MPG on 4 door long bed V6

Ambient temperature, humidity, and terrain are a big factor as well. I have noticed that my highway mpg drops from 25-27 to 21-22 when it's raining or over 90 degrees (no AC running). Everything here on the east coast is flat, so I don't have to contend with any significant elevation changes.

 

DCLB, V6, auto, stock with blocks, 37's, ~12.5-13.5, 9.5 towing, and I love it.

 

Well that's good to hear, I had worried about dropping a bunch of mpgs. I came from a Mustang that gets 25 highway so 22 hasn't been bad.
I used to drive a city bus, and I still drive like a bus (which annoys my wife to no end). I'm sure that helps keep those numbers up though.

I am happy to hear that, the AT3 4S seem to be a solid choice.
I grew up in Ohio so I am also a bit partial to Cooper.

I have noticed a slight change from February to now. We have almost no humidity here but we hit 105 degrees again last week and are also fairly flat.
I use cruise all the time and try to hypermile when I can, it helps on my daily commute for sure.

 

This I find curious since even the Toyota engineers and testing couldn’t get 25-27 on the hwy out of the 4.0. Edit: I stand corrected they said up to 25, I’ll go with it. That’s really good.

 

I find it odd, too. There are a few reasons I can think of:

- I didn't recalibrate the distance measurement on my UltraGauge. The truck was sold with, and still has, 265/65R17 tires, so I didn't think it was necessary.
- The tires that came on my truck are lighter than most stock tires. Firestone LE2 at 34 lbs apiece, versus the usual OEM choice (unsure of model) at 38 lbs apiece.
- Most of my driving is on the highway.
- I'm veeery gentle on the gas and try to coast to a lower speed instead of mashing on the brakes.
- The tonneau cover somehow makes a significant difference? Doubtful, but possible.

 

I replaced my OEM Brigestones with the exact same tires at 86k. My mileage has been pretty steady. I had an 05 truck with same specs as my 12 and it did a little better.

 

I don't get why they are so all over the place. My summer average is 16mpg. I'd say 50/50 driving. But my interstate driving is usually 70-75mph. I notice at 70mph on long trips I get around 17mpg, I think 18mpg is the best I have ever gotten. I have HPTuners (which didn't affect mpg's much), AFE Dry filter (drop in), deleted the SAIS, 265/70r17's C-Rated Duratracs and no lift. In the winter its usually around 14mpg, but thats with a good amount of idling and 4wd use. Plus extremely cold temps which everyone knows doesn't help.

But I have always been surprised that the numbers vary so much with these trucks. I know driving style has some to do with it. But the difference between 14mpg to 21mpg....I doubt the guys getting 20+mpg are the guys holding up traffic all the time or the asshats that don't use an on ramp to get up to interstate speeds (god thats annoying being behind people merging on the interstate at 45mph!!), nor are they probably going 55mph either. So I wonder what the difference is??

 

yup, 19-21mpg consistently over 10 years of ownership

 

@TacoFergie, my cruising speed is about 60-63 mph. Sometimes a bit slower, depending on traffic conditions. I like to maintain a lot of follow distance to minimize the risk of an accident.

I’ve found that gas mileage plummets dramatically when cruising over 65 mph. Similarly, heavy traffic with a steady 50 mph cruising speed yields excellent gas mileage.

I’m not usually the guy who holds up traffic, but that’s because I stick in the slow fatass lane. In 16 years of driving, I’ve never had a ticket and I wanna keep it that way.

 

Sorry about that. Bus driving habits die hard.

This is accurate, I am the same way (+2 tickets though) Good on ya for the clean record!
I do merge kind of slow though.

 

I make a conscious effort not to exceed 2000 rpms at any time. Not because of gas mileage, but because I want this truck to last a looong time. Gentle driving habits should help me reach my goal of 500k miles.

Besides, if I wanted a haul-ass-mobile, I wouldn't have gotten a truck.

 

Haha, I wasn't trying to say anyone here is driving like an ass. But I am curious as to individuals actual driving habits. That plays a large roll. I will say though, it's had to compare average speeds of the 60mph to average driving speeds. Thats almost in hyper-mile territory speeds in many automotive forums. So where it's hard to compare that to what I would consider "normal" driving like I think most people are.

When I am driving through South Dakota the speed limit is 80mph. I usually don't go above 75mph as the truck just plain old doesn't seem to like it, plus about 50% of the people in SD don't even go 80mph. In Iowa speed limits are 65 or 70. I generally go 65 or 70 because I'm not going long distances, but I still don't get anywhere near 20mpg.

For perspective I have 20+ years of driving experience, 15 years auto tech experience (not a mechanic...a technician), as well as driving experience in other countries. I have only had a few tickets, all of them are when I was going to school in Chicago and had to drive back to western Iowa once a month for Air Guard drill weekends. Thats 500 miles on fri night and 500 miles back sunday night. So naturally I would speed...often times 75mph in a 65mph. But over 500 miles if I went 65 vs 75 the trip would take about an hour longer. Thats 2 hrs in one weekend, usually making that trip 13-14 times a year. That adds up to 26-28 hours saved per year for 3 years, essentially saving myself 3-4 days with my family and friends instead of saving fuel or worrying about a ticket. I'll pay for extra gas, you can't buy time with family and friends. Obviously this doesn't workout to the same in 15min drives to work, but you get my drift.

It is one of my pet peeves when people try merging on the interstate at 50mph or people that refuse to get out of the left lane when going below the speed limit....then they are looking at everyone else going the speed limit like they are the assholes not able to let them on the interstate or when people tailgate them in the left lane. Germany is my favorite country to drive in! I've seen people get pulled over for hanging out in the left lane for no reason! When people pass slower traffic they actually speed up instead of just creeping past at 1 mph more than the person they are passing, also it is strictly enforced to not pass on the right. I'm not trying say that anyone in this thread drives like that....just a bit of ranting. haha

 

I drive at posted speed limits and easily beat EPA numbers on my DCLB-OR in the midwest. 25 mile round trip to work and I am disappointed if I don't see at least 23 MPG on my trip meter. Often see 24-25 in the summer. I accelerate conservatively, anticipate stop lights, etc. I also hand calculate my numbers to confirm.

 

This habit is actually harmful on the engine, not saying to drive it like a race car either though. I have worked on handful of vehicles that have issues from "grandma" style driving. Carbon builds up quickly in those conditions and that leads to many issues from there. Pinging/detonation issues (IE running more lean than is safe), air fuel ratios that the ecu can't adjust for, O2 sensors fail more quickly, carbon buildup on the intake valves (reducing airflow), carbon build up even on injectors if it is severe enough and catalytic converters fail more quickly.

 

Thats impressive!! I don't know how these trucks vary so much!

 

LOL at this thread.

15-16 city, 18- 20 hwy

265/70/16 Michelin LTX, no lift.

 

Really? That's interesting. I was operating on the assumption that lower throttle = less stress, but didn't think to do any research to verify.

I assume a more moderate driving style (somewhere between hyper-conservative grandma driving and "I just stole this") will prevent most of the issues you mention. Is there a certain rpm range that I should regularly exercise?

 

2009 double cab, v6, 3in lift, supercharged, 33's getting 16.5 mpg average.

 

Give it the old Italian tune-up every once in a while (on ramps, up hills, etc.) By running it up to speed limit territory.

These are DOHC engines that like to rev. Let them do it every once in a while.

 

If it's good for the engine, I'll totally go "full send" every now and then. Helluva lot more entertaining than accelerating while maintaining sub-2k rpms.