MPG with 6 speed Manual?

Hi everyone,

I've been a long time Tacoma owner. 97 4x4 with 32" BFG with the 5 speed. Currently in a 2011 TRD offroad with the auto that I've had since new. I've had no issues with the auto but do occasionally miss the old manual. I've been lurking on here for a while considering upgrading to a new TRD off road. Just curious what MPG folks are actually getting with the manual. I've not yet driven either but did sit in a truck with the manual and noted the shifting feel was much improved over my 97.

 

Shifting is incredibly smooth & you won't be hunting for gears compared to 16's ats. I'm getting around 15/16 mpg city and up to 21/22 highway averaging 65. Btw, added toyota's incredibly ugly airdam and noticed about 1 mpg improvement hwy. Coming from 94' and 15' Tacoma manual, this is by far the best shifting mt toyota's ever built.

 

I test drove a manual and it was incredibly smooth. The automatic is smooth shifting as well and it's much quieter than the previous generation so I don't find the random shifts on hills to be bothersome. I'm averaging around 20 mpg and come within a couple tenths of 23 mpg on the highway. I'm certain I'll consistently break 23 mpg under the right conditions and average 22 and change highway without trying.

 

16-17mpg - that's my average at 2K miles.

 

OK - thanks for the replies - found one video demo of the manual. I avg about 20 mpg in my 2011 auto so was hoping to get at least that or better. they seem to vary like the auto do.

 

I've gotten up wards of 22 with my manual...but that's keeping the foot light on the highway. typically, i'm hovering between 18-20 hwy/city. i've noticed a point of diminishing return when i hit about 72 on the hwy...above that and i drastically cut MPG

 

I only have 4 tanks through my MT but here are the results (all hand calculated and corrected for tire size after change):

18.9 - mixed driving under 60 MPH (stock tires)
18.2 - mix of sub 60 mph and 1 hour of 75 mph (stock tires)
16.8 - all big city driving (265/75/r16)
17.1 - All highway at 75 MPH average (265/75/r16)

Lets keep this thread going for mileage on all the V6 Manual Transmissions....

 

I would love to know how you guys are getting over 20 with the Manual. I drive fairly easy on the throttle but 20 seems a stretch for me to reach at the moment.

 

I think the MPG hit of the manual is well worth it. Drives so much better than the auto. Actually feels like it has good power.

 

Like all MPG results the variables are all over the chart.

Is the axle gear the same in auto/manual?

If they are, the best 'guess' a prospect could make is take the final drive ratio of manual / auto, and the one with the best ratio will get the best hwy cruising MPG, all other conditions being exact.

One thing that might be worth noting. For several years now automatics have been being EPA rated very close to manuals, sometimes a smidge under, sometimes a smidge above. And before you poo-poo www.fueleconomy.gov, their current working formula seems to be pretty good. It's very close to my actuals over 100k miles in my '04 and my '13. Not to mention several other vehicles.

In general, I'd suggest you should pick a manual for other reasons than better MPG.

 

I could not agree more. The manual does not feel light on power, and obviously does not have the shifting quirks many are complaining about with the Auto. No matter the mileage I am happy with my manual choice.

 

One 150+ mile drive flat roads heading to the beach with 55mph speed limit. Drove 55-60 mph light throttle and got 21.5mpg. Bump the speed up and I am at 19pmg.

My life time average with 2500 miles is 19mpg, it would be lower without the trip the beach.

 

The best MPG will generally be when you're driving at the lowest speed in the highest gear, which is around 50-55 MPH in my 6MT. Wind resistance goes up exponentially with speed which is why your gas mileage starts to drop as you go faster.

 

thinking i should have listened better in physics...here i was calculating the coefficient of friction and doing algebra. haha.

 

Seems the auto revs quite a bit lower at 70 if you can keep it in 6th most of the time so that probably explains the higher mpg numbers for some. But the manual looks like it gets up and goes pretty good. Rock crawling/trails with a manual is a ton of fun...

 

Wasn't seeing that great of MPG when I first picked the truck up, but now that I've learned how to drive it (as in, what gear it likes to be in in different situations) I'm seeing around 17.5 city and almost 22 on the highway. I have 650 miles on mine so far

 

Have only had my TRD sport DCSB 4x4 manual for ~600 miles, gone through a tank and a half. Hitting 22 mpg with about 400 miles on highway, rest city.

 

Wow that's great mileage hopefully I can figure out those gears also.

 

Just curious. Those of you getting north of 20mpg. Do you have a cap or cover on the bed?

 

Not until today. 3700 miles and 21+ overall. Added a roll-up cover today but most of my driving is on mountain 2-lane so I don't expect much change to mpg from cover as avg speed is probably 50