23 mpg this weekend

[truckmike26]

I searched for a Post-Your-mpg thread but didn't find a specific one.

I drove to Wasaga Beach yesterday and managed just over 23 U.S. mpg -- mostly highway but some in-town and some full-throttle blasting here and there. It seems like the 'puter inside calculates fuel economy over the total distance to date (??).

It reads 14.2 L/100 km (17 mpg) but 23 mpg is about 10.5 L/100 km. That's really good for a 4200-lb. 4WD truck. I'm sure there may be better numbers out there but floored it more than a few times.

 

[Flyer]

That's really good. I have a V8 and went up to Winter Park this weekend from Denver. I had one bike on the hitch rack and got a 21.18 overall....hand calculated.

 

[hyperthread]

I have a 04 V8 limited. Does it have a built-in MPG calculator ?

 

[Nuke]

Is that 23 MPG hand calculated or are you going by the typically inaccurate on board reading?

If I can keep my engine RPM's in the 1500-1800 RPM range for the duration of a long trip, I've been able to get a little over 24 MPG hand calculated, pump-to-pump with my '08 V6. But that's doing no more than about 55 MPH pump-to-pump and I don't/can't/won't do that very often.

 

[truckmike26]

That was the point -- hand calculated. I drove 165 km driving back and used around 17 L (I can't find the receipt) of Shell 91 -- "Nitrogen-Enriched", according to Shell -- which is what I always use. Not because of the marketing, but because I get Air Miles at Shell. And I like premium. It'a 10:1 compression engine, I know it'll run okay on regular, I know it says it in the manual that 87 is okay, but I like 91, it's my life, so I use 91.

I have no aftermarket lights, racks or anything else to cause drag. Plus, I don't have the factory roof rack or the rear spoiler and the base 16" wheels. Plus a K&N drop-in and Mobil 1 5W30. It's got 9600 km on the odo.

The mpg calculator on the centre stack is a kill-joy party-pooper. That's why I figured it calculates mileage over the total distance-to-date. It reads only 14.2 L/100 km which is around 17 mpg. Anyhow, I recently read a '03-'09 4Runner used-vehicle review and the bad points were supposedly bad fuel economy. I think that's because of the 4Runner owners who were surveyed relied on that calculator. My 3900-lb., 3VZ-E 4x4 Xtra-Cab never, ever got better than 22 mpg.

 

[jetboy1975]

My trip computer with the V8 regularly averages 11L/100km highway 13.2 city. I reset all the computers at every fillup and it seems pretty accurate to what I hand calculate. I can get it as low as 8.2 @ 90km/hr with the air on and BFG A/Ts if I baby it. Saw 7.5 once with a nice tailwind.

 

[truckmike26]

Reset? I should take another look at the owner's manual. I didn't know.

7.2?? Tailwind or not, that's like a Corolla. Wow.

 

[truckmike26]

Sorry, 7.5L/100 km. Rather, that's like a Yaris.

 

[jetboy1975]

The mode button you use to scroll through temp, range, mpg etc has reset on the other half. Just push and hold it for a couple of seconds to reset. Tank range automatically resets at fillup but you can zero mpg, and avg speed.

 

[Maritimer]

That's pretty good. Drive it like a truck instead of a sports car and it uses gas like a sedan. I find it hard to drive smaller vehicles at lower speeds.

 

[Nuke]

If you don't reset the onboard at each fill-up, you're averaging your mileage since the last reset over many, many data points. Any current changes in fuel economy will not be as apparent. Best bet is to reset the onboard at each fill-up (and get used to the amount of change on that 1st 1/4 tank).

The vast majority of onboards read conservative (high) by about 2 MPG. I've seen a few that are close to dead-on but those are more the exception than the rule.

 

[truckmike26]

That's pretty good. Drive it like a truck instead of a sports car and it uses gas like a sedan. I find it hard to drive smaller vehicles at lower speeds.

I agree.

So update: I reset the calculator this morning and took a freeway trip -- a 11.2 reading is more like it, or 21-22 mpg (dipped as low as 10.8, but I couldn't help but keep up with traffic at 120-130 km/h). Kept it under 2500 rpm, though, with no full-throttling so it'll probably be better when hand-calculated. At least the on-board calculator isn't as pessimistic as I thought.

 

[Maritimer]

I agree.

So update: I reset the calculator this morning and took a freeway trip -- a 11.2 reading is more like it, or 21-22 mpg (dipped as low as 10.8, but I couldn't help but keep up with traffic at 120-130 km/h). Kept it under 2500 rpm, though, with no full-throttling so it'll probably be better when hand-calculated. At least the on-board calculator isn't as pessimistic as I thought.

It's hard not to do full-throttle, though, as these can give some nice crank. :biggrin2: When I'm being patient I can manage 2000 rpm but usually it's 2500.

 

[mike_da]

I have a V6 4WD and only average under 17mpg. All my driving is on suburban/urban streets and freeways where holding a steady speed is nearly impossible. I run the AC on automatic all the time.

I did manage closer to 21 once on a longer distance trip but even then, there was enough traffic that cruise control was hard to use too much and I stayed between 65 and 70.

I've actually been doing a comparison between 2WD and 4WD mode for the past few months and only found a 0.3 mpg difference between the two. That's only $31/yr assuming 12,000 mi/yr and $3.00/gal for gas.

 

[4Beast]

I also find the onboard to be about 2 MPG off, which I always found a little annoying. It seems that if it has the other two parts of the equation (amount of fuel (or amount used) and miles (the "range" seems OK) then why is it always so optimistic. As an aside, as long as I keep it at 2k RPM or less (67MPH) I get at least 18-19 in very mixed driving. I am sure I could get over 20 no prob on a longer trip with cruise on.

 

[nyc4runnin]

23 mpg ?? pfffssssshhhhhhhhh

check out my 100 MPG with proof/pics at this thread

http://www.toyota-4runner.org/4th-gen-t4rs/49923-weekend-towing-adventure.html

 

[truckmike26]

I also find the onboard to be about 2 MPG off, which I always found a little annoying. It seems that if it has the other two parts of the equation (amount of fuel (or amount used) and miles (the "range" seems OK) then why is it always so optimistic. As an aside, as long as I keep it at 2k RPM or less (67MPH) I get at least 18-19 in very mixed driving. I am sure I could get over 20 no prob on a longer trip with cruise on.

As Rick pointed out, these are off (2 mpg) but I haven't filled up yet to check that out. I'm just happy it's not nearly as horrible as everyone told me this truck would be fuel efficiency wise.

 

[Nuke]

I'll mention again; engine speed is one of the biggest contributors. Anytime I can cruise at a steady engine speed under 1800 RPM, my mileage is always 22 MPG or higher, hand calculated. And on those few (maybe 6 or so?) occasions where I actually HAD to cruise long distance at 1500-1600 RPM, I managed a tad over 24 MPG on average, again hand calculated.

My Stang is the same way; anything over 1800 RPM and my mileage drops sharply. At 1500 RPM in 5th gear (about 55 MPH) I can get 26 MPG hand calculated and that's on a high performance V8 (but no weight).