Looking for advice on making my Tacoma more fuel efficiant

Just get a beater car if you’re worried about mileage
A tundra would have been the better bet, full size, all power and gets the same mpg as the v6 on a bad day

 

I wouldn't sweat it too much. at 20 MPG you're actually doing pretty well for a truck.
I don't know how much gas is in your neck of the woods but lets say its $4/gallon. for 480 miles gas would cost you $96.
If you got 25 MPG, the same gas would cost you $76, the difference basically being the cost of a few caramel lattes...

 

245/75/16 P or C/D tires, ethanol free gas, stock air filter, keep about 65 mph. I live at a mile altitude and get 20+ in summer (winter is too cold and use 4x4 to get good mileage sometimes...).

 

Can you rig up some way to only drive down hill both ways? lol

I once got 27mpg while driving away from Albuquerque.

 

E0 usually costs enough more that any increased MPG is at risk of being meaningless.

Takes a bit of math to determine if it's worth using. Around here you'd be losing $.

 

Like others have said there really isn’t anything that will change more than a 1 or 2 mpg. The manufacture is going to do anything they can to get the most mpg out of it. If something could improve it, it would already come from the factory that way.

You might try higher pressure in the tires at the cost of more center tread wear. Reduce weight by not carrying unneeded stuff. Make sure your air filter is clean. Keep the driveline lubed up. Maybe 1-2 mile improvement.

Higher octane fuel will give better mileage but will cost you more $$$/gallon which defeats the purpose of mpg.

 

good financial advice

Be aware your man card gets revoked upon signing off on the sale

 

- Lighter wheels and tires.
- Tonneau bed cover.
- Keep your vehicle washed and waxed.
- Keep up with vehicle maintenance (filters, plugs, injectors, CEL's)
- Shed excess weight.
- Limit AC usage.
- Avoid using Cruise Control.
- Keep your tires inflated and maintained.
- Off-throttle during downhill road sections.
- Draft off semi-trucks (but watch your engine temps)
- Keep your gas tank topped off daily.

-J

 

I used to get 22mpg highway on my 1grfe Prerunner then did all of the mods in my sig and then some. Now getting 12.3mpg on fully loaded offroad weight of 5780lbs(CAT scale) Needless to say I gave up on my quest for better gas mileage. Good thing I work from home.

 

This.

Even with crazy gas prices the difference isnt usually drastic enough to warrant mods. Now another vehicle as a whole thats a different story.

Also... consider your Vote next go around.

 

Got the 245/75/16 Michelins on mine, drive gentle, and live at 7300 feet. Highest mpg was just over 24, and usually averages 23-22.5. Ethanol free isn’t an option where I am.

 

TBH that's about as good as you're gonna get for your truck. Best bet to gain further mpgs would be to see if you can find a lighter wheel/tire combo to reduce your unsprung weight.

Otherwise, your best bet is to get a different vehicle lol. Unless you wanna dump a bunch of money into internals, which might render your vehicle unable to pass smog

 

There really isn't much more you can do if everything is working correctly.
My thoughts are keeping the airlow in and out free of restriction. At the moment the stock intake box is pretty good. The TRD Pro is probably best bet on the intake side.
On the exhaust side the shortest straightest path out allowable or tolerable is best.
I did an axle dump. A 3" pipe dumping before the axle is probably better but also shorter = louder.

 

Mine is a 2.7 with 5 speed. 500 miles a week, 24-25 mpg in warmer months, 22-23 in winter.

Two mods that made a noticeable improvement were an Afe air filter and larger tires (245-70-16) . Running them at 35 psi.

The mod that decreased mpg was the 2" lift in front. This was a 1.5-2 mpg hit.

 

Clean the maf. Switch the rear diff oil to synthetic. Make sure the rr parking brake cable isn’t broken and/or seized “on”

 

20mpg is really good for a v6 4x4.

stock, i was getting 18-ish mpg......and now with 265-70-17 at tires, i get 15-16 mpg.....so i would be happy with 20 mpg. not much improvement there.


best thing to do, is what everyone recommended on here. get another car if possible. I use my truck for fun, and for work, i use a 2015 honda accord that gets about 30mpg average.

 

Slow down, Lower the truck, put on air dams.

ETA

I encourage you to "run the numbers".
The MOST you can hope to improve fuel consumption might be 20%
You are running around $100 a week in fuel costs now. so save 20% means you spend about $80 bucks less if you realize a full 20% mileage improvement.

I can NOT run a second vehicle with tags and insurance plus tires, etc. operating costs on $80 a month.

Heck, at these numbers, it takes all year to pay off a second set of "low drag" tires. Rims extra!

 

Throw away the k & n junk. The OV tune improved my mpg on my 2nd gen.

 

This 100%

The math doesn't add up if OP is already getting 18-20 mpg.

Unless OP already has say a motorcycle or some hypermile car getting 50+ mpg bought n paid for... 20$ a week (savings), 1000$ a year doesnt do much for mods to get to those fuel savings....

 

Speed is not conducive to MPG. But you have to decide how much your time is worth. I can get a bit under 10 L/km (~24 mpg) on longer trips in BC, but that’s keeping between 90-100 km/h (55-65 mph).

Comparing going 75 mph on a 100 mile trip versus 60 you save about 20 minutes, but use about 25% more fuel. Your call on what the ⅓ hour is worth.