.60 that a tank of 91 will cost you over a tank of 87.

For the 2.7, there is no advantage of running anything higher than 87.

Higher octane does not have more power, does not burn cleaner or dirtier... in fact, in many cases it actually has less power because ethanol has become a popular additive to increase octane. Pure ethanol has a raw octane of 118, but it has 25% lower BTU content than gasoline.
Mixing ethanol and gasoline increases the octane, and reduces the power.

Alcohol-burning race cars make a ton of power through high compression, high spark advance, and a LOT of fuel.
Gasoline burns most effectively at 14.7:1. Ethanol burns at 9:1... if you have an engine that gets 29mpg on gasoline and retune it to run on pure ethanol, you would only get 18mpg.

 

I was goona say all that^ Glad Rich did instead

 

Jeez,

I get about 15 in the city and 18 on the highway. I dont really care about fuel economy, I just like to chart it to ensure my truck is running well. In my case, my motor sounds and feels fine.

I have done the following to try to squeeze the best mpg out of my fillups:

-new plugs (OEM denso's gapped at .031)
-new air filter
-oil change with Mobil 1
-topped off low tire pressue
-cleaned MAF

Seems like none of those things really had an effect on fuel economy. Now, I DO have a heavy foot, but I think its funny that my 412 HP 5.0L V8 gets better mpg (16.2) than my 150 HP 2.7L I4 (15.1) .

 

08' DCSB 6spd 4x4 stock tire size as of now. Only run 93, recent spark plug change, afe cai, and afe tbs. I average 19.7 mpg

 

If you used regular gas, you would prob average 19.3 mpg and save some money.

 

Plugs Plugs Plugs.
New spark plugs will get you 1-4 MPG, I learned that the hard way. Miles and time goes by fast and the plugs get old. Check for a mouse in the air cleaner (ya had one of them too).
I had my plugs changed at 35k and forgot about it until 90k and my MPG sucked a quick change (not so quick) and added 2.5 MPG.

 

just bought my tacoma isnt even broken in yet it has 12000km on it no lift 245/70/16 tires winter ones goodyear ice grips i live in Saskatoon Saskatchewan Canada id guess we get the winter mix in fuel as well but my truck has been damn consistent with the fuel economy im definitely impressed im not sure about the older tacomas if they have the variable valve timing or not but i trader my 2011 ranger in 4x4 xlt and i got around 9-10L/100km and 14-15L/100km city/all around driving winter or summer and my tacoma does equal if not better then that per tank i usually only run it to 1/4 tank just so i dont stress the fuel pump but i definitely get 9-10L/100km highway at 105km/hr i rarely speed because i have better stuff to spend my money on then F&*%3$@ tickets. My truck is stock ATM but i will be getting a 2 1/2" OME lift and maybe some bigger tires but ill see what the lift does first. Winters here range anywhere from 0 degrees Celsius to -40 Celsius or colder ive drove in both conditions and still got roughly the same mileage and that isnt factoring in warm up time while sitting at home/work waiting for the temp gauge to register a few notches

 

In addition to our '06 DC TRD Sport V6 Auto, we also have a 2008 Lexus GX470 SUV with the 4.7L V8. The GX is AWD with Michelin LTX/MS2 tires. Believe it or not, the Lexus consistently gets 1-2 mpg better mileage than our Taco. I can't explain why & it doesn't matter--just interesting.

 

I just sold my gx and bought an 06 taco. I agree that the gx might have gotten a little better mpgs.

 

I drive my truck in -40 temperatures. I don't know what I'm doing, but I maintain my 20 mpg.

I haven't done it in my truck, but if some of you guys don't need a truck, but only want the look of a truck, you may want to change out your axle ratio.

You see a truck is designed to carry/tow a heavier load than a passenger car.

The passenger car (not a "sports car" like mustang, camaro, corvette) doesn't need to carry a ton of extra stuff and so it doesn't need a 4:10 gear ratio in the axle, they do fine with something like a 2:70

So if you don't need to tow a boat or other trailer, haul firewood, cement just change the gear ratio.

Don't reply to my post - because this isn't my opinion - and I don't care what you have to say. This is just factual information. If you want to argue the point, return to your educators and get a refund for your education. I can't help those with a "free" public education.

 

what's that? can't hear you when you're up on that pedestal.

 

Damn dude, most people wait at least a little before they start posting stfu attitude. You and your 14 posts aren't making any friends anytime soon

 

He politely asked for no response to his assertions. Let's please respect his awesomeness.

If only public education was the sole source of dumbass.

 

You know how I know you're gay?