How our MPG is affected by the way we drive...

Hey all, so I decided to do a little test since I first bought my truck to really find out how much our MPG is affected by the way we drive. Here's how I went about it:

I chose three driving styles:
Granny: Very gradual on the gas and brake / no faster than 65mph
Normal: Liberal on the gas and brake / speeds between 70-75mph
Teenager: Lead foot / speeds near 90mph

(*All styles, I drove with no A/C with the windows closed)

I drove with one style between fill-ups, logging many miles I drove on that tank as well as how many gallons it took to fill that tank back up at the same gas station on every fill-up (Shell). After, I divide miles traveled by gallons needed to get MPG for that tank.

My commute is 85% highway - I have a daily round trip drive to work of 40 miles.

Specs on my truck:
- 2010 Toyota Tacoma Doublecab Longbed V6 4X4
- No lift, stock tires
- Trifold Tonneau
- AFE Pro Dry S Filter
- TRD Catback Exhaust

Now for the data (one pass):
Teenager: 299 miles / 16.420 gal = 18.209 mpg (I also drove to Big Bear on this tank, up a mountain with a full car load of people and gear in the back)
Normal: 336 miles / 17.390 gal = 19.32 mpg
Granny: 318 miles / 15.339 gal = 20.73 mpg

I actually drove "Granny" twice, but midway through the tank I installed the Tonneau, so I disregarded the data. (I was driving naked at first). This is what I got on that tank (notice that it got the worst mileage out of all the styles...I guess a Tonneau really does help with mileage):
308 miles / 17.041 gal = 18.074 mpg

I will keep logging in this same manner, and hopefully I'll get a good average after some time. I will be getting a lift and some 33's installed soon, so it will be interesting to see how much that affects my mileage as well.

 

The teenager data is going to be a little messed up simply because of the load difference in all the other test.

i should have bought an auto

 

yeah, I hope to go through another pass before my lift is installed to provide a good control

 

sounds like good justification to drive like a teenager

 

People keep track of MPG ???
I just put in more gas when needle gets to the left.

 

I did the same kind of test on my first gen!

 

I drive 180 miles of freeway every week and I have been keeping it between 65 and 70. The best I have ever gotten was 21.8 mpg. When I go 75 it goes down to about 19.5.

 

Best I have gotten was 20.5 mpg going up the cascades. Driving to Canada next month cant wait to see what I get on flat ground highway

 

Same.

Although I can see the argument for checking occasionally to ensure nothing's wrong with the vehicle.

I run the math on a couple tanks a year to make sure I'm in the ballpark range.

The daily driver (03 Matrix) takes care of most of my driving and does about 33 MPG highway, so fuel costs aren't a huge concern for me.

 

I didn't, in my old 4Runner. But I thought I'd try to see the difference when you drive differently when I bought a truck. If the difference was that drastic, I'd say it would be worth it to drive like a Grandma if it would save me $30 bucks a week or so. If not, I'll just drive normally