MPG Mods

http://www.empirepao.com/?page=10cai

 

I agree on the non-oil air filter. I put a K&N on my 1st gen Taco and had to have the MAF sensor cleaned twice. I went with the aFe oiless filter and am pleased with the results. I removed the secondary air filter also and netted about 1 MPG improvement. Synthetic fluids in the manual trans and rear diff got me another 2 MPG. I have a Scangauge II and use it to monitor my driving. I filled up yesterday and got an even 25 with mixed city/highway driving. I also put a set of Goodyear fuelmax tires on it. I didn't see any significant gain as I was running the crappy Dunlop factory tires at 35 PSI. As improvements are made, you hit the law of diminishing returns as there is only so much you can do to reduce friction, improve volumetric efficiency of the engine, etc.

I don't believe there's one "silver bullet" that will increase mpg. As many have said here, the right foot and the connection to the brain are the biggest contributors to better MPG.

 

Pretty neat setup. I wonder if you could run the tube to the back of the dummy fog light housing and use that as an air intake.

 

Another good mod is just a basic tonneau cover. I found it gave me a good +2 mpg

 

I noticed the cover helps out alot more on windy days I'm not leaning into other lanes on the highways. I probably got 1 or 2 more mpg with it on.

 

I have a tonneau cover on my truck also. I would say 1-2 MPG is about right, especially on days when there is a crosswind. I recently took a trip and drove 470 miles before filling up at a bargain $3.98 a gallon. With the cruise set at 69 MPH and about 10 miles of "urban" driving, I got 27.7. Can't complain too much about that.

 

replace egr and decarbed my throttle body,i am getting about 20mpg on my 99'2.7 prerunner.more power.and no more knocking.i was amazed,the motor has 130.0000miles.and got rid of my bedliner and went with superliner.1/3 the weight and looks like paint..carry only what i really need in truck box.lightin the load.

 

i am looking for 2011 tacoma preruner doble cab i need hitch with wire

 

That is one hell of a first post! What does looking for a 2011 have to do with mpg mods? And especially what does anything in this thread have to do with a "hitch with wire" whatever the hell that is?

 

this HAS to be a joke. Actually funny one too lol. MPG? Nice hide!!

 

First post here, long time member at toyotanation. Really slow over there, figured i'd cause some trouble over here, I bet a few of you know me already. I miss you wilsonthedog.

Since this site recommended I start by reading this thread here I go.

I'm one of those menace Hypermilers and have come to a few conclusions about what does and doesn't have an effect on increasing mpg, from personal experience and from studies and experts and some anecdotal evidence.

Air Filters

Some here have already mentioned a study that says air filters don't help MPG. Following is the link to that study. The science is clear, at almost anything below Wide Open Throttle (WOT) the throttle plate is the overriding restriction to the intake making the air filter insignificant to air intake. With fuel injection and a computer controlled loop with intake and exhaust feedback, if the air filter becomes clogged to the point that WOT suffers then power may be lost but fuel economy will actually increase with less power.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/pdfs/...02_26_2009.pdf

The study concludes the conventional wisdom that a dirty air filter can effect the mpg of a carburated vehicle but it also shows that an extremely clogged filter doesn't reduce mpg in a fuel injected engine.

So far I haven't heard a plausible theory on why this lab would want to fake this result as some would like.

Quick synposis for those this will never even check out the link.

3 different fuel injected vehicles were tested with brand new filter, and then progressively restricted filters to the point of gross restriction and actual collapse of intake tube due to restriction. Results, no decrease in mpg and slight decrease in horsepower in the worst restriction.

So a less restricting "drop in" can show a slight increase in air intake at high rpm and make more power but more power takes more air and fuel so more power almost always means more fuel, a future topic.

I can only speculated to why some people feel absolutely certain that aparticular air filter or removing a carbon filter gave them a slight to 6mpg better but since I can easily change my mpg by 5+mpg just by how I drive i'd guess it's placebo and wishful thinking. A 1mpg change is very large on a 20mpg vehicle if everything else is the same except the air filter, but is easily realized by changing from 75 to 70 mph.

In closing, I drove from Boulder to the Wyoming border to pick up pyrotechnics for the 4th and locked my 5-lug I4 stick into cruise at 60mph and yielded 34.7mpg round trip using my first generation scangauge, I've been interested in fuel economy as a hobby for a long time.

 

So...what your saying is during your trip of illegally transporting fireworks across state line, you got 34.7 mpg's.. JK..

Good post.

 

He said TO the border, not across.

Good info on the filters. Makes sense and would save people some money on filters that could be spent on gas. Most people don't realize that spending more on "higher quality" air filters for mpg savings will never pay off...even if they really did result in 1-2 mpg increase. At that rate, it would take 10-15 tanks of gas to make up around $3.50 in savings. For me, that would maybe be as much as $7 in savings over the life of a filter. Probably a break even endeavor at best. The math on something like a K&N isn't any better when you figure in maintenance of it. I'll just stick with the stock ones and know they are good enough.

 

The CO state troopers gave up on trying to crack down on fireworks coming into CO, I didn't see any supertroopers on my trip.

Second topic is exhaust but the logic is the same for intake. Exhaust can increase power but they do that by allowing better air flow and to take advantage of more air again more fuel is needed.

This is a site by an automotive engineer that has worked for Rover, and Bosch/Cosworth in fuel system design.

He calls it the "power and economy myth"

http://www.fuelsaving.info/power_economy.htm

Synopsis - More power takes more air and fuel, but not using more power doesn't lead to better mpg.

The whole site is worth a complete read, but it won't satisfy those that complain that he didn't test my exhaust on my truck, or my secondary air filter on my engine.

Good stuff here.

http://www.fuelsaving.info/testimonial.htm

Here's a graph of my mpg since new, I can't conclude much from that.



Summer of 2008 was good 4 tanks that averaged 37.01 over 2828 miles. I can say the Michelin hydro-edge tires i bought in July 2009 pretty much took 4mpg off my results. They seem to be doing better lately but it was obvious immediately they had higher rolling resistance and it shows in the yellow line, and red line the following year. I think I got depressed and gave up on maxing fuel economy for awhile too.

That big down blip in may 2009 was a trip from Boulder to Dallas area and I held it 80+ most of the way and seem to remember high wind the whole time so 27-28 is more like what I'd get if I drove it "normal".

And this

http://www.fuelsaving.info/drive_cycle.htm

Any product that can really do what it says can be tested by independent labs and show the results, but they don't since they don't work.

These falls under more anectodal evidence but if you go to ecomodder, they have 65+ mods to increase mpg and you will not find intake or exhaust as a recommended improvement. The only recommendation they have is for a Warm-Air-Intake mod to improve warmup and economy in cold weather. True geeks of ecomodding haven't found gains or they'd recommend it.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/fuel-economy-mpg-modifications.php

You do not see large exhausts on Prius, Fits, or any of the other small economy cars available, but you would from the factory if there were any gain to be made there.

Sure an exhaust can make more power, but not getter mpg too, though there may be conditions where more power can change shift points and could help with lower rpm, that's a big maybe. Exhausts move power up the rpm range into a range where good mpg isn't found anyway.

 

Let me ask something you my freind . Is there anything you can do in California without a bunch of regulations? Geez!

 

i used to drive over the road.CR england.and the only why you will lower your mpg's is to stay at or below 55mph.going any speed over,your mpg's will suffer.

 

Well done sir! You're the first person on here who has achieved better MPG's than myself. I've reached 30-31 MPG on 3 separate FULL tanks of fuel. If I had a scangauge, I'm sure I would see 35+ on my relatively short highway trips into work. (About 26 miles one way, 17 miles on the highway.)

 

One item that can have a significant impact on MPG is tire pressure. The difference on my Taco with the tires at 32 PSI versus 36PSI is 2 MPG on the highway. If I set the cruise at 69 MPH on the interstate, I can get 28-29 MPG. If I run 74 MPH, I get 25-26. I use a scangauge II and it helps to refine my driving habits. For example, if I coast into a light in neutral, the scangauge will show anywhere from 60-90MPH. But if I downshift and let off the gas, it reads "9999" which means the fuel is shut off to the engine. Shifting at 2K rpm when traffic allows also affects MPG. I'm averaging 26 MPG in mixed town and country driving. I put an aFe air filter in and took the carbon filter out and maybe picked up 1 mpg. I would think that the information Worthywads posted is pretty accurate. I will say that the one advantage to a K&N or aFe air filter is that they can be cleaned, which will save money in the long run on air filter purchases. But I keep my cars until they either are totaled or die of high mileage, usually well past the 200K mark. FWIW...

 

I agree on higher tire pressure to increase mpg. I run max sidewall pressure. I've done this since I can remember, and have not seen the terrible uneven wear issues that others warn me will happen. One possibility is 215 tires may not distort near as much as say 265 or larger tires.

I've also seen no loss of traction or handling issues, and I take turns probably faster than most here while I try to maintain momentum.

I've never done the chalk test but then I've only seen even wear from 44psi.

How much does this benefit me, I can't conclude, but I can feel the difference in how far i coast so I know it's helping. Some hypermilers go way over max sidewall to pressures in the 60-90psi range and believe that helps even more, i'm happy with 44psi.

 

I'm glad someone else agrees with me on this. Max pressure for my tires reads 51 PSI and I keep mine set at 46 PSI. I can feel the difference during coasting when my tire pressure gets low. And so far 22,000+ miles and the tires look almost new.