Question on my awful MPG

So in April I purchased a 2012. Basic SR5 package, Double Cab, V6 Engine. I got it bone stock and then I lifted it 2.5 Inches and Put on new tires and wheels. The tires I have are Nitto terra grapplers All Terrain(33") and the Wheels I have are XD Monsters(18"). I usually average about 13.7 MPG which is awful in my opinion. I love the look but i'd love to be getting better than that. I drive super smooth too and I have never got past 14 MPG when it' just basic freeway/city driving. I know there's lots of threads like this, I just think it's odd that putting on new tires and wheels would make that much of a difference, especially since it's a 2012. If anybody has any advice, please let me know, i'm new here

 

my 2011 did this too, after i hit 10,000 miles it seemed like a switch was flipped and my mpg went up.

I had read somewhere that toyota programs the engines to run rich up to a certain mile marker then they lean out but i know my mpg's did go up right after 10,000 miles...

 

Heavy ass wheels and big tires on a truck = shitty mpg haha. Its unfortunate but its just one of the cons of having a truck and the only one IMO.

 

Weigh that tire wheel combo vs what came stock do some math..... There's your problem!

 

The large tires are killing you.

Stop/start is hard on economy, and the large tires make every start like it's a steep uphill.

That's #1.


#2 is the tires have thrown your speedometer off by over 8%.
For every 100 miles your odometer indicates, you've actually gone almost 109.
That means that for a 250 mile tank, you've actually gone closer to 270.
250 miles at 13mpg is 19.23 gallons.
270 miles on 19.23 gallons is 14mpg... still sucks, and that's to be expected on 33's with stock gearing, but it's better than 13.

Even if you adjust your gearing, the 33" tires and wheels are much heavier than stock.

Take your pick... fuel economy, or a cool lifted truck with big tires.
You can not have both.

 

I get the same awful mileage with a toytec ULK (2.5") and 285/75/16s.
It's appalling how bad the mileage is, but you need to keep in mind that with the 33s you're getting 7% more distance on each rotation of the tire than the computer thinks than with the original 31" tires, so you can multiply the mileage by 1.07 to get true MPG.

I talked with some dude at O'Reilly by my house who has 4x4 v6 taco '11, and he says he gets 22-24 mpg. He has the smaller 245 tires on his truck and no lift.
I got 14-16 before I got bigger tires, and they dropped my mileage down to 13-15.

I'd like to drive a taco with the skinny tires and no lift for a week to see what type of mpgs I'd get with that.

Edit: The basic 245/75/16s are 35 lbs. The 265/70/16 rugged terrains that come on the stock TRD are 39 lbs each, the 285/75/16 I replaced them with are 59 lbs each. 20 lbs of rotating weight per tire seems like an awful lot of weight.

 

Well I have a 2012 prerunner and I'm getting 21.2 MPG right now. I have been debating doing the same thing 3" lift with 33's Hmmmmmmmmm. can it really go down 10mpg?

 

I have an 06 with 305/65/17 tires and average 17 on freeway.

 

Yeah haha. I absolutely love my Tacoma, the only thing I hate is the MPG's haha. But thanks for the tips guys!

 

It looks way way way better, I think it's worth it but it depends what your situation is with money.

 

Www.pure-gas.org

Find a station near you and start using non-ethanol gas, preferably 91 or 92 octane.

My bone stock 06 dclb was typically getting high 16's or low 17's, then I started using e-free gas and have been getting mid 19's for months.

And ya, your lift, wheels, and tires are to blame

 

Wow. In gettin like identical milage. And im on 35s.

 

Depending on your fuel and driving habits, yes.

Az has better gas than CA, so you'll do a bit better.
Unless you're in Phoenix or Tucson, you don't have the endless miles of bumper to bumper that slams MPG on Los Angeles freeways (Wednesday when I got to work on a new tank, my Ultragauge showed 27mpg, when I got home yesterday, it was down to 24).

Your mileage will vary, but moving to 33's will impact the odometer calibration by 7% on the TRD models and over 8% on the base models.
If all of your driving is highway, at speeds below 70, the taller tires will actually help economy.

 

I'm on 3" lift and 33" duratracs and I get pretty damn close to stock maybe 1 less, but if you start getting happy with the skinny pedal it drops down heavily

 

OP is in California
http://www.pure-gas.org/index.jsp?stateprov=CA
Nothing south of Suckramento, and I suspect that those stations on the list (all "unbranded" fuel) are restricted to sales for agricultural off-highway use.

We haven't been able to get non-oxygentated fuels here in California for over 20 years. It was MTBE before it was ethanol, then someone discovered that MTBE was poisoning the ground water, so we were able to pay a super-premium to get non-MTBE for marine use on inland lakes, but that only lasted for a couple of years before ethanol took over as the new fuel economy killer.

 

There's also an issue of alignment. When I did my lift in January, the tire place I had my alignment done at didn't have specs for the lift I did, or even the '12 model, so they matched the basic '11 models alignment specs.

A guy who I periodically chat with who works in a tire shop (who has same truck with same sized tires with a 2.5 spacer lift) says he gets in the 20s for mpgs, and he suggested that the alignment may be off and that my front tires are fighting one another and that's why the mpgs suck so hard for me.

I haven't gotten around to rechecking the lift spec alignment vs the stock spec alignment, but I should. Id like to see how much of a difference that makes.

 

He's full of shit.

It's hard enough to get "in the 20s" on a stock V6.
You will NOT get "in the 20s" on a V6 on big rubber.

 

I am suspicious of those numbers, but I want to at least try the alignment thing before I discount him.

 

No doubt an alignment won't hurt and might help, but it's not going to get you better than stock numbers

 

One trip I got 26mpg. This is on 35s. Loaded with camping gear and a big dog.

I was doing 50mph not using cruise control. 390 km and half a tank. It was amazing.