Horrible Fuel Economy on 2013 trd DBCB

Just an update for those who care. I had the Tacoma back to the dealer today and as expected they found nothing wrong and everything is as it should be. Service advisor told me I should see improvement between 8 -10000km which is considered the break in period.

I still love this truck but I just hoped I would see fuel economy somewhere close to the posted amounts or even the averages I am seeing on Fuelly for people with the same model as mine. My first gen Tacoma with a lift and mud terrains had better economy as did my previous 4Runner, both 3.4l 6cyl and both manual transmissions.

All in all I will continue to monitor the mileage but am gonna drive the shit out of it and enjoy rather than baby it with granny shifting.Besides its only a matter of time before the lift and bigger tires go on and then the fuel economy will completely go to shit! Keep the tank full and the mud flying from here on out!

 

Thanks for the update man. I have been shifting at like, 1500 rpm for the last few days and as one would expect, I'm doing a lot better on this tank than the last one. At this rate though, I may as well just get out and push the fucking thing.

At least you can look on the bright side, your truck doesn't vibrate. She's goin in tomorrow for my short shifter install. I'll mention the vibes to them but much like yourself with your mileage, don't expect much of a resolution. Just gonna have to keep the bass cranked so I don't notice.

 

Another Newf here - also in the St. John's area. I have a 2013 4x4 Access Cab TRD auto.

Not quite apples & oranges (mine's an auto). I have about 9000 kms on my truck. On a mostly highway run I get 12.6-12.8 l/100km. Less if it's windy. Around town it's about 14-15 l/100km, but I have a longer run to work than you (about 30 kms each way).

On the highway if you push it past 110 kph it really starts to suck fuel. I also find I get better mileage when I don't use the cruise control. My runs are between here & Clarenville - pretty hilly run. The CC is really aggressive on those long hills. I see about 8-10% better mileage when I don't use it.

I also have a Scangauge. Having the numbers right in front of you really makes a difference to your driving habits. And when you see what the CC is actually doing on the hills it makes you cringe.

And no off-roading here - other than my driveway.

 

Welcome to TW!! Nice to see you are getting decent mileage. Seems that you are at the break in period Toyota mentioned to me, did you see a recent improvement based on mileage or has it alway been that way?

For the first time in my driving history this is the first time I have seen automatics get better economy than manuals. I have seen this trend in high end vehicles with the 7 and 8 speed automatics but never would have thought it would be the case in a truck.

 

check brakes to see if they are dragging. the rear especially, feel how hot the hub feels, may need to back off the shoes. I personally have never seen much of increase in mileage after break end. would give truck about 5k miles before switching to fully synthetic if it didn't come from factory with it.

 

Thanks. Been lurking here since I bought the truck in December. Lots of great info & some awesome builds!

Did I see a difference recently? Well, hard to say. I also installed a soft tonneau about a month ago. That did make a noticeable difference - between .5 & .75 l/100km roughly. I had been getting mid-high 13's when I got the truck. Between the tonneau & I assume break-in I'm about 1 l/100km better than I started off I guess, on the highway at least. Not really sure around town but it does seem to be doing better.

I didn't expect great mileage - it is a truck after all. They haven't invented one yet that's easy on fuel. But it's probably only burning 25% more than my old G6 (4-cyl) so I'm not gonna complain too much.

 

Things are starting to improve slowly. My last tank I averaged 16.3l/100km or 14.5mpg and got to 406km on a tank before fueling up just before the gas light should have come on.This was mostly city driving with a little highway but I did change up my route to work so that i would avoid the big hill I would normally go up every morning. Not great but an improvement all the same! I can only hope that I will start seeing more improvements as I put more mileage on the truck, right now I am at 2800km.

 

No the Tacomas do not get good gas mileage. If you wanted good gas mileage then you should get a F150 Ecoboost or a GM Truck with 5.3L V8

 

Sounds seriously low.

The best mileage that I ever saw with my truck was during it's break-in period (21 mpg for a longer highway trip). Now, 7 years later, it gets worse mileage -- 15-16 on average.

I'd make a bigger stink with the dealer about it if I were you.

 

Well that's helpful!

I have had a 4runner and another Tacoma before this one so I am not oblivious to this truck or the type of truck I have chosen to drive. I believe I have an issue and there are others that seem to think the same but at least you never stated I should drive a prius so i guess that's a step in the right direction!

 

I switched to non-ethanol gas and Im avg about 20 mpg 60/40 (hwy/city). I currently have about 10k miles on my 2013 V6 double cab.

 

Nice try. Per Ford's website, the ecoboost with a 4x4 gets 20 mpg city/29 highway (14.6/9.6 l/100km). The non-ecoboost V6 is a touch better. The GM V6 is worse again, and the flexfuel V8 is about the same.

Toyota's claim for the 2013 Taco V6 4x4 is 22/29 MPG (12.9/9.6). So, based on those claims, about the same. Granted, the F150 is a bigger & more powerful truck, but it's also more expensive for an equivalent trim level...and it a FORD.

And none of this means anything in real-world driving, especially here in Eastern Newfoundland. All the hills just kill mileage. You can't drive in the St. John's area & not deal with hills. This area is basically a mountain range after all.

In my 25 years of driving in this area I have found on average I burn about 10-15% more than the claimed fuel economy in most vehicles depending on weather conditions, the exception being my old '08 G6 4-cyl which was just hopeless. I'm not a "hyper-miler" by any stretch, but I don't have a heavy foot either.

 

Man something is up!
My 2013 V6 4x4 TRD OF DC is avg 17.7-18 consistantly.
Just had the first 5k service.
My best tank was 21.
This is using 87 e-10 gas blend in good old Vermont twisty hills.
Truck is stock.
Better than my last truck (4.6 V8 Tundra) & about par with my last 2006 Tacoma in the same config except not a TRD.
Hope it improves for ya OP.

 

Oh - and I keep forgetting to mention that I fill up at Costco most of the time. When I fill up at Irving or Esso there seems to be a slight difference to the good, but not really significant.

 

I have exact same truck except auto not manual. I do 95% city driving but get 16-17mpg and track with ultragauge and confirm with gas receipts. There is no silver bullet.. You can improve it a little at a time with a lot of these suggestions, but its never going to be a 25mpg vehicle.

 

Imperial gallons

 

FYI: From the Toyota Canada 2013 Tacoma brochure...

 

Oh FFS. That's why those numbers are so out of whack?

It's all bad enough with trying to convert L/KM to MPG without having to factor in 2 different types of gallon. Bah.

For future reference:

Imperial Gallon = 4.55L
US Gallon = 3.79L

 

Same vehicle, 13, TRD Sport, DC, 6-speed 4x4. My mgp ranged from low of 15.6 mpg (first tank) to 16.76, last tank (1500 miles on od). Seems to be getting a bit better each tank, as engine/tranny/diffs break in.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twF86akpyks