2010 4 cylinder, 5 spd Prerunner Gas Mileage?

2007 4 cyl. 2.7L, 4X4, 5 speed manual SR5 access cab, 50K miles, mixed driving with AC on and off, I have been averaging 23 MPG.

BTW this Toyota has as much power as my old 4.0L 5 speed Jeep Wrangler that averaged 17 MPG.

 

My old truck, an 87 Nissan 4cyl, 240,000, miles went kaput so I'm really looking now.

 

im not sure about mine but i know it aint good, theres a lot of stop-and-go driving on this little island.

 

i went from getting 21 during the winter now to getting 23+ religiously

 

Well, I just filled up my new 2.7L 5-sp. access cab Prerunner for the first time, and found I averaged 19.4 MPG with mixed highway and city driving.

I'm definitely not thrilled. My 4.3L Chevy S-10 with 150,000 miles I just sold got several MPG better with a lot more horsepower.

Hope I didn't blow it by passing on the V6 for the economy. I hope this improves, though I keep getting told there isn't much break-in on these engines.

 

ive dropped maybe .5mpg now that im running the ac all the time... 23.5ish in the texas humid weather

 

Interesting... what year & model S-10 did you have? I just took a wild guess and looked at the specs for a 1995 model S-10 regular cab 4x4 with the 4.3L and a 5-speed manual - and it was rated at 15/19 MPG (vs. your Taco's 20/26) and made 155hp (vs. your Taco's 159hp). Also keep in mind that the Taco is a larger truck... it's longer, wider, taller, and weighs 608 lbs more than the S-10.

It'll get a little better MPG after break-in, but what makes the most difference for me is being real easy on the throttle, shifting between 2K & 3K rpm's and keeping the speed down. If you dog it and fly everywhere, it'll return some pretty crappy MPG.

That said... you may never see the rated 26 MPG highway regardless. What hurts the PreRunner's fuel mileage is that it sits up high (more wind resistance) and has the 4.10 rear gear ratio (higher revs) just like the 4x4. My 5-lugger sits down low and has a 3.31 rear end. I don't understand why they rate the PreRunner and the 5-lugger both at 20/26. There's NO WAY they could get the same MPG. Very misleading.

 

Very true. EPA doesn't test every configuration of a model, for them a 2wd tacoma is a 2wd tacoma, no matter how many lugs it has or doors, etc.

4wd 2.7l is rated at 17/22. Now 4wd takes a ~1mpg hit for the V6 Tacoma acording to epa vs a v6 prerunner, so the 2.7l prerunner should really be rated 18/23 mpg realistically. If you are getting worse than 18/23 than I would say your mpg is bad, otherwise, it is normal IMO.

 

My S-10 was a 1996 extended cab 5-sp. I usually pulled down about 22 in town and 24 or 25 highway.

It did sit lower and had different gears for sure, bit it was still a V6. I really had to talk myself into the 4 banger Tacoma, and am just hoping for a little more economy.

 

Do give it time to break in. I will readily admit that I am a bit of a hyper miler, but I've seen a pretty consistent 3 mpg improvement over my first tank. I now have a little over 4k on the odometer of mine. I am now staying pretty consistently in the 26 mpg range - with the caveat that I have not yet logged a tank with heavy A/C use.

It really does pay to keep your speed down. We have 4:10 axles in our trucks, and running 70 mph does put a dent in fuel economy. I run 55 mph max, or keep to the posted limit whichever is lower, and catch up to the same people over and over again in the red light drags.

 

I think your advice on speed is the key. I drive about 2/1 highway vs. town, and will usually hit 70+ when I can. A/C is also necessary most of the time beginning mid May during the day. I coast whenever possible.

Is shifting around 2500 rpm soon enough in your opinion?

 

I typically shift at 2000 rpm. I'll rev a little higher if I'm on a hill to get a bit more power.

 

I am averaging 23 mpg right now and that is driving 70 mph on the highway. I have had my Taco just over 3 weeks right now.

 

Once again - not that is really important - but I started this thread/topic right after I bought my Tacoma - new - an Access Cab, 4 cylinder, 5 spd manual shift, PRERUNNER. The last couple of days I took my first long trip in the truck. I went from Wilmington, North Carolina via HWY 74 to Charlotte, through Charlotte (not by-passing it) and on down I85 to HWY 74 again, a short time on I26 to the tiny North Carolina mountain town of Saluda, NC. Most if not all of that route description won't mean anything to 97% of you so let me just say it started in the coastal flat land, went through a heck of a lot of stop & go driving in Monroe, Charlotte, Shelby, and other towns, and ended in the mountains. Highway posted speeds, which I drove on cruise control most of the time, varied from 55 to 70 MPH. I go to great effort when fueling to keep pumping past the first automatic pump "cutoff" to get as close to the same "fill up" each time as I can. I averaged 25.14 MPG. It was a "round trip" so I had to climb the hills/mountiains going into Saluda as well as I benefited (mileage wise) from them on the return trip. Also - 90% of the trip I ran the Air Conditioner. My truck only has about 1,700 miles on it and it's stock - I did run 32 pounds front & rear in the tires. And - I took my Thule pick up bed rack OFF for this trip. I was very pleased with the mileage.

 

I have 05 AC prerunner 2.7l 5spd at 70k miles. It has been lifted 2.5 on 5100s and has heavy ass 275/75/18 Duratrac E loads. Tires weigh 50lbs each & I'm sure the rim is around 20 so I'm most likely pushing around 300lbs of tire/wheels. No gearing change. 60/40 hwy vs. city mixed with AC running driving it but not dogging it usually yields 18-19mpg.......16-18 gallons to refill at 300-320 miles on tripometer. I live in a flat but half the time windy kind of area fairly close to sea level....75ft elevation + or - 50ft.

 

I'm averaging 22.3 all conditions over the life of the vehicle. I'm ~25/75% city/highway. The truck actually gets better mileage around town 23-24 than on the freeway. Speed limits are 75 in AZ so mileage suffers cause engine has to work so hard. @ 85 mileage will dip to 20mpg. Its gone as low as 16-17 on high speed road trips with full load and mountain bikes adding drag. Best tank was 25.8 downhill highway.

Truck started with 245/75s on steelies and has lost approx .5-1 mpg when I bought used 265/70s on stock alloys with slightly worn factory bfgs.

Wind has a tremendous impact on this little motor.

btw, i drive a little fast...

 

wow great post. I need to change my habits and start decelerating in 5th and downshifting rather than letting it coast in neutral. thanks!

 

how can you stand driving 55?

 

what does the scan gauge say for optimal shift rpm? do you notice a difference at 2000, 2500 or 3000?

 

It was easy, especially when I realized that it really wasn't costing me much time on my commute. The difference between 55 mph and 65-70 on my commute is a mere 5 minutes. I have a 50 mile one way commute.

I simply set the cruise, and enjoy either the talk radio station that I listen to, or one of my MP3 CDs.