ECO- wacko mpg

Have you ever watched the eco while your driving? I hope those graphs are not actual. I have found the only way to get good gas miles on this turd gen is, drive 50 mph and don't stop, don't go up any inclines and no winds. And yes, I have checked mpg the old way and it's worse. I have always tried to get the best mpg out of my vehicles, it helps with a boring long drive to work, and always got 2mpg better than stated highway mpg. Not this truck, I can get 25 @ 50mph but go 65-70 and your @ 20mpg, drive across town and your getting 15. Hard to believe the men in white coats came up with this power train ratio.

 

Yes

 

Drive in S5, or ECT mode. In ECT, mileage for me is better, and even if it's not, you won't feel like sticking a rag in the gas tank and lighting it up. ECT mode on my truck makes it drive like any other normal automobile when in drive. Toyota really screwed the pooch on this drivetrain calibration. Too bad, if they could fix this one huge screw up, it would be a very nice truck. The rest of its issues are not in the same category. I know there have been rearend issues as well for some, but this auto tranny is a pretty universal complaint.

 

Mine is weird. Typically around town, hitting most lights red even, I'll get 20-23+. It's not uncommon for me to even get 25mpg running errands around town. But on the freeway, I usually get garbage mileage. This is the first vehicle I've ever had that got worse mileage on the freeway than city.

Thankfully for me, like 99% of my driving is around town.

 

Ha. Never looked at it. Now I'm going to. Should be good for a laugh.

 

When I'm on the freeway doing 65, I'm LUCKY to even sniff 20mpg on a trip. I drive like a old lady on the freeway, and I usually get around 17 on a freeway trip, and sometimes that's being generous. But then, like I mentioned, running errands around town, hitting most lights red, I'll get like 22mpg.

 

In the older days they used a simple vacuum gauge hooked up to a needle that estimated fuel economy. It's just a novelty.

Why are so many people worried about fuel economy in the states? Your gas is cheap!

 

I'm not "worried" about the MPG, but that doesn't mean I don't care about it. It's 2017...we should expect the best MPG possible regardless of what we drive or what the cost of gas is.

 

Just cause it's cheap, doesn't we we shouldn't attempt to conserve it. If I can save a dollar, that's a buck in my pocket that can go towards beverages.

 

My heavier long bed double cab 4x4 v6 is getting the same mileage as my traded-in 2009 Suzuki Equator with a smaller cab and a 4-cylinder. I'm happy.

 

I find that it is decently accurate, not perfect, but not bad at all. I spent awhile feathering the gas to figure out how to maximize my MPGs and using that little meter actually taught me quite a bit about how your driving affects mpgs. And yes, driving much over 65 really kills mpgs. I can get 20 mpgs while doing 70mph on flat land, but much passing or hills and it drops to 18ish.

 

Some typos just work out well.

 

Same results here. Unfortunately most of my driving is freeway.

 

It's not about the coin, it's about Toyota's rep for making great vehicles. This only happened because I wanted one and no surprise if resale values go down. But for some reason, I like the truck almost as much as bitching about it.

 

I've found eco meter to be spot on.

The 3rd gen is an areodynamic brick. That kills hwy MPG. High ground clearance, hood line, steep windshield, only a minor air dam on some models.

I've payed attention in the wind and found that for ever 5mph of headwind, you lose about 1mpg. It works with a tail wind too. For example, I normally get 22mpg trip average on my way to and from work. We had a steady 15mph wind one day. On my way to work, I had a trip average of 18.5mpg, on the way back it was 25.5 mpg. This is all very flat driving and I set cruise at 65mph.

In order to get the best mpg, I find 40 to 50 to be the sweet spot. The hwy MPG rating is evaluated at speeds no higher than 60mph!

 

Fucking auto coorect is always smarter than me. I needes it ass when I dount us it, itss herd to understands whats I crying to stay.

I am a horrible speller, so I need it, but it always thinks its smarter than me, and my ADHD brain doesn't slow down for me to read what I typed. And taking the time to proofread before hitting that post reply button, who has time for that.

I just hope folks get a good laugh, cause then it's worth it.

 

I avg 20.3-21.6 in mixed freeway and city in the Bay Area.
I've found that drafting other cars (not tailgating) helps tremendously. You can be up to 150-200ft behind a vehicle and see a benefit from it.

I've also seen where lugging 6th gear on the auto gets worse mileage than using 5th.

This truck is very sensitive to tire pressures too. In the am pressures are 32 cold. By the time I'm at work they are 34 on a cool day. I can see the instant mpg increase as I get closer to work ( 16miles on freeway). On warmer days when tires are 36-38psig mileage is about 1.5mpg instant reading higher than cold.

I've also seen slight difference (increase in mpg) driving on concrete roadway vs asphalt. Asphalt provides a higher rolling resistance than concrete because it's softer. You get a smoother ride out of it and quieter.

Recently took a trip to Tahoe. My SR5 dclb with roof rack and top box, three adults, two dogs, snowboarding gear and stuff for the weekend averaged 23mpg up and back all on one tank roughly 416 miles. I was drafting when I could and was driving around 70-75 with flow of traffic.

Point is there are other factors and techniques than just being light on the skinny pedal.

J

 

You need to do some research on aerodynamics and wind resistance. Wind resistance increases exponentially with speed. Trucks suffer especially because who wants a truck slammed to the ground with ground effects etc. Ok some do but for the rest of the world who want a real truck you basically have a brick and as you increase speed you are losing a battle with wind resistance. That is why you get better MPG at 60MPH but quite a bit less at 65-70 and quite a bit less than 50MPH.

We can bitch and whine regarding MPG because “the real world” drives at speeds in excess of the 60MPH that vehicles are tested at. We can whine that lifted trucks suffer even more (wind resistance is as big a factor or more than trying to speed up and slow down much heavier tires with more centrifugal force.) Complain about the powertrain all you want but I would argue the wind is the issue.