Gas mileage

over time you see a difference but possibly 1-5 depending on driving

I have left ECT on with O/D but I tend to turn off O/D when I reach an incline, otherwise it rides between lockup and not which will burn up the trans. towing the trailer + bike (~1,100 lbs) gets me around 15-16 highway.

 

sounds like I probably should just hold off on the tune up at this point since it appears I'm getting around the mpg you guys are getting, at least no worse than and it drives and feels fine.

 

Bend is pretty flat until you leave the city

 

I normally average around 19 combined and will see 21 on the highway. I have 265/75/16 BFG KO2's and a 3.4 v6.

 

I've always kind of wondered how the Chevy we have w/ a 4.3 can run such taller gears for great mileage, yet still accelerate as well. (They're both slow). Same tires, approx. same weight. I assume same drag. Bigger frontal area but maybe a little more aero. Overdrive feels just about as deep, maybe not. I need to look up final ratio.

Oh well, that and price is what killed small truck market so I guess manufacturers never figured it out either.

 

All stock 2003 3.4L 5 speed:

Winter Gas - 15-16 mpg mixed driving
Summer Gas - 18-19 mpg mixed driving

I've noticed that if I baby it a bunch, I can improve my mileage on a tank by 2 or so mpg.

 

Interesting to hear about what you guys are getting for fuel economy; I normally get at least 23 MPG with a mix of city and highway. I've got the 3.4L and 5 Speed. I'm running regular gas and BFG KO2 tires. My truck is completely stock otherwise. I noticed when I started using better fuel my truck ran a bit smoother but not hugely noticeably better on fuel - by better fuel I mean I went from 7/11 fuel to Petro Can. The best that I've ever gotten was 33MPG highway.

Even when towing I've been getting about 18-19MPG highway only with about 3500 pounds - but that's for another thread.

 

Yea I grew up in Redmond.

 

Recent trip from socal to Sedona 18.4 avg.

 

Round about how many msg may be saved with AC on vs not?

 

We have a completely stock 1999 Tacoma with a 3.4 liter engine and a 5-speed manual transmission. It is a four wheel drive, and it has BFG K2 tires on it. It gets between 16-18 miles per gallon. The only time it ever gets better gas mileage is when it is being driven a long distance on a flat highway. Then it will get 19 miles per gallon.

 

My gas mileage is now down to 14mpg. But it is really hard to say it is a mileage - for the last month I drove 117 miles mostly on 1-2 miles trip through the city each way - I'm sure the engine is running open circuit all the time. Really I don't care about the high gas usage in terms dollars per mile, as for the whole month I used less than 8.5 gallons. This is nice part of not commuting to job and live at outskirts of a city. For longer trips like visiting my parents that live 13 miles away I use my 4Runner (5th gen) and she is getting 20mpg.

 

think running the AC saves affects mpg more and how much you think?

 

same question for you

 

I wouldn't know as I did turn my AC for the first time since I moved to Poland (I was happy to see it still blows arctic cold air). In California I run AC most of the time (even in winter) so I don't have any real comparison.

 

ok

 

On the other hand I never cared about gas mileage. In California I was commuting more than 20000 miles a year and I was thinking about gas money as of cost of earning my salary. I prefer Tacoma over some compact or economy car for reliability, safety and comfort. It's in the back of my head that the distance and metal in front of me and behind me is my armor.

When my AC broke in California I was driving for a month with my elbow hanging out the rolled down window. I stopped doing that when my elbow started to hurt - I think I did something bad to it by exposing it to 65mpg wind for hours every day. So I bought vacuum pump and AC gauges set from HF and I fixed that AC (cracked aluminum pipe next to evaporator). That was more than 10 years ago and I don't remember any effect of gas mileage that would change my habits and addiction to comfort.

 

yeah I have changed in how I view worrying about cost vs comfort. I mainly ask because there are days leading up to now where it aint summer yet that it's cool enough with wind blowing that I don't need the AC on and will be fine with cracked windows in truck.

Going to build a 400 W for the mustang and a lot of guys who build 351s would do without the AC but not me. I want the car fully functional because it does get hot in the summer and I don't want to be uncomfortable at all.

 

Dear Everybody,

Everybody is asking if running the air conditioning makes a difference in fuel consumption. The answer to this question is yes without a doubt it does. Just let your rig normally idle with the A/C off, and the tachometer will read right around 690-750 revolutions per minute. Then turn the A/C on, and the tachometer will immediately jump a couple of hundred revolutions per minute. This tells us that the compressor in the A/C is providing resistance when the unit is on, therefore, the engine has to work a little harder, which, in turn, forces the engine to consume more fuel.

Now, the question is how much more fuel does the engine consume with the A/C on compared to the A/C off? The only way to successfully answer this question is to take two of the exact same rigs and drive them over the exact same route. Just make sure one time through the route the A/C is off, and the other time the A/C is on. The other variable that has to be consistent both times through the route is weight. Make sure the cargo is the same both times through each route.

To answer this question personally, I don't know how much more fuel the engine in our Tacoma consumes with the A/C on. I would have to do the above experiment myself to answer this question conclusively.

Good Luck,
Paul

 

Gotcha man and makes sense