Trip gas mileage

In November, I will be driving from Tucson, AZ, to Quincy, IL. The first time that I did the trip, I was going the opposite way, and I got roughly 18mpg. I have a 2009 Toyota Tacoma manual transmission access cab 4.0 liter. I know all about driving like there's an egg under the throttle, any other advice, or just suck it up?

 

What kind of tires are you running? And regardless, a little higher tire pressure might make a difference, just for the road trip portion. I run LT AT (E-rated) tires in Summer. They are significantly heavier than my Winter Blizzak and the previous hwy tread P-rated tires that came on my truck. My tire guy suggested I run the E-rated at 50 psi to preserve my MPGs. It has worked and I'm on my 4th Summer running them at that pressure without any abnormal wear. I'm a 4cyl and my overall average is 20mpg; as low as 18.5 in extreme cold with lots of 4x4 use to as high as 21.5 in Summer on the heavy tires. The heavier pressure does lend to a rougher ride, and I air down on the occasions I go off-road (trail to my buddy's cabin or out on the beach). Shouldn't be too bad on a road trip over highways. That's the best suggestion I can make.

 

Mid summer I traveled from S. Indiana to San Diego and back. 2015 Sport, 4.0, 4x4 - averaged 20.5 mpg - 5100 miles. Factory tires, 32psi.
Best mileage @ 60 mph - as speed went up mpg went down. I avoided interstates where I could and kept speeds "reasonable".

 

Different people have different driving styles. Simple as that. With my 2011 TRD Off Road (automatic) I've got as high as 22mpg on extended highway trips back when it had the 265/75/r16 Yokohama Geolanders on it. It averaged (mostly highway driving) about 20.5 with that tire combo. I've since installed 265/75/r16 load range C Goodyear Duratracs and started playing with tire pressures to see what rode the best and what gets the best mileage. (38psi to 40 psi seems to be the sweet spot) I do a LOT of highway driving. Best advice I can give is PUMP 'EM UP! Go to the highest tire pressure you can (that works with the tire/wheel combo you run) for extended road trips. You get less rolling resistance, therefore the best mileage.

Even with the more aggressive tires, I've held close to previous mileage. Latest check netted just over 20 mpg. That was a 400+ mile round trip interstate run. For the record, you don't want to get behind me if you're in a hurry! Unless I'm on a tight schedule, I drive like a grampa. (I AM a grampa.....so....) As mentioned, mileage drops off when speeds go up. With my truck, the difference between 60mph and 75mph ON THE SAME ROAD is about 1-1/2mpg worse at higher speeds. I didn't see such a significant drop off with the Geolanders btw....

From what I keep hearing, I get better mileage than most. That's been the case with whatever I drive. Google "Hyper-miler" and read about their techniques. You don't have to employ every trick in their bag, but a few of their ideas will help your mileage. My wife has driven my truck on a couple occasions. She gets about 2mpg LESS than I do, supporting my claim that different people get different results.

 

My 07 4X4 DC has made the round trip from GA to CO twice, about 5500 miles total. The 1st time was on a hunting trip, we pushed as fast as we felt we could drive and not get a speeding ticket both ways. Often exceeding 80 mph on rural interstates late at night. We drove straight through driving non-stop for 28 hours and I averaged 18.5 for the trip. The 2nd trip was a summer vacation/camping trip with my wife. We were loaded lighter and took our time. The average for the entire trip was 19.9. I'd have easily gone above 20mpg, but twice when I let my wife drive while I slept she went through a tank of gas and didn't put it in OD, running the whole time in 4th gear. Mileage sucked on those 2 tanks.

I get 17ish for normal everyday driving which is a mix of rural 2 lane and medium city driving. I'm right at 20-21 strictly on highway driving.

 

How fast do you drive? When I drive cross country averaging 75 MPH I MIGHT get 19.5, but if it's closer to 65 MPH I have gotten 21+ on a few occasions. I also get about 1 MPG better across the board if I use premium fuel, but my cost per mile is actually higher so I only use it when I have heavy loads (IE near max allowable weight in the bed or towing more than 3000#) or when wheeling.

Also, seeing as the MT is rated for lower MPG than the AT, your results sound about inline with mine. That's a big reason I went AT instead of MT (30K miles a year, even 1 MPG adds up), though I miss the hell out of shifting gears.

For reference, I drive a 2014 DCSB V6 AT 4x4 with the stock SR5 P245 tires.

 

When running a road trip and not in a hurry, I set the cruise control to 70mph and up my tire pressure over 35psi. Get around 22mpg in my V6.

 

I don't see if you are 4WD or 2WD?
I have a 4WD 4.0 Double Cab Automatic and if light (empty bed), just me driving... from San Diego County to Tucson at the posted speed limit (65-75 MPH) or within 5 mph tops, I recorded 19.5-20.5 MPG range (corrected for odometer running 265/75-16 all terrain Hankook Dynapro tires).

Normally, I can expect 18 MPG highway mileage tops with passenger and camping load. Daily, around town driving, is terrible lately here in California... 14 MPG... up to 16 if a lot of highway miles are included.

 

4x4, and I drove around 70 to 75, I'm taking my two dogs with me, so I'm going to look at a camper shell this Friday, I also need some new tires as well. I have to fix my cruise control too.

 

I can squeak 21 out of my DCSB manual at 70 if there is no wind, which is almost never here. Usually get around 19 at 70.

On the manual I think the idea speed is 55. Anything more the combination of the lower overdrive gear(compared to the auto) and wind drag it will drop. My best tank was 24 mpg in Yellowstone driving at 40 to 45 mph around the park in 6th gear.

 

The best I ever got when I had the manual was 18 mpgs highway. After I got the auto it jumped to 21.5 mpgs highway.

 

A taller sixth gear would be awesome, hopefully I can make do, and gas prices are decent now.

 

My 2000 and my 2008 both averaged about 2MPG "Less" on the Highway versus everyday driving which is totally backward, haven't got to try the 2015 on the Highway yet.