Increasing MPG without voiding warranty...

Yeah I went 12 weeks not 52 my bad so 300/6.76 ~45years, which in a ToyotA would be possible for it to pay for itself but that's a long freakin time.

 

If you are already getting 18-23 out of your 4.0, then you are doing better than most TW members.
We've got people with the 2.7 that aren't getting that.

There's no more to be had. Any mods and gadgets are not going to be cost effective.

 

I got the Ultragauge, and well worth the 80 bucks.
It will make you more aware of your mpg

 

Is there a shorter rear diff you could install? One with gears around 3.23 or so?

 

My base model 5 lug 2.7 5 speed has really nice 3.31 street gears. 60 mph is only 2,000 rpm. It gets 23-24 mpg in the city, and 28-29 mpg on the freeway.

 

Here I didn't even do the math correct and then corrected you, I assumed your only mistake was getting $0.13 a week which should be $50 * 0.025 = $1.25.

$1.25 a week is $65 a year or payback is 300/65 = 4.6 years.

Still, there is no mpg gain with intakes, so the real payback is infinite years.

 

LOL!

Years ago, one of my customers was retrofitting his traffic signals with LED.
At the time, red was about $100, but green and yellow were over $300.
City Council gave the go-ahead for red immediately, but before approving green and yellow, they wanted a break-even schedule.

He calculated the break-even date for red only (about a year) and all 3 colors (about 3 years, well within the 5 year warranty and 10 year expected life).
They came back and asked for a breakdown BY COLOR!

Yellow is only on about 10% of the time, and the break-even point doing only yellow would have been 37 years

 

Agree - Cold air intake IS OEM standard. I went with the K&N because it was recommended on this forum, readily available used ($100), can be cleaned vice replaced, and allows for a bigger air gulp (Toyo Technician said the ECU by-passes fuel out the back end during rapid accelerations due to lack of air, well, it made seemed to make sense.)

 

Exactly why I did. After having the UltraGauge for a couple weeks, I have modified my behavior and have been getting ~25MPG out of a 2013 2WD DCSB. Highway driving 65-72MPH on flat terrain with the A/C on.

 

My thing is, MPG is the cherry on top, always. But I keep it in mind when doing work on the truck. Eg. I'll be making a soft top for the back, with at least enough structural integrity to be used as a boat rack (kayaks, canoes, etc) when needed. I am planning to use it for camping as well. Since I'm making it myself (maybe with the help of a friend partially), I am going to shape it to help improve highway mpg slightly. Unless I'm carrying significantly more than just two boats, it should help quite a bit, especially compared to putting them on the roof rack and letting them act as wind-sails (like I did on the corolla, or like you do with certain toppers).

Planning on eventually having some undercarriage protection. The skid plates can also help smooth it out aerodynamically, if done right.

As long as I stick to using the Tacoma for its main purpose, recreation, it should eventually have pretty sweet mpg. I just then need to quit being lazy and start using my scooter for the work commute more often, even in the bitter cold. Takes a lot of prep in the morning, but it's worth it when you get 90+mpg. The work commute accounts for most of my miles, across all the vehicles I've owned. Would like to change that.

 

Using two wheel transportation saves more gas than anything that anyone could ever do to their Tacos.

 

There are quite a few 4-wheelers that get better mileage than my 2 wheeler.
Worthywads averages his Tacoma comparably.

 

Not as enjoyable of course.

 

True true....

And my 2-wheeler could be referred to as the Excursion of motorcycles.
Fairing, hardbags and trunk, 200w stereo, 1600cc...

 

I just got my 2012 TRD v6 Taco last night and I am thrilled to get 16-21 mpg. I am coming off a Tundra getting 11.5-12.1 mpg in the city and 16-18 HWY.

 

I really miss my 1st Gen Tundra with the 4.7, and wish Toyota would bring it back (with a return to 1st-Gen size in the Tacoma).

 

Since purchasing my '04 DC Taco 3.4l V6 a few weeks ago, and reading the recommendations in this thread, I am averaging about 20.5mpg mixed driving. Seems to be between 19-20mpg all city driving. Highway seems to be about 23mpg. Cab high Leer topper. Avoid cruise control whenever hilly. Egg shell treatment of skinny right pedal. Try to keep RPMS <= 2000 even when accelerating. 60mph seemed to be a sweetspot on the highway before the topper, although she seems to accelerate very easily with a light foot to 65mph on level highway.

From Denver up I-70 over the Eisenhower Tunnel to Silverthorn: 19.4 mpg
From Kremmling/Granby over Berthoud Pass via US-40 / I-70 back to Denver: 25.1 mpg

 

That is an interesting run with the elevation changes.
Normally, the downhill will never regain the uphill losses, but my '03 Tundra made it from Grand Junction to Denver and back with some local cruising in Denver while there (blew in for a training class and left the next afternoon after the class was over).

 

The steep hills aren't as bad on i-70 if you don't feel the need to exceed 60mph.

This was with my Corolla, so the difference could be much bigger on the Tacoma, but I used to make the trip from Littleton to Silverthorne (for a lower-blue/green mountain kayaking run) frequently and would track how much it cost me. One time, I saved 2 full gallons of gas one way by simply cruising at 60mph the whole way in 4th gear. I was just lazy that morning and didn't feel like shifting, lane-changing, etc, just to save a few minutes.