Awesome gas mileage- Part 2

[934x4]

Last month or so I posted about my gas milage hitting 30 mpg. Last week I was in the Canadian Rockies, and here's what showed. For those who may know it, it was on the Bow Valley Parkway in Banff National Park. It's a scenic road off the Trans Canada Highway that is more for sight seeing. Cruised at 45-50 mph (70-80 kmh), a little higher than the speed limit, taking it easy and enjoying the views. And I had a kayak on the roof.

After 6000 miles, I'm still showing 21.4 mpg. And to remind, this is an American 4Runner, so those mpg's are in US gallons (= 25.7 mpg Canadian). I'm just plain impressed.

 

[Thai]

Wow...impressive for such a big truck!!

 

[ATL4R]

I've been quite impressed as well. If I set the cruise at 53 (this can be dangerous! LOL) on the highway during a road trip, I can get between 28 and 31 mpg. I verified this a few times over 200 miles of rolling highways, uphill and down. At 53 mph, my transmission never came out of 5th. At 65-85 mph, the transmission always seems to downshift going uphill due to the increased drag created at higher speeds.

I'm jealous you have the cool graph on the NAV screen! That is awesome!

Last month or so I posted about my gas milage hitting 30 mpg. Last week I was in the Canadian Rockies, and here's what showed. For those who may know it, it was on the Bow Valley Parkway in Banff National Park. It's a scenic road off the Trans Canada Highway that is more for sight seeing. Cruised at 45-50 mph (70-80 kmh), a little higher than the speed limit, taking it easy and enjoying the views. And I had a kayak on the roof.

After 6000 miles, I'm still showing 21.4 mpg. And to remind, this is an American 4Runner, so those mpg's are in US gallons (= 25.7 mpg Canadian). I'm just plain impressed.

 

[homeyclaus]

OP, whose brand gas are you running? Petro Canada?

I will run the experiment on what effect Canadian gas has on mine compared to the E10 plus water plus additives stuff they sell around here. I know on my Maxima it had no trouble with PetroCan regular gas, but it gets pretty unhappy with some fill-ups on regular around here and pretty much demands 91+ octane stuff here.

 

[robotkiller]

No offense - but you guys must drive like old ladies. My gas mileage absolutely sucks. Yes, I have bigger tires, but I'm lucky to average over 15 mpg.

 

[mtbnole]

No offense - but you guys must drive like old ladies. My gas mileage absolutely sucks. Yes, I have bigger tires, but I'm lucky to average over 15 mpg.

X2, even with stock size tires this thing is horrible. I never even get 18 on the highway.

 

[zmw]

if i am crusing on the highway on cruise control at 70, on the stock 20s I manage to get about 21-22 - but my average for a tank always falls to well below, closer to 17 or 16.

 

[Y2KSR5]

Im at 2300 miles. Ive yet to get below 20.4 (actual calculation) and I average around 21.3. For a body on frame, large truck I am impressed with that. That is a mix of city and hiway and average 70mph on the hiway.

 

[StarGazer]

X2, even with stock size tires this thing is horrible. I never even get 18 on the highway.

But you're coming from an Xterra. I had an 06' Xterra before and you want to talk about "horrible" gas mileage? Especially when I upgraded the tires, I was getting horrific mileage in that thing. The 4Runner is like a Prius compared to the Xterra. It also helps tremendously that the fuel tank is much larger in the Runner as well. Many of the Xterra guys were carrying extra fuel on the trails 'coz they had no other choice.

 

[ToyoM@n]

Got my first Runner last week.

Only 120 miles on it but I haven't been able to get better than 15 MPG.

Maybe it's the max the LE can take in highways? I driving no more than 60 MPH (doing the break in period).

Also I agree with the comment above.

I traded in my 2002 Xterra for the new LE 4R and I can tell already the 4R is like Prius indeed.

The Xterra was a great ride but it was a huge gas hog with very little power.

 

[934x4]

OP, whose brand gas are you running? Petro Canada?

I will run the experiment on what effect Canadian gas has on mine compared to the E10 plus water plus additives stuff they sell around here. I know on my Maxima it had no trouble with PetroCan regular gas, but it gets pretty unhappy with some fill-ups on regular around here and pretty much demands 91+ octane stuff here.

Homey; That would have been a tank of Shell bronze. 87 octane. From the fine folks at Wolf Street Shell in Banff. Mention my name and get 5% off slightly used wiper blades.

Just to make you feel better about your situation though; Golden, BC; $1.34/litre = $5.07/US Gallon = $6.10/Imp Gallon. Banff was better; $1.09/litre.

 

[mtbnole]

But you're coming from an Xterra. I had an 06' Xterra before and you want to talk about "horrible" gas mileage? Especially when I upgraded the tires, I was getting horrific mileage in that thing. The 4Runner is like a Prius compared to the Xterra. It also helps tremendously that the fuel tank is much larger in the Runner as well. Many of the Xterra guys were carrying extra fuel on the trails 'coz they had no other choice.

my Xterra was bad, but even with 33" ATs, it was certainly better on the highway at 19 and in the city, i'm getting maybe 14 in the 4runner, had at least that in the xterra, if not more.

I feel like the 4runner holds gears way too long, and doesnt want to shift into 4th until i'm well over 40mph. ....maybe this requires a different thread.

 

[1000MPH]

I just got back from a trip down 395. Speeds around 65-75, mtn passes including the famous 50 mile car killer from Bishop to Mammoth, also several miles of 4LO.
Stock tires at 38psi
regular 87 unleaded chevron
844 mi
34.8 gallons
24.25 mpg

My only trick is to turn off cc on hills and I don't floor it unless I'm passing. Winter gas will drop this number down to 21-22mpg

 

[icsa]

I just got back from a trip down 395. Speeds around 65-75, mtn passes including the famous 50 mile car killer from Bishop to Mammoth, also several miles of 4LO.
Stock tires at 38psi
regular 87 unleaded chevron
844 mi
34.8 gallons
24.25 mpg

My only trick is to turn off cc on hills and I don't floor it unless I'm passing. Winter gas will drop this number down to 21-22mpg

what kind of break-in procedure did you guys use on your trucks? the TEs in this forum are way below what you post for MPG.

 

[3x4runnerOwner]

X2, even with stock size tires this thing is horrible. I never even get 18 on the highway.

Something's got to be wrong with your truck if you can't 18 on the highway. I get around 22 on the highway with the cruise set at 75.

 

[motioneffects]

I drive like a grandma and avg 18.5 mpg on hwy. I dont think i have ever got more than 19 mpg. Calculated my MPG manually. Surprisingly the on-board indicator is pretty accurate almost everytime. I have 8k on my rig.

 

[3x4runnerOwner]

I drive like a grandma and avg 18.5 mpg on hwy. I dont think i have ever got more than 19 mpg. Calculated my MPG manually. Surprisingly the on-board indicator is pretty accurate almost everytime. I have 8k on my rig.

That's crazy...I think I can get 18 on the hwy if I'm driving 85! How can there be such a discrepancy between vehicles? I've got 16K on mine, but my mileage hasnt changed too much since i bought it, though it went up slightly after the first oil change.

 

[motioneffects]

Also I hardly ever floor the gas pedal. I can actually count how many times I romped on it in one hand. Its always in the ECO Zone.

 

[jhawk]

Do you use cruise? The eco light doesn't change, even though the cruise might be flooring it.

My limited gets 21/22 going 75, pretty flat terrain though. It gets even better going 55-60.

 

[motioneffects]

Sometimes, when Im tired I will use cruise, but not often. South Jersey is pretty flat as well. I've slow down alot these days, I do go about 5-7 mph over the speed limit. Im pretty conscious about the fuel economy. Last SUV was a X5 3.0 which got about 24 mpg on highway, and TL got 29 mpg on highway. City(NYC) on the other hand was a killer for both vehicles.