MPG Mods

I have been Tacoma, 4cylinder owner for about 30 years. Recently I bought
a 17' Casita travel trailer. It was a load for the 07 Tacoma. So I traded in
the 07 for a 06 PreRunner, 6 cylinder, with TRD. I get a much better ride
with the PreRunner, and the 6 cylinders take the hills with ease. I changed
the oil today for the first time. It is much easier changing the oil filter. I
took a small water bottle (empty), tied a cord around it to hold the bottle
on to the drain pipe so as to catch the oil while replacing the filter. It worked so well and I hope other readers will try this.

 

Welcome to TW! I use a plastic hose and guide it down to the used oil pan.

 

Now that we've made through winter and I no longer must rely on the v6 4x4 for it's capabilties, I splurged ($1,000) and got a flat bed 4 banger manual trans 1st gen Tacoma with 170,067.4 miles on the odometer. It's rough around the edges to say the least, but it rides nice. I got it home and dropped the oil and topped up all the fluids. It's a peppy little thing that I think I'll enjoy using this summer.



Initial 10 mile roundtrip course with Pulse & Glide driving without Engine Off Coasting yielded 37.7mpg uncalibrated on the Ultra Guage. This was after airing the tires to 44psi and removing the passenger wiper. This truck has much taller gearing than the V6, so I found myself wanting to shift early. It doesn't have a tac either which I'll have to add to the front screen on the UG. The UG also powers down when I key off, so I will need to wire in a kill switch in order to EOC.


I'm excited as this truck is already showing promise and has alot of aero possibilities on the table. First mods to do are:

Grill Block
Kill Switch
Replace brand new rear winter tires with used summer ones

 

^

 

ok so in home testing results...one MPG Mod at a time to see the difference!
I took the stock air filter out and replaced it with a Specter cold air intake right off the side of the intake box...
I confirmed 4 tanks of gas at normal driving stock to 15.4mpg
the very next tank of gas with the cold air intake is 16.7mpg
and 16.6 after that and working on the third tank now.
this is just my own personal test, the ONLY thing I have changed is the intake.

 

That is an unreliable way of testing a modification like this. Good ABA Testing is required to accurately quantify any mods you do.

Fuel consumption is remarkably sensitive to all kinds of variables:
ambient temperature
wind
humidity
barometric pressure
vehicle temperature (not just engine, but the entire drivetrain including transmission, joints, bearings, tires)
fuel grade/quality
payload
elevation/road grade
road surface conditions / type
speed
other traffic
driving style / driver psychology

Here is a graph posted by a respected forum member on ecomodder showing the relationship between temperature change and fuel economy.

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/performance-tuning/349020-free-mpg-mod-maybe.html i tried the same thing basically this winter with decent results but i just used the stock filter location. i noticed that i could get about 40* increase over ambient temps once the truck warmed up, and i could maintain it as long as i didnt drive over 55mph or so. in one page i got really mathy and slightly assumptious and decided i was saving roughly 1 gal per 650 miles or so at my average driving rpms.

 

The Link you provided to find AFE filters does not have any AFE filters that fit my truck.

 

Wanted to share this: Helped my MPG a little bit.

Thanks for reading. I just created this tutorial video regarding how to treat your engine with Seafoam. I know there are haters that don't believe in it and swear by other products but I love the stuff. It can be used on any engine (gas or diesel), and I've noticed an improvement in performance.

Enjoy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-UIg5djOmU

 

No ill effects on O2 sensors or cat? I am getting 18 to 19.5 mpg on my stock 2010 i4 prerunner, switched to all synthetic gear and engine oils with little change in mpg. I keep shift points at just above 2000 rpm. My best tank was after stomping on the peddle for a tank, 16.5 mpg. The next tank was my best at 19.5 mpg, why I'm interested in carbon blow out. Truck bought used in 2014 with 32,000 miles on it, 45,000 miles on it now.

 

No concerns here. My brother uses it all the time in an assortment of various vehicles and equipment and has never had a problem. I'm sure if you used it every day you'd get some sort of build up since you'd be blowing smoke all the time.

 

I'll give it a go this weekend.
Thanks

 

installed the AFE pro dry filter. I would recommend this upgrade for sure thanks fellas for the write ups. I did not see much of a MPG gain however I have noticed a power increase and having the 2.7l I will take all that I can get. I have noticed that I get better mileage if I get pure gasoline, around 23 MPG where as I only get 20 with ethanol cut crap. thanks again for the write up.

 

i just installed an afe pro dry s filter and removed the charcoal filter. i definitely notice a bit of power gains but i'll have to give it another week or so to see if mpg has improved. i was averaging 23-25 mpg before. if mpg stays the same i'll still be satisfied. cheap and easy mod i can't complain.

 

do you have a 4x2 or a 4x4, because I have not seen any significant MPG gains, only power. I also removed my charcoal filter and now notice pedal drop where I didn't before. I had it on my old chevy 4x4, must be because that it breaths easier.

 

i have a 4x2. i'm not sure what pedal drop is but i definitely feel it breathing much easier. i spend most of my weeks stuck in traffic so i don't know how much mpg gains i could see

 

pedal drop- you feel the gas pedal slap your foot due to engine pressure pulling on the throttle

 

Is that a joke?

 

No this is not a joke. You've never experienced this? I've had several older Chevy 4x4's that where standards "like my Yota" and when I would downshift or lay off of the pedal the gas pedal would slap my foot. Pedal Drop, just as it implies. I noticed that my truck now does this since I have installed a High flow filter and removed the charcoal filter installed in the air box from the factory. I may not be a tech but I have worked on and built trucks for 20 yrs. I am pretty sure that my 2.7 is fuel injected and not a throttle body that's why I am scratching my head on this one. The only time I have experienced this was with carbureted models. The butterfly would get sucked open causing the accelerator pedal to tap your foot. Maybe you might have an explanation as to why my pedal drops like that.

 

You have drive-by-wire.