4 Bangin, Fuel Sippin, Full Tank Challenge!

I didn't realize you had cruise control on your truck.

 

I almost always use cruise, even at 35 in town.

I do bump the speed up and down around hills/mountains.

 

I use cruise all the time, but when I get into an uphill that's more than slight, the thing goes hyperactive and ends up dropping two gears.... overshoots the speed, dumps throttle, drops 5mph below set speed, lather, rinse, repeat.

So I have to watch it and either bump the cruise off, or feather in a little throttle to maintain just above set speed.

 

D'OH!!!!!!!!

Brain fart, I zeroed out my trip odometer showing 700.1 miles before I took the picture.

Anyways with 19.815 gallon that's a 35.33 mpg. Yeah Buddy!, Boy Howdy!

Largly attributed to 3 90 mile round trips from Boulder to DIA. Pretty easy 35mpg cruising at 60.

 

Anyone have mpg numbers using 285/70/17's?

 

What are you getting now.

It will be worse.

 

Im not so sure though. I have 265/70/17 BFGoodrich tkos. Im looking at 285/70/17 Dueler At revos. They have more a street tread and thats always makes a difference. the weight is more but I remember going from 245 dunlops to 265 duelers and gaining 1-1.5mpg

 

Great tank Worthywads

 

That may be true. Hard to know just asking tire size. You do drop rpm with taller tires. Why wider tires? Is there a 265/75/17 option that would give height without more width?

I swap from firestone 215/70/15 to Michelin Hydro-Edge 215/70/15 and lost 2+ mpg. Tread design matters like you said.

 

I'm surprised that you guys are getting your best numbers sticking with the CC as much as you do. I've found that Driving With Load yields the best MPGs for me. CC is better for folks that aren't practicing hypermiler techniques I suppose, but you (Rich, WW) are experienced FE guys.

What is it about CC that has you preferring it over DWL?

 

Well I think without a scanguage its not always easy to rive the best. Once you see the trucks performance through gears and everything, then CC would suck for mpg.

 

I feel I nearly duplicate DWL by tapering a few mph at the crest of a steep climb or during a lighter climb. With a stick I'm frequently at the point where I'm already losing some speed on hills as it is and those few mph prevent any attempt to catch back up and then I'll likely go into a FAS coming down anyway.

I should have said I use CC almost always when the motor is running.

Too much traffic to do what I'd call a true DWL around here.

How much speed are you talking about losing while you DWL?

Maybe I need to better understand your definition of DWL.

 

About 3 months ago I broke my CC stalk. And I believe that it has increased my MPG since then. I drive with load on divided highways when traffic is light. The Ultragauge says it is real efficient. Here's how I do it. On moderate grades I will hold the throttle steady and let the truck lose MPH to gain MPG. And I will let off the throttle just before the top of the hill, and depending on the downslope, will lightly ease the throttle back on if needed down the hill. Sometimes I will lose 5 MPH up the grade, but most of the time it is 2 or 3 MPH. Also 2 tanks ago I put the factory air filter back in, and have had a mileage spurt to the + also.

Hope that makes sense, as I have had a few.

 

Dan/Jordan/WW,

Thanks for the feedback.

Worthy - Makes sense with the traffic and I forgot you have the manual tranny. Like Dan, I bleedoff MPHs in the 3-5 range on the hills around here. Using the Ultragauge, I try to optimize my MPGs against my MPHs, especially on days with traffic. Two key spots (hills) to try and optimize FE on the State roads and one big climb over a hill using city streets. CC can be used on the state roads, but my FE studies with manual and automatic trannies indicates I'm better off with DWL. For optimal FE, staying 3-5 MPHs above the speedlimit keeps the traffic happy especially when I bleedoff MPHs on hills. Mostly though, I drive off hours to avoid pissing off folks.

Dan/Jordan,

Similar experiences and observations. I do the trick with coasting over the top of key hills on the commute, especially on the back road hill where I typically lose 0.6-0.8 srt mpg for the total commute over about .5 miles (17 mile commute). And having the gauge to learn/understand engine load and shift points helps to plan the best driving approach. I think once having learned the optimal driving approach, you can drive blind without the gauge and still maximize your FE.

Kevin

 

I'm oem toyota with secondary still intact.

Changed out the first filter at 30k but decided to go 60K on the current one after reading this.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/pdfs/Air_Filter_Effects_02_26_2009.pdf

 

With everything being electronic, how do you accurately track miles traveled when shutting down and restarting on the move?

 

^

I lose a .025-.05 miles on the odometer every time I shut off and flip back to run.

Ultimately my odometer is understating but not by much.

I suppose if I shut of 100 times per tank I actually traveled 2-5 miles more than the odometer states. Thinking about it that is probably way to low, I just counted an average 10-12 times one way to work, it could be over 500-1000 times per tank or 10-50 miles short.

But my odometer is about 2% off or around 12 miles a tank, so I figure what I calculate is low but close enough.

Quite a few people install an injector cut off switch so the key is never turned off but you can toggle the injectors off long enough to stop the motor and not lose the miles on the odometer.

I can't see cutting into my injector wiring to capture that little error.

 

And of course... only an option for manual trans.
Neutral is the only option for autos... shut off the engine, the pump shuts down, and the output shaft is spinning with no lube.

 

^

For Tacoma's and lots of other automatics as well.

But if the owners manual says you can dinghy tow your automatic on 4 wheels you can safety shut off that engine while coasting.

 

I forgot all about WW dingy towing.

I actually seem to do better DWL than with cruise. Especially with these tires.

I've gotten pretty good at foot/throttle response/timing in this truck. Still killing me though is traffic and just getting up to speed. I could get up to speed with MPGs, but i'd be going slower than grandpa.

at the end of another tank at the moment, light is on. Maybe 22 on this one?