Gas Mileage & Manual Shift (4dr TRD Off Rd 4x4)

Has anyone utilized the manual shifting to improve gas mileage? I have been making different adjustments to my driving and am amazed by the MPG I am getting in 4 door TRD Off Road 4x4. Driving to work I can easily get in the upper 20's and more recently got over 34 MPG! My 06' 4.0 didn't sniff 25. Would be lucky to get 22 if downhill and a strong back wind!

I don't like the way the 3.5 revs up to accelerate, especially up hills when towing. However, if the reliability is that of my 06' (320K - 1 coil pack and replaced a u-joint) It will be at the top of the trucks I have purchased when I factor in MPG's and the improved interior. Time will tell...

 

That my friend..... "does not compute"

 

Are you manually shifting sooner than your truck normally does? Because if mine shifted any sooner it would feel seriously anemic.

 

That doesn't really tell anything. Post what you getting on a whole tank

 

Yeah gas mileage isn't great on these trucks

 

I am wondering if a person can improve upon gas mileage by manually shifting. (AS CLARIFICATION I HAVE NOT YET USED THE MANUAL SHIFT OPTION - I have 7,500 miles on the OD)

I can easily improve my gas mileage by not using the cruise control. The 34.3 MPG is the best I have seen yet on my morning commute. Mostly flat, I average about the same going in vs going home. It is common for me to get in the upper 20's (probably 27.5 avg on commute). It all depends how I drive it. If I don't care about mileage and have a rabbit foot I'm around 23+.

While I like a lot of the aspects of the 4.0 when towing, the day to day driving of the Gen 3 is a significant upgrade. Off Road it seems to have some slight improvements as well for the TRD Off Road. It just is a different feel to it under heavy acceleration.

Gainman, on a full tank it varies a lot depending on what I am doing. I easily make it through the week on a tank of gas commuting. On the weekends pulling one of two boats. So it cuts into the Gas mileage, but still get 22 for the full tank pulling the boat. The upper 20's pulls that average up. Pulling a boat under 20. Commuting with no boat pulling on the weekend can easily get 26.

 

Gainmain, here is the final from the last tank (on empty). This includes mostly commuting, a little around town, and towing a small boat a few miles. No open highway miles... I do believe highway miles at 70 mph would actually reduce the mpg. Still have not toyed with manual shift, but will try soon.

So overall tank average to 2 miles or so to empty = 25.1 MPG
Drive home I hit over 30 again for 17+ miles of driving. Driving to work this morning was the worse in awhile, but still got just over 26. Had a number of complete stops in traffic.

 

Report back after a whole tank has been used, driving 24 miles isn't an accurate assessment. I can get 26-27 driving 24 miles one direction with no one behind me, keeping off the throttle as much as possible, coasting, and not accelerating up a hill as long as no one is behind me.

Basically, it's a truck. Your fuel economy isn't going to be great. The new electric trucks coming to the market might be a better option for those who want a truck and fuel economy that only need to haul the occasional washing machine or bags of mulch. The other option, get a diesel mid size.

 

Amazing. You must be getting 550-600 miles out of a tank. Is that correct?

 

AAChaoshand - 25.1 MPG is the Tank average... That is what I stated in the post. I am averaging in the upper 20's commuting, that is both ways. 34.3 is best I have averaged going in, that is why I posted. If I take a full tank of gas and only commute I average upper 20's. The 34.3 mpg was my commute in a few days ago. This mornings commute was 26+ and that was my worst mpg commuting in well over a week.

I'll be pulling a boat about 1,000 miles this weekend I'll see what I average. I suspect 15.9 mpg or so... For mpg, the Dodge trucks are hard to beat. Averaging upper 20's cruising 70 mph in the new Dodge 2wd, that is checked at the pump as well. I have not checked my Tacoma, assume the computer is right...

 

I do since mine shifts too early (I'll get rev 1 and reset the learning in another ~1k miles). Sounds like you are already getting pretty close to the max. You must have a nearly ideal commute (for the truck). I would probably get 30 like you on my 12 mile drive to the gym; except, there are 23 traffic lights and 3 stop signs!


Anyway, I'm averaging about 24 over my last 8-10 tanks... My other problem is that I rarely drive far enough to warm all the fluids up.