Torque #'s Finally Here

Totally false. For those of us that use trucks as daily drivers, MPG is a huge factor. That is almost like saying trucks should not have creature comforts like AC and bucket seats. The best selling auto in the US is a truck (f-150), so obviously MPG is factor. C'mon. Get real.

 

Again, this is just silly. If you need good mpg and never need to haul anything, a Prius or Civic is a good choice. But I, like many, do care what MPG I get. This is why you see so many stripped out old Ford Rangers as fleet vehicles instead of behemoth trucks for things like painting business where they don't need to haul huge payloads...MPG. MPG is a factor. Toyota knows it too, otherwise they would not tout the improved MPG.

 

First off. Creature comforts and MPG are two different things entirely. Secondly, those best selling numbers of the F150 also includes feet sales, which are sold by the bulk to companies around the country. The masses of people who buy trucks are going to actually use them to work. Work first to them, MPG secondary. I'm just stating the facts here. Hey if you want to buy a truck to adapt it as your daily driver and commute in it, then that is your own journey (I use mine as a DD, and my commuter/toy as well) but don't cry about fuel economy when you are getting crap for numbers. There is a reason why people who daily drive and commute long distances buy hybrids and/ or other proven economical vehicles as well. These trucks are proven fuel hogs.

 

MPG is always going to be a selling point. If they manage to squeeze out a measly 2 mpg extra out of the truck, of course they are going to rant, rave and, yell hooray and convince you to buy their truck. That is how the automotive sales industry works. To say that you should buy one and use it as your daily driver and expect good fuel economy out of it though, is like saying to go swimming in a beach full of sharks. Might you live? Possibly, yes. Is it a bad idea? Hell yeah it is.

 

Can we just all give it a break for a while. Leave this thread be till we get the full spec sheet???...

 

I think you are projecting your own experiences and perceptions as "fact". To say current Tacomas are proven fuel hogs is one thing, but to say that won't ever change is a stretch (cough CAFE cough).

 

Not 40 anywhere. That car is actually rated for 27/38. My brother's 02 Golf TDi with 130k+ averages in horrible Seattle traffic 48-52 mpg. Thats average, real world, no bull shit. It scratches 55 highway. A shitty Accent would probably average 29. Yea, those diesels are real junk.

 

2 mpg is a lot in a truck. That's 42 extra miles per tank. Keep multiplying that every time you fill up....

 

The majority of Taco's are fuel hogs unless you drive a 4 cylinder non prerunner 5 speed extra strippy model.

The only time I could ever forsee the Tacoma obtaining decent economy as lifted prerunner model is when they build a hybrid/ electric of it or similar. No amount of the current technology can be engineered into them for it to obtain decent or stellar economy. This goes for any of the other trucks out there as well. If you want to fix the fuel economy problem, go straight after the source of what they all share in common. Their aerodynamics and its overall height (prerunner models and up).

 

I used to get mid 30's in my wife's Sonata when I borrowed it. I'm sure you can get an Accent to touch 40 mpg pretty easily.

 

Thats highway chief. People rarely drive just highway. You'll have to run 95 % at 62 mph on a straight run of I-5 to get 38 mpg. Where as my bros TDi gets 48 mpg average with 10% driving at 60 mph. See the difference? You're in socal right, you have even worse traffic than we do in this clown show city. Gridlock chews up epa ratings and spits them out, unless you're in a hybrid or diesel that is. Screw "ratings", show me real world in a top traffic area. Not in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

We test our MPGs in one of the worst traffic areas in the country, EPA tests in an air conditioned lab.

 

I currently own a Jeep Cherokee that I use for camping, which requires a little clearance and 4-wheel drive. Cherokee - 13 MPG on a good day. I also own a hyundai elantra that is my commuter. Elantra - 27 MPG city.

Now, I want to consolidate down to 1 vehicle. I need something that I can get around on forest service roads with - has some clearance and 4-wheel drive. I also need something I can commute in the city with. Oh, and I also need to transport my mountain bike, camping gear, and occasionally a small travel trailer. This vehicle must get significantly better than my cherokee's 13 MPG, but I'm willing to sacrifice the 27 MPG the Elantra gets in order to have a do-all-the-thing-I-need-vehicle.

So, yes - MPG is a HIGH on my list of things to consider. So, if the 2016 taco can get even 18 MPG city, then that is totally doable for me. Any less than that, and I will have to seriously consider other options. I would LOVE to see the new taco get 20 MPG city, and I would jump all over it, but that might be a pipe dream.

 

Some of us still want the functionality of a light-duty truck but don't want the MPGs of a 1973 El Dorado. Other manufacturers have proven this can be done while still operating in roughly the same space. MPG obviously wasnt my first consideration. If it was, I wouldn't have purchased this truck. Even still, gas=money. I'd like to spend less.

 

If you do not need a truck, have you looked at the Subaru Crosstek or Outback? Sounds like what you describe.

 

As would I, but I have to be realistic and brutally honest about what I am going to be getting into when I purchase a vehicle. Somw people want it all and will never be satisfied no matter how much you attempt to give them.

Give me at least two examples of the manufacturers who have actually made it happen, and if you tell me Dodge Ram, I'm going to laugh and tell you that they are inflating and falsifying their fuel economy information.

 

The problem here is that you are using your truck as daily driver. In essence you are driving something that has aerodynamics of brick but expect (want ) MPGs of a car.
Thats the problem here, and somehow Toyota thinks there are more people like you than people using Truck as a truck (take a cord of wood from point A to point B)
If you need daily driver you should be driving a car not a truck..... period.

 

Sorry, master. I won't let it happen again.

 

Nice blank statement there buddy.

My wife drives our 3 month old around in an area where pickup trucks are 50% of the vehicles on the road. There are also farm machines with high bumpers on the road every few miles. I stuck her in a truck for a reason. It's a 90 percent daily driver vehicle that see's maybe 10% of it's time with a trailer behind it or a small load in the box.

BTW we are now getting 18 mpg on the Ford combined with about 50/50 driving. That's a great number for a V8.

 

Did you say that most of the people buying a truck do so because of work? Or was it to do some sort of work/job with their truck? Either way I'd be surprised if less than 90% of miles put on the average pick up (or 90% of total combined pick up miles) could not be done in 4-door car. I.e. commuting, shopping, etc. .

 

Perhaps sometime in this lifetime, people will understand not to make broad brushed, generalized statements -- about anything.