In Town Driving - Automatic in 4 instead of D

I have about 900 miles on my 2011 Double Cab Tacoma, and while I LOVE the truck, I have been pretty disappointed with the gas mileage.
Its getting sliiiightly better with each tank, but my best so far is 14.2 mpg.
That is with a mix of about 65% in town driving.
Now, I will admit, I dont drive slow, but Im not running the crap out of it either.

So, to experiment, I have been driving in town with the truck in 4, instead of D.
I noticed this changes the way the truck shifts, even in 1st through 4th,
has anyone else noticed this? It just seems like the truck just always has better throttle response and is more in the power band.
I dont have a tank through it yet driving it this way, so we shall see if it changes anything as far as MPG.
But I do like how the truck runs better this way.

Just wondering if anyone else has noticed this, and what gear they drive theres in for town driving.

 

I tried this for a little while and I don't know if the truck shifts differently or it was all in my head but I ended up getting worse mileage. Just keep it in D and keep your foot out of it for the best results. Supposedly, putting the truck in 4 rather than D doesn't make a difference. It should shift the same except the computer tells the transmission that O/D is not available but gears 1-4 will work the same and shift at the same points.

 

I drive in D, use a light foot, no jack rabbit starts, & keep rpms no higher than 2k for my best mileage. People's input here & scangauge gave me that data. My truck is a V6 auto bought new now with 55k fwiw.
Only use 4 when I am towing or to downshift during a snowstorm or icy roads.

 

I do this frequently. But, my town is 9000ft+ above sea level.

 

My 2011 did the same thing. I was only getting about 15 mpg at first, but now that I am over 5k it is better. Last fill up was 17.9 mpg with a mix of town/highway miles.

 

Driving in D which is overdrive is going to save you on gas mileage then driving in 4th, next time you are driving down the road in 4th push it over into D and then look at your RPM's you will notice that your RPM's will drop when driving in D.

 

I understand that D will keep the rpms down once I am at cruising speeds.
Just playing around with it, cus I noticed in D the truck is always trying to stay in a high gear, and then it will not have the power when I need it, and has to downshift, which is fine, but I thought maybe that would be some lost efficiency having to shift more often.
It might all be in my head also, but I swear the thing shifts differently and runs different in 4 then it does in D, at least in town under 40 mph.

 

Give it some time...Your truck is still NEW and in its break-in period. Wait until you have atleast 3,000 miles on it before worrying about the gas mileage.

Using 4 versus D isn't (shouldn't) do anything differently around town.

Get a Scangauge II (or Ultragauge) and watch the INSTANT miles per gallon. That'll help you see exactly how your driving habits can affect MPG.

 

My 2010 DC 4WD V6 AUTO has about 21,000 miles now... 15-16 mpg in town and 17-19 mpg highway is the range for it.

 

Per scangauge, it is more economical to drive in D anytime you hit more than 30 mph. Lower than that, tranny won't even shift into fifth anyway.

 

I do this quite often OP , as the speed I usually drive at in my area is right where the tranny wants to shift from 4th to 5th , to avoid the constant up and down , I shift to 4th at these speeds and the acceleration is responsive than when it is barely lugging along in 5 th .

 

This is what I do. A lot of streets in my hometown are 30MPH and somewhere around 33-35 it shifts into and out of 5th. So if I'm staying below 40 driving in certain parts of town I just put it in 4th. This doesn't seem to affect my mileage as I'm averaging 18mpg. ('05 w/ 78k miles)

 

I usually only throw it into 4 when I want to pass some one fast on the highway or during really fast heavy moving traffic and when hauling. Never really give it much thought on fuel consumption, although I know that in 4 it does use more fuel. Like I said though when on the long haul it just stays in D and shifting down to 4 is second nature when I really need to pass up fast or boogie out of a situation.

 

I would say just be gentle on the gas pedal. I was taught, to save gas, pretend there is an egg between your foot and and petal, and don't break it. I am making near 18 MPG, and that's with 33" muds, 3" of lift and a Leer fiberglass cap.

 

The truck knows more than you do

get used to it

you are now its slave

 

Thanks to this thread, I've been enjoying the way my truck drives around my hilly town in 4. I stay in D on the freeway/open highway.
Question: Should I let off the gas when dropping to 4? Let off gas when going back to D?
I drove manual all my life, so I'm ingrained to want to let off gas when "shifting."
Thank you for responses!

 

Guess you don't live in NC/SC (per your profile) anymore.......

 

gots to know.......

where in NC/SC is there a town at 9K' ?

 

Love the old thread dig.

Haha, anyways, no need to let off the gas when "shifting". The computer will only do what the truck can do regardless of shit lever position.