MPG Mods

Mine's a 2.4...

 

except for the 2TR. lol my sticker says 20/25 and it's an 08, right before they did the change in the MPG ratings.

lol it's possible for sure. i sit around in traffic all day long, around 90% of my miles are in the city going below 35 or so, and i consistently get 23-24 mpg

 

a really easy way is remove your tailgate and install one of those net ones that are easy to install this was a project on a show called myth busters

 

New to the forum. I have a 2010 2.7 4cyl. Access Cab Pre-Runner with 5spd manual, all stock. I have 3,500 miles on it and the best MPG I've squeezed out of it with in town driving is 22.5MPG and that's by babying it and coasting when appropriate. More routinely, I'm seeing 19 - 20 MPG if with moderate driving habits. I calculate mileage via the standard method of miles driven vs gallons filled. I expected better MPG, but with the 4:10 rear end, maybe that's all I can hope for. I need to add that I live in Portland, OR and they now cut the gas with ethanol year round so that is likely a factor. I consistently fill the tank with 89 octane "Plus" fuel. Also, my morning commute takes me up and over a 500 ft elevation gain in 1.25 miles (in 1st & 2nd gear) and I then hop on the freeway for a 9 mile cruise in moderate traffic at 60 - 70 MPH to work. On the way home, I have close to a 900 ft elevation gain for the last few miles before I drop down the back side of a hill. This is my daily driver for in town commuting, so I don't go on the highway a lot (I have another rig for that). The few times I've had it out on the road the best I've seen is 24.5 when driving conservatively.

So, interested in opinions on whether this is the best I can expect once I get more miles on the rig given the urban driving, terrain and ethanol factor.

I've personally asked a variety of other 2nd gen Tacoma owners about their MPG and continue to be amazed at their responses. It makes me wonder if how they calculate their MPG. For instance, do they have stock wheels and tires or have they changed them and haven't taken into account the impact on the odometer reading. Just today I had a guy tell me he consistently gets 22 MPG in urban driving with a 2008 doublecab 4x4 V-6. It's my understanding that the V6 rigs and 4x4's have a 3:73 rear end which may give a slight offset vs my 4:10 but it still has me scratching my head given the increased weight, V6 etc. I've had many other V-6 and even 4x4 owners claim they are getting better MPG in the Portland area.

So, fire away with opinions, insights, recommendations. I'm just now thinking about my first oil change. I've seen a number of the earlier posts suggest synthetic lube is the way to go.

 

Full synthetic oil and an aftermarket air filter will help somewhat with the mileage. I also noticed (at least with my 2.7) that anything above 87 octane noticeably reduces my mileage. Increasing the tire pressure also helps to reduce the rolling resistance, and you will coast farther. The best way to improve mileage though, is with your driving habits. Try to stick to roughly 2k for shifts, but I know that would be hard for you to do being at a decent elevation. Also no jack rabbit starts, and "drive like you don't have brakes". Don't waste energy/fuel by braking for no reason. Try to keep some momentum up when approaching stop lights, so that you don't have to start moving from a dead stop. Avoid making short trips...gas motors get the best fuel economy once they have reached the proper operating temperature, and if you make short trips, the truck will never have the opportunity to fully warm up. Keep it under 65 on the highway. The most efficient point (as far as speed and gearing are concerned) occurs at the lowest speed that the highest gear is engaged. So about 55 is optimal. And aside from all that just keep driving it break her in some more.

 

Thanks for the quick reply. I'm familiar with most all of the techniques of modifying my driving habits. Using those methods is when I squeezed the 22.5 MPG out of the truck. I am an old fart at 60m but don't look or act my age most of the time (thank God). Interestingly, I had a '93 Toyota PU 2wd manual trans 4 cylinder that I used on the same commute route for 13 years and got 25 - 27 MPG. Of course, it was quite a bit lighter than the 2nd gen Tacoma.

TGK

 

the 2TR seems to have a long break in period. my mileage improved after 5K, but i had switched over to synthetic at 2500 miles, but alot of people report that your mileage increases as you rack up the miles.

 

I really started to notice a climb in MPG after 10K miles. Switched to synthetic oil at that point and an after-market air filter. I agree that the 2.7L takes a while to break in.

 

I seem to remember the 2.7 being a 4wd only thing. If so, that's having an impact. Both weight and some moving parts.

EDIT: Plus I'd guess your old 4 banger was a 2.4l, which also makes a difference.

 

FYI the 2.7l 2tr-fe is the only four cylinder engine available for the 05+ trucks, from 2wd 5-lugs to 4x4s.

 

I have a 08 4x4 crew and the best i get is 15.5 and a 99 4 cylinder manual and about 19,5 is all it gets

 

Huh, ok.

 

Hi just joined the forum, back in a tacoma after a few (8) year hiatus (kid in rear facing seat doesn't fit well but they're old enough to operate doors now). I'm averaging over 20mpg in my access cab 6 speed 4x4. Not great, but its fairly new and i'm still playing with it (read heavy foot and frequent short drives)

The write up seems pretentious and probably a bit duplicative, but I'm just trying to be helpful. Not everyone has much driving experience or "feeling" for the mechanical system that is their car.

I routinely get well over dealer sticker MPG on all vehicles, and thought I'd just throw in my 2 cents.

The biggest thing anyone can do (and i"m sure its been mentioned) beyond even slowing down to sane speeds is: Never tailgate. Never ever. I only hit my brakes at stop signs, not because the guy in front of me does. Never a need to, well unless a dog runs out in the road or whatever. I just gently let up, conserving as much energy as possible. That's in hilly metropolis traffic, not in the back country. Probably helps that I'm a paranoid motorcyclist.

2nd is to remember the DFCO. Get up some speed before cruising down a hill. You'll waste gas going up to the crest but be able to stay out of it all the way down. I read someone saying that "most fuel injected cars have DFCO now a days" Well in the US ALL cars are EFI and ALL manuals (and I believe most automatics) have DFCO now. THe tacoma doesn't come stock with a mpg-o-meter.. but when you have one, its quite noticeable. When you let up while in gear, you will not use fuel, the engine is effectively shut off. *DFCO is deceleration fuel cut-off for those out of the know.
The same goes for just regular driving. monitor your speed and don't hover on the pedal. Contrary to someone elses opinion. Get on and off the gas all the time.. very lightly. Almost fluttering the gas. Light acceleration slightly past your cruising speed then coast. Time it to be coasting down hills and accelerating into hills, almost coasting up but then powering over the top into the coasting down hill. Modern electronic cruise control is better than old, but I can get better milage out of my foot. It can't see the hills coming and build up some momentum. Your foot can.

Winding it out or short shifting is not efficient either, keep it in its power band, get to your cruising speed and skip to the highest gear that won't lug your engine. 6th is fine at 35 cruising, just shift down to go up hills or accelerate.
I can't prove it, but, I really feel moderate to quick acceleration helps as well. Sure, if you gun it up to 35-70 you're burning more fuel while you're at it, but you'll get off the accelerator quickly and be back into DFCO quicker.

Brakes are the opposite of gas. If you hit the brakes on the highway, you just wasted energy. Look ahead, think ahead.

A lot of people want to perform engine modifications without any thought. Going to a tuner would be about the only thing I would recommend. I don't know how much the factory tacoma can be tweaked, but I've tweaked some other cars to be quite a bit more efficient, and most modifications were actually detrimental till tuned. I've tuned a few cars that were burning most of their fuel in the catalytic converter in some throttle/rpm ranges.

A couple studies have shown that opening up your exhaust actually lowers real world fuel economy. Most men think other people are impressed with their loud toys, and try to make noise and see who notices. Wastes gas (and impresses no one).

The 1gr is getting on in years, there have been a couple MPG pushes at the federal level since its design (im pretty sure) so it may be tuned pretty darn well at this point to keep it alive making driving style the only thing you can really do to get the mpg down.

 

So any links or info on this tuner ? How does it work ? Is it good for manual trans ? Does it work on the main land or just in Hawaii ? Do I need a rack for a surfboard for it to work ?

 

Well hello to you to, wise ass.

For links? I don't know where he worked on the mainland. So I couldn't give you his shop. He's friends or relatives with a guy out here and comes and tunes at a shop several times a year. Puts his computer on your EMS and makes dyno runs and calibrates.

Fairly certain its not something that would be worth while on a typical tacoma and obviously not on a 4cyl auto or something. But if you have a "cai" and/or exhaust system, its mandatory to make it worth your time and money.

Are you saying all these people with "CAI"s and "cat back" systems are running stock programs? That's a colossal waste of money and time. You MUST tune your car after installing aftermarket engine components. Your stock program can only compensate so much.

Questions alleviate your gargantuan ignorance... not wise assed bigotry. Everything I stated is hypermiler common knowledge, but many of them don't "get it" they just follow instructions. I'm as passionate about sensible driving as you are about being a wise cracking troll. Just joined to get some info on some awesome decals... I guess I'll be keeping that info and chalking yet another Vbulletin forum up to "assy".

 

Oh, remove any racks, of course. They create drag. DUmbass.

 

Don't let one guy keep you away. Lots of good people and ideas on here.

 

There is no reason to run anything other than 87 in these engines unless otherwise tuned. AS far as i know we only have one timing advance map and its for 87. Iv tried 91 with nothing but less money in my wallet

 

yes, 91 is not going to help you unless your engine is "broken" or modified.

I have, however, (not on a toyota) seen stock programs where most of the gas at certain rpm ranges was being burned by the catalyst and not in the engine. "pig rich" ls2s are a big culprit, seen it in mustang 5.0 and 4.6 but I can't speak to their history. But I'm not a "pro tuner", just have a laptop and some software, which doesn't even work with windows 7 anyway, So i guess I used to have some software.

A quick tune can get you a few percent in MPG in a corvette/gto/camaro/gm truck, and maybe even some life out of your catalytic converter.

THe maps are set to keep you from burning valves or something, but end up just being crappy maps. Maybe if you were to lean it out and then move in elevation and gas brand it would need a re-tune. Don't know anything about stock toyota other than my computer program does not account for them. I'm fairly certain they're "off limits"... kind of like the stereo "max volume". I did find some places that were tuning toyota 2gr on the internet. Didn't bother looking into it because I'm not going to do it. I believe they said they had an inline data manipulation dealy that was doing their tuning vs the actual ecm.

 

I found that the drag coefficient (Cd) of the 2005+ tacoma is about .40 (.39). and probably a Area of drag (CdA) of about 1m^2. Is there anyone that is mathy (physicsy) and automotivey enough to figure out (given a air at stp and a typical light truck tire rolling resistance and a tested rwhp) calculate the most economical speed to drive a tacoma on flat ground.

I'm guessing 52mph.
WHich is probably why I have no problem beating DOT's guesstimates, since they use "higher speeds and poor driving choices" in the new calculation; and I have made a pretty good "choice" in my house location relative to work vs traffic, and speed limit here is only 55 on highways and no higher than 45 anywhere else.

Regardless, driving over 55-60 will definitely put up those low sticker numbers. eK=1/2 mv^2.. so once you hit that aerodynamic wall you're burning gas like mad. If a sport sedan is most efficient at 60, we may well be down around 45.