Are you getting bad MPG?

I just filled up and put in 17gallons of gas (87) and went 267 miles all city driving. That's about 15.7MPG.

V6 Auto 4x4 DCLB Sport with Baja suspension, FJ TRD 16's and 265/75 Duratracs.

Cheers,

Jay

 

For me the biggest contributor to crappy gas mileage is the URD exhaust.

Overall it seems that for every mod that we do the MPG's suffer. My wife's 2004 4Runner averages 22 mpg all day long and that's with the same motor.

WTF??

RJM

 

It's not specifically URD. It's any aftermarket exhaust that lowers backpressure more than the stock exhaust. They might help top end horsepower, but at the cost of low end torque. And you need low end torque to get good gas mileage.

I discovered that principle when I opened up my own exhaust with a straight through muffler and lost enough low end torque to actually feel it in driving. I reinstalled the stock muffler and got back the low end pull.

At low rpms, when the exhaust system is underutlilzed, the engine still needs some backpressure to aid the exhaust pulses in scavenging the gases from the combustion chambers.

Less backpressure = less scavenging = less low end torque.

So far, I've found the best combination for good gas mileage on my 2.7 is running a long tube header with the stock exhaust.



Stock exhaust for the measured backpressure at low rpms, and long tube headers to keep the individual exhaust gas pulses separated from each other for a longer distance so that when they combine the tuned pulses favor low rpm torque.

I get 23-24 around town and 28-29 on the freeway.

Greg

 

My wife's 4 RUNNER averages 15.1.

 

2009 Prerunner V6 that I bought about 2 months ago.

Averaging about 19.6 on Highway and afraid to figure what it might be getting city driving. My Toyota Avalon gets about 27 MPG Highway, it seems to sip gas, while the Tacoma gulps the fuel.
I have been watching the Ultragauge in hopes of retraining my driving habits. Hopefully my MPG will improve as I recondition my behavior.

 

my moms gets about 16 mpg
but honestly the 4runner is huge for a v6 and it doesn't seem to be very aerodynamic

 

Our 4runnee gets 21-22 all day on the highway lifted with 285/75/17 and roof rack

 

If your wife's 4Runner is the same one in your sig....no wonder you get bad gas mileage.

It's a nice rig but too heavy for the 4.0 V6.

RJM

 

Thanks for the suggestion, I might try this approach.

First I was thinking of installing the URD FTC and tweaking my closed loop fuel profile for better gas mileage.

Any thoughts on this idea?

RJM

 

My 2013 TRD Sport Access Cab 4x4/4.0/auto never dropped below 20 mpg regardless of season, (and we we do have seasons here in NH). Mixed highway/backroad/little bit of city driving. Occasional heavy throttle use for passing, etc. Best tank ever was 22.5, normal tank was just under 21.
Should be picking up my new 2014 TRD Off Road 4x4/4.0/6 speed tomorrow. Hoping for the same mileage, but expecting a slight drop. I have a knack for driving manual transmissions though, and I always seem to beat the advertised average. Can't say I've had the same luck with autos.

 

My last tank fill up was 16.05 gal and I drove 348.4 miles. 21.70 mpg

 

here are my last few fillups.
07 DCSB, 4x4 trd sport, 4.0. michelin ltx/ms2. snugtop.

i take note when the light comes on. then i record mileage at fill up.
most days i try not to get it past 2x rpm and am very light on the pedal. unfortunately sometimes i have to gun it on steep hills and i cry when the fuel needle dips.

347 light. 361.9mi. 17.73 gal, 20.41 mpg
344 light. 350.3mi. 17.48 gal, 20.04 mpg
337 light. 341.9mi. 17.05 gal. 20.05 mpg
341 light. 343.8mi. 16.94 gal. 20.30 mpg
no light. 276.2mi. 14.31gal. 19.30 mpg
341 light. 350.9mi. 17.31gal. 20.27 mpg
325 light. 330mi 17.01gal. 19.40 mpg

87 with ethanol and driving around 6500' elevation.

 

Sorry RJ... I'm completely stupid when it comes to electronic tuning, and even had to look up FTC to find out to what you were referring.

Greg

 

I just measured my first 100 miles. Just got my tacoma on Monday. Very short data cycle. Almost all in town driving. I got 17.3 mpg. I'll put a lot more miles on this weekend deer hunting. So I'll get a better idea after that.

Bob

 

I drove 240 miles since my last fill up. About 2/3 in the Black Hills on FS roads. Some of it in 4Hi. I forgot to switch back to 2Hi when I hit blacktop once and drove about 20 unneeded miles in 4Hi. I averaged 18.1 mpg. I'm happy with that so far. Interested to see what I can get on an extended highway trip. Also when pulling my little camper.

Bob

 

I use premium fuel and only get about 17 mpg. Some may think that is ok, but I think it sucks for a mid size truck. I drive reasonably.

 

Mostly city, Borla exhaust Cat back, BFG KO's 265 70 17's I have driven 1200 lifetime miles on the 2013 DC V6 auto... my life time avg is 15.7 now that sucks!
Hopefully breaking will help some.. thank god I have a Mini Cooper S to average out my horrific mileage out of this tacoma

 

If your premium fuel contains ethanol and you can get mid grade or regular without it, give that a try. Should be good for some extra mileage and power even with the lower octane.

 

According to some others on TW that should have made your transfer case go supernova and left the whole Midwest a radioactive wasteland...

 

As long as travel was mostly straight line with only gentle curves, not a problem.

Binding (and possible damage) happens when sharper turns are attempted.

It is not a good idea to roll on pavement in 4hi