Tonneau cover MPG gains

I added the tonneau cover yesterday and gained 3-4 mpg on my hour drive today. 2.7 access cab and 27 mpg

 

Miss my 3rz and those numbers. Now I get 13 w/o oem cover and 15 with.

 

Coincidence.
This is a myth that has been disproved many times by real world and lab tests. If anything, you will get less mpg due to added weight.

Lastly, if efficiency could be improved by a whopping 15% simply by adding a cover, I doubt the automotive industry would spend billions each year to eke out 1/2% to 1% gains.

Good for you tho.

 

One trip doesn't prove a MPG gain.
Report back after you've added about 1,000 miles with the cover and diligently checked your MPGs by calculation.
I took the rack off the Leer cap on my '06 TRD - over the course of the next 1-2K miles I could prove an AVERAGE gain of about 1-2 MPG. That makes sense 'cuz the rack created additional turbulence over the cap. A tonneau cover? Not sure how that affects MPGs.

 

There are some studies in the link provided below. There are a lot of variables. It helps to keep your bed and items safer and dry, and it doesntlook like there is enoigh data to say it helps or hurts. Just don't buy it to save gas as your only reason...

https://sawtootht.com/blogs/news/do-tonneau-covers-really-save-gas

 

Pretty impressive! I lost probably 1 - 2 MPG with my roll up cover

 

I commute 2 hours a day for work, best mpg I've gotten so far is 23.1 and immediately I saw it jump to 27 after 1 drive. I'll be sure to get real-world feedback this week since I commute 80 miles daily for work.

 

Care to explore the numbers?
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Consider: gas at $2.50/gallon and MPG at 15. Cost per mile = 2.50/15 = $0.167 per mile.
Increase the MPG to 17, same gas cost. Cost per mile = 2.50/17 = $0.147 per mile.
So you save $0.02 per mile.
If a cover costs $600 you'd need to drive 30,000 miles just to break even on the cost of a cover.
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As @Rid34fun says "Just don't buy it to save gas as your only reason..."
You won't save enough to realize any real benefit.

 

i think you do get better gas mileage. i was reading up on the myth about getting better gas mileage with your tailgate off, but that is actually a myth and you end up getting worse mileage. trucks are designed for airflow and i guess having the tailgate up creates and "eddy" or something, and the airflow just kinda rides above it. but with that being said, The same people who were disproving the tailgate thing, said that adding a hardcover is the only way to improve the mileage. so i dont doubt you are getting better gas mileage

 

He never said he bought it for that. Hes just stating a benefit he noticed. Jeez, lay off the guy. dont add to the toxicity man...

 

Not trying to be toxic - why be so darn critical?
Just playing with the numbers to show that gas mileage improvement is not a good basis to justify a cover. Maybe there's a slight improvement, maybe not. It's not gonna be proven in one trip. Several weeks on his commute will show the real story.

 

Good thing my cover only cost $200 so I'll see benefits quicker using your formula : )

Like I said, I commute 80 miles a day so ANY MPG gains are a welcome benefit, however small.

 

Probably as much as leaving the tail gate down.

 

MythBusters did an episode about this

https://youtu.be/r3aqHbD-O9E

 

I'm sure a lot of factors come into play here, such as wind speed, cab/box configuration, MPH, etc. I find my tonneau cover on my DCSB seems to be pretty negligible in difference. Some days it is better and some days it is worse so it isn't enough for me to say it is a benefit. But I keep coming back to the Mythbusters episode posted above where they pretty much debunked the theory.

 

I don’t disagree with Mythbuster’s findings, but it’s not like they had a big sample size or anything. Most studies I’ve read suggest that there is no or little benefit, and usually one sees slightly more drag from a cover. It depends on a lot of variables though.

Good luck on your pursuit of better fuel economy, OP. I’ve loosely planned to extend the front air dam using another TW’ers leftover and see if I can get another mpg out of my commute, but I’ve been lazy.

 

I didn't gain any mpg. But I sure love my BakFlip.

 

2009 AC with cap 15 mpg
2018 DCSB with Tonneau 15 mpg
It's not the vehicle configuration, it's my driving
If mpg was important, I wouldn't have bought a Tacoma

 

All in your head.