How to increase Tacomas gas mileage ? 16 mpg highway

I bought it used yes and I dont know if the truck has been regeared at all no. I live in flat lands. I drive highway mostly and I drive like an absolute grandpa I baby the throttle because this current MPG is absolutely killing my wallet. I live in Canada it's cold and gas is taxed out the ass and super expensive.

 

What are your RPMs on level ground ~65 mph?

11mpg does not sound good for level ground and grandpa driving.. even on winter gas.

If you're super curious about your gearing ratio you can jack up the rear of the truck and put a piece of tape on the drive-shaft.. then spin the rear wheel one revolution and count how many times the axle spins. Here's a random YouTube video displaying the approach https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLBV-SkNyO4

 

You're not stuck in 4th gear at highway speeds are you?

 

At best you MIGHT get 22 mpg out of a Tacoma. And that's under ideal conditions. Google says the average price of gas in Canada is $5.61/gallon. If you were to squeeze 22 mpg out of it, you'd spend $260 to drive 1000 miles. At 16 mpg you'll spend $350. That's best-case scenario. Your Ridgeline @ 34 mpg is going to cost you $165 to drive 1000 miles.

You don't buy a truck to commute long distances to work unless your work requires you to haul stuff that won't fit in a car or SUV. People who put a lot of miles on vehicles and still need a truck for other things buy a small, cheap, 40 mpg car for the driving and use the truck for when they need a truck.

If $350/1000 miles is killing, you then drive the Ridgeline.

 

I bet I could get OP’s dash to read 20.

you gotta drive like a grandpa off the line and get comfortable with people going around you even in the slow lane.

full disclosure: When I filled up and did the math it came out to 19.75 MPG. Either the computer is incredibly optimistic or I didn’t fill the tank all the way last time. I’m interested to see what I get out of the next tank.

 

750’ difference in elevation between starting point and parking lot at work.
I typically get high 20’s on the way there and 18-22 on the return, this was a really windy and rainy day so I was probably around 65 mph and not my normal 70-75.

 

I'm not sure, im going to measure the gear ratio and see what's going on here. thanks for the idea.

 

Man I get so excited when someone post a complaint about gas mileage, I come in here just to see the comments.

 

I get 17-18 in my 2013 5 lug auto (2.7L, 2wd) with 235 AT tires on it. trucks get bad gas mileage bottom line

 

Do the speed limit. Don’t stomp on it.