Mileage Detractors? Shocks?

Hello,

My apologies, but I have never been a vehicle enthusiast. Can someone tell me what items/packages are lowering the MPG on the Tacomas?

I was thinking about the TRD Pro until I seen the MPG and thought about the current gas prices.

Do the shocks affect this? Tire Size? What else would affect the MPG?

I drive Trails here in Southern Nevada in my SR 2019 model with Toyo Open Country A/T II tires.

I don't do any of the steep vertical climbs. I don't take any paths that would need the skid plates. However, even some of the gravel and dirt roads that we take can really jar everyone to death. I would like to be able to take the trails a little faster.

Are the Fox brand shocks better than the Bilstein brand shocks when we are talking about hitting small bumps at say 30mph?

This will be our only vehicle and I would like to have a good median for road driving and off-road driving.

Any help is appreciated!
Thank you in advance!
Travis

 

The most fuel efficient Tacoma is access cab, 4x2, on stock 245/70/16 tires.

Weight and height of a vehicle kills MPGs. Well also rolling resistance and unsprung weight (tires).

Of course foxes will be better than stock bilstein.

 

The job of a shock absorber is to convert kinetic energy into heat, so yes they affect fuel economy. This is very intuitive for anyone that has ridden a (badly setup) bicycle with a suspension.

However, on automobiles I’m not sure it is a large effect compared to various others (air resistance, engine efficiency, rolling resistance, brakes, etc). Also, a shock that doesn’t do a good job of converting kinetic energy toy heat will cause the automobile to bounce like a pogo stick.

 

Your right foot. If it's made out of lead you will get terrible MPG's. This is the biggest cause of bad MPG for the vast major of Taco owners, even if they don't admit to it.

 

Your Taco is just fine for what you are doing and buying a Pro will not help much. I think the biggest thing that you need to look into is airing down your tires. Full road pressure is going to have a large affect on comfort and traction off road. For higher speed stuff, do not air down a lot. If you are going slower (30mph or less), air down more. The change in ride will be significantly better.


To air down, you will need a way to air back up again before you travel on paved roads for any distance. There are affordable compressors, like Viair, that will get you back up to pressure in a decent amount of time:

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=viair&crid=V4NIZBD24WLI&sprefix=viair,aps,180&ref=nb_sb_noss_1​

I would recommend an Automatic model if the budget fits.


For deflating / inflating, this little homemade kit is the pretty friggin' great:
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/shellshocks-diy-inflator-deflator.613122/


Edit: Removing your sway bar also adds a lot of comfort off road and allows your suspension to work better. A lot of folks will advocate about keeping it on for on road driving. You'll have some decisions to make there.

 

You don't say much about your Taco - trim level, AT or MT, 4x4, etc.

Both of the above contribute to crappy MPGs, as does your driving style.
Drive like there's a raw egg between your foot and the 2 rightmost pedals and you should see an improvement.
Around town I find the best mileage at speeds below 65 MPH.
My current MPG profile for a '21 TRD OR AC Auto with a Leer 180 cap and stock tires: