Initial MPG thoughts?

A tune is great for drivability but from my experience you will lose gas mileage with a tune.

 

These trucks have a huge MPG range.
I get 18 driving under 65 with one size up on tires and a cap. Seems like guys with lifted, geared, 35's do better.

 

yea, toyota really tuned it for fuel efficiency. ect mode helps, but it's a little aggressive for daily driving. lots of notchy shifting.

 

Similar MPG as OP on '23 OR I just picked up.

1st tank was 300+ miles of hwy on radar cruise at 78 MPH and got 16.5 mpg.

2nd tank was mostly in-town driving and still got 16.6 mpg.

My dad got a '23 highlander with same v6 engine. He had same 16.5 mpg to start and said it increased to ~20 mpg after a few k miles.

 

This is the mileage history for my current '21 TRD OR AC Auto:

The most recent numbers are from <60 mph on 2-lane state roads (i.e. NOT interstates) and long miles (>40 mile trips).
My experience with my previous 2nd gen TRD OR was that fuel mileage improve slightly beyond 30K on the odo.
My '21 seems to be leaning in the same direction.
Lift, tires & tune are not going to gain you any significant improvement.
It's all in how you drive and the duration of each individual trip. Frequent short trips will result in crappy mileage. Peak fuel economy doesn't start until the entire drivetrain is warmed up to normal operating temperature.

 

Your numbers are normal and about match what my truck does. My driving is mixed but my trips are around 5 miles. During the winter it drops a bit more, as I've noticed this truck takes some time to fully warm up to reach efficiency.

I can occasionally get 19-20 MPG on longer trips cruising under 70 mph. Otherwise 15-18 is about all I've gotten out of it. My last long 5 hour drive I yielded 18.5 hand calculated because I'm not going to cruise under 75 mph.

Sure beats the 12 I was getting with my last truck.

 

Tell that to the people touting their 40mpg in the Maverick, or 70MPGe in the f150 Lightning or R1T.

 

Well these are a little more aggressive, but still essentially stock.

Stating the obvious does nothing to answer the question posed…. Why one truck would get significantly different results than an identical truck. But yeah, you’re right it is a truck, thanks.

Thanks so much, see above

Thanks. Yes I’ve never trusted those computers so the mileage I started was hand calculated based on real mileage divided by real gallons.

May try a tank of 93 octane next time just to see it’s effect.

 

Looks like Goodyear Wrangler Duratrac tires. I believe those will be heavier than stock. That'll definitely affect MPG, as will the tread pattern/compound.

 

Yes that’s exactly what they are, good eye! (I know the photo wasn’t the be) Kind of ridiculous they charge over $1k for them as an upgrade, but they do look good. I am thinking the tires might be the cause of the lower mpg… I may just be tempted to throw on a set from my old SR5 to run for a few tanks.

edit: turns out they are 42 lbs versus 35 lbs… doesn’t sound like much, but it is over a 20% increase:

 

You need to know what those tires weigh. Tires are rotating weight, any more weight than the stock tires, you're going to lose hp, and performance which hurts fuel economy.

 

Im about to hit 30k miles and mine has improved with a new air filter (I chose wix) I started seeing 20mpg highway after the air filter up from 17-18.

Also of note. Gas is much cheaper in the part of the country I am working vs back home so I am able to fill up with 91 premium (at cost of 87 at home) and saw another jump in MPG to almost 22mpg even with a lot of mountain terrain.

TLDR: wix air filter, switch to 91 octane and saw improvement

 

Good to know thanks for the encouraging info… I’ll try both. I had planned on updating the intake also, perhaps that will help too

 

That'll certainly make a difference. Somewhere on here I heard someone say every lb of extra rotating mass is equivalent to 20 lbs of payload. No idea where that figure came from, but even if it's just an analogy it makes sense to me.

 

I hope by "upgrade" you don't mean cold air intake. Your truck already has one of those.

 

Weight of the tires will affect the mpg .

 

Two weeks ago I drove from TN to MI and back. Had cruise set on 74 mph set in s5. Got 22-23 per tank.

 

Yeah, a cold air intake, and throttle body spacer will do nothing, but create more intake noise if thats what you're after. Idk, about those intake manifold spacers...a friend thats a nascar engine builder is playing around with them on his dyno using a stock 5.3 ls engine. I might know more down the road.

 

Thanks again everyone.

Well I'm considering a K&N filter. I do like the way the TRD intake looks also, but not sure I'll spend the money.... I'm not convinced the TRD air flow accelerator will do much, but for $40, may throw that on with a K&N filter.

I don't mind the extra sound, I'm planning to order a TRD Stainless Steel exhaust so I'm going to be dealing with extra noise already. LOL But, I don't do "upgrades" just for the "noise"... got too old for that several decades ago haha. But if it at all helps performance, it's all good.

Side note: The throttle body spacer idea is one I've had on my mind, but I haven't researched yet if any other vehicles come with on, or anyone is fabricating them for this engine? Back when I had an Acura, the Acura SUV had one... it was a popular mod to put on the cars (with longer screws of course) to add more torque.

 

As one gets older, in general, one's tolerance of noise goes down. Well, that's my opinion, and I'm sticking with it.
Two wheels being of equal weight, rolling friction of tires should be considered, as should tire inflation.